Author: Brooke Meyer Photographs

Retired Portrait & Dance Photographer in Cary, North Carolina, USA .

Walk Along A Country Road -Redux

Some memories, persist. Maybe due to Sunday quiet. Or old age. Or both.

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In this Sunday memory, Departmental Road 9, Belleau, Departement de l’Aisne (France), FR. It was a Monday in Sept. of 2017, 99 years after War.

The local American / French Museum was closed, so we walked along farm roads in gorgeous late September sunshine and quiet, to our destination.

You can get there easily from Paris, by Metro to Gare de l’Est, then express train to Château-Thierry and local taxi to Belleau. And can walk the battlefield in silence. Click images for full size.

“The Americans”

After two side trips, wandering about my local Barnes&Nobles bookstore and handling, twice, a plastic wrapped copy of “The Americans” by Robert Frank, I went home and discovered the Wake County Library didn’t have it. So I surfed my favorite book store, Goodwill Books . Us down sized Widowers know what old folks get rid of!

Found a copy near me, in Gastonia, North Carolina. Ordered and it arrived today. It is, extraordinary. And highly recommended.

Blue Hour

“Blue Hour” isn’t an an hour. It’s 15 or 20 minutes of Twilight. In mornings, before Sunrise. Or Evenings, after Sunset. And borderline magical.

Yep, I’d consulted the almanac. And watched my watch. And wrist compass.

2011 North Carolina State Fair – Photographed for Cary Citizen

Deja Butt

The news this week reminded me of an embarrassing incident I caused as a photographer, so focused on the image, the ride was was stopped!

The 2016 North Carolina State Fair featured a new “SkyRide” transporting visitors high across the Fair. Fascinated, I used my Fair & Press credentials to talk myself into the passenger loading area. Solely focused (no pun) on making a dramatic image, I (innocently and ignorantly) backed my butt up to the “Emergency Stop”. And it worked! And I got highly disapproving looks from the folks working the ride. Sheepishly, I slinked away.

So watching the video of a videographer riding an escalator backwards, ahead of the President & First Lady – yeah, no way he’s going to ‘fess up to the butt stop.

More Semi Legal Fun With Rodin

My first attempt at a High School Senior Portrait Session was 13 years ago. I’d made Prom Pictures in a neighbors home and was recommended to another neighbor. It was also about a half year before my lighting “Epiphany” and subsequent truckloads of gear. So outdoor ambient light it was.

After okay (and way better than Life Touch Prestige) sessions in the garden of Page Walker Arts & History Center (which I discovered later was illegal as I was being paid and did not have a Permit) and Raulston Arboretum (where it’s legal if you don’t interfere with Visitors or damage the horticulture), I suggested a visit to the North Carolina Museum of Art.

Rodin Garden at North Carolina Museum of Art – June 2012

Confession: I’m a a failed B.F.A. Major and Rodin fan. I’ve made multiple, full afternoon visits to Musée Rodin in Paris and spent quality time with the large scale marble sculptures on the mezzanine of the Musée d’Orsay. So I felt a kinship. And the young lady and her chaperone Mom agreed. And it planted the seed of an idea for my Illegal Sunday, 6 years later. And I bet if Auguste Rodin was still around and saw these, he’d grin.

Illegal Sunday

The month before making this promo image for “Collabo”, a joint performance by the Ballet & Jazz Companies at Cary Ballet Conservatory, I discovered, while visiting the NCMA (North Carolina Museum of Art) Booth at Cary’s “Lazy Daze”, it would not be allowed. There were new rules against “commercial” photography. Being well versed in corporate inanity, I acted surprised, nodded and smiled, saying I certainly understood.

Having previously photographed performances by the non-profit Cary Ballet Conservatory at NCMA and me working pro-bono and content I was breaking no rules, I devised a work around. First, I didn’t tell anyone. Second, it was planned for a Sunday and I knew the NCMA Rep at Lazy Daze wouldn’t be there. Third, I deployed Dance Moms on the perimeter and nobody messes with Dance Moms – plus they were also VALS (Voice Activated Light Stands) and held a bunch of “speed lights” triggered from my camera.

There is a 24″ x 36″ framed print of this image on my living room wall. I would be willing to lend it to NCMA for display – Gratis! Seriously!

North Carolina Museum of Art – 23 Sept 2018

To Dance and Dream

It’s hard to comprehend this was only four years ago. I was still a “Widower Novitiate”. Work provided balance. This studio session was with a stunning natural beauty and drop dead graceful, elegant dancer. Proof that the Great Spirit was in a really good mood when she was born. To work, to collaborate with such hard working artists was a great gift. I was very, very lucky.

Studio Session at Cary Ballet Conservatory – June 2021

Almost Fair Time

The North Carolina State Fair begins next month, 16 to 26 October.

This gallery from 2009 was my first visit and I was overwhelmed. It is color and crowds and noise and crazy food and animals and rides and wonderful.

From 2010 to 2019, I had Press Credentials from the Fair & Cary Citizen! Which included a Parking Pass to the Vendor Lot at Carter Finley Stadium and a Shuttle to the Fair! Plus, before opening day, I would select two images from the previous Fair to enter into the Photography Competition. Winning “Best Fair Scene” in 2016 with a Ribbon and a Check, I think made me an Official “Tar Heel”!

Re-visiting those galleries is a project I hope to finish by the start of this year’s Fair. Meanwhile, here is my skimpy, amateur maiden voyage. Click each for full size

Rejected! – “Salon des Refusés”

In 1863 Paris, paintings by Gustave Courbet, Édouard Manet and Camille Pissarro were rejected by the Paris Salon. Today, I received the same from an online Juried Digital photography competition, sponsored by a local camera club. So in the tradition of the Salon des Refusés, here are my rejects.

Dubious – “This Tap Dance Croc Rock thing doesn’t really work for me!”

Seen – “The guy with the long lens on a tripod – he looks legit.”

Tough – “Glamorous, my foot!

Not Ducky

Early today was a trip to the Post Office for some family business, then a self promised visit to the Downtown Cary Farmers Market.

Downtown Cary Park is a wonderful place to visit and walk and get vitamins in your heart from seeing dogs and children and their attendant grown-ups, play. So I was smitten by a 2 or maybe three year old tow head, looking down in excitement by activity in the pond below a wonderful walking bridge.

Curious, I learned over the railing to see a pair of female Mallard ducks bobbing for food. Without thinking, I said aloud, mostly for the excited little boy “those are girl ducks”. His father, who looked like a prosperous and well groomed “30ish” said aloud “how do you know?”

Stunned, I said Mallard ducks are very common around here and the Males (Drakes) have dark blue green heads and neck rings. Silence.

So I looked at Mom and said “There are lots more at the boathouse at Bond Park, you’ll see what I mean”. And it was like I had revealed a “secret”.

And I wondered how far we have removed ourselves from our native environment while addicted to the nonsense of oxymoronically “SmartPhones”. Which sort of explains the one handed left turning young man driving a Honda while holding his phone in the other as I waited to cross Academy Street to the park.

We are, I think, as Neil Postman wrote “Amusing Ourselves To Death”.

“Saturday, I go out to play”.

1947, T-Bone Walker wrote this lyric. My hearing of it is Eva Cassidy.

