BH Neely's Photography

Cheese and Meat, Paris, France

My favorite thing in Paris? The food. This was a cheese and meat shop (honest!) in the ... who am I kidding, I don't know one arrondissement from another, but I do know that it's near a cool little fabric store that my wife spent an inordinate amount of time in. The cheeses and meats smelled delicious, but we'd already had lunch and dinner plans were set, so there was, sadly, no point to buying.

Banana Still Life, Kabul, Afghanistan

I bought some local bananas and peaches and did what any self-respecting artist would do...made a still life. The kiwi is from the cafeteria, imported for our dining pleasure from elsewhere.

Tomato, Hanover, PA, USA

Looking at this, I bet you don't feel like it's 90 F at 7 am.

Garden, Hanover, PA, USA

I finally decided it was time to get a point & shoot camera. After some research, and wanting to make sure that the images I shoot with it can be sold as art, I went with the Sigma DP2. It's a 14 mp, fixed lens (24mm) camera. Having shot maybe 20 photos with it, I pronounce it good. Or at least, good enough that I don't have to have my D200 and armada of lenses.

I should probably take my wife's Canon PowerShot out and do some side-by-side testing for image quality, but just for a combination of control and ease-of-use, I love the DP2. With just a couple presses of a button, I can change ISO, shutter speed, aperture, focal point, white balance, image size/quality and several other settings. 

I shot this in my in-laws' garden just after they'd watered it. The contrast, detail and resolution are pretty impressive.

Lemons & Vegetables, Athens, Greece

I was looking through some photos from Greece (missing my second homeland) and I stumbled across this one that I'm pretty sure I didn't post when I shot it. It's probably from the Panormou Laiki, and was shot in January. It makes me hungry. And makes me miss Greece a little more.

Central Market, Athens, Greece

Amongst the many things I'm going to miss in Athens is the Central Market or Kentriki Agora (or Κεντρική Αγορά). It's the place to go for all your meat needs, whether you're hungry for beef, pork, lamb, chicken, rabbit, salmon, smelt, anchovy, skate, squid, octopus, sturgeon, swordfish...oh yeah, you can find it all there. Across Athinas Street from the Kentriki Agora is a group of shops and vegetable stands, and one of the shops has a staggering collection of cured meats as well as Slavic foods - bacon, ham, sausages, basturma, buckwheat, pelmeni...man, what a place.

Red (Wine) River, Athens, Greece

I was making pasta sauce the other day, and as I poured some wine into it, I was struck by the beauty of the river of wine wending its way through the thick, bog-like pasta sauce.

Popova Kula Winery, Republic of Macedonia

  It means Priest's Tower. It's a nice little winery, about an hour south of Skopje. They make a good range of both whites and reds. How good? We bought a mixed case of bottles and a box of one of the reds.

Happy Friday the 13th!

Do we really eat this?, Athens, Greece

The caterers were asked to include American junk food in their selection of delicacies for the July 4 party. I think it's telling that it was ignored, except as an art project by a tired, bored, overheated, checking-his-watch-because-10-pm-is-in-about-three-minutes-photographer.

I know why the caged peach sings, Athens, Greece

The caterer for the embassy's July 4 celebration had these odd installations at several of the serving tables. I couldn't ignore this abuse of peachiness. Okay, they're nectarines, not peaches, but "nectarine" wouldn't fit in the title.

Tomatoes, Markopoulo, Greece

People who know me know that I don't suffer from a great deal of false modesty. This is one of the best photographs I've ever made. Tell me you don't feel like you can reach into this and grab one of these tomatoes. I bet you didn't even notice it was black & white. Yeah, baby! I love it when everything comes together. Man, I'm getting hungry.

Fish at the Laiki, Markopoulo, Greece

I'm putting together an exhibition called: Markets: Marco Polo to Markopoulo, which includes pieces shot at the Kashgar Sunday Market in western China and the weekly folk market in Markopoulo, Greece. Most of the photographs in the impending exhibition are from around Greece, but it's an ongoing project, and a larger exhibition would include Turkey, Kazakhstan, the US, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, um, other places too, which I'll remember as I look through negatives (that's right, I'm keeping my negatives).
Anyway, these fish were in Markopoulo (just in case the title didn't make that clear). The street markets here always have a couple of fish dealers. They keep the fish on ice, which they refresh almost continuously during the summer months. Look at how beautifully clear the eyes on these fish are - I bet you could make sardine sushi if you were so inclined.

