Journal

Art In City Hall - May 2011

Alessandro Abate — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 01:12:58 +0000

Maelstrom of LightI have been invited again to participate in Miami Springs' Art In City Hall program. Some of my images will be on exhibit at Miami Springs City Hall during the month of May. There will be a small opening reception on Monday, May 2nd from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. If you are in town, feel free to pass by and say hi.

You may want to visit the event's page on Facebook.

Tiny Dancer: Honorable Mention Award

Alessandro Abate — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 19:09:05 +0000

Tiny DancerMy photo, Tiny Dancer received an Honorary Mention at Rookery Bay's Annual Photo Exhibition. The event was juried by famed photographer Clyde Butcher. They received over 70 entries of which only 30 were accepted. Clyde said that the quality of the art was very high this year and it was vey difficult for him to pick the winners. I'm honored that my photos were accepted and to have received the honorable mention award.

Big Gulp

Alessandro Abate — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:34:30 +0000

A female anhinga swallows its catch. Anhingas are one of the most interesting birds in the Everglades. Unlike ducks and other waterbirds, they submerge their bodies completly and swim stealthily looking for fish to catch. They consume the smaller fish by sticking their heads out of the water and flipping the fish right into their awaiting beaks. Ocassionally they will catch a fish so large that they need to come to dry land to swallow it.

In this case this female anhinga's beak was stuck firmly in the flesh of it’s prey and it took some doing to pry it loose. No matter how many times I witness an anhinga swallowing a large fish I can't help to be amazed by the sight.

Rookery Bay Exhibit Invitation

Alessandro Abate — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:20:09 +0000

This is the invitation for the free opening reception for the photography exhibit. The reception takes place on Thursday, February 3rd from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. I hope to see you there.

Great Catch!

Alessandro Abate — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 00:15:01 +0000

Pied Billed Grebe with Florida GarToday at Shark Valley the grebes were running the show. They were very actice preening themselves and swimming back and forth looking for food. Usually they consume their catch too quickly for me to photograph them in the act but this one caught a small Florida gar which he could not swallow without a significant struggle. Unfortunately the grebe swam away to consume it's catch in private. I would have loved to see how the grebe managed to eat such a tough meal.

Rookery Bay's Annual Florida Juried Photography Exhibit

Alessandro Abate — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 18:46:16 +0000

Tiny Dancer, one of the pieces that will appear at the exhibit.Two of my pieces have been accepted for Rookery Bay's Annual Florida Juried Photography Exhibit in Naples, FL. The exhibition takes place from February 4th to March 30th.

Rookery Bay Reserve is located at the northern end of the Ten Thousand Islands on the gulf coast of Florida, the Rookery Bay Reserve represents one of the few remaining undisturbed mangrove estuaries in North America.

The mission of the Reserve is to provide a basis for informed coastal decisions through land management, restoration research and education. The Reserve works in partnership with local communities to promote coastal stewardship.

Photography Annual Exhibition
Friends of Rookery Bay, in conjunction with the United Arts Council of Collier County, presents the Photography Annual at the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center’s Art Gallery. Preeminent Everglades photographer Clyde Butcher serves as juror. Most of the works are for sale.

Rookery Bay Reserve is located at 300 Tower Road in Naples, Florida.

Downtown Delray Beach Thanksgiving Weekend Art Festival - Nov 27 & 28

Alessandro Abate — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 03:02:07 +0000

I will be exhibiting my work this weekend at the Downtown Delray Beach Thanksgiving Weekend Art Festival. My booth number is 40A. The show is located at 200 N.E. 2nd Avenue Delray Beach (click here for a Google map).

Directions: Take I-95 to Atlantic Ave. in Delray. (There is an Atlantic Blvd. in Deerfield Beach just south of Delray - do not get these confused.) Go East on Atlantic Ave. and follow signs to show site just north of Atlantic Avenue and NE 2nd. Just east of Old School Square in Pineapple Grove.

Admission is free and Show hours are from 10:00 am to 5:00pm Saturday and Sunday. Hope to see you there.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Alessandro Abate — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:56:12 +0000

While sitting in my booth at an art show, this tiny spider dropped by. My Canon G9 is great for macro photography and its always by my side. I took out my G9, set it to macro mode and started snapping portraits. The spider was not the easiest of models to deal with, she kept turning away from the camnera and when it would get too close, she would jump on the lens. While the cropped photo is tiny, you can still see her cute little face. Snaps like these are why I always carry a camera with me. wherever I go.

Light Trails

Alessandro Abate — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:43:01 +0000

One of my favorite subjects to photograph are light trails. This night my wife and I were returning from a function and she was driving her convertible with the top down. Without the roof in the way it is much easier to move around and get to frame the subject without parts of the car getting in the way. I always carry with me my Canon G9 so I took it out, set the camera for long exposures (about a second is good) and started snapping away. The resulting images were a bit noisy, but today's noise filtering software make it possible to reduce that sensor noise greatly. I found that shooting while we were driving in a straight line allowed me to keep the cars relatively still while still producing awesome light trails.

Art In The Park - November 13 & 14

Alessandro Abate — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:02:39 +0000

I'll be exhibiting my photographs at Art In The Park. The art fair takes place at Liberty Tree Park, 7421 NW 5th Street, Plantation FL 33317.

Sponsored by the Plantation Junior Woman's Club, Art In The Park is n annual juried art show with over 160 artists, food and beverages for purchase, continuous entertainment for familes and a separate Kids Korner with arts and crafts, entertainment for kids and special activities. Admission is free to this annual event, and there is free tram service from the Fashion Mall, provided by the Plantation Tram.