Today, this old carcass got out to the Cary Downtown Park to test drive some new gear. A monochrome only sensor (take that Bayer Filter!) and some colored filters traditionally used on B&W film. I was today, a novitiate.

Another gray hair did a presentation at Cary Photographic Artists and I hit that thing like a bass to a lure! Turns out, odd duck that I am, been using Pentax gear forever. So I already had the glass.

Weather turned from ugly to wonderful. So test drive today aka “play” with a monochrome only sensor and colored filters (it’s a physics / visible spectrum / traditional B&W film thing). Saturday, in the park. Click each for full size.

A Horse, Of Course!

Halfway through a new edit of four (ok, five) photography sessions for an ex co-worker & /friend from my corporate days. Roughly a year before my exit/nearly fired by mainland China Managers, I’d been self teaching photography after a 2007 incident in Paris where a skilled pick pocket “liberated” an already obsolete Sony P&S from my jacket, hung on the back of a bistro chair while I went to the loo. But that’s not what this is about.

May 2009

A trusting co-worker and horse owner bought into my photography enthusiasm! We set up a shoot session at the stable where she boarded her horse. It was my first introduction to:

A. The inexplicable bond between horses & women.

B. Discovering all Stable owners are crazy.

C. I had a LOT to learn about making photographs. A lot!

So with enthusiasm and naivete, we made some photographs. Which I was embarrassed by. So I asked for and got a d0-over. Looking at the photographs I made for her 3, 7 and 11 years later (different horses), I can see the difference made by the experience of a wearing out s bunch of camera bodies and maybe 6oo to 700 K clicks. How to get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice!

Showtime!

Today, finished editing and posting (including a play I mis”played”) all the dress rehearsals of Cary Player production I photographed for Cary Citizen between 2011 and 2016! Online galleries are here, just click on the name: Cary Players Galleries.

And 2016 was, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!

Dress Rehearsal – Cary Arts Center – 28 November 2016

In Quiet and Peace

USS Andrew Jackson SSB(N) 619 – U.S. Navy Photo

Long ago, three addresses and two houses and one widower hood past, a summer visitation to Grandmas settled one evening to watch “Band of Brothers”. A grandson by marriage, left to his room while watching, finding it too violent. Which I thought was, “good on him”.

I cannot, not remember the scene where Dick Winters is portrayed on D+1, of 7 June 1944: “I would live this war one day at a time, and I promised myself that if I survived, I would find a small farm somewhere in the Pennsylvania countryside and spend the remainder of my life in quiet and peace.”

As an old man, I cherish my quiet and peace. And understand how much of modern noise is exactly that, just meaningless noise. I remarked today, to my very young neighbor and dog rescuer, that as much as her dog has learned to trust me, she still suffers from unimaginable treatment before her rescue as a puppy, from a Dumpster. Some scars are always felt.

Principals

Oct. of 2010 found me floundering, looking for a raison d’etre. Newly decoupled from an IT job at Lenovo nee IBM PC Company, south of Social Security and burnt from the inanity of self absorbed navel gazers who professed omnipotence, my tank was empty. Which properly worried my sweetheart about how we were going to get along.

So trying to find my bearings . I got a legit press pass from “Cary Citizen” and went to photograph “Celebration of The Children In the Arts”. Which was, unknown to me, a gateway spiritual drug. I found my artistic North Star!

100% naive of Ballet, Deanna Seay (who’d I had no idea had just retired as Principal Soloist at Miami City Ballet or had any idea of what that meant) was very kind and supportive and invited me to just come and watch classes.

And I remember thinking “This is hard – really hard – way harder than than Football or Basketball!” And I got to meet and photograph Principals who were very kind to my endeavors

Deanna Seay Master Class – February 2011

Maria Chapman Kennedy with Mimi Staker – August 2012

Elizabeth Gaither & Class – July 2014

The Upside of Age 75

No, this old carcass can’t do what it used to do. Just like the stuff I couldn’t do as a child, before adolescence, teens and adult ages. So we are, I think, on a journey, whether we wish to or not!

3D Jazz Project at Cary Ballet Conservatory – Cary Arts Center, April 2013

There is, in my widower dotage, a blessed quietude and relief from worry. I shopped today for what I had on my list, knowing the budget was okay.

I am blessedly relieved from the incessant noise of oxymoronically “Social Media”. I have no concern or involvement with Door Dash, FaceBook, Uber, TikTok, Amazon Drone Delivery or the really oxymoronically named “Artificial Intelligence”.

I did grow up with and make a living with and from digital technology and yeah, hook up an inference engine to a knowledge data base -you’re still left with what you already know, ya’ know? Just convenient- like a calculator.

So this blessed relief, to borrow a Thomas Hardy title, of being “Far From The Madding Crowd”, is my luxury. I’m good with that.

Sea Story -And This Is No Sh*T!

It is nearly an obligation to relate the experience of the previous generation to the latest. Which explains my relating the experience of a then, very young Submariner to my young neighbor last afternoon. I told her about “Kiddie Cruises” aka Annapolis Midshipmen ordered to the USN Fleet, in summer.

USS Andrew Jackson SSB(N) 619 – U.S. Navy Photo

I was crew aboard a Lafayette Class Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine. We operated from a tender in Rota, Spain.

Weapons Gang is also Deck Gang so I was top side when a Midshipman (not lying, blonde good looking boy) crossed the brow and announced to the Chief Steward, Senior Chief Petty Officer Willie Jackson (who NOBODY messed with and whose shoulders blotted out the Sun) his bags were on the Pier. Chief Jackson rolled his eyes while our XO, LCDR Russell took his cigar out of his mouth and explained to the Midshipman how much time he would be allowed to retrieve his bags and report to the Wardroom where the errors of his ways would be explained, in plain language.

Submarines are a meritocracy and nobody cares about your rank. And no one aboard was going to sign that Child’s Qual Card.

Twenty Years Now, Where’d It Go?

Been in Grandpa mode lately with a young neighbor about budgets and knowing where your/her money goes. Laying out my August budget yesterday, I got to thinking about the last 12 months – a widower period of transition. I am, to paraphrase Joni Mitchell an “Ageing Child”.

Digging through paper files (remember paper) from this past year, I added up about a total of $8,500 of maintenance for my 2005 Silverado Work Truck. Bought new in May of 2005. Took back to the Mother-ship aka Hendrick Chevrolet in Cary. And I can’t tell the difference from new. Had plenty of time in the Service Dept. waiting room to surf their current deals. Cheapest I could find was triple what I paid in 2005.

Like a Rock!

It’s hauled 3 yard loads of mulch, a yard of crush & run stone, new washer & dryers in and old ones out. Retrieved loads of dried, rough sawed white oak from a mill by the NC State Fairgrounds after a tree service hauled the eight f00t+ long logs there from a big ole tree dropping bark by my house that needed harvesting. Moved sons in and out of UNC Chapel Hill & Greensboro dorms. Moved wood shop tools from house to storage at down sizing. Moved a couple of yards of construction debris from town house during last kitchen renovation for my late sweetheart. Hauled a ton of studio lighting gear for a dozen years. And it moved me to where I am now.

Current role is daily driver – Lowe’s Foods, BJ’s Warehouse, Total Wine and La Farm Bakery. We are both, taking it easy.

