It’s almost July 4th and soon the Fireworks will begin. In some places they already have. Families take the kids, and often the cameras to witness these wonderful pyrotechnic displays and often the results are somewhat disappointing when they just don’t capture the color and vitality of the moment. So hear are some tips for shooting fireworks.

To start with you need a camera that you can control yourself. Very simple, auto everything cameras are not likely to give the results you want. You will need a sturdy tripod as well. Assuming you are using a digital camera, place the camera on the tripod facing toward where you expect to see the display. A wide angle (zoomed out) on the lens until you can see just where the activity will be, then you can adjust the zoom as the fireworks begin to go off. A vertical format works best. You want to fill as much of the frame as you can, but still leave yourself room for the randomness of where these explosions will occur. Depending on how close you are to the display, you may need to zoom in or out as things take place.

Set your camera on manual focus. And set your focus for 500 feet to infinity, at least very distant. Auto focus will not have time or anything still and sharp to locate, so will likely just give you blurs as it seeks something to focus on. If your camera has image stabilization, turn it off too. You will be on a tripod with long exposures and do not want the camera trying to compensate for image movement. Start out with your ISO set to about 400. You may find as you shoot that images are still too bright. If so, reset the ISO lower, 200 or even 100 with very bright fireworks. Set your exposures to manual as well. Shutter should be set to B for bulb (time exposure). You’ll be experimenting with long exposure times, and trying to anticipate when to press the shutter release. Aperture should be set fairly small in the beginning. This will not only help make your exposures longer without over exposure, but will also give you the greatest depth of field (how much is in focus from near to far).

When the fireworks begin, listen for the first low boom that signals the launch of the rocket or aerial bomb. Push the shutter release and hold it open for several seconds awaiting the burst in the air. Hold the shutter long enough to allow the explosion to pan out across the sky. This will give you the long trails and graceful curves. It also allows for other explosions to take place at the same time, giving multiple bursts at different points of expansion and multiple colors. You will likely find, as you review your exposures, that two to eight seconds will provide good results and as you shoot more and more and learn to anticipate the right moment to release the shutter, you can narrow down to a regular rhythm of two to four seconds at a time.

If your bursts look too small, zoom in. If your shots are too bright, try smaller aperture or lower ISO. If they are too dark, higher ISO and larger aperture. If you’re not getting enough spread, longer exposures.

Be careful at the grand finale, it will get really bright!

Be safe, have fun, and celebrate!

All Images are Copyright © George Cannon, All Rights Reserved.

It seems my daughter can’t get enough of stage performances. Before she was finished this year with dance at Armstrong School of Dance, she joined a relatively new theater group called Running To Places.

This is an organization formed to allow middle and high school students from all the area schools to learn how to be part of a theater company, the ins and outs of stage performance, and everything involved in a musical theater production.

Talented kids across a wide age range work on sets, management, music, the actual performance, and all aspects of the overall experience. With an ambitious schedule that has already included Fame, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Pirates of Penzance, they came to our local elementary school auditorium to put on Spring Showcase, a medley of various musical excerpts from a number of different plays.

Still to come this summer are Sweet Charity and Damn Yankees. The name, Running To Places, comes from the fact that they practice and perform at many different venues, where ever they can find space. Schools, church basements, and any space that’s available, in order to keep up with their rigorous schedule. These kids are amazingly talented and dedicated and the staff of adults that act as their mentors, teachers, and supervisors do an amazing job of assisting these talented students in making a top notch show. Money for the company comes from grants, donations, and sponsors. No kid is turned away for financial reasons.

Several familiar faces of local people were among the cast, but it was incredibly satisfying to also experience some of the young talent from other schools that I had not seen before plus performances by the adult members of the production team of Running To Places who also joined the showcase.

The show was professional, fun, and extremely entertaining. Thanks to everyone involved with Running To Places, and best of luck with the rest of the season. I’m really looking forward to it.

All Images are Copyright © George Cannon.

