Two Liberty Place

Soon to be the third tallest building in Philadelphia, Two Liberty Place rises 848 feet above the streets of Center City. Only its sister, One Liberty Place and the soon to be completed Comcast Center are taller than this multi-use beauty comprised of premier residences, commercial office space, retail shops and a world class hotel.

Playing in the Band

Everyday people doing what they love to do make the most interesting subjects. This is a candid shot of a friend performing live at The World Cafe. Anthony is the creative force behind ALB (The Anthony Lattanze Band.) This young singer/songwriter's passion for his music and lyrics is evident in his live performances and recordings. If you have the opportunity to catch an ALB show, don't hesitate. You will be in for a musical treat that won't disappoint. http://www.myspace.com/anthonylattanzeband

There's a Moon Out Tonight

Last night's moon was spectacular. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the surface of the moon. Only 11 other men have shared that experience. I have always been fascinated by that time and the people whose vision made the journey to and exploration of the moon possible. I wish I could know the feeling...in the meantime, I will just keep looking to the sky and imagine!

Purple Haze

Adjacent to the Belvedere Estate Vineyard and Tasting Room in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma is a beautiful Tuscan style garden. The one acre "Garden of Senses" is planted with hundreds of rare and unusual herbs, flowers and fruits. The multi-levels of the garden are navigated by steps with aromatic plants growing from each riser. As you step up and down, the aromas from each plant fill the air. I am unfamiliar with this flowering plant but thought its purple hair made for an interesting photo.

Textured Wall

I took this shot of a wall in the lobby of the Marriott Courtyard located on the upper east side of Manhattan. The light and shadows within the texture of the wall seem to create the illusion of movement like blowing sand in the desert. This is one of my personal favorites.

Heirlooms in Bloom

The summer's bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables provides wonderfully delicious explosions of taste as well as a rainbow of colors and texture for the eyes to behold. These organic Heirloom tomatoes are screaming to be paired with fresh Buffalo Mozzarella and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, aged balsamic vinegar and fresh basil. Caprese salad is on my mind.

The City of Brotherly Love

This is a shot of The Residences at the Ritz Carlton under construction at the site of the former One Meridian Plaza building which was destroyed by fire in 1991. A skyscraper high sign adjacent to the construction site declares "America's Next Great City, Philadelphia's Next Great Address". How ironic a declaration for a city that claims the highest murder rate among the nation's ten largest cities and where violent crime has grown at a rate that far surpasses the national average. Great cities are far more than great buildings for the wealthy, they are made of diverse people, living in thriving, safe neighborhoods with abundant educational and employment opportunities for all. Look close...even William Penn atop his City Hall perch has turned his back in disgust. Wake up Philadelphians!!!.... We can be a great city.

At the Gate

Returning to Philadelphia today! This comical sculpture of passengers waiting in line is cleverly placed across from the lost baggage counter in terminal 2 at San Diego International. I hope this is not the fate that awaits me upon my return home.

Who Is That Guy?

A face you just have to love. Reminds me of a dear old friend who would jab me with his elbow and ask "Who is that guy?" You would never know what to expect when you turned to see who or what he was directing your attention to.

The Star of India - San Diego Bay

The Star of India is the world's oldest active ship. Moored in the San Diego Bay, it is one of the show pieces of the San Diego Maritime Museum. She first set sail in 1863 at a time when iron hulled ships were a design experiment. She has been described as "the essence of a vanished age, a glorious time when men and women voyaged under towers of masts and clouds of canvas." I think this shot captures her essence.

All You Need Is ....

No photo opportunities today but I did get to see The Beatles-Love by Cirque Du Soleil. What a fabulous celebration of the music I so love. I'm missing home....In keeping with the spirit of this evening's show and thoughts of home, I am posting this photo of the Love statue in Philadelphia which I colorized in Photoshop Elements. This shot is entitled "All You Need Is ..."

Barry Does Vegas

You have to see this..you have to see that...OMG...you should see what they do there....I'm not so sure what all the fuss is about...It is Atlantic City on steroids and a hundred and something degrees when the sun goes down. Off to the pool to attempt to return my body temperature to normal.

Sausalito Blue

With its Mediterranean flair and spectacular views, Sausalito is often compared to the French Riviera. This waterfront community directly across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco has been a haven for art and culture, featuring world class galleries, restaurants, outdoor cafes, tons of shopping and a marina filled with sail boats and yachts of all sizes. Its hillside homes overlook the marina and San Francisco Bay. The colors to the entrance gate to one of theses residences is the subject of this shot...