Both Sides of This Life

My young neighbor & BFF confirmed the accuracy of an extraordinary article in the New York Times about modern courtship – okay “Dating” : The Trouble With Wanting Men: “Women are so fed up with dating men that the phenomenon even has a name: heterofatalism”

In about two weeks, I’ll finish my 75th turn around the Sun. And I had no idea. Had a well intended but doomed first marriage of 21 years. Me and my soulmate both got it right the second time. For nearly 30 years. Till death did part us.

But this – chronological men acting like boys – makes me embarrassed. Young men, I believe, need the focus and discipline of Recruit Training in Armed Services. Better, actual service. So the ladies don’t have to do two jobs – their day job for a paycheck and the second job, caring for a man-child.

Garden Of Stone

Aisne-Marne American Cemetery – Belleau, France

Made this photograph in late September of 2o17. From St. Paul Metro Station in the Marais District of Paris, it’s a short ride to Gare Est. Then, a morning express train to Château-Thierry. Next, a local taxi.

99 years after the Battle of Belleau Wood and 1 year before the American President, in Paris, chose not to attend the Centennial Memorial. It was attended by the Commandant of the Unites States Marine Corps. And Marines.

On my visit, I walked the Battlefield in silence and solitude. The American President who dishonored Marines, I do not forgive.

Old Man Fun!

My neighbor & bestie and her dog visit often, in late afternoon. Ok, it involves dog treats – it’s Pavlovian. But that’s not what this is about. It’s about a sort of Duck Call noise maker aforesaid dog (pictured below) liberated from a stuffed toy. Which resides by my old school phone handset (Ooma).

“Dumpster” Rescue – thrown away in a garbage bin as a puppy.

It is, delightful, to respond to Scam Calls (i.e. “Pre-Approved Consolidation Loans” , “IRS Tax Relief”) from spoofed numbers, as in Press 2 , and greet the answer “Who am I speaking to?” with multiple duck calls! Same deal with later calling the “866” numbers they leave. Sometimes, muffled cursing, sometimes laughter but mostly, hang-ups. It is, highly entertaining! And the calls have reduced, dramatically! I may have been placed on the Official Sleazeball Scammer “Do Not Call List”!

A Step Ahead of Tariffs

Somewhere around 2014, after downsizing to a Townhouse on the far east edge of Wake County, I attempted to put down roots in the local community – aka teaching photography classes for Town of Clayton Parks & Rec. Center. Got along well with the young lady in charge of programs. Which failed spectacularly when she was promoted and replaced with – I am not making this up – two men. But that’s not what this is about.

I’d discovered YN-560 III speed lights – fully manual, with built in radio receivers for wireless remote control – for $58 each from B&H in NYC! Robust and throw away cheap compared to OEM speed lights by a factor of 8 or 9! Killer good for head shots and a whole bunch of other stuff

So teaching a lighting class at the Clayton Community Center one evening, a newly purchased YN-560 III suffered an infantile failure in the hands of a student. I assured her, it was something that happens with electronics and next day, logged on to order a replacement. And the $58 price was now $85! Confused, I asked the Google to explain and the answer was a new Tariff.

Which explains why I decided yesterday to buy, probably my last camera, from B&H in NYC, ahead of the 25% Tariffs announced, today on goods from Japan. Yeah, another $550 for I have no idea what would’ve been a deal breaker.

Thursday Night Opera

Tonight, 3 July 2025, is Don Giaovanni on WCPE. Long ago, after teaching a Photography Class at Page Walker Arts & History Center, I listened to Thursday Night Opera on my drive home. Usually, understand not a word.

Soprano Lora Fabio – Page Walker Arts & History Center, 24 November 2013

Yet, it was a comfort. A connection to humanity. Across generations and centuries. And once, at a Winter Concert at Page Walker, ostensibly making photographs for Cary Citizen, after I thought I had the story, put down my camera and – I didn’t know a human voice could do that. Later, unable to speak – she understood. I was jelly. “Song To The Moon” from Rusalka by Dvorak – oh my.

Sundays – Stories

My Weapons Officer aboard USS Andrew Jackson was far and away, the best Officer I ever served. Lt. Roger Kline jumped into an open Missile Hatch while we were loading Birds in Rota as I was exercising my right to bitch about – everything. Spread eagled in an open Missile Hatch, he looked at me and said “Meyer, I’m not fucking this horse, I’m just holding it for a friend”. Later, I learned he was CO of an SSN in ComSubPac. And an NJROTC Instructor in South Carolina. We made “Sand Women”on the beach in St Croix after a 79+ day Patrol, including a high speed transit from the Med. We were all, drunk. And handling Line 1 on departure, I saw him grinning atop the sail as he had the conn – shit faced and still more competent that the rest of the Ward Room.

USS Andrew Jackson SSB(N) 619 – U.S. Navy Photo

Shoo!

Heard my upstairs neighbor empathically say, through blessedly open screens to fresh air after a rain cooled off the unrelenting heat of the week! She is rightfully resentful of Rabbits munching her plantings. They are gastronomically cheeky, as a lady a few apartments down, feeds them.

And having been self embarrassed at previously missing a photo opportunity by having to dive into my camera bag to find a lens, mount it and check the battery and memory card, I’ve left a ready camera near my door. Disclaimer: I tossed a piece of celery leaf from my dinner outside. It was left, ignored – I was had! And the missing piece of ear -not easy being a Rabbit! Still, we both agree on Billy Holiday.

“Faith and Begorrah”

This afternoon, I finished a fresh edit of “Nunsense”, a 2013 Cary Players production of the musical. It is near the end of all the plays I photographed for Cary Citizen. And I plan to give the finished archive to Cary Players, gratis. But that’s not what this is about. It’s about declaring spiritual free agency.

Primarily, I believe, due to cultural family inertia, I was sent to 1st Grade at a Catholic Elementary School. At that age, you believe the grown-ups, especially in 1956. Eventually I got my Catholic religious ticket punched with 1st Communion, complete with a blue suit and a big family party that funded a new bicycle! And later, Confirmation, where you’re supposed to be old enough to choose – as if I had a choice.

In about a month, I’ll be 75. And I vividly remember being hauled from the asphalt playground to meet Sister Mary Edward of the Order of The Sacred Heart. Drug dealers wish their bull dogs looked that mean. I was accused of being a “bully”, having been seen swinging back at a real bully and defending myself, like my TV Cowboy Heroes. So 2nd Grade me was made to hold out my hands, palm up while Sister Mary Edward beat them with a varnished yardstick. It was real wrong and while I didn’t have the courage to declare my spiritual free agency until late in High School, I knew. I’ve been to churches of three different faiths this year for Choral Concerts. They were wonderful.

Aha Moment

Fifteen minutes before my turned off, 225 F oven, renders portions of slow cooker pork stew (seasoned neck bones, homemade stock and all the vegetables that needed using) to go on brown rice & millet in homemade veg stock, I’ve some time to write.

Best I can remember, I cycled through 13 or 14 DSLR’s between 2007 and now. There are, 500 or 600 K clicks later, a lot of stories. But today, duh, I realized all my work had to do with intimacy. With us humans. Even my OBX photographs are about, being alone, with clarity.

This is from one of my last portrait sessions. A young woman I’d known as a young Dancer. And I got to visit with her and her Mom and give them the prints they ordered. It answered the question of why, I made photographs.