The 14th annual recitals and performances by the dancers from the Armstrong School of Dance continued into the evening performance that highlights the older girls and the team dancers. These girls are from about ten to eighteen years old and have generally been in classes since they were in the tots groups. The evening began with a long line of precision tap that these girls do so well. You get hints of Rockefeller Center and can almost bet that some of these girls could easily make it that far. It’s inspiring.

Karen has a great sense for picking costumes for these groups. They are fun and colorful and as a group, enliven the stage and the performance.

The team dancers and all the competitive dancers had a fantastic year again. After winning a national championship at PDTA last year, they came back this year to win numerous competitions and awards including a 1st and 2nd place at Tremaine, a 1st and two 2nds at Dance America and “Best Emotional Execution” for “I Run For Life” and “Best Presentation” for “Swing With Me”.

They swept the awards at PDTA this year with three 1st place Junior Grand Champion Awards, two 1st, two 2nd, and two 3rd place Senior Grand Champion awards, and numerous scholarship awards for individuals. An amazing and impressive year for an amazing group of dedicated and talented kids. We are all so proud of them.

Every year there are senior girls who graduate high school and leave the company. The seniors get to choreograph and perform a senior showcase piece. This year Sarah Mattison, Michelle Buchanan, and Fatima Sowe had the privilege with “Apologize”.

Since our daughter has been with Armstrong it has been such a treat to watch so many of these girls every year as they grow and mature as performers, to see the same faces year after year go from the tiny struggling “duckling” phase to seasoned graceful artists.

Next year will be her last year since she will be graduating and it will be so difficult to watch her be a part of the tearful goodbyes that take place on Saturday night when these girls say their thank you’s and farewells to a team that has become their extended family and to Karen, Karen’s Mom, and the other staff and teachers that these girls admire and love so much.

All images are Copyright © George Cannon, All Rights Reserved.

All images from this performance can be viewed and purchased at http://www.georgecannon.printroom.com.

Last weekend, as I mentioned in my last post, the Armstrong School of Dance put on their 14th annual recital/dance extravaganza at Ford Hall on the Ithaca College campus.

They have so many students that they have to break up the performances into two sessions. The early session is always the younger dancers that are all under ten years old. Backstage is a chaotic but carefully orchestrated team of older girls and parents keeping all these tiny dancers occupied, made up, hair dressed, bathroom tended, costumed, and lined up for entrances and exits. Amazingly, year after year, it goes off like clockwork for the most part.

Dress rehearsal usually sees a few who just refuse to move once on stage, or who take their leave of the line up to address relatives in the audience. But by the time they hit the stage for the real thing, most do amazingly well. I can barely remember my daughter when she was in the early show, dancing with all the tiny girls. Amazing how fast the time passes and how quickly they grow up.

The changes in the older girls and the growth in their talents and abilities as dancers and performers is easy to see as the classes progress and their poise and grace mature. They are more focused, more at ease on stage, and more confidant in their bodies. It’s a great thing for self esteem as well as physical fitness. It teaches them how to be a part of a group, how to play a part in the whole and still shine as an individual. In the beginning it’s just plain fun.

Interspersed with these tots, the Armstrong Team Dancers perform twice. I love this part because it allows me to watch my daughter a couple of extra times. I can never get enough of watching her dance. Other team girls who teach classes with the very little girls are expected to be on stage with them to guide their steps.

I love watching these fledgling dancers, knowing that they will likely be the team girls in several years, growing from spindly legged colts to fine thoroughbreds with the guidance of Karen and her staff. These girls all become a family, with tight friendships with their classmates and caring and admiration for their instructors who are mentors, big sisters, and good friends as well.

They are a joy to watch. Bring lightness and warmth to the heart. They are tiny treasures. They are the epitome of childhood in all they do.

Bless you all tiny dancers.

All images are Copyright © George Cannon, All Rights Reserved.

All images from this event are available for individual purchase at http://www.georgecannon.printroom.com.

