Daily Photos

< July 2010 >

July 1, 2010
Under new management (see December 21, 2009). Is she remembering the building`s history or looking forward to its future? A totally spontaneous moment in the Group Project Space (see August 26, 2009). Which person takes longer to get dressed in the morning? A secluded natural area, thirty feet from a busy road.

July 2, 2010
She was awake, alert and attractive for our 8:00am shoot. Sometimes the wind is a good thing when taking pictures. I told her the location was `rustic` and she should leave her silk dresses at home (see April 2 and May 21, 2010). Only she and I know she was sitting on a drinking fountain. Don`t tell anyone else. For some photographs, captions are just a waste of data.

July 3, 2010
He`s smiling now. Wait until he has to give away his girl. Checking out the bridesmaids. It`s not the heat, it`s the humanity. So you think you can dance? Well -- okay -- you can. Straight from the dance clubs of Chicago, it`s Maad Soul.

July 4, 2010
As a photographer, I just watch. I don`t have to participate. Everybody loves a parade. Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket. One of the many things to like about Dayton. I wear my sunglasses at night, so I can keep track of the visions in my eyes. COREY HART

July 5, 2010
Photography began very early this morning to avoid heat. Small wonder. Beauty loves company. Bejewelled beauty beckons. Arachnid attack awaits. Lily of the Miami Valley.

July 6, 2010
Early riser. Another cat! There`s never enough food to go around. The flaming sun rises for another day. Treat nature with respect and apologies are unnecessary.

July 7, 2010
`Let`s see, what can I torture and kill today?` Struggling for life in an alley. Holiday remnants. It`s a work in progress. Puppy-in-a-purse.

July 8, 2010
More holiday remnants. High wire act. It`s a little hard to describe what`s going on here, but at least I got a picture of it, whatever it is. Maybe this will help explain the final photo from July 6 above. Or maybe it won`t. `O!`

July 9, 2010
The vines make for an interesting photo, but they probably annoy the letter carrier. Most. Precious. Resource. A very agreeable utility pole. Condensation on a window, with a blurry person seen in the distance. This photo, and the first picture from June 15, 2010, are unintentionally reminiscent of Saul Leitner. Still tracking this artist`s progress (see June 30 and July 7, 2010).

July 10, 2010
I look back at July 14, 2007, and realize I had no idea what I was doing with a camera back then. Three years from now, what will I think about the photos I took today? Wow, those teeth whitening strips really work. Either hit it or duck. Very quickly. Why rinse off when you`ll just get muddy again in the next game? Good clean fun for charity. And, yes, my camera and I got very muddy.

July 11, 2010
I don`t often speak to inanimate objects, but I apologized to my camera as I cleaned off yesterday`s mud. I`m no expert, but I assume there are no vegan spiders. Bees LIKE IT when there`s a high pollen count. What, no bug? This guy has evidently had a rough life. Both of his `swallow tails` have broken off.

July 12, 2010
Whiteboards in the morning. This bird is smaller than my fist, but was bossing around another bird of a different species that was even smaller. People who take pictures all the time frighten me. What is their secret agenda? The highest point in Dayton just got higher. From the highest point in Dayton, you can see -- Dayton.

July 13, 2010
A `flood watch` means conditions are favorable for you to stand around and watch it flood. Why so blue? Whatever. It was raining. Next slide, please. I`ve long been frustrated by dust spots on my camera sensor (here are some enlarged), but cleaning it is risky. The camera could become useless if it`s done wrong. My first attempt only ADDED more dust, but after several tries the sensor was relatively clean. So I`m quite happy with this photograph which shows absolutely nothing.

July 14, 2010
Another guy with dirty shoes (see June 15, 2010). He has ear protection, but imagine all the stuff he`s breathing in. There are too many stray cats on campus (see June 2, 2010, and August 18, 2009). Time for a little variety. Reality kind of fades out on the right. Scene from `Wagon Train.` Construction zone.

July 15, 2010
Houses made by hand have endearing irregularities. Morning in America. Indoor/outdoor hybiscus. She`s beside herself. The digital girl.

July 16, 2010
I have a photo on display at the Dayton Visual Arts Center (see November 14, 2009). You`ll probably want to drop everything right now and go see it. Lights aren`t light. They`re heavy. The sentinel of Main Street. Tour d`Dayton. The digital bird.