Ain’t Misbehavin’

I do not remember how or where I found this CD. Probably pawing through a bargain bin. But if you’re hiding out in A/C from a heat dome and the insanity of world news, with room temperature Bourbon and a Harp Lager, it is Oasis.

And, there is a remastered CD of “April In Paris” on the way from Goodwill Minneapolis. One more time!

What Really Matters

Late today, in dangerous heat, I watched a U-Haul Truck unload into an empty apartment in my building. While I was tending the Clam Sauce for my Linguini. In comfortable air conditioning. A vivid reminder of life changes.

Stopped working in the Fall of 2022. And now, luxurious with time, seeing it again. School holidays were Golden Time for me. I could move a ton of lighting gear into studio for a week and schedule dancer sessions. The Artist & Dad genes in me kicked in. I was, chest beating proud of them all. Her folks know!

Studio Session, Cary Ballet Conservatory – 27 Dec 2019

Cognition

The news today included a strike by Employees of the Louvre. 45 years ago, newly discharged from the U.S.N, luck found me attending a large group (required for Ed. Majors) lecture class at the College of Charleston. The Prof was Tony Jansen . I was young and full of my salty sailor self and stupidly blew off his insight and brilliance. I was making Art, he was just talking about it! ‘Cept he knew and studied and thought a helluva lot more than I had.

And even then, the “Mona Lisa” at the Louvre had gone beyond iconic. I think it was 2007, first visit and it was a mob. Good luck actually being able to see the painting. Today, with selfies, pointless and intolerable. I do recommend the Musee D’Orsay, Wed. mornings and a Visite Pass. You’ll have about 20 minutes on the fifth floor before the selfie crowd.

Almost, Summer

Summer Solstice starts this Friday evening. Here in North Carolina, it’s been been July muggy heat, early. Saw my first Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on my Viburnum. Missed making it’s photograph mostly due to my inactivity (aka lazy old guy photographer).

Redeemed my professional embarrassment with a Bee. And today, a young Cottontail who took leisure ‘neath the shade of my Apt. Complex Landscaper Protected aforesaid Viburnum. Doves, Towhees, Chipping Sparrows – way more entertaining than any streaming service or social media app.

Reflections

This is not AI or Photoshop. Made this image of Yates Mill Pond in Nov. of 2024. It’s simply the Mill, reflected in the pond, from an observation deck opposite.

When I was making this photograph, test driving some new to me gear and working on finding my balance as a newly relocated widower, I fell into conversation with a young man sitting on a bench there. He was a young man. Younger than my sons. And regardless of my “I’m just an old guy photographer schtick”, it didn’t take long to realize he was trying to find solace from family conflict, driven by their inability to comprehend his experience of war.

So, my Dad gene kicked in and I listened. Which is, as I explained to my very young neighbor today, just the same as the woman at BJ’s Warehouse who checked me out today and lost her husband one month ago – after taking care of him with Parkinson’s and working full time. And we talked about losing a spouse. But mostly, I listened. It was, for both of us, hard reflection. And solace.

The Old Man

Recently, curating the photographs I made of the Cary Players productions for Cary Citizen, I got to thinking about this play’s author, Jean Shepherd. And the “Old Man”.

My father, my “Old Man”, disagreed violently with me, about a lot. Race was a biggie. But his ethics were impeccable.

So when he came home after a day on a hot, concrete shop floor to learn that I’d had my older brother’s Benjamin Air Rifle (previous Christmas present) confiscated by the City of Brooklyn (Ohio) Police Dept., it was not a surprise to be put in the family car after supper, to drive to Brooklyn City Hall & Police Sept..

There was a Police Sergeant at the desk . My father explained while he was there, with me behind him. The Old Man asked one question -“Did he do anything wrong?” No answered the Sergeant, but an old lady called in, concerned.

The Old Man said “Give me the BB Gun.” And it was retrieved. And we went home. And I felt safe. Like Red Ryder.

How To Pour A Beer

Dinner in stove to warm, killer good clam linguine. Dog sitting and have some time to write.

And I left the kitchen with a beer in a glass that my Mom showed me how to pour: “down the side, halfway up, in the middle”. She learned as a teenager, waiting tables in her Hungarian stepfather’s bar & restaurant, “Charlie’s Cafe”, an immigrant and workman’s saloon on Woodhill & Buckeye in east Cleveland , Ohio.

Charlie was a widower with a son, my Uncle Chuck. Married my Grandmother, Mary, a Hungarian immigrant divorcee.

Mom was 17 and waiting tables, when my 26 year old father walked in. Two weeks later, he drove her to Covington, Kentucky to get married. He swore, he was “shot down by a pair of 38’s”.

Later, with kids in a post WWII bedroom suburb, Mom worked weekend nights in a saloon near the factories, foundries and machine shops on Brookpark Road. To meet the bills. The old man hated it! She’d get $5 tips, multiple hours of current wages! Guys drinking on Fridays, after getting paid were generous with good looking waitresses!

I remember being half asleep in the backseat of a Hudson Wasp, in PJ’s, with a younger brother, to bring her home after her shift.

The minute they could get by without her tips, he forbade it. And for 54 years of marriage, till his last breath, he was wildly, completely, in love with her.

Old Guy, Musing

My first paycheck in 1965, was for 75 cents per hour, checking clothes and checking toes at a suburban, Municipal swimming pool. Aspired to be a Lifeguard, completed the required Red Cross Course but as I was not yet 16, was awarded a “Junior Lifesaving Badge”, so no Lifeguard Job. My first experience with meeting requirements but still, disqualified.

Later and wiser, I lied about my age and enrolled in a YMCA Scuba Certification Course, when it was still Tarzan requirements. Swim a mile, tread water with just arms for 20 minutes, then just legs for 20 minutes. Watched returning Vietnam Vets who could afford the gear, struggle. Took my open water qual in a Northeast Ohio quarry in February, in an ill fitting, borrowed wet suit (no money) and thought I’d never be warm, again.

Made E-7 money as an E-5 Submariner with Pro Pay and Boat Pay and FSA. And except for a year at the College of Charleston (GI Bill and VA part time job) after nine years of Canoe Club, worked. Until spring of 2010 – Lenovo, who’d purchased the IBM PC Company, my employer, made my further career, null.

From 2010, except for getting a Wake County “Certified Pool Operator” Certificate and managing our HOA’s Swimming Pool, I had an encore career as a Portrait and Dance Photographer. COVID and becoming a widower ended that, in the Fall of 2022,

So from 1968 to 2022, some 54 years, I paid my dues. Now, I’m just going to be at peace.

My Bob Seger Moment

Polaroid – in front of my first apartment. Back from my second patrol aboard a Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine. Me and my Mom in a newly purchased, well used, 1960 Corvette. Two years later, I had it right.

But that day, heading to the Menriv (Mendel Rivers) Convenience store at the Polaris Missile Facility, Atlantic, I was taking chances. Long two lane, in piney woods, looked and saw I was doing 85 MPH and maybe I should go to third gear and maybe, fourth. Mom had a NASCAR grin! Like a rock!

Lie II: Like A Rock

Early in 2005, I was abusing the family bus (aka Grand Caravan) for household hauling. Eldest son snagged an RA job at UNC Chapel Hill. So the Old Man (moi) decided we (Moi) could afford a pickup truck. Got an offer I couldn’t refuse from the very new “Internet” Sales Manager at Hendrick Chevrolet. Plus, a discount due to my younger brother’s employment at Chevrolet.