In a Fog

This is a shot of one of the main cable towers of San Francisco's most recognizable landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge. The bright red tower rises 500 feet above the road surface of the span and is almost completely hidden by the dense morning fog.....

Like me, the bridge was......

Bodega Bay Fog

Bodega Bay is probably best known as the setting for Alfred Hitchcock's film "The Birds." Hitchcock chose this site for its bleak treeless hills, quiet fishing village and the fog that casts an eerie shadow on this quaint sea town. I took a drive north of San Francisco in hopes of taking a few photos of some of the location landmarks that helped make the feel of the film so believably real. Unfortunately, the eerie fog cast a shadow on my plans.

The Ferry Building Clock Tower

In 2003, renovation of San Francisco's Ferry Building was completed. The redevelopment effort created 65,000 square feet of first floor Marketplace space and 175,000 square feet of premium second and third floor office space. The Marketplace celebrates food in all forms and brings together the agricultural wealth and specialty food purveyors of the Greater Bay area under one roof. Its 240 foot clock tower is modeled after the 12th century bell tower in Spain's Seville Cathedral to serve as a welcoming beacon on the Bay. A columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle wrote "The waterfront without the Ferry Tower would be like a birthday cake without a candle." May all of our birthday cakes have such a majestic and bright candle!

Woman in Metal

While strolling along San Francisco's Embarcadero today, I was drawn to a sculpture at the newly re-opened Pier-14 adjacent to the Ferry Building Market. The sculpture depicts a woman (30' tall) and a child (20' tall) and appears to be made of reclaimed metal parts. The work entitled "Passage" is the creation of Karen Cusolito and Dan DasMann. The intricate brown metallic forms stood out against a clear blue San Francisco Bay sky.

The Long And Winding Road

After 13 hours of testimony, objections, stipulations, instructions, definitions and the epileptic seizure of a fellow juror, we the jury found three co-defendants not guilty of the 10 felony offenses that each of them had been charged with. As their journey through the long and winding road of the criminal justice system comes to a close, I am looking forward to returning to California and my favorite long and winding road. This shot was taken looking back on the portion of the PCH I traveled as I made my way south from San Francisco to San Simeon.

One Day One Trial

Late last month I received a summons requiring my appearance at the Delaware County Courthouse on Thursday July 19th to perform my civic duty as a juror. Included with the summons was a questionnaire which I promptly completed and faxed back to the jury commission requesting that my appearance be postponed as I would be on the west coast the week of my assigned date of service. I was initially relieved when I received a postcard from the jury commission indicating that they had honored my request only to discover that the staff at the commission worked through my conflict by rescheduling my appearance for Thursday July 12...yes, 2 days before my departure for California.

I spent the better part of my day, first as juror number 58 and then as juror number 25 in two separate selection panels. For hours I sat on a wooden pew- like bench surrounded by 69 of my fellow Delaware County citizens, listening to voice masking static as the judge, prosecutor and defense attorneys interviewed each of us individually in a sidebar. I am certain that the hard wood of the bench left a permanent indentation in my rear end.

Despite my plea as to the personal hardship that my selection would cause, at 4:45 pm, I was selected and named juror number 7 for a criminal matter. The joy of selection was almost overwhelming...At 5:00 pm the jury was sworn in and given instructions by the judge. Following the instructions we heard opening arguments and were thankfully released shortly after 6:00 pm. My posterior and I cannot wait to be seated in the jurors box today.

Gold Rush Wagon

The colors and texture that leap from aging objects seem to always catch my eye and often become the subject of a photograph. This 150 + year old wooden wagon was shot in Idaho City and is a well preserved relic from the 1860's gold rush to the Boise Basin of Idaho. In its glory days, Idaho City was the largest city in the northwest and had a reputation similar to that depicted in the HBO series "Deadwood." It is said that of the 200 people buried in the town's Boot Hill Cemetery, only 23 died of natural causes.

Leaf & Vase

Often, photo compositions are shots of things that occur naturally like the glow of a sunset behind the wing of an aircraft, the candid smile of an unsuspecting child, the colors that explode from a decaying doorway or the intended reflection of an engraved black granite memorial. Sometimes compositions are made of unique elements that when combined together create photos in the painting styles of impressionism and realism. This composition is entitled "Leaf & Vase." I've posted the original photo and its companion lithograph created in Photoshop Elements.

