Harika; Rocca Malatina, Italy; October 6, 2016
Laurie and Blair Pessemier are skilled and charming painters who enjoy an inspiring life practicing art in wonderful places. Their life is inspiring because it demonstrates that with dedication and courage (and skill), people can actually follow a life devoted to art, both producing it and teaching it.
Here is Harika, their very alert and sometimes aloof companion, photographed during two paint-out sessions with Suzanne near their current home in Rocca Malatina, in the Appenines. We had the privilege of staying with them for two days. Suzanne had previously painted with them in Paris.
Harika's feet are fascinating. They are sublimely hairy and mysterious; does she actually have toenails and toes and pads?
While Laurie, Blair, and Suzanne painted, I wandered around photographing the dramatic landscape, and Harika.
These were all taken with a Canon 5D III with a 70-200 f/4 lens. The first photo was at 138mm, 1/2500 at f/4, ISO 2000. The other two were at 200mm, at various shutter speeds and f stops.
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After a lifetime of mainly expressing myself with words, my postings here will mainly rely on images. They will speak for themselves to some extent, but I'll usually add a few comments of explanation. I've taken photographs for decades, since the 1950's, inspired in part by my father's photographic skill. Four years of photo assignments and quality darkroom time eventually gave way to decades of casual and family picture-taking. I re-immersed myself when I left film and turned to digital.