20 years on, since buying the truck, it’s moved mulch, appliances, drywall, lumber and students from UNC Chapel Hill and UNC G. And me.

It’s spent some time recently, at the mother ship Hendrick Chevrolet (aka NASCAR Garage). My last ride.

Do You See?

Like trying to explain to a horse, I’ve been struggling to explain to myself, what I want. So taking a hiatus/retreat/sabbatical/down time/hiding out for awhile.

This blog has two purposes: An audience of one and an outlet for my voice.

Time to write, carefully. It will be a quiet time. Here and at home.

Maybe, as Shirley Horn sang, September.

Memorial

As a Submariner, I only made two Surface voyages. Both, were as one of six Enlisted Sailors and a LTJG, as a USN security party aboard Merchant Marine converted WWII Victory Ships: USNS Norwalk & USNS Marshfield.

USNS Marshfield (T-AK-282)
USNS Norwalk (T-AK 279)

It was a long time ago. Charleston to Rota, Spain or Holy Loch Scotland were about 10 days, each way, at about 17 knots. Good chow and decent twarthship racks.

We kept watch on a cargo hold of Polaris Missiles. Thermonuclear weapons included. Monitored temperature and potential leaks of hydrogen isotopes.

Had an M1911A in a holster, riveted to a desk. Of boredom, on watch, I would field strip and reassemble the other five stored there. Like solitaire. After awhile, I would do it with eyes closed and time myself.

There is great spiritual peace to be found, alone on the fantail at 0300, mid Atlantic. No light pollution and the stars are clear.

Both ships have been scrapped, long ago. Memory continues.

Blessed

I am greatly looking forward to burrowing into a stack of books and finding my voice about the Art of Photography. Still, there are irresistible distractions!

Like making photographs of beautiful, healthy, well loved children at an extraordinary Elementary School. I had no idea that graduation from Kindergarten was a ceremony until a young neighbor and teacher and fortuitous confidant clued me in. So I went and made photographs. Norman Rockwell would be proud!

Today, anticipating a long, peaceful weekend of good food, monographs and medium bodied bourbon, she brought a stack of Thank You Notes made by six year olds after they saw my work. And reduced this 220 lb, 74 year old curmudgeon to a pile of goo and tears.

Child’s name is Anvi – a Hindu name meaning “reflecting on divine knowledge”, “breath of life,” “soul,” or “spirit.”

The Importance of Teachers

Early this week, I made photographs of a Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony at a wonderful nearby school where a young neighbor and dear friend, teaches. I finished the edit this afternoon. Gave her a USB Drive to share with the School, Faculty and Parents. Without parental permission, I can’t show them here. And BTW, anyone who thinks teaching is easy, in spite of being a Fitness Buff, she was wiped out from long days at the end of school year.

But I did have permission when I made this photograph. And I could not stop thinking about the fact that this young woman, guiding the very young dancers here, was adopted, from a far away land. And pray every child has a good teacher.

Cary Ballet Conservatory “Aspiring Dancers” 18 May 2019

Midnight Ice Cream – II

Sometimes, especially for old photographers, sleep is elusive. This, from almost exactly six years ago, was a child seeking refuge from Stage Fright. And the image has stayed in memory. I know exactly how she feels.

Cary Ballet Conservatory “Aspiring Dancers” 18 May 2019

Muse Redux

Late in 2018, I decided to let go of film & medium format cameras. New digital versions were astronomically expensive and the film versions were costly, in money and time.

This photograph is from a last portrait session with a Pentax 645N Film Camera and Kodak Ektar film. Had the film processed and scanned the negatives myself. The process after that is just the same as a Digital Negative.

But that’s not what this is about. It’s about Art and Artists. Which explains the rolls of Ektar film in my frig., that fit my 1914 Kodak Autographic Junior & 1925 Kodak Brownie Model F.

Old guy, responsible me, has been mulling selling my post widower, post house sale purchased, 645 Digital Gear. Nah. The Muse Provides. I got plans.

Portrait Session at Cary Ballet Conservatory – May 2018

Lucy’s Song

As I explained to my young neighbor, it’s all her fault! Bringing her dumpster rescue dog to visit after her work day, to visit and talk story.

And I told her about the N.C. State Vet Student who was fostering this rescue that was her proof of ability to spay. Who I connected through a connection of dog rescuers. And volunteered to a make adoption photographs. And we did!

Raleigh – November 2010

Still Learning

By now, I though I’d be further along, organizing and curating a dozen years of work at Cary Ballet Conservatory. The delay is mostly due to the luxury of quiet time and vivid memory. And reflection. An example is this photograph.

Eight years earlier, her Mom hired me to make photographs of her First Communion at the Church Altar. A new and agreeable Monsignor literally gave his blessing to me working during the Mass.

Cary Ballet Company: Space & Tech Rehearsal, 13 March 2019 – Cary Arts Center

One year later, nearly to the day after I made this photograph, there was another Space & Tech Rehearsal for the 2020 production – just days before COVID cancelled pretty much everything. And that Fall, I became a widower.

Things sort of got back to normal by late 2022 – but my “creative spirit” tank was on fumes and I retired.

Now my goal is to share what I learned about Craft and Art. Working on that!

Bitter Sweet

Today, FedEx delivered a lens that I’ve spent six months searching for. Bought my first copy around 2010, just as it was discontinued by the mfr. Paid $1,400 then, a sum of intense discussion between my newly corporate laid off self and my late wife. But embarking on my encore career, I’d promised myself I’d never miss another photograph of an actor because I lacked the right gear. That it was a youth theater performance, was to me, irrelevant.

Sold it after she died, with a bunch of other gear, no longer used or needed by a retired photographer.

Cary Ballet Company, March 2019

And then recently, volunteered to photograph, pro bono, some Elementary School events. Which caused me to look for a replacement that was, like a Hens’s Tooth, not to be found. So, bought some almost wannabe lenses that just didn’t resonate. And will be sold soon. Here’s the bittersweet part.

Covid changed everything. And caused an exciting, beautiful young dancer to return to Latin America. And unable to cope with his illness and crushed dreams, ended his life.

Into The Sun

Made this photograph nearly 15 years ago, on a weekend. Hiding out from some of my late wife’s about to visit relatives.

North of Hatteras, found an off season, duck hunters motel in Manteo. Cheap. And like the song “Sheets so thin, I could see myself grin”. The National Seashore is open 24×7. 0430, fuel up with guys filling boats with ice and gas.

Later, got a pre-dawn, cursory glance from an ATV riding Park Ranger, patrolling the beach. My tripod explained my presence.

So I was left in peace. It is, in a way, a prayer.

And my plan is, in about 10 years or so, or whenever one of my vital parts hits its expiration date, my ashes will be scattered, about three miles east. In compliance with North Carolina State Law.

Which allows that maybe, 100 years from now, I could be a speck of a kids sand castle on Nag’s Head. And so it goes

Saturday Service

This afternoon, nearly demanded an outdoor excursion, especially ahead of two days of forecast rain.

I visited what I consider a cathedral, the Wildflower Garden at Hemlock Bluffs Nature Reserve. A 19 year old lens and a beater camera body with 146K clicks on it. Old and worn, like me. Click an image for full size

“Every Time We Say Goodbye”

Listening to the 1958 recording by Tony Bennett, sometimes, inhibits sleep. Maybe because of the Cole Porter lyric.

