The morning seemed like it was produced by a hangover. Everything was off and I had a hard time getting anywhere today. It could have been worse. It was the Monday after NYC Pride Parade and New York was cleaning , with a smile.
This summer , New York will not be the only place I’ll be photo wandering around. I’ve to decided to expand my walks, well keep some of them local. The first local ish place I decided to wander around was Summit, NJ, why? Because I was hungry and one of my favorite diners is there. In my eagerness to walk in the big city I ignored the local sights in my own backyard.
No matter how much I wish I do not live in New York, I’m basically a perpetual NJ tourist. I always view New York from an outsiders perspective. It is an eternally evolving city and there is always something new to see. It is my favorite place to photowalk, people always moving, art everywhere, and coffee shops are easy to find. I can turn left or right and always find something to put in front of my lens. It’s the perfect place to wander around and get lost. This is especially true along the Hudson River. 
For some it seems senseless , me waking up early to go on photo walks. It’s something I really enjoy. Now that my progeny have finished school and theIR morning preparations are also on break , I begin the ‘senselessness’ again.
Well, it was a quiet day, while I was traveling through New Jersey. The weather was beautiful , no rain in site and I was on a task. Me and some coworkers were out gathering information for an upcoming event. Of course my part was photography. I was in new territory for me. I usually just pass through these places on a light rail car and never actually stop to look. On this day I did. In between my assigned camera work I got some images of my own, stuff I probably would not have noticed if not for the we35 project.
After being sick and the world basically being crappy I picked up a camera again. I was not sick long but I had not touched a camera for days which is weird for me. To get out of my photog funk over the past few days I made myself pull out my camera. While not a 100 percent yet, ‘things’ still lingering , it did help me feel better.
You should not have any special fondness for a particular camera, or anything else, for that matter. Too much is the same as not enough. Without imitating anyone else, you should have what ever camera or cameras that suits you. (paraphrased from The Book of Five Rings)
I first learned about and tried Rwandan coffee just over a year ago. It has always been a uncanny coffee for me. It’s flavor profile being much different than my favorite single origins Indian Mysore ,Harrar and Yirgacheffee. I have really enjoyed this coffee from the roasters I had it from. I recent trip to Brooklyn Roasting company, in the Flatrion district, I picked up a can to try….
The ground beneath my feet camera in my hand , alone In my world. This is basically my natural state out side of being a domesticated geek (husband and a father type thingie). Over the course of a few days I found myself with moments where I could just pull out my camera and take a mental health break. I was either a long way from home, in a forest in the morning, performing a mission of mercy, or taking a moment commuting between task. Sometimes these are my only moments for photography.
It’s was a rainy afternoon after a long day in the late spring. I had a bit of free time to walk while my progeny did the extra curricular activities. The sky had a drink and could not decide if it was going to keep raining. The sun would occasionally peak out and then some rain would fall. This make walking around one of local parks very interesting.
