Navel Maneuvers Trump Irish Jig On St. Patrick's Day

There wasn't a shamrock in sight during Saturday's dance event. Instead belly dancers joined Ayshe, The Queen of Wings, for the 12th annual Master Seminar and Showcase 'Wings Over Connecticut' held at New London's Connecticut College.

Ayshe, of Greek and American descent is a New York dance artist best known for her exotic dance expertise and for the development of 'Isis wings', a speciality of cabaret performance. Asyhe's website describes the history of wings in dance performance as, "Wings were originally used for costuming in Las Vegas acts and Caribbean carnival parades. They found their way into Middle Eastern dance as a means to depict the Egyptian Goddess, Isis, who appears on ancient wall paintings with large birds."

Combining various studies of classical ballet, yoga, modern dance, fusion and fantasy belly dance, Middle Eastern, Indian and Pharaonic dance techniques, Ayshe holds a B.A. from City University at Hunter College in Dance and Human Movement, Archaeology and Middle Eastern Studies.

A 4-hour intensive class covering 'Wings of Isis' was the impetus for the bellydance workshop. Class participants performed in the evening's showcase. The Wings technique is considered a huge step for dancers because the prop is quite formidable in size and takes skill in achieving choreographic coordination.

Farasha, a Middle Eastern Dance performer, teacher and choreographer, incorporated the wings into her routine. Watching the dual sided expanse of material move with Farasha's rhythm was mesmerizing. The wings were made of a silver sheen and caught light with each undulating turn, until finally the dancer was encircled entirely when both left and right sides connected, forming a whole.

Farasha dances with wings

Ayshe approached the stage area with an urn balanced upon her head. At first I thought the head gear was to show balance. A familiar scent soon filled the room and I suspected my camera had been worked too hard. I realized the smell was coming from burning incense when puffs of smoke floated out from the urn.

All the dancers wore exotic fabrics in sheers, velvets, sequin accessories that shimmied and swayed with each hip and belly movement.

I came to the New London event to see my friend Jackie dance with her posse, Judy's Gypsies of Naugatuck, CT. The group performs in nursing homes throughout Naugatuck and surrounding towns. It was during one of those occasions when I first saw them in action.

Judy Alt dances because it makes her feel good.

I fell in love with Judy's Gypsies and their giving of service to others. Judy Alt, leads the group and teaches belly dancing at her studio Compassionate Hands Holistic Center.

Anyone can't help but appreciate this dance form - women of all ages, shapes and sizes, create a visual art form through their movement.

I always thought of belly dancing as something women
did for husbands or superiors. The origin of the belly dancing is unclear, though it seems the Middle East and Africa are good starting points for various styles of dance  ritual.

Based on history it seems the tradition began as activity done for others. Women gathered to dance in preparation for childbirth. Movement encourages flexibility and builds strength, particularly needed during labor.

As with any exercise, endorphins are released and a feeling of well being ensues, thus finding divinity within.

Belly dancing is in today's world, a physically liberating activity dancers do as a celebration of body.

While Saturday's St. Patrick Day performance wasn't remotely like any Irish jig, (there was no beer in sight), it was, a wonderful way of commemorating the other March happening. No, not the March madness pandemonium associated with basketball. I'm referring to Women's history month. Belly dancing seemed a perfect opportunity to honor women, past and present who have made life a little more colorful for all!

 Judy's Gypsies

Women of all ages are drawn to belly dancing for as many reasons. Some come to the dance for the exercise it offers. Working the abdomen the moves are deliberate and concentrated.

Some come for the intrigue of costume. Belly dancing is most certainly a social activity, drawing on its roots in performance. 


Beautiful costumes and accessories help personify the music and personality of the dancer. 


What women doesn't like shopping for the style that best suits her self expression? Whatever the reason, any reason at all is a good one to start and stay on track with something that will inevitably be beneficial to the mind and body.

                                                                                                 Judy's Gypsies

Lunch Laps Yield Friday Moment

The drizzle today didn't seem too inviting for a hike during lunch. Instead I ventured out for a walk, wearing my festive green hoodie. There's a flat back road near my office that is relatively traffic free, and I thought if I carried an umbrella I could get in at least twenty minutes - enough to burn 100 calories or so.

After ten minutes at a brisk pace, the dampness felt refreshing. Some brush along the way had been trimmed back and I could smell the wood from the fresh cut. Mounds of yellow grass looked like hay and I wondered how long it would take for color to grow back into the long stringy blades.

Textures From A Rainy Day
Grass and Branches - Wallingford, CT
Bronze Body on Rock - Stonybrook, NY

Trash was mixed in with dead leaves. Once summer comes the bottles and wrappers that  were tossed at the landscape would be hidden. Shades of blue and yellow were what I could see and except for an odd photo of a rock wall, the images seemed to look good together. 

A favorite blogging site I subscribe to does a weekly feature called 'Friday Moment' where users post an image without words. I'm inspired from that tradition, but added text here because of the newness of this site.

