Early Autumn in New England

Autumn arrives at the Aspetuck Land Trust in Easton, CT.




2009 10 04 Aspetuck Land Trust Easton CT - Images by Shelley Cryan

Charles Darwin's Galapagos Islands

In honor of Charles Darwin's 200th birthday this year -- what did we get him? grin -- I'm posting some images I captured in the Galapagos Islands last year.

Darwin visited these islands as a young man, and was inspired by what he saw there to come up with his theory of natural selection, one of the scientific milestones in human history.

Me, I thought it was beautiful.



Galapagos Highlights - Images by Shelley Cryan

Use the search box at right to find hundreds more of my Galapagos images available for license.

Senegal Guide Published

Hot off the presses: Insight Guide to Gambia and Senegal. I'm happy to say it includes a handful of images the publisher licensed from me. Most of those were images I created in Podor, Senegal.

Quite the multi-continent transaction. I'm located in North America, I created the images in Africa, the publisher is in Asia, and the publisher's representative (who contacted me) is in Europe.

Beachside Photoshoot

It's true for everyone, I'm sure: Just looking at a photo can bring back a wave of memories. One of the more convenient things about being a photographer is that, just by doing my job, I have pretty good documentation for large chunks of my life, so I don't have to work too hard to rattle around my brain for details. The pictures are there for me.

Memories came flooding back, then, as I happened to check on the website of a band I had photographed a couple of years ago. To my delight, they're still using the photos from the two photoshoots we did together.

The band is called Tambours Africains Sans Frontiers. Check 'em out, and hear the sweet stylings of Moise, Tinte, and Akira.

I remember it was maybe 100 degrees, and we hit the beach around noon. Not the ideal time for a photoshoot, but I had to leave to catch a plane in an hour, so it was our only option.

Moise -- the singer -- also teaches music to children, and maybe 30 of them had gathered around. The heat kept everyone else away.

I had made plenty of portraits during an earlier session, so for this one we figured we'd get some shots of the band performing. Essentially, then, the band gave me and these 30 kids a private concert on the beach while I photographed.

For that wonderful hour I forgot that I hadn't packed or showered yet. Time stood still. When I look at the images today I can hear the music.



Monday 2/26 Moise's Drumming Group - Images by Shelley Cryan

Cascades in Winter

Hello Monday - Iguana

Welcome to Monday. I hope your day is at least as good as this guy's. He (or she, who knows?) is a land iguana, Conolophus subcristatus, that I photographed on Santa Cruz island in the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador earlier this year.

Blues du Fleuve 2008 Video

Here's a video posted on Youtube by someone identified as mbengubachir.

If it's the gentleman I remember when I attended the festival earlier this year, he was simply everywhere that weekend. He must have had a tough time deciding what to drop onto the cutting room floor. The video does a great job bringing back the sights and sounds of a wonderful festival in Podor, Senegal, in West Africa.

Check out my blog entries under the "Africa" label to see some stills from the same weekend in Senegal. In many cases, you can see the videographer and I were side-by-side.

To license any of my still images from the Blues du Fleuve festival for editorial use, please click on the "Archive" sidebar on the right to connect with my stock agency, or email me directly.

Blues in the Sky

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's.... well, a plane. And don't worry, it's doing that squiggly move on purpose, at the Jones Beach Air Show this past May, on Long Island in New York. This photo breaks a lot of traditional rules: blown highlights, lens flare, and probably a few more. But that's what makes it work, I think. That and a little help from not breaking the rule of thirds.

Shot in RAW, used a custom white balance nudged just a tad toward the tungsten end of the scale, as the sky really was quite blue that day. I wouldn't do this adjustment if the image were destined for a newspaper, but for an artsy Monday morning blog post, 's'okay.

Chevy Hood Ornament

The antique car show at Bear Mountain, in New York state, is one of my Uncle Ralph's favorites. Elevated high above the banks of the Hudson River, the setting alone is worth the trip. But the best part for me was walking the rows and rows of meticulously maintained vehicles with a true expert. Uncle Ralph knows his cars. I could listen to him describe -- in his Bronx accent -- kit cars, hydraulic suspension, and gear shift mechanisms for hours.

Crowds, cars and visitors made it difficult to find a clean background for photos of the cars. I fell back to a favorite technique. I shot with a very wide aperture -- in this case 2.8 -- to blur out the busy background. This also, natch, accentuated the hood ornament of this antique Chevrolet. I love the curves.

License this image of the antique Chevrolet hood ornament here.

Meet the students in Africa

Here's a short (three-minute) multimedia piece about the people in Africa that are working hard to improve their community school.

Clinic in Guinaw Rail

This midwife drives a long way every day to come deliver babies and take care of expectant mothers at the clinic in Guinaw Rail, in Senegal. She's here, in the delivery room, pointing out photos of the babies she's helped bring into this world. She gave up a lucrative job elsewhere because, she said, she wanted to help others who otherwise might not get much help. She asked if we could send her some needed supplies, so we're working on it.

Schoolchildren in Senegal

It was the singing that truly opened my heart. As I climbed up the stairs of the old school, I could hear the children before I could see them. Their teacher was leading a class lesson, singing phrases for the children to repeat. By the time I reached the top step and peered into the now-filled rooftop classroom, I was smiling.