This past weekend was dance weekend. The Fourteenth Annual Performances of the Armstrong School of Dance were held once again at Ford Hall on the campus of Ithaca College. My daughter has, as in years previous, been a member of the dance team and has also been teaching and choreographing younger students this year. Nine classes a week in all between hers and theirs. I don’t know how she does it and with such ease it seems. But dance is her life and she lives and breathes it. So the big weekend began on Thursday night with dress rehearsals, then performances on Saturday and Sunday.

Her mom and I were running around as support staff. My wife working behind the scenes to help with the “ducklings”. These are the tiny kids that perform earlier during the day. They need lots of backstage entertaining, bathroom escorts, costume changes, and hand holding. It’s an organizational masterpiece. (there will be pix of these little peaches in the next post) My job was flowers, food for in between performances, and general pack mule, as well as photographer.

They left early on Saturday and I arrived at 6:00 after picking up food and flowers. The young ones had already danced (as well as two performances by the dance team girls). The changeover takes about two hours, then the older girls danced for another two hours. Including finales, my daughter danced on stage for twelve different numbers with hasty costume changes in between. Tap, jazz, precision, lyrical, ballet, point, and hip-hop. And the show was amazing. I had seen a couple of the numbers at earlier performances they had done around the community. They also dance competitively and have brought home so many trophies and awards this year. They are an awesome group of girls. But back to the whole stamina thing.

No sooner had the performances ended than I brought in my daughters prom dress, she changed at the hall, and off she went to her junior prom. The bus back from the all night party arrived back at her school at 4:30 AM and she was back up at 9:00 the next morning to shower and head back out to the dance hall. Another round of all day performances, then off to do another two or three hours of practice with a new theater group she has joined and finally home at 10:00 PM to do the homework she still had for Monday. I get exhausted just thinking about it.

To my daughter I can only say, I am so proud of you. You are graceful and elegant and a wonder to behold on stage. Your smile says you are alive and happy and joyous. Your emotion and passion are in every step. You brought tears to my eyes and I could not take my eyes off you as you moved across that floor. And your stamina is astounding! Thank you for all you bring and all you give when you perform. You are a very beautiful and special girl.

All images are Copyright © George Cannon, All Rights Reserved.

At the beginning of this year I began another blog called “Artcards” aimed at showing some of the photographs I have taken that have been worked in Photoshop to create photoart. Some of these have had very simple treatments and some very complex. Some are simply enhanced through various filters, others have had multiple treatments and have been through several generations to arrive at the final result, and may not even be finished yet. Regardless, they are my experiments and my effort to take images and give them an extra boost to bring out something interesting or unique or to set a mood or tell a story. I expected to post one a week, but here it is the end of May and I’ve already posted 100 images. It began with nature. The sunflower was Artcard #1.

It has included a number of nature and landscape images. Especially images from my many pictures of trees. Many of the artcard images are treated to look like watercolors or serigraphs. It’s a treatment that seems to work well with nature subjects. Or even pets.

There are some images that have been given a mood enhancement with layers of overlaid colors and textures. These have been some favorites and have brought numerous comments so must be something viewers like to see.

Some images lend themselves to more of a comic book style illustration or to dramatic color treatments. The laundry, the crocs, the stage singer.

Some images have been converted to abstracts through tiling or color reversals.

The nostalgic mood seems to suit some images very well. I love this old photograph look for certain timeless sorts of subjects.

I have reached back into the archives for a few of these, pulling from old color slides to give new life to an old image.

And others are brand new images that simply call out to become something more than just a photograph.

Hopefully they will all become part of the offering of Imageguy Artcards postcards. A little piece of art to send or save or frame. The experiment has brought new life from images that might have been fine on their own, but have become something unique as a result. It has given me a much greater knowledge of what Photoshop is capable of and ways to manipulate photos to create photart. It has changed my style and the way I look at my photographs, opening up so many more possibilities.

So here’s to Artcard #100! A Toast!

All images are Copyright © George Cannon, All Rights Reserved.