July 17, 2010
Tonight a free boxing exhibition took place in the middle of an intersection downtown, allowing me to photograph my first fight without compromising my integrity too badly. All of the fighters were amateurs. These two came into the ring without gloves. Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee. This photograph was the result of luck, persistence and expensive camera equipment, but it`s important to know that I saw it in my head before I left home for the fight. And now for something completely different.

July 18, 2010
The only pollution these vehicles make is some body odor. Off to a fast start. These pictures will probably be seen in some future photography workshop. They put an awful lot of faith in a couple strips of rubber. Fifty cyclists can speed by with surprisingly little noise.

July 19, 2010
Backstage at the Victoria Theatre, waiting to photograph significant people in the local performing arts scene. Executive directors, music directors, and artistic directors were interviewed on video and then I took their portraits. As with many photo shoots, I did a lot of sitting around staring at the walls. But Victoria Theatre has nice walls. Tonight I had the fun experience of showing these three girls the pictures I took of them on July 17 (see above). As they watched the computer screen, there was constant chatter: `I love that one. What was going on with my hair? Ohh, this is my favorite. Wow, you look great in that one.`

July 20, 2010
So shy. A water droplet on a leaf looks a bit like a human brain. Where Fred Flintstone`s outfit came from. Apathy, disdain, boredom: I don`t like, but am like, cats. I approached this flower bed quietly, thinking I might find some goldfinches feeding there. I didn`t find a finch.

July 21, 2010
Many less successful shots came before this one, in which light, color and shape all come together. This tiger swallowtail was flying away, but at 1/8000th of a second, its wings seem to be motionless. Notice its two swallow tails are intact (unlike the one on July 11 above). I`m conducting a pollen count. Let`s see . . . one, two . . . This bug`s mouth seems built for one thing -- and I don`t mean kissing. A much more friendly insect than the one previous.

July 22, 2010
The Library art project progresses. Good thing, since the deadline is tomorrow. Sparks of creativity. This photograph violates the rule of thirds. Fairies are attracted to the sound of a violin. Emotion in motion.

July 23, 2010
I dunno, looks like a trap to me. One of the leaves was chirping. I went by hours later and these same flowers extended about a foot beyond the fence. I usually hear their territorial call: CHIK! CHIK! But this morning it was the happy call: CHEEWww, CHEEWww! The next generation of quilting.

July 24, 2010
Normally the riders are required to wear a black jacket, but today that rule was waived due to the extreme heat. White Beauty. Teamwork. There were more photographers at this event than ever before, but most seemed unaware of the correct way to shoot horse jumping: the camera must be near the ground. My photos show only a flying horse and the wide open sky, but people who took pictures from normal height also got the concession stand and spectators in the background.

July 25, 2010
You never know what you might find under a leaf. If only every butterfly was so cooperative. Cool off with some refreshing lily nectar. Afloat in the fountain. An inverted Wegerzyn Garden captured in a water droplet.

July 26, 2010
I had a staring contest with a squirrel and lost. Before sunrise. Overlooking the University of Dayton. There was no grass here a few days ago (see June 15, 2010). The last of its kind.

July 27, 2010
Wilbur and Orville take a joyride. Forget what I said about the permanence of this new bench (see June 15, 2010). So that`s where the new grass came from (see yesterday). The mature trees that were cut down for this project are being replaced by saplings. Walker Evans and Henri Cartier-Bresson were two of the twentieth century`s greatest photographers. These books of their pictures are bound in plain black and orange.

July 28, 2010
A colorful personality. Waiting for the show to start. Yes, people still tap dance, as I found out this evening. But this is not Fred Astaire`s cool and sophisticated kind of tap dancing. It`s much more energetic and edgy. My Funny Valentine.

July 29, 2010
Orange goes nicely with jackhammers and hardhats. The new campus mall no longer has a diagonal pathway (see January 21, 2007). It should take students about two weeks to recreate it by walking through the grass. What do construction workers do during the winter? A jet airplane covered with comic strips -- what does it look like? National security alert level yellow.

July 30, 2010
My new office has one of these on the wall, so I`m certain to know when there`s a fire drill. For this particular flower, the water is too little too late. I hope that the people who live here don`t throw stones. Want to make a small fortune in the stock market? Start with a large one. The world`s only Adam Alonzo Nature Photography calendar hangs on my refrigerator (see July 23, 2009).

July 31, 2010
Have you seen that movie `Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai`? Future archeologists will find our parking garages and wonder if we used them as cosmic calendars. Tomorrow I plan to have someone pose for a picture here. From the kitchen window -- not MY kitchen, unfortunately. Redheads just seem to have a natural theatricality.

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