Or maybe, because of some photographs I made at Camp Lejeune. The day of a year long deployment to a far away land, of danger, long ago.

And I told a very young friend about it today. And I showed her these.

“Every time we say goodbye, I die a little”

“Every time we say goodbye, I wonder why a little”

“Why the Gods above me, who must be in the know
Think so little of me, they allow you to go”

“When you’re near, there’s such an air of spring about it
I can hear a lark somewhere begin to sing about it
There’s no love song finer
But how strange the change from major to minor
Every time we say goodbye”

Bravo!

I made this photograph in January of 2022, about 10 months before age & widower grief convinced me to retire. And I remember being struck by the artistry of a very young woman. Told her that plainly, afterward, in the lobby, in the presence of her father.

This evening, at A J Fletcher Opera Theater in Raleigh, I watched her dance the lead role in the ballet “Coppelia”. I can’t even imagine the work she’s invested in her craft since. But I know great art when I see it. Makes life worth living.

Front Porch Visitor

Worn out after food shopping, exercise and vacuuming, I parked my tired old body next to an open screen on a gorgeous day, after the landscape crew mowers & blowers were done, savoring Bourbon & Beer, while dinner warms.

And watched this Senior Citizen Rabbit cruise by and chow down on low hanging Holly Leaves in front of my apartment. And thought about how many times I read “Runaway Bunny”, long ago.

Saturday

Today, the Postman (saw him) delivered my 2026 NC Vehicle Registration. I affixed the sticker to my, as of next month, 20 year old license plate.

Thursday, following the Tuesday NC State Inspection at the Mother Ship (Hendrick Chevrolet) and a Goat Rodeo Uber pickup, had all 4 tires replaced and a 4 wheel alignment done.

Wherein Brake Linings declared “Yellow” and “May Need Attention At Next Service” on Tuesday, were declared “Red” and need immediate replacement.

So I made an Online Service Appointment to fix up all four, next Wednesday, a day ahead of my Six Month Routine Appointment with my Primary Care Provider. I am, like my Truck, getting old and worn. But I am not, repeat NOT, getting any new parts!

Midnight Ice Cream

Literally up the street from my widowers apartment, is the hardware store I was parking at, on a Saturday in 2000, when I heard “Red Dirt Girl” on the radio. The program was “Prairie Home Companion”.

I’d gone to get something needed for a long sold house, filled with children and dogs and my sweetheart. Before the scars of the inevitable.

Music, like all Art, can be intensely resonant. So 25 years later, an old man, waking from an after dinner nap, in the quiet midnight, finds solace in memory. And ice cream.

Amen- A Very Good Sunday Service

Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra: The Way from Birmingham

My very young neighbor & Music Teacher & Cary Concert Singer member, told me about this performance – with regret – as she’d be away on a planned Spring Break. Bought a ticket and went to the Stewart Theater in the Talley Student Union on the NC State Campus. It was a luxury to be an audience member there instead of working in theater rear, photographing performances of the Cary Ballet Company!

The performance by Orchestra and Chorus was world class and wonderful.

There are benefits to living near a State Capital with great Universities.

Ain’t No Money In Poetry*

*”Cold Dog Soup” by Guy Clark

The last time I visited with this young dancer was during a Saturday Studio Session. I’d hired her to guide young dancer audition sessions. She had all the technical dance foundation I didn’t. Some “No Shows” allowed time to visit.

And we discussed how even though she had a contract with a professional Ballet Company, when she looked at the hours, it was barely minimum wage.

Later, I learned she went back to university and then entered the corporate world for far better money. Art is really, really hard.

Space & Tech – 3D Jazz Project Co. at Cary Ballet Conservatory Cary Arts Center – 18 April 2012

Permanent Collection

I knew the print was still hanging on the second floor of the Cary Arts Center but had no idea it was in the Town’s Website: Four Off The Floor

It’s well intended but displays the picture maker reflected in the glass (which I no longer use on displayed prints). And the focus is really soft.

Here’s what I wish it was displayed as:

Space & Tech Rehearsal – 3D Jazz Project Co. at Cary Ballet Conservatory Cary Arts Center – 18 April 2012

Heavenly

Made this photograph, 3 July 2011 – a Sunday. At the newly renovated and yet unopened, Cary Arts Center. There was a”Wet Paint” sign on the theater stage and I’m not sure if they had a CO (Certificate of Occupancy ) yet.

Didn’t know yet but I would spend a lot time there, working, until the Fall of 2022.

I do know that the adult male in the upper left, had just arrived from Belgium, with the rest of the Brussels Chamber Orchestra. The three young violinists were members of the Triangle Youth Symphony.

I don’t understand how anyone can read music and play it. Some sort of mysterious alchemy. Art, I finally realized, is my spirituality. It sustains me.

Re-Engaging – American Girls

True story. Made this photograph in the “Annex” of the since sold & relocated Cary Ballet Conservatory. A Mom from the 3D Project Jazz Company left me a voice mail message (remember voice mail). Which I listened to on my laptop speakers in a Paris Apartment. Replied, we were flying home next day and yes, I could do a Sunday promo shoot.

No time to plan or rent gear.

Did have a 5 by 9 ft piece of black velour from Joann Fabrics. My late wife had sewn in rod pockets for hanging as a background. They’re laying on it.

Had one light up on a boom but was standing on a shaky piece of the lobby furniture while the Instructor, a big man named Yaqshaan Medan, was holding my belt & waist band, while I reached out over the very young dancers, with back button focus. And it worked!

Which explains why I entered it, this week, into a Digital Only Open Juried Photograph Completion.

That’s a lie – the real reason is, I have to remember to breathe when I look at it.

1 October 2017

The Moon & Me

I no longer live behind a golf course, my tripod on the empty expanse in the midnight, sky above the tree line. This week, a Lunar Eclipse will happen again. I’m pretty sure, it will look like this. Eugene Cernan, the last Man On The Moon, left his daughters initials, “TDC”, on it. Still there.

Back To Work Monday

I’m gathering speed on the array of photo editing & writing projects in plan! Today was editing and posting another Koka Booth Amphitheater event I photographed for Cary Citizen, in 2011. It was my sophomore year covering Town of Cary public events, which explains a lot more “keepers” than my freshman 2010 attempt. I was learning.

Eid al-Fitr is a holiday celebrated within Islam. Eid al-Fitr is the end of the month long, dawn to sunset fasting of Ramadan. It follows a Lunar calendar, so this year, 2025, it falls on 30 or 31 March, depending on location. Fourteen years ago, it fell on Aug. 30/31. The Town of Cary Festival was held on 8 Oct. 2011

Gallery here.

The Muse Provides – Again

Written about this before. The idea keeps revisiting me. It’s been 13 years since I made this photograph but I know the date and venue, like it was a tattoo. This young dancer, in full stage makeup and street clothes was, to my astonishment, my very first experience with a “Muse”. Trust me on this, Muses are very, very real. She and this appearance, changed my work and understanding of light for the next decade. And she appeared, in another form, 10 years later. And is currently helping with the nascent outline of a book (s).

As an “Old Guy” on the backend of my life on this planet, it is wonderful to be free to read and think (and cook) sans the pressure of all the stuff that younger folks are pressured by. No Mo Fomo ;-).

