THOUGHT PATTERNS: Photography

September 29, 2011

The magic of Stow Lake

Some photos I took at the most magical, fairytale-like Stow Lake in SF Golden Gate Park. Beware, greenness aplenty (the water especially!)...

xoxoxo

{All photos by Tina Tarnoff}

Sep 29, 2011 12:35:55 PM | Nature, Photography

August 31, 2011

Last Friday was one of those days. When you wake up feeling listless, moody, irritable, unmotivated and overall feeling lousy about yourself and the world around you. So, Terry suggested we drop everything and go out buffalo hunting. What! said I. He had my attention, but I kept sulking. I didn't want to show too much interest and let go of my bad mood blanket that easy. You know how those things go. So, buffalo. What I meant to say was that Terry suggested we go in search of buffalos that supposedly reside in Golden Gate Park. After some internet researching we found out their exact location at the park and that buffalo were really bison. (I like to be precise when it comes to wild ox species, you know.) You'd like to know the difference? Well, bison and buffalo are members of the same family, Bovidae, but they do not share the same genus or specie. That's all you need to know. Anyway, I was quite intrigued, and it was an opportunity to take my camera along and take some monochrome sepia-toned photos. I was going to take us back in time by shooting some real old Wild West style of photos... bison and all.

Well. We did run into some bison - three to be exact - not impressed by us or us by them, really. And listless as I was (and in dire need of the ladies room) I decided they were not worth leaving the car for, so I took some quick shots though my window.

(I edited few of the photos in Pixlr to give them a proper vintage look.)

After driving around for a while in search of the bathroom we found ourselves in a bit of a remote part of the park. With the fog engulfing us ominously, the tall eucalyptus trees swaying in the wind uttering warnings and a couple of shadowy scary figures looming about (and influenced by long hours of watching "Midsummer Murders" series {read: crimes are often committed in the woods}) I decided this wasn't the right time to go exploring the wild and remote Golden Gate Park trails, that instead it was a perfect time to drive to the Ocean Beach. It was a good decision to make.

On the way we stopped for a moment by the Dutch Windmill and Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden. I was quite excited to take some photos of the windmill from different angles but then sadly remembered I had with me only my telephoto lens. Since I was too close to the windmill and with not much room to go further back I couldn't really take satisfactory photos. This is the best I could do...

Not bad, though!

The sparse bison and bad photo equipment planning did not do much for my mood. But, all was well again after we arrived at the Ocean Beach.

Indeed, that turned out to be one mood improving idea. The beach weather was just perfect, completely fogged in and windy. The skies were gray and overcast, the waves loud and comforting. We took off our shoes and dug our feet into a surprisingly warm sand. As did our fellow seagulls.

It all felt a bit like magic... feathers stuck randomly into the sand...

... broken shells and a lost crab claw...

... a smiling wall...

... fog engulfed ships in the distance...

... wandering ravens and sea gulls...

I felt truly refreshed and invigorated. Especially at the end, after we visited a lovely Russian bakery Cinderella, and treated ourselves to some cream puff pastries and a 7 layer torte. Mmm.

Day turned out to be a treat indeed.

xoxoxo

{All photos Tina Tarnoff}

Aug 31, 2011 8:38:42 PM | Mostly about me , Photography

August 16, 2011

Summer

It's hard to believe that Summer is almost over. It seems like time is flying by at an accelerated speed lately. Well, I'm looking forward to Autumn, as always. (And, our San Franciscan Indian Summer, come to think of it.)

I have some lovely and perfectly summery photos to share with you. Reciting an ode to the passing Summer (and fastly approaching Autumn). Enjoy...

Welcome Autumn...

xoxoxo

{photos from LIFE archive)

Aug 16, 2011 8:45:40 PM | Inspirational, Photography

July 09, 2011

Half of what you know

While browsing through my inspiration folder I noticed that there's been a certain theme building in there. I've been collecting images of women in profile, in black and white, or from the front but with just half of their face showing. What is the fascination? I'm sure I will have to dig into my psyche to figure this one out. One day, perhaps. For now, I will enjoy these images simply, innocently, visually. A study of a woman in profile and in black and white...

{scroll over the images for details, where known}

...

xoxoxo

{images via here here here}

Jul 9, 2011 12:58:54 PM | Photography, Woman

May 14, 2011

Mesmerizing

I'm absolutely obssessed by these lyrical, soft focused, magical photogravures by George Seeley...

The Firefly, 1907

Black Bowl, 1907

No. 347, 1907

Blotches of Sunlight and Spots of Ink, 1907

The Burning of Rome, 1907

Girl With Bowl, 1910

A Portrait, 1910

Conspiracy, 1910

Autumn, 1910

The White Screen, 1910

The Artist, 1910

Simply divine.

About George Seeley:

"Known for the lyric quality of his outstanding pictorial photographs Seeley was brought to the attention of Alfred Stieglitz about 1906 by Alvin Langdon Coburn. As a member of the Photo-Secession, he was a leader along with Stieglitz, Clarence White, and Gertrude Kasebier in the battle to have photography recognized as an art form. Members of the Photo-Secession wrote numerous articles in defense of photography and published their work in fine gravures in Stieglitz's Camera Work, where a number of Seeley's photographs were published. Seeley also exhibited his work in Stieglitz's 291 gallery.

He frequently used his sisters as models for photographs with titles like: "Battering for the Soul" and "The Mourning Veil". The photographs are often dark and brooding and printed in soft and subtle tones on platinum paper. The photographs are softly focused and have a painterly feeling. Seeley was fond of photographing winter landscapes and was one of the first photographers to use abstractions of landscape in his photographs. He was a life long resident of Stockbridge, Massachusetts and became supervisor of art for the Stockbridge schools, and was recognized as an accomplished painter of still life.

Seeley's photographs are held in public collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, NY, University of Texas, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, New Orleans Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, and many others. For more information on George Seeley see Intimations & Imaginings: The Photographs of George H. Seeley published by The Berkshire Museum, or The Collection of Alfred Stieglitz: Fifty Pioneers of Modern Photography by Weston Naef."

xoxoxo

{photo source: Art of the Photogravure; text source: Luminous Lint}

May 14, 2011 1:44:52 PM | Photography

April 19, 2011

What I saw

On our walks I usually get distracted by magnificent buildings, which San Francisco has an abundance of. I have hundreds and hundreds of building snapshots sitting on my hard drive waiting to be sorted through. Once while we were driving I kept taking pictures of the houses through the car window (looking like a paparazzi, no doubt, a building paparazzi), as I couldn't resist all the beauty.

The sky was especially blue on this particular day, and acted as a brilliant backdrop to some of the houses. I also managed to sneak in some old chewed up docks and candy-pink blossoming trees...

wonderful house fronts

with potted plants on window sills

towering old buildings

blooming trees

made of pink tissue paper, it seems

rotting docks

lovely curtains in windows

buildings with world maps drawn on them

and more beautifully decorated buildings... more sky and buildings... sky... buildings.

xoxoxo

{all photos by Tina Tarnoff}

Apr 19, 2011 8:42:50 PM | Neighborhood, Photography

March 20, 2011

A few favorites on at first rainy but now promisingly sunny Sunday

Off to a vintage fashion expo today. Nothing pleases me better than browsing through endless stalls of dresses and jewelry from the past. For a visual person like me it provides endless inspiration.

Looking through old funny photographs, such as these, comes close second...