The young teacher, dressed in a white robe, nodded a greeting my way, and I settled into the back of the classroom. When the song was finished, he introduced me and my friends to the class. They then broke into song again, singing "welcome, welcome" in perfect English. When they got to the part where they sang "Welcome, Shelley" I knew the smile would stay in my heart forever, permanently emplanted there, to be recalled whenever I needed it.

Here are more pictures of the children and teacher at Guinaw Rails School.

Helping on Two Continents

One of the biggest fundraisers of the Ludlowe Corps has been a silent auction, where we collect items from our community and sell them to the highest bidder. The money goes to fund projects for schools in Senegal. When the Connecticut middle school students visited the school at Guinaw Rail, they described this auction to the administrators and teachers, and explained that's how the Ludlowe Corps obtained much of the funding for their new school building.

I arrived at the school maybe a week and a half after that conversation. One of the teachers sat down with us while we were having a snack, and mentioned that she had something that might help at our next fundraiser. Would we like to see it, she asked?

The teacher then brought out a whole bagful of beaded animals that she and her class had made (see photo above). You better believe these will be very popular at the auction next year.

It touched me to think that people who have so little would do this. It solidified the idea that we are indeed partners with the people of Guinaw Rail, helping each other to help each other.

New School in Guinaw Rail

The new school our group is helping to build is nearly complete. Like many buildings in Senegal, it's made of cement block. It's two stories high, and will accommodate the older children in the school. In the above picture, Waranka Association Director Masse stands with School Director Diouma in the ground floor of the new school.

See more images of the new school under construction here.

In the Neighborhood

The neighborhood in Guinaw Rails is a friendly one. It's also a study in recycling. Everywhere you look, people are using materials in unique ways. Old truck tires are buried halfway in the sand to mark the entrance of a store. Clotheslines are strung up with all kinds of different ropes and wires. People in Guinaw Rails make do with what they have.

Markedly, though, in the midst of this area with sand for roads, an occasional horse cart for transport, and goats roaming freely, the schoolchildren wear freshly-washed dresses and button-down shirts. Not everyone has shoes.

See more images of the neighborhood of Guinaw Rails here.

Rooftop Classroom

The older students attend class in this upstairs classroom. It's not really a room, just some desks enclosed by hanging wooden slats on the roof of the building. I'm not sure how they're able to manage in the rainy season -- I don't think the plastic sheeting in the back can protect them fully. During the dry season, when we visited, it gets pretty hot up there. On the left, outside of the image, is just the open roof. Halfway to the edge of the roof is a set of stairs leading to the classroom and school library inside.

As we walked around the classroom, I couldn't wait for the students to return from lunch, so I could meet them.

School Library in Guinaw Rail

The school library is next to the classroom for younger kids. The books are all in French, naturally. I think the shelves are from the crate we had sent, but I'm not sure. In any case, they could use more shelving.

I also thought that it would be great to send them French translations of Nancy Drew and Encyclopedia Brown books. Anyone who can get their hands on such books, and knows a good shipping company, let me know!

Check out the mosquito net hanging in the middle of the room, and also the floppy drive bay on the computer.

Classroom for Younger Kids

As we continued on our tour of the existing grade school in Guinaw Rail, Senegal, we saw the classroom for the youngest children. The tiny desks accomodated three or four students. Even without the students there, I could see why they needed more space.

Tour of School

When we arrived Tuesday at the grade school in Guinaw Rail, Senegal it was lunchtime. The students were home for their customary mid-day break. Masse, the association director, and Diouma, the school director, gave us a tour while the school was empty.

From the outside, the school looks like a telecenter. That's because the first room on the right is indeed a place where anyone can pay to use the internet. It's a way for the school to raise some funds (see Diouma in the telecenter above, appropriately taking a call on his cell phone).

Leadership in Guinaw Rail

Shortly after we arrived at the school in a poor area of Dakar, Senegal, we met the school director, Diouma (on the right) as well as Masse (on the left). Masse is the director of the Waranka Association, which exists to help improve living conditions in the community (this area of Dakar is called Guinaw Rail). The Waranka Association oversees the school, as well as many other civic projects and services.

To understand how our group-- the Ludlowe Corps -- can best help the community of Guinaw Rail, I first needed to understand this wonderful Waranka Association. Masse told me the Association got its name from a hard-working, civic-minded woman who had done much to help the people of Guinaw Rail. Waranka Ba's photo hangs above the two men in the image above. She had fought to improve living conditions in this area that seemed to have been overlooked. She helped bring electricity, running water, and sanitation to the community. When she died in 2003, the community wanted to continue her work, and formalized it by creating an association named for her.

These days, Masse oversees this group, which focuses on education, health, and the environment. With constant threats of flooding, malaria, diabetes, illiteracy, and other troubles, it's a big job.

Masse inspires me. He works all day -- he is a professional librarian with a college degree from Dakar -- then spends much of his free time after work in the school, the clinic, or working on other civic matters. I would have liked to have met his wife and four children. I asked him how he is able to get so much done, and he just smiled graciously. He seems driven by a need to do what it takes to help his community.

I felt honored that this group would accept our Ludlowe Corps as a partner. Sure, we had all put forth efforts to raise funds for the school, but it pales in comparison to the work Masse, Diouma, and the others we met that day do every day.

Here is the website for the Waranka Association, including pictures from the Ludlowe Corps' visit in early April 2008.