Photo of the Week: Nov. 17, 2009

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: If I had to vote for the most spectacular and beautiful spot in Israel, Ein Avdat National Park would be it. This narrow, spring and rain-carved canyon in the middle of the Negev Desert features towering rock walls, a waterfall, reflecting pools and abundant wildlife. Photographing inside the park is tricky because the high walls create extreme contrast during the hours the park allows visitors. I tried sneaking in at sunrise one morning but was escorted out by a ranger who lectured me on disturbing the peace of the animals coming to drink from the spring. (He was right!).

This shot, taken two years ago in December, shows the approach to the park from the lower entrance. I was surprised to see a small grove of trees burning late fall colors. To my additional good fortune, a bit of sunlight managed to duck under the clouds, poke through the canyon and brighten the orange tree crowns. To complete the shot, I chose a wide view that gives perspective to the high canyon walls. For those who have never been there, this composition delivers the best impression of what it feels like to hike through this breathtaking park. Once again the desert, feared and maligned for its inhospitable climate, reveals its power and beauty to the intrepid visitor.

Photo of the Week: Nov. 3, 2009

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: In Israel, the best thing about fall foliage – besides its stunning beauty – is its longevity. The climate here is moderate and shifts gradually toward colder, wetter weather, making the transition from summer to winter more gradual than in the U.S., yet in some places just as dramatic as the autumnal color displays in New England. In the Judean Mountains where I make my home, many trees begin to turn in mid-October but hold on to their leaves until mid-January.

If I had to offer one all-encompassing tip that would serve every aspiring photographer, I would advise taking pictures as a matter of purpose instead of relying on spontaneous opportunities that arise in the course of doing something else. This week's photograph features a valley in Gush Etzion at the peak of fall four years ago. To get in position to take this shot, I had to walk about 5 minutes from the nearest road into a position where I could capture the "burning bushes" in the foreground along with an expanse of yellow vines stretching into the depth of the background. Even though I had driven and walked past the view numerous times en route to other activities, it wasn't until I set out at the proper time – late afternoon – and with the intent of getting the shot was I able to succeed.

Photo of the Week: Oct. 27, 2009

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: Olives are one of my favorite foods. Although this photograph exaggerates the real size of my subject, I wish they were all this big, what the marketing geniuses have termed "Super Mammoth!" Fall is olive harvest time in Israel, where the most widespread method of collection remains whacking the branches with a stick and collecting the fallen fruit on a net or blanket. This activity helps burn a few calories that will certainly be regained when the olives are fermented and eaten.

I approached this photograph in the same manner as I would a portrait. The fruit itself is similar in shape to a human head, and I looked for a way to sculpt its features by finding a single source of light coming from any direction other than directly from the camera. Because I couldn't move the light - in this case the sun - I circled the tree until I found a pleasing angle and then searched out the best specimen to photograph. It may seem counterintuitive to look for light before a subject, but the word photography comes from the Greek words "photos," meaning light and "graphein," meaning to write. Photography, then, is writing with light. I doubt anyone would attempt any writing project without first locating the best pen available.

Photo of the Week: Oct. 21, 2009

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: "Is it a painting or a photograph?" I am frequently asked about this image. The answer, perhaps, is neither. This work is one of my rare forays into digital art. The afternoon sky was heavy and pale as I wandered the valley between two communities near my home in Gush Etzion. Though the light was dull, the vines danced with color. I shot about two dozen compositions, experimenting with different positions on the hillside, but when I returned home, all the images had the same lackluster appearance that such light produces.

One of the ways I've surmounted the digital learning curve of both camera and computer is by fooling around. What happens if I do this? Oops. Delete. What about this? Hmm. And this? Wow! And that's how this image was born. After applying a few standard corrections to enhance the color – boosting contrast and adjusting exposure – I applied a Photoshop brush strokes filter to give the image an Impressionist feel.

Finally, I cropped the photo several times before settling on this one because of how the two green triangles (upper right, lower left corners) give balance to the overall layout and emphasize the zig-zag of the lines within the photo. Printmaking has always been a highly subjective and integral part of the photographic process. Call it what you will, but I say, "I love this image. Goodbye cloudy day. Hello, masterpiece!"

Photo of the Week: Oct. 14, 2009

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: Street photographers have a knack for extracting beauty from urban clutter and man's inhumanity to manmade things. Graffiti, peeling paint, and even garbage are fodder for their art. I have never been drawn to this genre, but occasionally nature's dark side calls to me. Strong color and dynamic composition will entice viewers, but nothing makes people think like a photograph featuring death and decay.

This scene of rotting plums caught my eye as I traversed the Derech Avot (Path of our Forefathers) near my home in Gush Etzion. The multitude of fruit plus their stark color set against the pale stones and shriveled leaves sent one of those creative signals to my brain that here was one of life's great paradoxes: beauty in dying. I held the camera directly overhead and shot straight down at the ground, careful to keep the plane of the sensor (or back of the camera) completely parallel to the ground to ensure edge to edge sharpness. Fall is slowly coming to life in Israel, as nature makes one final roar before acceding to the cycle of seasonal renewal.

Photo of the Week: Oct. 8, 2009

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: Like a few other photographers I know, I have a folder in my picture library named "body parts." It contains a variety of images featuring hands, feet, elbows and ears, but never faces or a full body. Over the years, this folder has become quite crowded as my eyes have been drawn to human activity that seems more poignant photographically when the part of the body performing the action is isolated or cut away from the rest of the person. There is something intriguing about looking at a picture with obvious human content, but no face, and trying to imagine whom is the person in the photo.

This shot of a man examining a lulav (palm frond) illustrates this perfectly. Mingling with shoppers in the Bukharan market in Jerusalem prior to Sukkot, I found a spot where bright sunlight was sneaking through a makeshift canvas roof built to provide shade. By a stroke of luck, the man holding the lulav turned into the light in order to examine it more closely. He was wearing a black coat and stood in the shadows near a dark wall, which created a beautiful interplay between light and shadow. Sometimes less is more, as when a picture draws us in and then leaves us pondering the rest of the story.

Photo of the Week: Oct. 1, 2009

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: Sukkot is a holiday that has to be smelled. Or held. The visuals, though, are not bad either. I took this shot last year at the Kotel in Jerusalem during Sukkot. Everything was already in place as seen in the photo, including the soft, diffuse light found in the open shade of the Western Wall. The camera angle provides a less familiar study of the four species while lying on a prayer stand, as opposed to the much more common view of the lulav pointed upward while being waved. All of the four species are visible, including a second etrog, but what completes the composition is the prayer book. Above all, Sukkot is a holiday of faith - that G-d will protect us and sustain us throughout our fragile existence. The color and artistry with which Israelis fulfill the mitzvah of sukkah can be seen in a gallery on my new website. Click here to have a look. Chag Sameach.