The Roaming Photographer: Pam Cruz

Name: Pam Cruz
Date: Dec. 27, 2005 - Jan.4, 2006

Trip to Puerto Rico

Locations: San Juan, PR-Arroyo, PR-El Yunque, PR-Guayama, PR

Picture Descriptions:
1. Looking down the streets of San Juan towards the Governor Mansion Dec. 2005




2. Looking from Fort San Felipe del Morro towards La Perla Dec. 2005






3. Streets of San Juan Dec.2005








4. El Yunque Rain Forest Dec. 2005






5. Local Iguana at Las Croabas Jan 2006

We attended a family reunion on my husbands side in Arroyo,Puerto Rico. It
was wonderful to see family members, new & old. Along with seeing family my
husbands uncles planned an island tour for every day we were there. It was
wonderful.

Our 1st stop was Old San Juan. We visited Fort San Felipe del Morro ( El
Morro) and surrounding areas. La Perla is right next to El Morro and is an
area of around 12 generations of history. More information can be found at
this link. Very interesting.

http://vivirlatino.com/2007/09/02/la-perla-de-puerto-rico.php

That evening after dinner in San Juan we went outside the restaurant into
the street. What we found was a party which happens every Fri.-Sun. night.
Live music,food & drink vendors everywhere.What a fun time...

Our next spot on the list was the islands infamous rainforest, El Yunque.
Very beautiful and peaceful.

After the rainforest we visited Las Cabezas de san Juan in Fajardo and
surrounding area, which includes tours of mangroves & coral reefs, beaches,
lagoons. Waiting for the tour bus we spotted the Iguana, he was with a
female but she hid while he climbed a tree for us to see him better!

Trip Rating:
My rating for this trip had to be a 10. We had so much fun and would suggest a trip to Puerto Rico to everyone. We have been to the island many time but this was by far the best time.

Editor Comment: I'm really liking this idea of the Roaming Photographer and I hope all of you are enjoying these posts. The last one and this one really help you see different places and activities! Thanks Pam for taking the time to send these beautiful pictures in and the narrative details you provided. Who's next??

Historic Tour of Roseland Cottage, Woodstock, CT

My wife and I decided to go on one of the tours offered at the Pink House in Woodstock, CT more formerly known as Roseland Cottage. The tour lasted 3 hours and was filled with rich history of the house, property, and family that built and owned it through the generations - The Bowens.

I'd highly recommend this tour to anyone that loves historic tours! Over the 3 hours I took about 220 pictures from the attic to the basement, outside privy, and bowling alley!

Enjoy!

Excerpt from Historic New England site:
"Roseland Cottage depicts the summer life of a prosperous family in mid 19th-century America. Built in 1846 in the newly fashionable Gothic Revival style, the house provided a seasonal escape from a more formal city existence for Henry Chandler Bowen and his family. Bowen, a Woodstock native, made his fortune in New York and became an active abolitionist, Congregationalist, and Republican."

URL Reference: Historic New England

Natural Expressions - Series 1

Yes, it's early... 4:20AM here. I couldn't sleep and have some ideas. What's new you say? Quite simply, I'm going to start writing some photo journalism articles which is what I always wanted to do. Writing a little column every week, or in this case a blog, about people in their natural environments.

To me, naturalness really helps capture some good shots especially when they don't know a photographer is around. It shows people doing natural things and not posing or putting on some type of show in front of the flash. It's beautiful if you ask me. True works of art and reflections of people at that particular time. Yes.. naturalness.

To start out with, I'm actually posting relatives of mine. These precious photos show how much young ones LOVE food! To those who know these cuties, aren't they wonderful? To those who don't, appreciate the scene captured and the expressions... priceless! Therefore, my series will be called 'Natural Expressions'.

Enjoy!

Self Portraits Are Fun

Don't forget to take some self-portraits of yourself. To accomplish this and get a natural look, utilize the 'self-timer' functionality on your digital camera. This option allows the camera to take a picture within a certain amount of seconds based upon your settings.

In this case, I took a picture of myself and then of course modified it with a feathering around the edges for blending, then duplicated the original image, rotated it, and moved it to a different location forming three images. We'll discuss layers at a different point which allow multiple images overladed to be worked with individually and then merged or flattened later.

So take those pics of yourself and send them in! I want to see how creative everyone can get. Throw some different filters on it, rotate your pictures, add/remove color, merge other pictures... have fun and just enjoy yourself. After all, it's YOU you're messing with. :)

Happy Captures!

Look Beyond the Critics

Let's face it, everyone is a critic. It doesn't matter what you're talking about, people have opinions. Many truly want to help others succeed in becoming better at what they like and are striving to become while others are completely destructive in their comments to simply tear people down and hold them back from creative genius.

I'm posting this to inspire those who love photography and art. I'm a member of several online 'art' and 'photography' communities which allow open criticism on pieces of your work and some of the feedback people give is unbelievable. All negative...

Let me tell you something. When you pick up your camera and take a picture, it's a piece of art. It doesn't matter if you just bought a camera and are 5 years old to a so called seasoned professional with a fleet of over expensive gear. There isn't ANYONE who has that piece except you. Cherish it and appreciate you noticed the shot and took the time to take it. Regardless if others like it or not, keep adding to your collection of fine works and be weary of online communities over brimming with critics!

Masters were once told they wouldn't succeed. I'm telling you right now.. you're a Master! Claim your works and capture them with pride. Don't let people criticize your works to death so it sucks the life out of you and what you enjoy. Love your work.. and love doing it.

Happy captures folks! You're a Master and go on succeeding!

Of The Order of Mantodea

Sometimes while walking, carrying your camera helps because you never know what you're going to see around you, in this case, below you.

This past day while roaming around in the backyard we discovered this rare insect widely known as the Praying Mantis. It was sitting on some blue canvas we had covering lawn equipment bathing in the sun. Albeit, a nice macro lens would've done the job better but sometimes the moment is upon you and you don't have time to switch lenses - you stop, capture, and work with the results. In this case, a macro lens would've really sharpened the Mantis's facial features in high detail. I had my big lens on the camera so I had to stand about 8' away.

Keep that in mind when traveling and going on for specific types of photography. Always carry your other lenses with you in the event you want to capture something else. Or you could use a universal lens with attachments.

Factoids: This insect is protected in the State of Connecticut as the state insect. The word mantis is derived from a Greek word mantis meaning prophet or fortune teller namely due to it's posture or position.

URL Reference: Praying Mantis Wikipedia

The Roaming Photographer: Cindi-Jo Ammeen

Date taken: 9/1/07
Title: Pilobolus
Location: The Riverfront in Hartford CT

On the first, we went too see Pilobolus. The weather was perfect. A warm day, but breezy on the water. The first act was a playful display. The second act brought a darker musical selection and an emotional performance. Dancing to songs by Primus and Radiohead, I was truly inspired by this dance company.

I hope you enjoy the photos!
Thank you

Cindi-Jo Ammeen


Editor comment: The Roaming Photographer welcomes Cindi-Jo Ammeen as being the first to publish photos in this edition. Thank you for your active participation and I wish I was there at this show! By the pictures it looked awesome!

Monthly Reader's Photo!

Thanks to CJA from Gales Ferry, CT for sending in this month's photo! A beautiful picture she titled 'Bundle of Sun'.

I really appreciate all those who read this blog and send in submissions. It shows not only this blog has readers but those who are really interested and interact with me via emails and pictures.

Best regards to all and I hope those who have kids have had a pleasant trip back to school.

Happy Captures!