While in Bilbao, Spain, I walked for miles around the center of the city, along the waterfront. And I probably went around the Guggenheim a dozen times. The building is an amazing architectural wonder. Some love it, others don’t. I thought it was fantastic! It’s remarkable from any vantage point and the many bridges across the river give the opportunity to see it from great vantage points.

The outside of the building is covered in sheets of titanium. Many think the building has the shape of a ship in some ways. Fitting for a city that was a major maritime center at one time. There is hardly a straight line any where in the structure. Everything curves and bends and shimmers and reflects. In front of the museum, or perhaps it’s behind the museum, along the waterfront, is a large shallow pool of water spanned by an arching bridge. From under the bridge about every hour, a cool cloud of mist rises from a series of nozzles. An art installation in itself by Japanese artist, Nakaya, it is actually a fog sculpture. On the walkway stands the giant spider sculpture by Louise Bourgeois, towering above the pedestrians that walk by and the tourists that pose beneath its legs.

Unfortunately, I have no interior pictures of the museum, which is as striking and dynamic as the exterior. The museum does not allow photography inside, even in the lobby. But the ceilings soar, and the glass and steel become sculptures in themselves. The Surrealist Show was masterfully displayed with amazing attention to detail and presentation. I notice these things since it’s what I do in my job. And no easy feat since, like outside, there are no straight walls anywhere it seems. And the giant steel plate sculptures by Richard Serra were amazing. Huge, massive, curving gracefully. Overwhelming in size. Fantastic.

I was transported back to Madrid with our painting on Thursday and spent Thursday evening in downtown Madrid with Bill Ayers from the Long Island Museum. It was raining lightly when we left to take the Metro into the city, so I didn’t take my camera which I regretted later. I’d love to go back to Madrid and spend more time there.

Friday was back to the airport and out to NYC on an Iberia plane. The flight back was far better than going over but we arrived to rain in New York. I was guided to the warehouse for storage of the painting until Saturday morning and spent the night at the Beacon Hotel on Broadway in Manhattan. The view from the 25th floor looking back toward Central Park was quite beautiful, evening and morning.

The FedEx Custom Critical truck wasn’t due at the warehouse until 10:00 so I had time in the morning for an hour and a half in Central Park. What a spectacular landscape that park is. Everywhere you turn, the eye is presented with such beautiful arrangements of trees, flowers, water, architecture, and distant views of the New York skyline. Such a treasure, a retreat, in the middle of such an amazing city.

My ride back with Ron and Linda in the FedEx truck was probably the most pleasant part of the many legs of transportation I experienced. A fantastic husband and wife driving team in their highly specialized truck, we talked about everything. Ron was an enthusiastic photography buff and he and I talked photography much of the way back to Ithaca. I felt as though I had almost made this trip primarily to meet these two wonderful people. They treated me almost like family and I was so grateful to have had the hours to spend with them.

All Images are Copyright © George Cannon, All Rights Reserved.

When Art Museums lend works for exhibitions overseas a courier usually must travel with the work, both over and back. These trips usually get offered to curators and registrars, but occasionally a lowly preparator such as myself gets an opportunity when no one else wants to make the trip. So when I was asked, “do you want to go to Bilbao, Spain?” I said, “you bet!” Art courier is no glamor trip. It’s a lot of hurry up and wait kind of stuff, but it’s an expenses paid trip to Europe, so I can’t complain. Okay, maybe I can about a few things, like the airlines.

My Flights started in Ithaca, NY and on day one our plane to Philadelphia was held for four hours while they waited on a mechanic to drive from an hour away only to tell them he couldn’t fix whatever the problem was with the brakes on the plane. Flight canceled! No way to make my connection so I’m already a day late. US Air arranged for my tickets the next day as far as Madrid, but the final leg was on Iberia whom they do not partner with so I had to get the people in Bilbao to make that new fight arrangement. Next day I left on time but in Philadelphia the plane to Madrid was held two hours because someone couldn’t figure out the problem with the air conditioning was a circuit breaker that had to be reset. So finally in Madrid, too late. Missed the flight! And I have to say that the people in Madrid at Iberia are not the easiest people to deal with although their terminal is striking. Long story short, I got to Bilbao about 28 hours late. From there on it was a breeze. Great hotel and the people at the Guggenheim were fabulous.

