Category Archives: Art

 

 

Catipillar, Florida, Monarch Butterfly, Sarasota                         Caterpillar (Monarch) eating in preparation for metamorphosis

Butterfly, Butterfly Life Stages, Florida Chrysalis, Monarch, Pupa, Sarasota                                                 Magnificent shelter of the Monarch

Butterfly, Monarch, Pupa                                               Butterfly emerging from the chrysalis

Monarch Butterfly                                        Monarch drying it’s wings preparing for the first flight

Ten days are the time of metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly.   Over the four hours before the butterfly emerges the emerald-green color of the  chrysalis case will change becoming transparent. During this phase you can see through the case markings of the Monarchs wings wrapped tight around the caterpillar/butterfly body.   In order to see this spectacular performance one needs to sit and watch, the change can happen at anytime. Leaving for one minute could result in missing the magical moment.  Patience rewards with a memory of wonderment and beauty that you can recall and cherish, what a precious gift.

Image Library:  EastepPhotography.com

 

Art, creativity, Design, Interior Design, Nature

Circle of Life in Ten Days

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coral, Saba, Tubeworm, Underwater, Photography,

Serpulid Tubeworm (Ponastegus stellatus), Saba

The beauty of nature often speaks for itself, take a breath, look, enjoy.

Art, creativity, Design, Interior Design, Nature, underwater

Elegance

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Kazakhstan is dotted with 48,000 lakes, many small like this mirror-surfaced one at Ush-Konyr near Fabrichny

Kazakhstan is dotted with 48,000 lakes, many small like this mirror-surfaced one at Ush-Konyr near Fabrichny

 Lake Ush-Konyr is a one of my favorite places with no  power lines in sight, silent and serene.  Kazakhs consider  lakes  the eyes of the sky.
Kazakhstan is a place of irony.  Some of the worst man-made disasters; Aral Sea and Polygon have occurred in Kazakhstan.  Some of the most beautiful and pristine places on earth are to be found in Kazakhstan.
To see more images of Kazakhstan visit: EastepPhotography.com

 

 

Art, creativity, Design, Interior Design, Kazakhstan, Nature, Recent Personal Images, Travel

Eyes of the Sky

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Art, artists, creativity, Culture, Design, People who have influenced me, Portraits

Like a Good Bonfire

Actor, Costume Designer, Disco, Geoffrey Holder, NYC, New Yok, New York City, Photographer, Stage Director, Studio 54, Tony Award Winner, Winner of Guggenheim Fellowship, artist, dancer

Geoffery Holder Studio 54, New York NY

Passion personified, that’s the impression I had of Geoffery Holder when I photographed him at Studio 54.  He lived around the corner from my NY apartment and each time I saw him in the neighborhood I had the same response, I was in the presence of power.

When I heard on NPR that Geoffery Holder was listening to one of his favorite artists, Bill Evans moving with the music, expressing life and  his love of art at the moment of  his passing on sunday, I thought that seems about right.  He was full of life and creativity.  He expressed that passion with his last breath.

“When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.”  Shunryu Suzuki

 

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(Acanthemblemaria maria), Blennies, Bonaire, Caribbean, Fish, Marine Life, Natural History, Nature, Nature Photography, Secretary blenny, The Living Seas, book, underwater, underwater photography, wildlife

Secretary blenny (Acanthemblemaria maria). Blennies take up residence in tiny abandoned holes in coral. Most secretive, they spend most of their time hiding inside or cautiously venturing to the opening of their coral home. They are tiny usually less than 8 cm. long. Bonaire
I saw this blenny dart into a small  hole in the coral head.  Slowly I approached and sat my camera’s down on the ocean floor, slowed my breath and waited.  Over the next forty minutes I mainly did nothing but watched and waited.  The blenny would peak it’s head out of the hole and dart back inside.  I kept repeating the same idea over and over in my mind…” I don’t want to hurt you, you’re wonderful, I just want to make a picture”.  The blenny started to stay out longer.  Gently I picked up my camera waited for the blenny to come out and stay, when it did I made one exposure, the one you’re looking at.
More underwater images can be seen at: EastepPhotography.com
Art, Interior Design, Uncategorized, underwater

Let the wildlife call the shots

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Polaroid, Photograph, Image, Fine Art, St. Lucia, Interior Designers, Interior Design, Decor, Decorative Print,

Polaroid image on St. Lucia of a Rasta man and Rooster.