Greek (Turkish) Coffee, Santorini, Greece

One of the skills I've picked up in Greece is that of making what we'll call Mediterranean coffee (the Greeks call it Greek, the Turks call it Turkish, the Lebanese call it Lebanese...). I love this stuff. You can buy the ground coffee plain, with cinnamon, cardamom or mastiha (a flavoring agent from the sap of a tree related to the pine on the island of Chios, it's a delicate, sweet, spicy, surprisingly delicious flavor).

(not) Dessert, Ioannina, Greece

This sweet shop in Ioannina had not one single item I could eat. The air coming out the door was laced with a sickening aroma. But then, I'm allergic to nuts. Since nuts have an odious flavor to me, usually desserts like this don't look appetizing in the least (I have never looked at baklava and thought, 'oh yeah, I need some of that toxic sludge'). For some reason, though, on this day, I cried a little for my defect. Even the horrifying creations with walnuts and hazelnuts and pistachios looked delicious.

Greek Coffee, Mikro Papingo, Greece

O bittersweet Nectar that is such a good Metaphor for all that is contained in Life, thank you for this post-hike Repast.

Was that too much? A little over the top perhaps? Blame Kaldi, the Ethiopian goatherd for tasting the cherry that gave his goats so much energy, then telling his village about it, so they could make a power bar of ground coffee seed with butter, then sell the secret to Arab traders who created a beverage they called "kawhe" or "wine of the desert."

Lemons, Studio, Athens, Greece

Again with the Swiss Army Knife. But this was for 5 seconds, and I only lit it from the one side. This was a fun shoot.

Lemons, Studio, Athens, Greece

Isn't it amazing what you can do with a single LED on a Swiss Army Knife and 10 seconds?

Onions, Athens, Greece

A picture so good it makes me cry. Oh, stop the laughter. I have layers of jokes to peel through yet. That first one was as fragile as paper. I think my need to make people laugh is rooted in insecurity.

Sorry about that.

All organic, Athens, Greece

"Our products are eponymously [but that doesn't make sense and I'm too lazy to go to the other room and get a dictionary] and healthfully organic from a controlled farm. Product of Nafplio. Christos Kallianos."
Now, at the market, I generally assume that most of what I'm buying is healthfully organic, but clearly, I could be mistaken. Still better than what you get at the grocery store. And cheaper.

Panormou Laiki, Athens, Greece

The in-laws are in town and we took them to the laiki in Panormou. They had a good time. Pops making faces at vendors, Fritzie looking at all the fruits and vegetables. I had my camera, so I had a good time, too.

I've started collecting shots for a series on markets. I don't know yet if I'm going to do Greek specific work or make it a look at lots of markets. We'll see what the future holds.

Go to www.bpsphoto.com and check out my redesigned site.

Eggs Hollandaise, Athens, Greece

I don't know why, but I was moved to try making Hollandaise sauce this morning. It was good. And by good, I mean, "Holy crap, there were egg yolks mixed with butter on my eggs, bacon and biscuits."

Freddo Cioccolata

What the hell is this? Iced espresso with chocolate and foamed milk. Entry into paradise for about 4 euros. (Yeah, you think Starbucks is expensive in the US? I paid $6.50 for what is essentially an iced double tall mocha, a pretty standard price here. Starbucks is toward the high end, but nowhere near the top of the market).

Yeah, the focus is a little off, but I'm willing to live with that.

In other news, go to http://www.cafepress.com/bhneelyphoto and check out my new store.

Waiting at the Evergreen

So I was meeting someone at the Panepistimiou (University) metro stop and had a choice between the Green Mermaid and Evergreen. One of my goals is to support local coffee whenever possible, so I went to the Evergreen. It was nice.

I bet you're wondering why there's been a barrage of phone pictures this week. You're not? Never mind then.

I swear...

This is it from the one trip to the market. There will probably be others in the future, but for now, enjoy the apples.

I wonder...

How'd they come up with Greek salad, anyway?

Lemons

Something about this is calling for a glass of vodka and ice. Or just some water and sugar. Or making a pie. Or singing a song - "'Oranges and lemons,' say the bells of St. Clemens."

Kiwi & Strawberry & Pear & Apple & Apple...

hungry?

Olives

Tomatoes from a planet where the birds see blue better than red

I don't ordinarily screw with the Hue function, preferring to make digital photographs rather than digital art, but I was playing around, just seeing what would happen if all the red turned different colors, and this was interesting enough to save.

Wine vats

Imagine, thousands of gallons of grape juice gradually turning into wine. What a beautiful thing.

Um, waiter...

  It's 105F, and I can't drink my @#$@% OJ until I get rid of the hornet. But first, a picture.