quotations

Fall in love with the earth…

/ Sherry Galey / 9 Comments

wake up and fall

We need to wake up and fall in love with the earth.

Thich Nhat Hanh

We act like we have all the time in the world. But climate change is already showing its deadly effects. And it will only get worse.

Have a look at some of what we have done to the world so far.

“Without collective awakening the catastrophe will come,” warns Buddhist monk and Nobel Peace Prize winner Thich Nhat Hanh. “Civilisations have been destroyed many times and this civilisation is no different. It can be destroyed.”

But he is hopeful. “If we can produce a collective awakening we can solve the problem of global warming. Together we have to provoke that type of awakening.”

With the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris meeting coming up (COP21), it’s  time to wake up, to fall in love with the earth and commit to doing everything we can to turn things around. We will have to make sacrifices — yes — and we need to make a leap.

Small steps will no longer get us to where we need to go. So we need to leap.

I, for one, have signed the Leap Manifesto. This is a vision for how Canada can tackle climate change in a way that changes our country for the better.

The Leap Manifesto is a non-partisan social and political initiative. Those who have signed include supporters of all parties, and some who support none. All share the belief that now is the moment for a transformative agenda to come from outside electoral politics. History tells us that this kind of outside pressure is the best gift any new government can receive.

Will you join us? Make your support your gift to your children, grandchildren and all future generations.

 

Light, gesture, colour…

/ Sherry Galey / 16 Comments

flower6Inspired by the incomparable Jay Maisel, I set out to experiment with light, gesture and colour.

There is a flowering tree not far from our boat (a Hong Kong orchid, I am told) with a lovely fragrance. I love trees in general and I find myself returning to this one often. At certain times,  the light falls on the flowers in a way that is irresistible.

So today I spent some time with the flowers, trying to capture a range of their gestures (placement of petals and stamens etc.) and experimenting to see how their colour changed depending on where the light fell on them.
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I love listening to Jay Maisel talk about photography. He has forgotten more than I will probably ever know. The funny thing is that he speaks in such straightforward terms and makes it sound so easy, and when you look at his images, you can be fooled into thinking they are simple to make  — that is, until you try to replicate one! He has some wonderful videos on You Tube (Google them!) and of course, his new book Light, Gesture, Colour is just excellent.

Many people snap away at flowers and are quite pleased with the results. I envy them. In my experience it’s not easy to take a good picture of a flower — at least one that satisfies me. The ratio of bad to good is quite high. Is that just me, or do you find that too?

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Here are some of my favourite quotes from Jay Maisel. They inspire me to keep going and keep trying…

“We have always wanted to find the ‘it-ness’ of anything we shoot. We want to get as deep into the subject as we can.”

“You will, in time, see and show others not just the superficial, but the details, the meanings, and the implications of all that you look at …”

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“What you’re shooting at doesn’t matter, the real question is: ‘Does it give you joy?’”

“Always shoot it now. It won’t be the same when you go back.” (That is oh so true!)

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“The drama of light exists not only in what is in the light, but also in what is left dark. If the light is everywhere, the drama is gone.”

“If you don’t have a camera, the best thing you can do is describe how great it looked.”
flower

“If you’re not your own severest critic, you are your own worst enemy.”

But then, on the other hand…

“Remember that most people (those who are not photographers) don’t even see the things that you missed. Many don’t even look. Ergo, you are way ahead of the game.”

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THANK YOU to all my readers…

I wish I could thank each and every one of you for your kind, thoughtful and insightful comments on this post. They made my day!

It looks like the weather is shaping up for us to leave to cross to the Bahamas on our sailboat very soon. So I need to turn my attention to other things right now and will probably be without Internet access for a bit.

I hope to see you on the other side!

 

On the move in New York City…

/ Sherry Galey / 9 Comments
 When I’m in New York, I just want to walk down the street and feel this thing, like I’m in a movie.
Ryan Adams
peopleon the move

Under Bethesda Terrace

One of the things I love most about New York is the energy and movement. Walking, cycling (if you’re insane), driving (if you’re insane), riding buses, subways, taxis and carriages — even sailing — people around you are always going somewhere. And if you only have a few days, you want to be going somewhere — everywhere — too!

For sale on Getty Images
In Brooklyn by the East River
By the Bethesda Fountain

Laid out on a grid system, New York is one of the easiest large cities in the world to get around in. We generally walk, and walk and then walk some more. But I’ve also figured out how to get to places like Brooklyn and the Cloisters way north near Harlem by subway and bus without too much trouble.

New York
In the New York Public Library

And here’s what happens when you stop for a moment to figure out where you are and where you’re going next — a New Yorker stops to ask if they can help you find something.

It happened twice this trip and it’s happened every single time I’ve travelled to New York previously —  all 11 or 12 trips!

I agree with Bill Murray:

My favorite thing about New York is the people, because I think they’re misunderstood. I don’t think people realize how kind New York people are.

This time a kind woman approached us in Central Park as we were finishing up our photography for the day. And a sweet male cyclist came up to us as we were stopped in Times Square looking at the Jumbotron.

Yes, New Yorkers are always moving, but some do take time to stop to help travellers.

New York City bus
In Grand Central Terminal