Solitary Confinement Part Deux

March 25, 2009 Mahbubur Rahman

The tree I liked so much last summer has had its branches sawed off :( I was really disappointed to see that, but at the same time I noticed this other tree in a similar predicament. Another symbolism of spring - out with the old, in with the new...

Solitary Confinement

March 24, 2009 Mahbubur Rahman

Caumsett State Park has a lot of trees, but usually they are bunched up together - other than some trees near the entrance, which are less grouped together - but this is the one of the few trees that is totally by itself - not sure if it was shunned by the other trees :). This is also one of my first HDRs - and I wanted to test how far I can go to stretch the colors - this is by no means a natural look - and not meant to be either. Taken last summer.

Vanilla Sky

March 23, 2009 Mahbubur Rahman

The sky was awesome this weekend at Caumsett park. Near the end of the walk, the sky had turned into a nice pink/yellow/red shade. Reminded me of Monet's painting. It was beautiful.

Resurrection

March 22, 2009 Mahbubur Rahman

I went back to Caumsett Park today the first time after the snow. The Drowning Tree that I saw during that trip is making its comeback - symbolic of the first weekend in spring. Very soon, there should be leaves...

Reflections

March 20, 2009 Mahbubur Rahman

Summer Preview: I love sunsets - I mean, who doesn't? I love sunrises, too, but a morning person I am NOT. Anyway, sunsets are the reason I got into HDR, because I always had trouble capturing all the colors in the frame - something was always underexposed or overexposed - to make a long story short, I found out about HDR, and this is one of the first HDRs that I made. Cold Spring Harbor, New York.

Time Warp

March 16, 2009 Mahbubur Rahman

Freud would have a field day with this. The recurring bench theme makes its appearance again. This time its a little surreal, like when you work or stay up all night, and night blends into day and/or vice versa, hence the title 'time warp'. West Neck Beach, Lloyd Neck, New York.

Division

March 13, 2009 Mahbubur Rahman

I named this Division, because with everything white and gray, the only thing keeping the sky and the land apart in my eyes was the barn and the trees - hence the title... Snow day in Caumsett State Park, Huntington, New York.

White on White

March 12, 2009 Mahbubur Rahman

The barn at Caumsett State Park, Huntington, New York

The Island

March 11, 2009 Mahbubur Rahman

Another bench shot on a cold, cold day after the snow storm in Caumsett State Park, New York

The Drowning Tree

March 10, 2009 Mahbubur Rahman

Another picture to show the vastness and overshelming nature of snow. The tree is like is drowning in it, struggling to stay afloat - and another cold, cold portrait of Caumsett Park, New York after the snow storm.

The Bus Stop

March 9, 2009 Mahbubur Rahman

Another brief intermission from the wolf series to go back to the cold snow day in Caumsett Park in Huntington, New York. The bench is a recurring theme in my photographs, when I first started experimenting with the emotion 'loneliness'. Since then, I've just become attached to pictures of benches, so here is another one.

Infinity

February 28, 2009 Mahbubur Rahman

Exploring the vastness and emotional coldness of the frozen lake on Cold Spring Harbor, New York.

A Drive through Switzerland

A drive through Switzerland is everything that I thought it would be. Mountains, lakes and the requisite chocolate stops makes this one of the more memorable road trips in Europe.

Cliché

Aside from the pristine beaches, there is another side of Jamaica landscape that I noticed when I ventured out from the sheltered resort area. When you venture inland, there is a plethora of other scenery that is very different than the tourism posters of Jamaica. I happened to walk off the hotel property, and stumbled upon the edge of golf course which was not really part of it, but still was very well taken care of. Either way, anybody would be more than ecstatic to have it as their backyard.

On a different note, I wanted to mention something about photographic cliches. Photographic cliches are images that are created with motifs that are very common, such as sunrise/sunset beaches, mountaineous landscapes, rocks in water, autumn leaves, white fences - and lone trees. I've probably rattled off about 70% of the recent pictures you've seen on the web (and possibly on my blog). The truth is that in the current digital age, and the easy access to camera equipment/technology, its pretty hard to be original, especially for amateurs like myself. All this is a little depressing unless you're a creative genius, and so the philosophy has to change. So if you're not going to create the next original masterpiece, then I guess the thing to take note off is whether you're having fun, and whether you believe in what you created (or are creating) - IMHO, its all worthwhile as long as that requirement is met. Also, I strongly believe that once you are having fun and believe in what you're doing, you will end up creating that masterpiece at some point. Yes, the lone tree motif has been done many times before, but I'm fairly confident its not that rampant in landscapes of Jamaica (I hope). This is my thought process in the ever changing, saturated world of photography of today. What is your approach?