For those who have seen Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, you will remember “Devil’s Tower” as one the film’s locations. Photographed it back in 2012.
Category: Photography
Abel Ferrara’s New Film includes My Photograph
Back in the 1970s and living in New York City, I did a lot of street photography. Being a movie fanatic, I went thru a period of photographing the exteriors out many of the movie theaters around the city. Most are now long gone. One of those photographs was of the Baronet/Coronet theaters on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Those two theaters along with the Cinema One and Two were located on the same block, on 3rd Avenue between 59th and 60th street. Back then they most sort after theaters for filmmakers to showcase their films in the city. The Baronet/Coronet photo was taken in 1976. The film, playing in both theaters was Brian DePalma’s Obsession.
Since the age of the internet, I have posted the photograph online a few times. A couple of months back I received an email from a representative of film director Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant, King of New York, Ms. 45, Body Snatchers) who was currently making a documentary called The Projectionist. The film follows the experience of longtime cinema owner Nicolas Nicolaou and records the changes in the city’s theatrical landscape over the years. My photograph came to the attention of Ferrara, and he was interested in using it in his film.
I recently was officially notified that the photograph is included in the film and I am getting a screen credit. I am also hoping to get a screener of the film to review. As you probably suspect this is a low budget film that will play the Film Festival and College circuit. It won’t be coming to a local AMC or Regal cineplex near you or me. Its world premiere is this week as part of the Tribeca Film Festival and on May 6th the film will having a showing at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art).
Birds of Brooker Creek
A few birds photographed a couple of weeks back at the Brooker Creek Preserve.
Pileated-Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Carolina Wren
Uninvited Guest
A few recent photographs of female painted buntings not willing to share.
Images From Lake Apopka
Lake Apopka is approximately 30 miles northwest of Orlando. It’s the 4th largest lake in Florida and has a fantastic 11 mile drive around the lake to view and enjoy the state’s natural wildlife. One note to keep in mind is the wildlife scenic drive is only open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Nesting Season
It’s mating season or soon will be and these two Great Blue Herons’ are getting their nest ready. Photographed along the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive in Lake Apopka, Florida.
Photographs From the Circle B Bar Reserve
Last week we did an overnight trip to Lakeland’s Circle B Bar Reserve. It’s one of the few reserves where there is activity all day long thanks to an abundance of wildlife. You don’t have to get up early and be out there at sunrise, though that is still a good idea, to capture nature’s beauty.
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Big Blue Heron
Anhinga Taking in the Sun
Barred Owl
Photographs from the Demarva Peninsula
Photographs from the Delmarva Peninsula.
Wild horse at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge
Sunrise at the Bombay Hook NWR
Snow Geese Silhouette Bombay Hook NWR
Snow Geese – Bombay Hook NWR
Shorebirds at Sunrise – Chicoteague NWR
Bitter Ends: Making of a Book Cover
In an earlier post I wrote about how I designed my own book covers for my previous books using my own photographs. In this post I focus on the book cover for Bitter Ends my forthcoming collection of short stories.
Part of the thrill for me in creating a book cover is digging into my files and discovering that one photograph that expresses what’s in the pages in between and expressing it in a way folks who see the cover will be interested enough to take a peek inside and maybe even buy the book.
Like my previous book of short stories, Devious Tales, Bitter Ends is a collection of tales filled with murder, revenge, greed, and other mayhem along with a couple of slightly less deadly yarns. That said, the cover needed an ominous look informing the potential reader what they are getting.
In digging through my files I first focused on a few images taken in New Mexico back in 2013. One in particular was of a deserted highway with its colorful mountains in the background. I felt it reflected a feeling of vast emptiness and a bit of dread. I saw bodies potentially buried everywhere.
Below is the original image followed by a series early versions of the book cover.
We were on our way to visit Georgia O’Keeffe’s Ghost Ranch located in Abiquiú, New Mexico,when I pulled over and took the above shot that was my first choice for the cover. Cropping it was the first step followed by the lettering. I tried various fonts and colors before settling on the image on the right.
I spent some time reviewing the image, asking myself was this what I wanted. Did it visually express the stories and entice potential readers. The more I looked at it, the more I wasn’t satisfied that it did. I went back to digging into my photographic archive.
I next found a photograph taken just two months earlier in Yellowstone National Park. We were on a photo tour and came across this area in the park that had burnt. We stopped and took a series of photos, one of which is the first photo below. Looking at it, I thought it projected a dark, eerily, end of life feeling.
Some cropping followed and then some software experimenting resulting in the two early versions below.
I still wasn’t completely satisfied and kept working at it. Finally, I came up with what I envisioned visually expressed what I wrote. Below is the final cover.
Bitter Ends will be available in January from Amazon and Barnes and Noble as a paperback and ebook.
Sunrise Photographs From Blackwater NWR
We were fortunate enough to get a great sunrise (November 30th) at The Blackwater NWR is located in Cambridge, Maryland.
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John Greco Author/Photographer 