Sunset at 30,000 Feet

Air travel today can be a nightmare and is often one miserable experience after another. Standing in long lines toting cumbersome baggage to prevent its loss while you hold a clear plastic zip lock bag displaying your collection of toiletries for all the world to see, frequent flight delays followed by unexplained flight cancellations, bankrupt airlines providing bankrupt customer service, flying overbooked smaller aircraft that seem to have more middle seats than aisle and windows combined. On an evening flight returning to Philadelphia, cramped in one of those bountiful center seats toward the rear of the plane, I noticed a beautiful and brilliant setting sun. I leaned in front of the rather large gentleman sitting to my left and snapped this photo.

Memorial Reflections

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall honors those members of the U.S. armed forces who lost their lives or are unaccounted for in this country's most divisive war. Completed in 1982, the memorial designed by Maya Ying Lin, is comprised of two black granite walls sunk into the ground with the earth behind them. The wall measures almost 247 feet in length and is constructed with granite from Bangalore, India which was deliberately chosen for it's reflective qualities. When a visitor looks upon the wall, their reflection can be seen simultaneously with the engraved names of those lost, symbolically bringing the past and present together.

The Smile

You can wear one, put one on or wipe one off, they have been known to light up a room or brighten a day, we have all done it, have been asked to do it, told to do it, some do it every day, others rarely do it, they can be an expression of pleasure, happiness or amusement, they can be innocent, inviting, devious, anxious or cautious, they are the subject of many a quote and are as unique as every snowflake….

Pigeon Point

State Route-1 also known as the Pacific Coast Highway runs along the length of the California coastline. This serpentine road offers some of the most spectacular views as it twists and turns through the rocky cliffs that rise hundreds of feet above the Pacific Ocean. Fifty miles south of San Francisco, perched on what was formerly known as Whale Point, stands the 115 foot Pigeon Point Lighthouse, one of the tallest lighthouses in America. This photo (one of my personal favorites) has the look and feel of a painting and is simply entitled “Pigeon Point .”

The Solitude in the Sunrise

South Beach is the southern most portion of the island of Miami Beach which separates the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is an international destination of the rich and not so rich and famous. Dotted with Art Deco buildings and lined with coarse white sand and the contrasting clear blue Atlantic waters, South Beach has been the home of the fashion elite and the setting for television shows and movies. At night its most famous street, Ocean Drive, comes alive with the cacophony of merging lights, sounds, cultures and beautiful people. My favorite part of South Beach however is captured in this photo entitled " The Solitude in the Sunrise."

Dancing in the Street

My youngest son recently took up the electric guitar and last summer attended a week long music camp that provides young musicians the opportunity to play with other young musicians. The concept is to put a band together comprised of a group of these musical campers and with the guidance of a dedicated staffer, the members of the newly formed band select songs, rehearse, record and perform them live at Friday afternoon concerts.

The final camp concert was staged at Love Park in Philadelphia. As the bands were playing and the sounds of drums, guitars, keyboards, horns and voices tried to drown out the noise of the city, a group of young pre-schoolers, all wearing green visors, entered the park. I was so proud to see and hear my son perform live...but this little guy who broke into a spontaneous dance as he walked through the park made my day.

Colors in Neglect

I met Ken Spencer on Saturday June 30, 2007 at the college graduation party of a mutual aquaintance. Ken is a professional photographer who works for Newsday and had commented on the photo I had given to our hosts as a house warming gift. Earlier in the day I was drawn to a number of photographs prominently displayed in the home to which we were guests. As it turned out, all of the photos were the works of Ken. Flowers arranged in workboots and a rooster proudly standing on a stone were just two that caught my eye. How nice and ironic it was to get to meet and chat with the artist who had noticed my picture. As Ken was leaving at the end of the evening, he told me of his blog entitled "A Picture A Day" http://greatvisualtruths.blogspot.com/ and explained how he had been inspired by Will Yurman's site "A day A photo" http://www.willyurman.com/ ....and so the beginnings of my site to share the world through my eyes ....inspired by Ken Spencer. This first posting entitled "Colors in Neglect" was shot in Manayunk, PA. It is the photo that brought Ken and I together.