Cary Arts Center 12 December 2012

Artists I Admire

The post brought this book, and two others today, that will take days to digest.

I promise you, the prints are so good, you’ll look at your latest fancy, feature packed $$$$$martphone and wonder why.

His story is compelling and very human. As an artist, his discovery of theater lighting, his understanding of the mask we all wear – we are soulmates across generations. Art matters.

https://karsh.org/exhibitions/karsh-a-fifty-year-retrospective/

Walk Along A Country Road

In this Sunday memory, Departmental Road 9, Belleau, Departement de l’Aisne (France), FR. It was a Monday in Sept. of 2017, 99 years after War.

The local American / French Museum was closed, so we walked along farm roads in gorgeous late September sunshine and quiet, to our destination.

You can get there easily from Paris, by Metro to Gare de l’Est, then express train to Château-Thierry and local taxi to Belleau. And can walk the battlefield in silence. Click images for full size.

He Went To Paris – II

The Musée d’Orsay is a very favorite place – so much so, my late sweetheart tolerated me spending three consecutive days, exploring.

This 1/16th scale casting, ordered by the Sculptor Auguste Bartholdi in 1899 stunned me. It predates the inscribed poem by Emma Lazarus at the base of the full size version in New York Harbor.

Musée d’Orsay, Paris – 22 Sept 2016

Driving on errands today, I listened to Willie Nelson sing “Living in the Promiseland“. It reminded me of the poem by Ms Lazarus.

He Went To Paris

Paris is hard to explain. Atop Tour Montparnasse is, I think, a good place to begin. And the Châtelet Metro station, with “Prelude To Paris ” playing. These from 2016 & 2017. Late September is wonderful.

Click images for full size

Tour Eiffel from Tour Montparnasse
Tour Eiffel from Tour Montparnasse
Tour Eiffel from Tour Montparnasse
Tour Eiffel from Tour Montparnasse
Gare Montparnasse
Louvre & Eglise Saint-Sulpice
A Quarter Mile of Louvre
Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre
Saint-Louis-des-Invalides Cathedral
Notre Dame Before The Fire

Winter Garden Sunday

A few hours of afternoon Sun & 60’s was an irresistible lure to get outside in cold, gray, gloomy February. The Gardens at Page Walker Arts & History Center, in my home town of Cary, North Carolina were a very convenient venue for the students in the Photography Classes I taught there.

Today, they were a tonic for my Winter ennui. Click image for full size.

The Wisdom of Children

I’d forgotten that the 2010 EID Festival at Koka Booth Amphitheater was my first attempt at making photographs of an event for Cary Citizen . Eid al-Fitr is a holiday celebrated within Islam. Eid al-Fitr is the end of the month long, dawn to sunset fasting of Ramadan. It follows a Lunar calendar, so this year, 2025, it falls on 30 or 31 March, depending on location. Fifteen years ago, it fell on Sept. 9/10. The Town of Cary Festival was held on 9 Oct., so pretty close.

I had zero knowledge or understanding of Eid. Like nearly every community event I photographed, the children made sense of it for me. Gallery here.

Sunday Reflection II

Yesterday afternoon at the North Carolina Museum of Art got my creative wheels in gear. Working in theater was always magical to me. Especially with no audience to disturb and freedom to move around. I never found it work.

Cary Ballet Conservatory Rehearsal for “Cinderella” 11 June 2014

Sunday Reflection

I was on the edge of digital camera technology, in December of 2010. 14+ years later, this is still in my heart. Time since, allowed me to learn how to take an image to what I saw. And it’s good to have training as a painter. Caravaggio and Edward Hopper would understand. 20″x 16″ Print on order.

Cary Ballet Company Dress Rehearsal “A Gift For The Little Match Girl” 17 Dec. 2010, Jones Auditorium at Meredith College – Raleigh, North Carolina

2.0

Post retirement (old guy) reflection on my work as a photographer, created an itch I’ve been scratching, to curate and show the result of a dozen years. Still early on and skimpy. May take a year or so: http://www.brookemeyer.com

Photographer & Clients at “Picture Days” 2016

Bravo Academy of Dance – Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Parisian Dreams – Redux!

Discovered today, my research was real wrong and the chocolate shop, “Maison Georges Larnicol” at  14 Rue de Rivoli in Paris is still there! Dieu merci!

————————————————————–

There was and is, a “corner joint”, Le Bûcheron, just down the stairs and around the corner, from an apartment on Rue Ferdinand Duval, Paris.

View from our apartment window

Searching today, I discovered the Chocolate Shop next door is no more. Post dinner, it was a wonderful stop before late evening home.

The meals and memories, are delicious

Moms Just Wanna Have Fun!

Today’s news included Washington D.C’s Annual Snowball Fight! Which coincided with last nights onset of insomnia and finally, beginning to organize and curate a dozen years of photographs. This is, a favorite.

Bond Park, Cary, North Carolina – 4 Dec 2010 – Photograph for Cary Citizen

Early Christmas Arrival

A new copy of a book published in 2011, shipped from a Berkeley, California book store on Monday, arrived in North Carolina very early Wed. morning! Yes, it’s a present from me, to me.

Freebie version here: https://archive.org/details/kodakgirlfrommar0000unse/page/n9/mode/2up

My Favorite Things #3

Studio Rehearsal “Little Match Girl” 11 Dec 2010 – Cary Ballet Conservatory

I had no experience making photographs of a studio rehearsal. 14 Decembers later, this is still, vivid memory. It was an affirmation of joy without guile. An expression of, the best of us.

Today’s Treasures #4

An ad page from the April 1920 “The Ladies Home Journal”, 10.5 x 16 inches. Arrived today. My display is complete!

Not my photograph, the eBay reseller’s image. I can’t improve on this.

And yes, I’m going to make some photographs with the one I have. It may be awhile though – an upcoming 3rd Grade Christmas Choir Concert has priority. I’ll shoot that with some 100 year newer glass & digital camera. Stage lighting!

Parisian Dreams

There was and is, a “corner joint”, Le Bûcheron, just down the stairs and around the corner, from an apartment on Rue Ferdinand Duval, Paris.

View from our apartment window

Searching today, I discovered the Chocolate Shop next door is no more. Post dinner, it was a wonderful stop before late evening home.

The meals and memories, are delicious

Today’s Treasures #2

This Portrait, aka Close Up Attachment, fits my 1925 era No.2 Kodak Brownie Model F. Instead of a fixed focus distance of 8 ft. and beyond, it allows photographs at a distance of about a meter. Which suits a head and shoulders portrait.

Found it, the only one I could find, on eBay, in a vintage camera shop in the Netherlands. USPS, in cooperation with NL Post, delivered today. Original printed instructions, from 100 + years ago were in the tiny box. In French. No problem!

My Favorite Things #2

“Picture Days” 2017 – Bravo Academy of Dance, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Listening to KJazz 88.1 this evening, José Rizo played a wonderful recording of “My Favorite Things” by Laili Biali. And in the luxury of my new found peace and contentment, thought about things that I treasure. That’s what this will be about.

Truckin’

In late spring of 2005, before I knew my employment with the IBM PC Company would be transferred to Lenovo, my eldest son, following his freshman year at UNC Chapel Hill, enlisted in the U.S.M.C. Reserve without mentioning that to moi. He got an unforgettable summer at Parris Island, followed by assignment and drill with a Reserve Unit in Greensboro. But that’s not what this is about. It’s about a Chevy Work Truck.