The painting got packed on Tuesday and wasn’t due to leave for Madrid until Thursday, so I had all day Wednesday to myself. Once I found my bearings I found my way around a small part of town easily and found Bilbao, in the heart of the Basque region, to be a very beautiful city. It was once a very industrial town with the Ria de Bilbao, which flows through the middle of the city, lined with shipping docks and factories. But as manufacturing has left and the shipping industry has declined in Bilbao, the city has rebuilt along the waterfront with a huge initiative to become a major tourist attraction. At the heart of this new rebirth is the Guggenheim Museoa Bilbao. A massive sprawling sculpture sheathed in titanium, designed by architect Frank Gehry, it commands the center of the new waterfront district. The entry is flanked by a huge sculpture by Jeff Koons known as the “Puppy”. It’s a giant West Highland terrier planted all over with flowering plants. It began as a temporary piece but was so popular it was kept permanently. Unfortunately it was being totally replanted when I was there so was surrounded with scaffolding. I believe it’s popularity has made these tiny white dogs very popular in Bilbao, because I must have seen a dozen of them on the streets while I was there. People in Bilbao are big dog fans and walk their dogs constantly along the city streets, most running free off leash, but well behaved and under control.

I’ll post more Guggenheim photos in my next post, but back to Bilbao. Never having been to Spain before, I found Bilbao a very attractive city, but was told that since it is a Basque city, that it’s not typical of most other Spanish cities. The food is very different and the basic architecture of the houses is somewhat unique. They have more of a chalet look such as you might expect in Switzerland or Austria.

There was a beautiful old square very near the hotel with a grand old church. The streets were clean and the parks very beautiful. And all through the city a great juxtaposition of old and new, and construction going on building and renovating. the architecture alone is worth the trip there. Like most old European cities, many of the streets are narrow and paved with cobblestone.

The people were gracious and friendly, and despite not knowing the language well, I had little trouble communicating. The city also has great public transportation. My only regret is that I had only one full day to visit the city on my own because there was much I didn’t see that I would have liked to.

More in the next post.

All images Copyright © George Cannon, All Rights Reserved.

Chapter two: I continued to meet with people to promote my photographs both as fine art prints for galleries and as a series of postcards of the area. The response was very good so have come home to scurry about and make this happen. It means another new website and most people wanting things by Memorial Day. This leaves me only about a month and I’ll be gone to Spain for a week of that. I’m really looking forward to the trip however, to a place I’ve never been before. I’m going to courier a painting back from the Guggenheim in Bilbao so will have a little extra time to shoot some images in Bilbao and in Madrid. I speak no Spanish aside from the basics we all learned in high school, but will learn how to say, “do you mind if I take your picture” and hopefully will have no problems. But back to Florida…

One of the first developments on 30A is a community called Rosemary Beach. They’re almost finished building there and the community is thick with beautiful architecture, lush plantings, beautiful colors, and the feeling of comfort and luxury. I had many images of Rosemary Beach but only included about a dozen in the slide show I took down with me, so felt the need to expand on my collection while there to give a little better representation. It’s not hard in a community like this one to find beautiful images.

Part of the reason I love this area, it’s so visually rich. I spoke with one of the development workers one morning who encouraged me to take a look at one of the pool areas (they have four). The pool is one that has the water filled right to the top so has this amazing reflective surface that appears to float in mid air. Beautiful. Not a bad place to take one’s mind off your troubles and relax for a while. A place of rejuvenation.

Rosemary Beach is a family community with lots of kids and bikes, beautiful lawns for bocci ball and outdoor movies and concerts, tennis courts, and of course, beautiful beaches.