I hope you enjoyed today and have had a moment of discovery today too!

How Many Pixels Can Photographers Pick?

Put a room full of photographers together and the shop talk turns technical pretty quickly. That was the case when I snapped a few images with my Sony Nex-5 during a blogging workshop. Sponsored by the Connecticut chapter of American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), the worksop covered the why, when and how to use blogging. Regular communications can be a nice connection with established clients and perhaps serve as a marketing strategy to those contacts yet to be made.

One writing exercise, mind mapping, starts with a central idea, and work outwards from that, jotting down all associative thoughts. What to write about could be anything at all. One popular theme, what it took to get a particular shot, might elaborate on gear used, to logistics for locations, talent, clothes, make-up, etc. Everyone has a different purpose for blogging and not unlike a photographer's personal style or niche, a blog may not be about technical material.

Barry and Deborah start their impromptu blog post

The thirteen photographers ranged in specialities from fine art, architecture,  entertainment, celebrity, editorial, and news reporting. The instructor, Beverly Army Williams, gave insightful theory about the craft of writing. Compared to Twitter's 140 character limit and Facebook's knee jerk me-ism's, blogging seems a more thoughtful perspective.

We talked about responses and comments too, and how just because someone publishes something, doesn't mean it will be read. I thought I'd answer the question, "How do you like the camera?" three photographers asked.

The Sony camera is a neat little machine. It's so small that taking it everywhere seems the right thing to do. It takes HD video and delivers on still frame quality. That's what most photographers want to know - how big are the files? The manufacturer rating is 14 megapixel. Depending on setting preferences, (mine are medium), the actual image opens up to file size of 21.3 mg.

For most uses this is more than adequate for both web publishing and printing. I think many pro photographers get steamrolled when it comes to equipment in thinking bigger is better for file sizes. 

Unless you shoot for billboard advertising, it's fair to say that industry standard web resolution plays a big part in image handling. It's a personal choice how you shoot, but wouldn't it be better to shoot for the purpose at hand than to make extra steps in post processing?

When original file source is large, it's best to use the 'save for web' menu action if the intended use is web browsing. As indicated in Sony Nex-5's default pixel dimensions for medium size files, the resolution is too high for web. By using the 'save for web' option, the file is set to 72 dpi, the generic web standard, and that makes a big difference when your website is loading. The last thing you want is for a client to lose attention to your site due to sluggish and time consuming page transitions.

If you shoot larger file sizes or even in RAW formats for a fine art output, then file size will determine  how large you can print. Jay Patel, a landscape photographer, offers this graphic to show how many megapixels are needed for various print sizes:

Courtesy Jay Patel

The largest prints I've done measure 13.25 x 20 inches from a 21 mg file size. The results are excellent quality. Until I get that call to shoot for a really BIG billboard, the SONY is perfect for everyday photography.  Do you think about what you're shooting and set camera accordingly?

Berklee Jazzsters!

Southington High School Jazz band rocked it out in Boston during the 2012 Berklee High School Jazz Festival! I can't say enough about music instructor Jeff Shaw -  what a great mentor and musician he is!

I watched my son's skills improve during the four years he spent with Shaw so much so that now he's eyeing his own career in music. How does a parent convey the pride felt when their child embraces a passion such a music? My heart swells when I hear those players use their instruments to blend sounds into one harmonious rhythm.

Brandon Brush Eyes Shaw's Lead

It's not just one genre in particular that gets my body moving or gives me reason to think about other times. Music does that, it provides a travel to thoughts of far away places. In that moment of listening, I'm immersed in following the vibe and loving the 'nowness' of it!

Take a listen to the performance by clicking on this LINK where the performance was recorded in Mp3 format. You'll need some patience though, because the music doesn't start until a minute or so, but it is worth the wait!

These high school students sound as though they've been playing professionally for years!

We'll be looking forward to the spring concerts that will be for the seniors their last ones playing together in Shaw's Jazz Band ensemble. What's really cool is that no matter which direction each graduate goes in their respective college choice, the bond they formed during their high school music careers will most likely stay with them throughout their lives.

Heavy Metal - via Horn Section

Michael Schmidt on Saxophone

The Southington Jazz Ensemble place 3rd in the festival. Congratulations to all! Keep the music going - rock on!

Graphic Images - Be Advised

I saw a haunting photo through a Facebook friend's post and it got me thinking. The image showed an anorexic woman who died. Isabelle Caro, a French model, died November 17, 2010 from anorexia, but not before she brought attention to the disease.

The New York Times obituary included several Caro quotes where she spoke about her life, and her illness during previous interviews. Caro began advocating for anorexia awareness, particularly in the fashion world, when she came close to death after succumbing to a coma from weight loss.

Caro posed nude for an Italian ad Nolita campaign in 2007 where billboard images showed the skeletal effects of starvation. The campaign later was banned because critics thought it exploited the disease and frankly, because the images are disturbing.

