Tag: beach

“Sagittarius Fire” —Zodiac sign November 22 – December 21

Sagittarius Fire

The sun transits Sagittarius (the Archer)
between November 22 and December 21.

According to astrological belief, Sagittarius,
as well as Aries and Leo, are considered fire signs.
Generally,  people with these signs search for things
that light them up, that create passion. They are
prone to sudden flashes of insight and enthusiasm.

This photo was taken in Montauk about 11:00 pm several summers ago in late August. The constellation Sagittarius is square in the middle. By connecting the stars and overlaying the mythological archer, this is what you get:

john-ellsworth-Sagittarius-fire-triptyk

The Sagittarius artwork was created by Johan Meuris and accompanies Stellarium, the free and open source planetarium software. The image was released under The Free Art License. My son, Nick, helped me take the photo.

The silhouettes backlit by the moon river initially drew me to the scene. We shot it in color with a four-second exposure, camera on a tripod. I converted it to black and white and retained the amber of the fire and the glow on the faces. It was only after I produced the image that I figured out the prominent constellation hovering above the gathering.

“Lighthouse Café” —a social arrangement

Lighthouse Café

Early one spring several years back, I was arranging a barbecue on Wincoma Beach, Huntington, NY, near my sister’s home. We were inviting some artist friends from Connecticut, Long Island, and New Jersey. I wanted to show them the view before their arrival.

This photo emerged after two evenings of shooting, the last evening using a tripod. I wanted the light reflections of the lighthouse and the red buoy to appear in the photo. However, they were out-of-sync, so i needed to leave the lens open for awhile—30 seconds was sufficient. It all worked out, for the shot is at dusk—low light—which requires a long exposure. A long exposure meant a small aperture. This in turn resulted in great depth-of-field—sharp focus from the foreground to background. AND, I got my two reflected columns of light.

I like this photo primarily because the three chairs face one-another in a magical setting. I’ve seen dozens of paintings and photos of a single sea-side chair facing the water. This is always a contemplative, reflective, introspective type shot, one I’ve always appreciated. But what sets this image apart is the communal arrangement of the chairs. It creates more of a social setting.

The horizon reveals the Connecticut shoreline. The lights on the horizon are those of Norwalk, CT. The land spit on the top left is Lloyd’s Neck.

Because of the social placement of the three chairs and the appearance of the Huntington Lighthouse, I named this photo, “Lighthouse Café.”