Rose of the Americas

St. Rose of Lima...in 31 years of life did everything she could to honor the Lord.

The stories we hear of her life, describe her as a child and woman so beautiful that people would just stop, stare and lose all sense of time.  She hated this adoration, and instead wanted people to honor God.  When told to marry she disobeyed her parents for the first time and said no...she'd already given her heart to Jesus.  She faced many trials created by the devil in her short life, including one described by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, that of losing the ability to feel God's presence.  Instead she often felt alone, and this caused her great sadness.  In the midst of all of this, she cheerfully offered up her suffering as another offering to God.

I am in awe of people such as her.  I'm in awe of my lovely Rose as well, as she kneels to say her prayers in the hallway without prompting at this very moment.  She does not want to disturb her baby sister, who is partying in her crib a few feet away.

St. Rose...and saints in training like my Rose...make me realize how much harder I have to work to be a good servant of Christ example in the lives of those around me.

I hope on this Sunday, you too can think about examples you can following for spreading God's love around the world to make it just that much better.  I know will!

-ehw

P.S.  Mr X-E1 with the 35 F1.4 mounted up.

Hustle For Home

Here is the premise...I wanted to capture the interior of Grand Central Station and show how busy it is when people make a break for their trains so they can get home.  Yet on frame just did not get it done.  I had the little bits of motion here and there, but I still wanted more of the magic this place has.

So I went ahead and tried it...a seven frame HDR.   The station came out great...the people are ghosted.  The motion is both visible and implied.  Captures the hustle and bustle...and the grand interior of the station.

Ah a try at something new, and yep next time I'll make sure the 14mm comes along.  Going to and from work I was with a one lens set up...in this case the 35mm!

-ehw

Some fresh hot nuts!

New York has thousands of these street vendors across the city. One of my buddies really enjoys his fresh hot nuts...he likes cashews..but you could get peanuts and almonds too....

This night was very cold...and so when I saw the red in the photograph I thought I was seeing things. I was cold, but the photo seemed hot. Why?

Well the answer was one of those huge neon signs was active on the far side of the street. For just a brief moment it was on full red and helped make the hot nuts look red hot!

-ehw

A little flavor of New York

A quick shot of some very tasty tropic juices at a very nice hot dog shack. I went for the mango that day and two hot dogs! One chili and one with cole slaw!

The restaurant would make an really ice photo shoot for an hour or so. The colors were fantastic and the place was super clean...and the chrome was as you can see very nice and shiny!

-ehw

Some Contrasts in NYC

I just wanted to share two photos taken minutes apart in NYC, not even a block apart from the other.

The first photo is a Saturday night picture of traffic at about 6:15PM...It shows the towers of steel, the light, the motion of the city. People were hustling through Hell's Kitchen to grab dinner, or go see a show down the street a fe blocks in the Theater District. A few blocks to the east thousands of people streamed into Times Square using the warm weather to enjoy Super Bowl Boulevard on its last night.

Then there was this I took a few minutes earlier after the Saturday Vigil Mass at St. Micheal the Archangel...

The noise in the church was minimal, the congregation small (like 20 max in a church for 600-800 people) and the priest busy with four people talking about getting more involved at the parish....

Over my stay here this was what was so hard for me to comprehend, but easy to appreciate. On one floor you find a party, on the next a serenity, in one building complex business activities, and the adjoining one an abandoned hulk of glory long past.

There is so much crammed into this little piece of real estate! I would need to cross counties for in Georgia to experience some of these juxtapositions you get inside a city block here in New York City. It is not totally bad, it is not totally good...it is what is. It is something one must be constantly aware of in this city...as you should in any major city I've visited (like Tokyo, Seoul, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Berlin...I guess I've been a few places in my life).

By being aware of these many different possibilities in such a tiny area, one can both begin to appreciate what they have before them AND properly shift mindsets to handle the environment to your best advantage. And that was my lesson to self for the day I can take anywhere at anytime.

-ehw

PS Fujifilm X-E1 with 35mm for the street photo, and the 14mm for the altar photo. Came out alright on both accounts I think.

A Time and Place for Prayer

A few blocks from the hotel I found a Catholic Church called St. Micheal the Archangel. Every real job I've had since the age of 17 has St. Micheal as its patron. So it was very nice to see a church dedicated to his memory pop up in front of me...and draw me in.

I went in and found myself finally able to have a moment of silence in this big city. It was wonderful. In the silence I was able to prayer for my family...and as I left I saw the patron of fathers...St. Joseph in the back holding baby Jesus.

It felt great to remember that in a few days I'll be home with my kiddos and wife...where I belong.

It just went to remind me that art is very powerful at directing our thoughts...and like all things...the form of the art directed me to the message of my responsibilities to work and family even though they were not present or was I on duty at that time.

-ehw

Grand Central Station

Grand Central Station is an amazing sight to behold. Hustle, bustle, and still some elegance while it is at work. I think that is what I still like about it 20 years after my last visit to this landmark.

Wherever I go, whatever I do I think I find the best actions and places are the ones with elegance ingrained in their pursuit of a noble purpose. In this case, Grand Central is a vital transportation center. It gets people to and from this city on hundreds of train trips every day. Yet while doing this the building stands tall with beauty and grace. Its caretakers keep it gleaming and functional. I find deep enjoyment in both of those observations when I stand amidst all of it. I also sadly find that not enough of those ethics remain in many new stations, stadiums and transit stations who have planned obsolesce built into their core DNA...and their caretakers just seem to accelerate the process.

I hope my photo does justice to the grand station...and the people who keep her gleaming.

-ehw PS Fujifilm X-E1 with the 35mm At F1.4 to catch the light.