I also drove into downtown Panama City while there to meet with someone at the Northwest Florida Visual Arts Center about exhibiting there. Panama City and Panama City Beach are very different experiences. Busy highways, high rise hotels, miniature golf and rental motor scooters, funky old motels being bought up for huge hotel developments.

Almost a Disneyland feel compared to 30A, but still rich with images. I love this kind of environment too because of the odd juxtapositions you encounter. It’s a rich contrast to 30A where controlled development and Hollywood style mansions mixed with old Florida quaintness prevail.

When I finally had to leave to return home I decided to take a little time to get off the interstate and travel a bit on Highway 11 through the Virginia countryside. It had been raining most of the way home and that morning was thick with fog which gave a richness and timelessness to the landscape.

Virginia is such a beautiful state with rolling hills and mountains, farms and creeks, redbuds and the greenest grass. A beautiful place at a beautiful time of year. I was rewarded for taking a break from the speed of the interstate with a quiet solitude of a lovely countryside. I’ll have to do that again.

All images are Copyright © George Cannon, All Rights Reserved.

When I left Trumansburg a little over a week ago it was cool and Spring was struggling to appear. As I drove down I-81 through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Spring became more and more evident. The greening trees and redbuds, dogwoods and cherry trees, scattered through the landscape always make me feel like letting out a sigh of relief for Winter is truly gone. Strangely enough, when I finally reached Florida and the Gulf it was less like Spring than what I had left. The wisteria had already bloomed as usual, but a cold front had brought temperatures that didn’t get above 60 for three days. Still the sun and the white sand and rolling ocean waves bring warmth from within.

On the way down I stopped briefly in Eufaula, Alabama, a quaint little town known as the Big Bass Capital of the South on the edge of a huge reservoir (Lake Eufaula) with shaded streets and beautiful old houses along the main street through town. Every year they have a week of home tours to let the public in to see some of these beautiful places hosted by women in antebellum hoop skirts and big hats. Eufaula was obviously a southern boom town at one time. Now it’s quiet and feels very lazy, a place for taking it easy on a warm spring day.

I went to Florida this spring as a business trip instead of vacation. I went to promote my photography. Odd for someone who lives year round in upstate New York. But I’ve been working for about four years on a series of images from the Gulf near Panama City and truly love the area. I’ve been working the area along Rte. 30A from west of Panama City Beach to about San Destin. It’s been building and building with new developments along beaches with names like Inlet Beach, Rosemary Beach, Seagrove Beach, and Grayton Beach. There are still many of the old Florida homes, low concrete block with thick landscaping and cool screen porches. But much of what was vacant scrub fifteen years ago is now thick with three and four story developments with a distinct Florida architecture. This style sort of began with the birth of Seaside, a community that was written up in numerous architecture magazines as the “new Florida”, and has spread across the entire gulf coast. Seaside is famous for being the setting of the perfect town in “The Truman Show”.

I spent my first day out shooting in a couple of the state parks since it was too cold to be sunning on the beach (didn’t I say this was a business trip). Deer Lake State Park on the Gulf has an elevated walk out across the large bright white dunes this area used to be famous for and borders a large lake with dense pine and palmetto woods.

Eden Gardens State Park is what was once the estate of the William Henry Wesley family. Beautiful grounds with huge oaks dripping with Spanish moss surround the restored home with its wide porches, rocking chairs and tall windows. Open for tours, the mansion is an elegant example of old southern architecture that is reminiscent of the days of the Civil War.

I spent my next day before talking with gallery owners and shop managers, riding my bike through Alys Beach. This development is one of the newest on this stretch of 30A and one of the most striking.

The design and architecture are so elegant and beautiful, stark white, simple and carefully planned to offer amazing images with every turn and changing constantly as the sun moves through the day. The design and planning here just astound me. It’s such a visual treat.

I have a lot of images I want to post from this trip, so I’ll continue this in my next post.

All Images are Copyright © George Cannon, All Rights Reserved.