Imagine what it would look like if the New York Times published two full page ads across from one another.  On one side the latest impeccably styled fashion layout showing a beautiful model wearing very expensive clothing, and the other page would show an ad for Feed The Children showing a very different lifestyle, that of a youngster wearing only the skin on his back and clearly communicating what hunger looks like as in the image below.

The little Somalian boy, Minhaj Gedi Farah, was able to get healthy through the help of aid group International Rescue Committee. Not all hungry people get the food they need or even have the choices Caro had. I feel for everyone who grows up in a household where parents don't always do the right things.

But I feel more for people who live where choice is a luxury, not unlike the full page fashion ads I get to see via the newspaper or internet. I certainly cannot afford the price tag of some of the styles I like, but I recognize what the ads represent - wealth, privilege and what I hope educated people value - health.

Madison and 7th Avenues shouldn't dictate what women should look like anymore than perpetrators of war should dictate innocent people go without the most basic necessities of life.

Snowy and Sixty?

Sunday was a 'done' day. It began with a an hour-long walk,  followed by two appointments. Years ago Sundays were meant to be a day of rest from the busy work week.

Today the weekends are so packed with 'catch up' activities and all the 'nice to do' things we'd prefer to do all the time, if we had that much (time).

The images I took on Saturday were gray, reminding me of how much winter was still apparent, especially in Northhampton, Massachusetts. Snow covered expanses of fields and speckled pine tree tops everywhere.

I like the overcast light for photography. It creates a level playing field across all subjects. It is rather flat looking though and loans itself to great black and white imagery. Any color will stand out and provide some contrast for the eye, as seen in this muted mustard colored house above.

I took several shots of the landscape while sitting in the back seat of the car. It's amazing how well the DROID RAZR camera performs. We were driving about 70 m.p.h. and the resulting images have a point of focus, are sharp where it needs to be and look pretty good.

The file size for the image above is 21.3 meg! That is by no means a small photo.  I like to bring the file into the computer and perk up the contrast with PhotoShop. Besides a contrast adjustment, and the 2 point black border around the image, nothing else was altered.

The clouds below made me pull over off of Research Parkway in Wallingford. They reminded me of tufts of cotton candy you pull off the paper cone before eating the sugar infused foam.

I took this grab shot of a flying seagull with the DROID, as we pulled out of Meriden's Big Y supermarket parking lot (below). It made for a good silhouette. The light post could be taken out but I intentionally left it alone. I like it being there because it gives all the surrounding space some perspective and relationship to the earth:

Another advantage to smartphone imagery are the built in apps like Retro Camera and Vignette. They make all the serendipitous effects that used to happen in the darkroom readily available for creativity.

The convenience of being able to tone or tweak photos in the light of day is fun. Iphoneography is a site devoted to Apple's iPhone photography and videography. This image below is what I call a car shot casualty. Out of nowhere an object comes into frame and yes, some would consider this shot a throw-away, but I kind of like the smack in the middle pole. It provides color and makes me laugh just thinking about how ridiculous photographing out of a moving car is!

The real humor though, comes from mother nature. Tomorrow is expected to be sixty degrees. The snow from the weekend will be long gone, hopefully replaced by the beginning of spring's new colors.

Battle of The Schools?

He did it. Connor (my son) finished the final audition for college admissions today. I guess for him the experience of trying out for where he'll spend time getting his education, is analogous to interviewing for a much wanted job.

The only difference is we, his parents, and Connor himself, are paying for the opportunity as opposed to being paid. Hopefully when all is said and done, the time and effort will pave the way for a life he'll  be happy with. 

UMASS Amherst

We're not thinking about the economy right now or even the budget we're destined to follow for more than the actual years in attendance. We can't live in fear of whether we can afford the debt. No one really wants to take that on, but I suppose so many people do as we do, and jump right into it. 

College costs are so high it's beyond reasoning why the pursuit of a degree and chosen avocation is similar to buying a condominium. If a B.A. degree has a price tag of over $100,000 you have to figure that you could buy at least a one bedroom somewhere for that, right? 

University of Rhode Island

Especially now that real estate seems to be worth less than it was five years ago. Property values are a very real financial concern, particularly when you start counting the years left on the mortgage and any thoughts of retirement.

UMASS Amherst

How does a kid choose where to go when all the schools seem good? Connor's criteria is the faculty and the ratio of how many guitarists are accepted into the Jazz Studies program of each of the universities. 

What a wonderful feeling it must be for students at this point in their lives, when everything is about them. The recruiting colleges make you feel wanted (if you get accepted), and if not, you quickly move on to the next best place on your list. 

My criteria is different. I'm looking at the actual building amenities, in addition to the 'vibe' of the campus. We still have to slug it out and discuss where he will ultimately go.

Hopefully wherever he chooses will be a place where he'll continue grow into the young man we are so proud of!