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Camera Therapy

February 3, 2017 at 9:41 am by Claudia

As I sat in my chair, shawl around my shoulders (it’s very, very cold outside) reading A Gentleman in Moscow, blinds shut, lamps lighting the room, I thought how lovely it would be to shut out the world, stay in my chair and read all day long. No news, no emails, no fights – just escape.

That isn’t me, as you know. But for a few hours this morning, it was a lovely fantasy.

I am really enjoying A Gentleman in Moscow. The author, Amor Towles, is a beautiful writer. He has created a world within the walls of the Metropol Hotel in Moscow in the year 1922 and I have completely embraced it. I can’t wait to get back to it.

Perhaps I can do the same thing here, never leaving, never having to admit that there are threats upon the horizon. Sigh.

We ran off for a half hour or so yesterday – only that as it was so windy and cold that we had to retreat to the car – to take some photos of the spectacular landscape that is part of our town. I took my new lens, which meant I had to use the iPhone to get a distance shot, but it was fun to play. Freezing, but fun.

Apple orchard against a changing sky.

Our mountains off in the distance. Don says that he loves the clouds in the Hudson Valley. They are always changing, almost always spectacular in their way. Yesterday’s clouds were no exception. Changing by the second, big swaths of mist moving in and out of the horizon, it was a wonder to behold.

Via my iPhone. On the top of one of the mountains, you can just make out the lookout tower that is part of the property belonging to the famous Mohonk Mountain House.

And I saw a woodpecker from the kitchen window – way off in the dead ash tree that is now surrounded by a maple tree. He’s shadowy in these photos, almost as if he wanted to hide from me.

I’m doing my best to find pockets of creativity in my day. Sanity savers: books, the daily NY Times Crossword, my camera, and Don Don Don Don Don. Oh, and vegan Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Imagine how my heart soared when I saw that in the supermarket!

Thank you so much for yesterday’s discussion and for sharing your challenges and the ways in which you strive to achieve balance in the face of worry and despair. Your thoughts helped so many. There is a coming together here that surely provides solace for the soul. I certainly feel that way as I read your thoughts.

Much love to all of you. Peace.

Happy Friday.

Cameras, White Noise, Packing

January 18, 2017 at 10:05 am by Claudia

I took this shot as I stood at a corner in Hartford, waiting for the light to change. Timing is everything, isn’t it? It was a perfect time of the day to catch the reflections of the buildings across the street in this glass of this more modern building.

My day off was restful. I ran a few errands, hung around the apartment, and rested up for the week ahead. One purchase was a white noise machine by Marpac called the Dohme. A couple of years back, I looked into them, thinking one might be nice for Don when he was on the road. I never did anything about it, mostly because he thought he didn’t need one. But, since my neighbor makes some noise occasionally and I tend to be a light sleeper anyway, I researched ‘white noise machines’ and rediscovered this brand, which, happily, is carried at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Courtesy of bedbathandbeyond(dot)com

I love it. I slept so well last night! I know, of course, that there are many factors that can contribute to a sleepless night. However, this little – and it’s fairly compact – machine will surely help when I’m on the road. It’s a good investment.

What else is new? I’m contemplating packing all of this up in about 3 days and heading back home, trying to use up all the perishable food in the refrigerator, and looking at cameras online.

Don has found a new passion for photography. It’s all been done on his iPhone so far. He has a fantastic eye and he really gets some beautiful and, at times, provocative pictures. (I think he would have been a great photojournalist.) When I was home last, he casually asked me about DSLRs and whether I ever thought about upgrading. To which I responded, “Why? Do you want to inherit mine?” He loves taking photos on the iPhone but wants to explore a DSLR, because though photo quality on phones is pretty good these days, it’s not the same as the quality on a DSLR.

I had no plans to upgrade and I might not. We’re thinking about our options and I have a feeling we’ll be taking a little trip to NYC and B&H Photo to do some research.

But it got me thinking, that’s for sure. Which led me to play around with shooting in ‘Raw’ which is a setting used by a lot of photographers, like my friend Dawn and my friend Elizabeth. Raw is a format that captures all the image data when taking a picture. None of it is compressed, as routinely happens in a JPEG format. It requires more editing, but produces higher quality images.

I have that setting on my camera, so I played around a bit with it on Monday.

I have limited opportunities to experiment in this apartment, so this is what I came up with. I have much, much to learn! Fortunately, Don’s interest has sparked some renewed interest on my part, which is a good thing. I need to expand my everyday knowledge and skill set.

The show is going very well and we’re getting near the point where Darko freezes it and doesn’t do any more tweaking. We’ll probably be there by tomorrow. It’s a truly funny and joyful production.

Happy Wednesday.

Close-ups: On Weeds and Shakespeare

September 9, 2014 at 8:19 am by Claudia

Sometimes I like to take pictures of something I might usually ignore or find annoying and see what the lens reveals. Case in point: some weeds that are growing around the humongous weeping willow stump. It’s hard to keep that area nicely trimmed and I end up ignoring it. Like a little kid, I figure if I don’t ‘see’ it, no one else will, either.

A close-up reveals such beauty:

grasses3

grasses1

grasses2

If I had any available space on my walls – and I don’t – I’d frame these. They’d make a lovely triptych.

I caught up on my sleep last night, thank goodness. Don had his first day of rehearsal. First days are rather overwhelming. So many new faces; not only the members of the cast, but the designers and stage managers and staff members. I find first days exciting and exhausting. This particular play, Our Town, is starting off the 50th Anniversary season of the Long Wharf Theater and is being directed by the Artistic Director, Gordon Edelstein. Don has worked with him before in a production of The Front Page (gosh, that was one of my favorite productions, ever.) I’ve worked at the Long Wharf as well. It’s a really wonderful space.

Today’s agenda here at home: Work on Act 1 of Hamlet. That means gathering up all my reference books, which are stashed here and there in the cottage, sharpening my pencils (Blackwings, of course), and going at the text, word by word. I make sure I know what every word means. I check the scansion (the rhythm and beats) of each line of poetry. Shakespeare wrote in Iambic Pentameter and those beats give clear clues to the stress and meaning of a line. I look for any abnormalities in the scansion that might be a clue to the character’s emotions. It’s fascinating and painstaking work that I cannot rush. I usually try to tackle an act a day, but sometimes it takes longer than that. Depends on the play. After about 3 or 4 hours, I have to stop for the day.

I do all of this so that when rehearsals start, I am armed with all sorts of notes on the text and know how it should flow. Then, when I work one-on-one with the actors, I can be as of much assistance as possible in helping them find their way with the text and, together, we can work on speaking it clearly and easily, with a full and free voice.

When I work as a dialect coach, I’m usually billed as Voice and Dialect Coach, or just Dialect Coach. But when I work on Shakespeare, I am billed as Voice and Text Coach because the text work is absolutely essential. It’s like working a crossword puzzle. There are lots of clues to be found and analyzed that lead to clarity of intention.

Getting started is always hard for me. I put it off. Perhaps because I’m a natural procrastinator? But once I start, I always become immersed in the play.

Then, maybe a bit of lawn mowing….we’ll see.

Happy Tuesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Camera Therapy

Cameras, White Noise, Packing

Close-ups: On Weeds and Shakespeare

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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