Shadow Shot Sunday - Parade Promotion

I was part of the 2015 Ansonia Memorial Day Parade committee and was able to drive the parade route (at the end), and since the always lovely Patti and I are using our tiny LLC to set up a (paying) website for The Valley Voice, currently a stand-along blog. So our artist friend Rich DiCarlo created a sign for the van with a logo he designed - so we had free advertising for a non-existant publication...have to start somewhere :) How does all this fit for Shadow Shot Sunday2? Plenty of shadows from underneath, around and over the just washed van and the Main Street parade route. Happy shadows indeed!

A slideshow of the parade, from its beginning (herding the various parade marchers into a semblance of order is akin to herding cats) to its Main Street is shown below...full of shadows!

Shadow Shot Sunday - Interstate 91 in Shadow

Seeing as I utilize hand controls for driving (one on the control, one on the steering wheel), taking road pictures while driving my Dodge is never a good idea. So as per usual good practice, the always lovely passenger Patti, handles the photo gathering process. Thus, Shadow Shot Sunday 2 allows me to showcase prosaic and normal road pics as I safely traverse Interstate 91 North in Middletown Connecticut. These were captured in late April, and the shadows falling about inside and outside over the vehicle, road an even the driver. Spring shadows enhanced the day...

Shadow Shot Sunday - Spring sun

It is a glorious Spring day in the Ansonia Uplands, if quite chilly (54°F / 13°C) for 23 May, with lots of sun. 

As we are awaiting for someone to haul away our old queen size bed (mattress, headboard, etc.), I found mundane subjects for Shadow Shot Sunday 2 as I wheeled around the driveway. 

Using my old cheap Droid phone camera, the driveway contained bold shadows of the Grand Caravan (and myself in my 'directors chair), and the old Malibu quite nicely - these pixelated views are a mere 30 minutes old. 

It will be sunny and 75°F tomorrow...a better representation of the season!

Shadow Shot Sunday - Touched up

Concentric Sun and Shadow from 1936

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 returns us to this oft posted view from wheelchair height of classic almost art-deco 1936 Dodge. However, our artist friend in Derby, Rich DiCarlo, continuously requested to add some flair to this view in order to display it at our favorite Gallery@37 in Derby. So this pic was transported via flash drive to his care...and a cool rework of the original. Now minus the reflected photographer, the shadowy arcs highlight the crescent shaped light beam that travels around the whitewall tire. I like the changes he wrought...it remains unsold, yet the non-artist in me is happy that this wheelchair view may yet have commercial possibilities :)

Ruby Tuesday 2 - Reflectively Ruby Red

Ruby Tuesday 2 has returned and in that quest of meeting the minimum red requirement, the taillight of my Grand Caravan will suffice as it sits in a  sea of what Chrysler calls Modern Blue.

Oh, the photographer in his director's chair can be seen sans ruby...a lot or a little red will do in any and all circumstances - with or without a photo artist present :)

Follow more ruby redness at RT2!

Shadow Shot Sunday - Shifty Supermarket Shadows

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 is back, and I was looking for shadows at a local shopping center with the (older) I-Phone 3GS given to me by son Cameron. Alas, the autumnal sunshine on this fine day was too strong to capture sights in the dazzling solar sky. Yet when I moored the Dodge into my preferred spot at the plaza - and noticed inside the vehicle a few clearly defined shadows. So in this collage, the MPD shift lever extension shows up in shadow by the steering wheel, and its snaky shape shows up on the passenger door - and the inside rearview mirror too. So, shadows captured, the door was opened and the ramp deployed and the shopping trek could now begin...see scads of shadowy art at the fun SSS2

Shadowy Shot Sunday 2 - Shadowy Summer Solstice Subsides

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 is back, and alas the season of Summer ends its run for this year at 1:04 A.M. (EDT), as I slept so Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere is here. Luckily in the Land of Oz, it is Spring...I went out yesterday into the drive and have really noticed the southerly angle of the sun these days...

The gray house next door is actually facing due south - as evidenced as the sun shining across and cascading over my van...early autumn is often delightful, dry and a sunny day today at 80 °F (27 °C). Of course, late Autumn is quite different, leafless and much chillier. Which I will deal with at that time...

Shadow Shot Sunday - Circles

Original wheel

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 arrives at today's 6:00 opening opening of a new exhibit at our local and favorite Gallery @ 37 in Derby, the Celebration of the Circle which showcases our favorite concentric shape...

I do not consider myself an artist, but the very circular 1936 Dodge tire and wheel assembly that I posted recently on SSS2 seemed the perfect subject for this show. Plenty of circles here: tire, whitewall, trim ring, rim and hubcap. So I looked at a few edits to consider my framed exhibit...

Posterized

B-W 

Inverted color

Gimp, a balky but free photo editor for Mac, was used. I finally settled on the retro look of sepia, and framed it...I call this Dependable Dodge as that is how Chrysler referred to this brand in the early-mid '60s (you are right, I am old enough enough to remember :)

Shadow Shot Sunday - Retro Ram

Maroon and black are a great pair, accenting chrome and a ram leaping off the hood (see it?)

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 reappears and we look at shadowy effect a bit more closely, our eyes on the prowl for such effects wherever they may be...Given my appreciation for old cars, especially the artistry of old Detroit style, my subject today takes us back seven plus decades.