Post Parris Island, he got an RA Job at UNC. So I didn’t have a Dorm bill. And I’d been abusing my wife’s Dodge Grand Caravan as household hauler. Which was an excuse to buy the 2005 Chevy Work Truck I’m still driving. With no intent of stopping. He got my 1997 Mercury Grand Marquis which lasted another 150K.

My 2005 had an M.S.R.P. of about 21k. Took it off the lot for 13.6K. With factory bed liner. A few months ago, back at the mother ship, Hendrick Chevrolet in Cary, service manager remarked “This is in really good shape!” Which it is.

Curiosity caused me to look up the price of a new one, 20 years on. Was astonished. Somehow, I found this “modern” version to be unnecessary:

 Audio system, Chevrolet Infotainment 3 system 7″ diagonal HD color touchscreen, AM/FM stereo, Bluetooth audio streaming for 2 active devices, voice command pass-through to phone, Wireless Apple CarPlay and Wireless Android Auto compatibility.

Nah. I got windows that go up and down with a hand crank. Simple and old.

Like me.

Thankful

June 2016 – Wakefield High School Auditorium

The luxury of age is time, without demands. Today, while still surfacing from a nasty head cold and long before my slow cooker of really good collards are ready, I played a DVD of the Cary Ballet Conservatory Recital of June 2016, “Anastasia”.

I have it because I made a courtesy head shot of the Videographer, Jeff Philips at InFocusStudios. Watching it today, reminded me of just how lucky I was to find the right place for me, as a photographer. And it dusted off my memory, remembering their stories and families. I was extraordinarily lucky.

These two will renew your faith in humanity. And danced, wonderfully!

Oldie But Goodie

Found on eBay in Vancouver, WA. and delivered today (seller’s photo) Purchased for parts. Had one in better condition but someone (for good reason) had swapped out the Autographic Back. Ironically, this one had it’s original back swapped for an Autographic Back. I’ve restored balance to the Cosmos!

Kodak made these from 1914 to 1924, producing about 800 thousand. This Model, with the f7.7 Anastigmat lens, was $15 (about $478 today). The good part is, 120 film is still readily available. And explains my 4 rolls of Ektar 100 in the fridge. Yep, very fine grain color film in a camera designed for orthochromatic Black & White. It could work!

An original manual, dated June 1917, confirmed the number of the optional Portrait Attachment (3), essentially a diopter lens. Add to the camera’s lens and minimum focus distance is reduced from 8 ft. to 3 1/2 ft. with the 110mm lens. So, a head and shoulders portrait, like a head shot. Found one on eBay today, in the original metal case with instructions. Bought it. In today’s dollars, I paid the same as the 1917 price of fifty cents.

Stay tuned for the test shoot results before year end!

Better Than Chicken Soup

On the recovery side of a nasty head cold (yes, I’m current on Covid, Flu, Pneumonia and Pertussis vaccines), this was delivered today. Last time there, the Gift Shop didn’t have my size. The Paris Opera is a cherished memory and my late sweetheart’s chosen topic of the last lucid conversation we had. It was the 50th Anniversary performance of the Balanchine Ballet “Jewels”, in good loge seats and a fine late supper on Blvd. Hausmann before the Metro, back to our apt. in Marais. The memory and sweatshirt offer comfort. Like the “Cary Ballet Company” sweatshirt I’m wearing. A gift I’m proud of, from CBC.

One Day +23 + 89 Years Later…

Today, the Post Office delivered this eBay purchased, hard cover, Library Version, Twentieth Edition. Published in 1935. Tres moderne!

The Dewey Decimal (pre ISBN number) “770” was still on the spine, from the East Craftsbury, Vermont “John Woodruff Simpson” Memorial Library.

The book’s content, excepting the Kodak product pitches, isn’t very far from what I taught in my Basic Photography and Lighting Courses for the Towns of Cary & Clayton Parks & Rec..

2024 “Smartphone” users could learn from it! And “Make Good Pictures” 😉

Today’s Treasure

Today, the Post Office delivered this eBay purchased, soft cover version. It is, undated. Driven by curiosity and enabled by the freedom of time, found it’s a 1912 first edition! Shown above in a 1913 Kodak Advertisement contract directive, found at Eastman.org.

Which partially explains the Kodak No.1 Portrait Attachment for my Brownie No. 2 Model F that I found and bought on eBay today from a shop in the Netherlands. Been searching for weeks!

I’m guessing it’ll arrive about the same time as the new Melody Gardot CD that I pre-ordered. Good timing on my part! Before new tariffs on European goods 🙂

A Walk In The Park III – Revised

Visited the Pond Loop Trail today at Yates Mill. Fall is late -Monarch Butterfly on my Viburnum yesterday, no frost yet and none forecast in the next ten days.

My Plant ID is strictly amateur. Click images for full size.

Red Maple
Oak
Sourwood Leaf
Sourwood
Oak-leaf Hydrangea
Red Maple
Hickory
Ironweed
Winter Berry
Winterberry
Winterberry
Eastern Bacharis
Bushy BlueStem
Purple Beauty Berry
White Beauty Berry

Soft & Hard

Last week, I renewed my North Carolina Museum of Art Membership. Today, I visited. And walked around the West Building where I’ve photographed both personal portraits and a few boutique commercial sessions.

Hadn’t been in years. And discovered someone had relocated a rose blossom from the adjacent garden to this decorative, black concrete wall. Apropos.

Deja Vu III – We Are The World

3D Jazz Project Promo Session – Feb. 2019 – Cary Ballet Conservatory

Long, long ago, I was the resident Field Tech at NASA’s Glenn Research Center (nee Lewis Research Center) for the long gone, Digital Equipment Corporation.

Pretty sure the Scientists & Engineers & Techs I worked with, would approve.

The background image is NASA’s. The foreground is mine.

The photograph is all of us.

Deja Vu II

The latest version of these prints shipped from my lab today. So did the Nielsen Profile 13 Float Frames that will mount & place them on my apt. wall.

I saw a Herb Ritts Exhibit at Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, Oct. , 2016. Stuff you can’t make up – a 5 minute walk from our apt. in Marais.

Dry mounted prints on standouts in float frames. No glass or mattes. Nothing to get between the viewer and photograph. Meme chose.

3D Promo – Feb. 2020
CBC Recital Rehearsal – June 2011

The Windows In Studio A #1

Cary Ballet Professional Training Program – ADC Preview – 26 Jan 2022

I am well and comfortably retired and my work still resonates in my heart.

I know that I will show and write about photographs I made by the light of the “Windows In Studio A”. Like all things, it has, like me since changed. As has the young dancer shown here. Who I admired and found to be a perceptive and thoughtful assistant in studio sessions. Some images stay in memory.

The Muse Provides

Cary Ballet Company “Space & Tech Rehearsal” at Cary Arts Center – 12/12/12

I’ve read about Muses. It was serendipity that made this image. Later, looking at the days work, this stunned me. And had no idea why. And realized while I thought I knew what I was doing, didn’t. So I spent the summer learning. And ten years trying to get it right. I owe her. A lot. In about a year, I’ll have a web site & book that explains. The title of both is above.