Anna Karenina and 52Frames

This week's theme/challenge for 52Frames was "Books," and the "special credit" was to photograph something that tells the story. I was in New York, commuting between a friend's apartment on the Upper West Side and a family member in a Long Island hospital. 

And I saw a lot of train-tracks and had very little time to do anything much besides travel and help. Photography had to stay on the back-burner, even 52Frames.

It had been quite a few weeks since I could qualify for the extra credit, so I tried to think of something I could photograph which would bring me back to a story line. Yep, the traintracks spoke to me. Nope, not to jump like Anna  Karenina, Gd forbid, but all those gorgeous leading lines...

"Anna Karenina"
Yes, those train tracks....

Camera: Canon Canon IXUS 145
Location: New York City

This photo qualifies for the "Extra Credit" challenge: "Tell the Tale"

Not every photo is a work of art, but at least I didn't miss a week!

Yes, I'm AwayI

In case you've been wondering... yes I've been wandering. Here are a few photos.

More info to follow.

New York Pictures

As much as I love living in Israel and Shiloh, I do enjoy my New York visits. And I love walking in Manhattan. Here are a few recent photos from my trip.

52Frames from New York, Didn't Miss a Week!!

Last night Yesterday afternoon I finally landed home in Israel. I had been away for just over two weeks. I did my best to blog on this blog and Shiloh Musings. And I also managed to submit photos to 52Frames the photography group of weekly challenges/themes I've been in for almost two and a half years.

At 52Frames we start the year with a self-portrait which isn't supposed to be a quick smiling/mugging selfie. It's supposed to have more thought out composition and artistic pizzazz. I ended up posing in the well-mirrored bathroom in our Blakely Hotel room, New York City, where we spent New Year's Eve, since the timing of the visit had been timed to allow us to attend a big family wedding that night in Manhattan.

"Dedicated Framer"
Self portrait on the go. I am traveling and refuse to miss a week. All I have is a phone with minimal memory.

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Start 2016 right. A new photo challenge in your inbox, each week. Begin your 52-week journey anytime! Tell your friends! Start here:http://bit.ly/52f-fbstart

 — with Batya Spiegelman Medad.

The photo is unedited, since it was straight from the telephone, an overtired Galaxy II which freezes and needs lots of "undoing" if I try to edit photos.

The second week's photo, also taken in Manhattan, was supposed to be black and white. And again since my phone is too overloaded and crotchety to play with, I was afraid to "tell it" to photograph black and white, so I "bleached out" the color on my friend's computer after mailing it to myself and then downloading on her computer and seeing what photo-editing program was easily available.

"New York! New York!"
At present I'm in New York City and do not have my usual computer. Enough with the excuses; this is a lovely neighborhood as you can see.

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Start 2016 right. A new photo challenge in your inbox, each week. Begin your 52-week journey anytime! Tell your friends! Start here:http://bit.ly/52f-fbstart

 — with Batya Spiegelman Medad.

This was the best I could do in editing (cropping, color change and whatever) on the unfamiliar computer, an Apple.

For the upcoming weekly challenge, I've taken a gazillion pictures, which I must go through, edit a bit and choose. Sometimes life is easier for a gypsy...

Goodbye New York for Now

 

I am at the next stage of my visit to the states, Arizona.  Of course I didn't get done all I had wanted to do nor saw all the people I had wanted to see in New York. But we were there for a gorgeous family wedding, which was the reason the clan flew from Israel.

I arranged Shabbat at a Scottsdale synagogue. Yes, total strangers, but the Jewish heart and hospitality. More of the travel saga to continue Gd willing.

Shabbat Shalom to all

52 Frames Weekly Photography Challenge, Didn't Miss a Week!

Although I was on the road for almost three weeks, considering a staff trip with my husband's Begin Heritage Center and then a family visit to Arizona and New York, I still managed to send in photos, granted not the best quality, to 52 Frames.

I used my Galaxy 2 "smartphone," considered rather borderline retarded by today's standards, for both the photo-taking and sending off to the 52Frames site. When in New York, my phone was used as a "tablet," and I had a small, old, cheap cellphone with an American simcard which for $2- a day gave me unlimited American phone-calls.

Here are the photos, starting backwards, most recent to the one which was posted when I was "in-transit" between Israel and Arizona.

"Ritual," which we were told did not need to be a religious ritual. I ended up taking a picture of my "NY Ritual," which is shopping for bargains. This photo is from the Fifth Avenue branch of Lord & Taylor's, a favorite spot for me where sales items get another 50% knocked off.

I took two photos which were very similar. One was blurry, and the other not, but my big mistake was not deleting the blurry one which ended up being the one submitted. Here's the one I had meant to submit.

The lesson is to delete all bad photos!!!

The week before was Reflection, and I took advantage of the large windows and gorgeous art of my Purim-Shabbat hosts in Manhattan. Thank you!!

And the Week 9 Black and White. I took the photo in Jerusalem, at the shuq/shuk, Machane Yehuda open market.

It was taken in "color" although it is black and white. I did use the computer at home to edit it a bit, which is how I achieved that "blurry frame."

Now I'm home, thank G-d. And I know that Passover is soon. G-d willing I'll do all that is necessary and not lose my smile.

Two weeks have passed pretty quickly

Last day of the visit, according to plan. This is the day or supposed to be the day that the visit was planned around, my mother's unveiling. Gd willing we'll pay her proper respect at her grave and my sister, brother and I will see lots of family members, cousins and children of cousins and our kids. I have really enjoyed the week and a half I've been based in Manhattan. It's my favorite place in Chutz l'Aretz, out of Israel. No other place compares. Gd willing I will return for happier occasions.

 

 

 

A "Farmers Market" on Broadway?

Look what I found in Manhattan. Is this a farmer's market?

MOMA and Me

Yes, yesterday I visited MOMA. I managed to pretty much go through the entire museum relatively quickly. It was lovely.

Here are a few pictures:

Snowy New York

Soon after getting to New York last week I realized that all my friends and relatives hadn't been exaggerating about the snow.


We had a very snowy Purim and Shabbat on the Upper Westside.


But then yesterday it began warming up, perfect for my hiking and shopping day Midtown.

Lunch break

Not much snow is left there, and some areas have none at all.