What camera should I use?  I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve been asked this question.  I learned on an assignment for Polaroid that it did not matter what camera I use.  Creating an image is mostly about the way I see.  I grant that a particular lens or camera may give me a technical tool that helps craft the image.  When I photographed for Polaroid I was limited to the camera and film they provided.  The goal was to demonstrate that fine art images could be created using only Polaroid film and a Spectra camera.  These are two of many images I made for Polaroid.  The images won awards in a number of categories and proved to be successful in promoting the Spectra camera.

I learned from this assignment that creating images was mostly about the way I see and minimally about what camera I use.  There’s a saying among working photographers that “the best camera is the one you have with you”.  These days I always have my “smart phone” with me and  am pleased with the images I am creating.  I love the spontaneous feel of the images.  In coming posts I’ll share some of those with you.

Polaroid, Photograph, Image, Fine Art, Decorative Image, Decorative Picture, Interior Designers, Interior Design,

Polaroid image, Crete, Greece

Art, creativity, Design, Interior Design, Portraits, Travel

What Camera Should I Use?

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Art, Culture, Nature

Generation to Genration

Japanese cedar trees near Kyoto, Japan.

Japanese cedar trees near Kyoto, Japan.

Japanese cedar trees (Petasites japonicus) with branches cleared to develop a smooth exterior. Tree trunks are used as a feature in living room alcoves. Children harvest the trees their grandparents planted, nurture and cultivate trees their parents plant and  plant new trees for future generations.  West of Kyoto, Takao area, Japan.  To see more images from Japan visit EastepPhotogrpahy.com

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Art, Nature, underwater

Simply Beautiful

coral, Saba, Tubeworm, Underwater, Photography,

Serpulid Tubeworm (Ponastegus stellatus), Saba

This image of a Tubeworm photographed in Saba is beautiful.   Rather than saying more I’ll leave it at that.

To see more of my underwater images visit:  EastepPhotography.com

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Art, Culture, Saudi Arabia, Travel

Color Beyond Description

Mada'in Saleh, the historical site of a Nabataen trading center, northern Saudi Arabia

Mada’in Saleh, the historical site of a Nabatean trading center, northern Saudi Arabia

Photography has reached a strange place when I have to explain that “yes, that was the true color” and NO I did not create this in Photoshop, yikes!

The place I made this picture is Mada’in Saleh the historical site of a Nabatean trading center in north-west Saudi Arabia.  These folks were part of a group whose capital was Petra in modern-day Jordan.  It is also the place the Ottomans had a railroad depot which T.E. Lawrence destroyed.  It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

I made this image as part of a  feature story of archeology  for Smithsonian magazine. There are two reasons the color is other worldly.  The first is the light in Arabia gets this way sometimes, that’s all I know.  The second reason is I used a rare film Kodachrome Photomicrography which had insane saturation and detail.  The ASA is 16.  I did not add any color, the film simply  recorded everything that was there.

To see more images from this story visit Eastep Image Archive @ www.EastepPhotography.com 

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Art, Recent Personal Images

A Forty Year Love Affair

nature, tulip, parrot tulip, flower, art, photography, photograph

Professor Rontgen Parrot Tulip

New York, New York City, art, flower, parrot tulip, tulip, art, photograph, photography,

Parrot Tulips on 29th Street, New York City

I’ve had a forty-year love affair with the parrot tulip.  There are a few moments when I meet someone or discover something in nature when a connection is established that lasts a lifetime.  I’ve been blessed with a few of these moments, the first time I saw Patti’s  eyes, she’s been my wife for 45 years.  The moment I looked into Layla’s face in the delivery room, 26 years later I am still in love with my daughter.  Then there’s the parrot tulip.

The first time I saw a parrot tulip was forty years ago while walking in the rain along Madison Avenue in New York City.  A corner flower shop had a  funnel-shaped galvanized bucket full of parrot tulips among the flowers on display.  Even now I remember the response I had, it was mainly wonderment.  Looking at the tulip was like looking at a flame painted into a flower.

A few years ago I had a florist importer order direct from Holland two dozen parrot tulips.  They were delivered every Monday during their blooming period.  I would take them into my studio, study them and make new visual discoveries each week. The first image with the black background is an image from one of those sessions.

Earlier this year while walking in the rain along 29th street near my apartment in New York City I came upon two parrot tulips.  There were growing within a metal enclosure around a Ginko tree. I got down low to take a closer look when I noticed the taxis heading westbound on 29th street.  The image of that moment is the second one in this post.

To see more images visit: Eastep Image Archive

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