Wide whitewall tires are perfect for 1936

The subject today has been posted about before - yet the artistry of the 1930s is infectious enough for publishing these again. 

This is a 1935 Dodge (Ram) pickup truck, styled more like a car (like a Ute in Oz/NZ). The utility aspect was there but the hints of color and shape from that decade are details that are so appealing...

Patti thinks I am also carhead-55 as I always take note of these sorts of detail (of course she is right :)

Shadows and reflection...

Bold colors like the maroon on the body with the round black fenders (wings) that is a nice complement. The body colored wheels with the thin chrome rings and equally shiny hub caps. Naturally, one cannot escape the chrome that is not overdone, actually a jewell like accent.
Of course, shadows are all about.- what Sunday could be complete without these? See more artistry in shadow at the always fun SSS2!

Whimsical Windows-Back seat drivers

1961 Dodge; L-R: Michele, Claudia, Vicki

I so enjoy Toby's fun meme Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors in which we look for portals of seriousness, style and/or mirth. I am aiming at the third of these...admittedly, I am straying from convention. The whimsy comes from a time a while ago, I believe 1961, and three smiling siblings posing for Grandpa. Here, the place these cherubs are located is in the back seat of his work car, a 1961 Dodge Seneca wagon on a parking lot somewhere around Bayside Queens New York City. Of course, it is not architecture we see, however it includes a door and a window :). See Toby's meme for fun windows and doors!

Tina's Pic Story - Different 'D'

Tina's Pic Story  is back, we look and look for suitable pictures to follow her fun weekly theme, which this week is the letter 'D'. I was not certain which pictures to use, so...I included them all!

Brandy in Big Stony Lake, Park Rapids Minnesota

How about a Golden Retriever Dog...

Not much speed in 2002...

Data collection in the really old days...and on an old Desk!

My van, Braun conversion, 3.3 V6

My 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan minivan

At Sunnyside, Housatonic River, Shelton Connecticut

Not to mention, our favorite waterfowl, represented by these Ducks




I am happy to document these different and diverse D's!

Ruby Tuesday 2 - Startup

Ruby Tuesday 2 is back! My entry is of many colors, yet the brightest is red. I turn the electronic key to start and this is what I see. As long as the lights turn off right after the ignition start, I am safe. 

If they stay on much longer, I fear an expensive fix for the Dodge. I however choose to remain an optimist!

Shadow Shot Sunday - Spring like shadows

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 is back on a great nearly Spring day!

Last Sunday the always lovely Patti and I undertook a trip to IKEA in New Haven. It was a delightful day, with blue skies and a breeze of Long Island Sound allowing for a chilly 48°F (9°C), But the sun is moving northerly at this time, so shadows are abundant.









The place to park was on the fringes of the massive (1200 space) parking lot (car park). As shadows come in many shapes, the subject would be the lot itself. Patti, the intrepid photo huntress, took the views. Our entry to IKEA was near the old Armstrong Rubber headquarters. Shadows are all over the structure, the flags waving in the wind accordingly. Upon our exit from the retailer, and given our far-flung location, shadows instead of card were all over. From the cart return to the rental U-Haul vehicles, the shadows are slight (tree, tubular steel) to bigger (the U-Haul van). I am partial to parking area shadows... 

Nearer our vehicle, the photographer and myself are evident on either side of the Dodge. Shadows surround the scenes well, so the usual subjects define the theme today. Shadowy artistry surround us all, so be sure to see more at the fun SSS2!

Shadow Shot Sunday - Elevating

For Shadow Shot Sunday (2) I am moving in different directions - up and down.

I started to use a wheelchair in November 1995, and it was not by choice...yet, it was not like life had ended, but became different.

In my walking days, I hadn't considered that one could actually drive - however, it can be. My three vehicles and their lifts are being showcased - as they also are full of shadows...Above was my first, taken on its second day at home, 21 April 1996. It was a used 1989 Dodge B250.

It was as hulking as it looks, and being used to driving a small Nissan Sentra (Sunny), I had to adjust, both to its size and the greater amount of petrol it needed.

The driver's seat is what the wheelchair transfers into,  and turns it 90° to drive normally, whatever that is :)
I was obtained my next vehicle on 26 May 1998, a new full-sized Ford E-150 van, also with a lift and actually a bit bigger than the last one. The shadows are now from the inside looking out. 

This picture was taken almost twelve years and 158,000 miles (254,000 km) later - just before I received my current ride...

A 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. This one is different than the last two, a minivan with floor modifications, a ramp entrance and shadows as well! From 10 March 2010, I have been enjoying this transportation device.

Smaller than its predecessors, although big enough at 4200 pounds (1906 kg), it rides more like a car and is quieter inside. Obviously, I would prefer to walk and not drive one of these - I would drive a small car and manual transmission if it were possible. However, acceptance is needed to move ahead, and since I am able to drive, it is the blessing we must accept with grace and not complaint...

Last week, I alluded to a YouTube video of the vacation slideshow. I actually made a 13  minute DVD with five classic Motown songs (Ain't that Peculiar, Get Ready, I Was Made to Love Her, I Can't Help Myself and Heatwave). However, YouTube is very conscious of copyrights and wouldn't allow its use. So, I found the old tunes - big band music and old black-white pictures go together well (there are duplicate pictures on both, but am still learning...)