Pay your rent on time, or....

This is where residents who are late with their rent are put, to allow them to concentrate on the task at hand, which is to develop a keen sense of fiscal responsibility. That, or World Class Alibi Composition.


Another plant I don't know the name of. Looking good, though, looking good. Healthy.


The foot cooler is in place for the summer. Apparently someone stole the little tugboat and the yellow ducky.


The afternoon sun wrapped this plant in warm light. What I wouldn't give to have a bottle of May sunshine to uncork in the dead of winter.


The patio watering hose - the Green Slinky.

The Office..

On Wednesdays, Pat rules the building with an iron fist and a marshmallow heart. Many, many times I've been expecting an overnight delivery but couldn't be home to accept it, and Pat has kindly kept an eagle eye out for the FedEx guy (she has a sixth sense about this) and taken delivery for me. Not only that, she hauls the goods to the top floor and puts it inside my door.

Brad was also working hard today. Here he is planting some...hell, I don't know. My resolution to learn the names of the plants on the patio seems to have wilted like a piece of congressional ethics legislation.

Some of my gear out on the patio today. Not exactly Joe McNally territory...not even close. Joe rocks the lights pretty good.

Charles had a smile for the camera today. Charles always has a smile. That's because he's always ahead of everyone else with his laundry.

Look at the soil in the blue pot in the lower right of the image. Is that some beautiful dirt, or what? Brad, by the way, is a Certified Enterprise Dirt Developer.

A New Lens and a couple quick grabs

I recently picked up the legendary Nikon AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8 wide angle lens. It's a lot of fun shooting wide on the full-frame D700. Built like the proverbial brick s*house, too.

Assistant Manager Pat G. enjoys a smoke and some afternoon sun.

The pots are showing a lot more life than they were a couple weeks ago (below).

Active Day on the Patio

The afternoon kibitzers came and went while our intrepid Master Gardener did his thing.



The blood banana plant took a serious beating in yesterday's high winds.

A fresh planting settles into it's summer home one of the large clay pots. After watching Brad spend about 30-40 minutes getting the potting mixture the way he wanted, I hope this young plant appreciates the care that went into it's foundation.

Brad gives some potting soil a good mixing. This image is a screen grab from a short video I shot today with my Canon 5D Mk II.

Lounging on the patio

Robert and Pat

Assistant Manager Pat G. had a wry smile for yours truly. Pat is a regular late-afternoon fixture on the patio, keeping an eye out for riff-raff and kibbutzing with the residii.

Room for Improvement...lots of room

I'm talking about my photography, not the patio. After last year's project, I was determined to make compelling and descriptive images this year, with better composition, content and, numero uno, lighting.

Well, the first week of shooting is completed, and I have the same bad habits as last year - grab some gear, go down to the patio, make some quick exposures, pack up and hit the computer.

Many successful photographers talk about the importance of knowing your subject in depth as a precursor to successful photography. That means I should spend more time hanging out on the patio, getting the feel for it, and planning exposures to capture that feeling. It remains to be seen if I can do that.

Todays images, though taken rather quickly, were made with some thought given to the things mentioned above. They are still very ordinary. I hope I am not saying the same thing in October as the project winds down.

As I rolled my gear cart back into the building this evening, someone asked me if copies of last year's book could still be printed. I said sure, but the cost is $80 (that's the Blurb cost, no profit). She said the book really captured the heart and soul of the patio. So, this is quite a contradiction to my earlier thoughts in this post. Another thing I could work on is not discounting the positive comments people sometimes make about my work.
I liked the funky butts in the ashtray - in terms of color.

Before too long, this little ruler will be measuring some kind of colorful plant or flower.

I Learn the Name of a Plant...finally

OK, I know the name of these plants - Dark Red Landscape Geraniums. It's right on the little tag in the right-hand pot. Duh.

The blue pot provides a touch of color on the patio. In a couple months, when Brad has all his stuff growing and blooming, it will be less prominent. I still get a little nervous when I talk about this project continuing throughout the summer - afraid I might be taking things for granted. Nothing to do about that, just appreciate each day that I'm able to make a few exposures.
Another shot of the grill. I know there is a compelling image somewhere here, I just need to discover it. The reflection of the sky has potential. Maybe I'll wipe the top down to get a better reflection.

Onnalee in her kitchen window. She asked me to hand her a magazine and drink she had left on the patio. I told her it would cost her a picture. Deal.

First Plants and Flowers...allright!

Brad at work. It was nice and sunny when I started shooting today, but the clouds rolled in and changed the light, requiring a little exposure help from some small strobe lights.

The first flowers on the patio this year.

Brad planted 2 of these today. Not sure how he got them here, as he doesn't drive. Brad has a way of getting things done.

It's still a little bare out here, but a big improvement over a couple days ago.

I swore a blood oath that this year I would learn the names of everything Brad planted. I'm off to a poor start, as I haven't a clue what kind of plant this is. I should bring a legal pad with me every time I shoot on the patio and write this stuff down. We'll see.

New garden hose for this year. Like a Slinky with H2O guts.

Man, it's good to see some real green after 6 months of gray and brown, slush and ice and long, dark nights.
Still a lot of "empties" on the patio.

The communal grill. Nothing like the smell of cooking with charcoal.

It looks and smells like rain on the way. Time to pack the gear up, download the shots, and see what we have today.

Lights, Camera, Action!

On Monday, the 4th, I glanced out on the patio while getting my mail. I was kind of surprised to see Brad and Carolyn hard at work. For some reason, I expected things would not get cooking until later this month. Wanted to get some exposures before they finished, so I hurried upstairs (as much as one can 'hurry' on our Stone Age elevators) and grabbed my camera.
Brad and Carolyn confab on the proper handling of dirt and rocks.

Carolyn manhandles, or, should I say, womanhandles, a dead plant to make way for fresh flora.

Brad prepares the bottom of a pot, adding pebbles to allow water drainage. Someone, somewhere, came up with this idea. Wanna guess how long ago it was? I'd say mid-18th century.

The furniture dolly, mostly used for moving in and moving out, gets some fresh air and sunshine, which must feel nice compared to the darkish garage corner where it normally resides.

I'm no expert, but that's some good looking dirt.

Robert relaxing on the porch with, it looks like, a baseball book. It's still broad daylight, but I wanted to practice controlling the ambient light using high-speed sync with an off-camera flash. It reminds me of summer evenings at Grandma & Grandpa's cabin Up North.

The Patio is....drab

Images in this entry were made on May 2.
The patio looks pretty blah right now. The planters and flower beds are filled with lonely dirt.

A holdover from last year. The little green sprout is a sign the weather is nearing "growing mode."

This pot was overflowing with flowers last year. I asked Brad more than once what kind of flowers they were, but I kept forgetting what he said. I did make some of my favorite patio images here - close up shots, mostly.

It will be interesting to see what Brad plants in these pots this year. Right now, they remind me of my checking account.

What would you do if this was your flower bed? Veggies? Spices? Or lots of COLOR!?

As I shot today, Robert gave me a little grief from the safety of the kitchen. Robert and his wife Onnalee have managed this building for over 20 years. Every month, Onnalee publishes the Rose Review, a newsletter for our "vertical community" as she calls it.