Complications of Photography

Man walks out of  the Andrew. W. Mellon building

As an amateur behind the camera one skill I’m learning to practice is patience - to wait for the moment. On several occasions I have rushed to press the shutter in excitement, then just as I turn off the camera the most glorious moment occurs. It happens so fast I don’t have enough time to power up the box and snap. Soon it’s all over, the moment walks away gracefully like a pretty lady leaving her suitors wide eyed. I want to scream and pump my fist, throw a tantrum, but it’s too late.

This time I was alert, fascinated by the gold coating on these lamp posts, I thought the juxtaposition against the cream background made for a great scene. Then I thought, it would be perfect if someone walked by - that way I would have some activity in the picture. No one came. I waited. No one came. Undeterred, I decided to count so as to stay in the moment. 1, 2.. 21, at 37, a man walk by but he was too fast. As I waited for the next person with the hope that I would catch them in the cream space, I heard a deep male voice. 

“Excuse me mom! Excuse me! What are you doing?” I nearly jumped. My heart raced. The man was dressed in blue uniform, with a black bullet proof vest and those "gadgets" that make belts heavy. I didn’t even see him coming.

In a shaky soft voice I said “I’m taking pictures”.

“Well, I notice you have been standing there for a long time”, he turned and walked back to his vehicle. I wanted to explain to him this photo thing and how one needs to wait for the perfect shot but something told me he would not be interested. So I tucked my heart back in its cage, hushed it to settle while I walked away, trying not to quicken my footsteps.

This is the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. I couldn’t quite figure out why there would be heavy security in the area. But as it turns out it houses several government offices including the United States Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and right round the corner is Trump International Hotel.

So two things: Be aware of your surroundings and secondly, the rules of photography remain – be patient, wait for the moment to unfold not quite like they did in this case but you get the point.

Young Man In Pursuit of A Dream

His size matched his bass – large. They stood out. He played a calm tune. The white note at his side reads: “Please help send me to Interlochen Fine Arts High School”. In the heat of the afternoon a young man sweats in pursuit of a dream. Passion. Pursuit. Purpose. We live for this.

Butterfly on the Metro

I saw a man in a snow white shirt this afternoon. He had a big beautiful butterfly sitting on his shoulder. The color contrast was fantastic. For a second I thought it was a huge lapel pin until it flapped its wings. I gasped! Then I thought it was his “pet butterfly” because he didn’t seem to mind it. My excitement caused one other passenger to bring it to his attention. He threw it off while I frantically struggled to get out my camera for the perfect shot pleading with him to let it stay. My selfish human condition was exposed. He probably thought I was crazy.

We all kept our eyes on the butterfly until the train came to a stop. He picked it up. Two times he threw it up and two times it came right back down. It couldn’t fly.

A young girl, around 16 years old came over and held it.

Girl: Oh what a beautiful butterfly. It wants to commit suicide on the tracks.

Her Mum: Butterflies have a shot life span, we need to find a place to put it.

They decided to place it in a tree.

By coincidence the Washington post shared a photo of a similar butterfly on Instagram this evening and so I found out that it’s an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) native to Eastern North America.  Have a great weekend!

Music Makes Everything Alright - Farrugut North

This corner of Farrugut North is full of life: people commute back and forth, cars zoom by, beggars ask for help, newspaper vendors and fruit sellers all seek our attention.

But nothing gets people to stop like good music. Live bands, opera singers, violin players, boys trying to make raise funds for tuition - it's a variety really.

Yesterday a crowd gathered as these young men played Pharell's "Happy" and Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time". No one cared much for the suppressive heat, or places they had to go. They stood and listened, bobbed along and dropped a little something into the bucket.

The man without a shirt and the old lady caught my attention as they reveled in the music, their cares shelved for this moment.

A "passionate" story

I walked into a Giant Supermarket the other day and saw dark purple bulbs that looked like passion fruits. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I looked closer and indeed they were passion fruits.

We celebrated like we had found a gold mine. I scooped the core clean, leaving no seed to waste. The result was just right. We savored every last drop.

“Don’t drink it too fast. Take little sips, then think about something else. Then when you remember it’s there you’ll be very excited and it will be fresh again.” No prizes for guessing who said this. My little girl on the other hand could not believe we could make juice at home.

Spare a thought for us when you next drink this passion at leisure (for those of you, especially my friends in Uganda). 

Did you know its scientific name is “Passiflora edulis”? Well, just in case.