{"id":377,"date":"2017-05-04T08:00:36","date_gmt":"2017-05-04T12:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic-photoblog.bobleafe.com\/?p=377"},"modified":"2018-06-07T17:51:11","modified_gmt":"2018-06-07T21:51:11","slug":"1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/?p=377","title":{"rendered":"1979 – Florida trip and Favorite ’79 photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

The GF and I flew to Florida’s west coast (Fort Myers?) to visit two of her elderly relatives. The first 4 pictures were taken from a moving boat. That first one needed some really good timing to achieve symmetry (he says, modestly).<\/span><\/h4>\n

A couple of these shots from the boat look a bit oversharpened.<\/span><\/h4>\n

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Closeup of pelican’s protective eyelid (closed), known as a nictitating membrane.<\/span><\/h4>\n

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More pelicans:<\/span><\/h4>\n

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I’m especially happy with the sunset shots. When I saw the strolling couple approaching, I moved quickly to include the palm frond in the frame.<\/span><\/h4>\n

In the other sunset shot – which I call “Sunpocket” – I think that’s Sanibel Island in the distance.<\/span><\/h4>\n

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On the humorous side………………<\/span><\/h4>\n

From my site:<\/span><\/h4>\n

This was another of those see-something-and-jam-on-the-brakes shots, but more difficult to shoot.<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

I saw this while driving on a divided highway. I turned around and went back to get the shot, but had no wide-angle lens with me. To back up far enough to get it all in, I had to stand on the highway’s divider! Kinda dangerous, but doesn’t top the night I stood on a metal car with a metal camera and tripod to shoot lightning.<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

I have NO IDEA what the “Jolly Jumping Grandmothers” thing was about (maybe it’s better that way), but National Lampoon found it interesting enough to publish on their “Readers’ Page”\u009d.<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

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My 18-and-a-half-year GRAMMAR school reunion (!?)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I never went to any of my high school reunions. I went to an all-boys Catholic high school \u2013 why would I want to go? To see if the guys kept their schoolgirl figures? I didn\u2019t particularly enjoy my time there anyway, so who cares?<\/span><\/p>\n

I DID, however, enjoy my time at co-ed Holy Trinity Grammar School in Hackensack, NJ, so when I got an out-of-the blue invitation in December 1979 to go to a reunion of the class of 1961 \u2013 18 \u00bd years later (a nice round number) \u2013 I looked forward to it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, I would be bringing my camera and tripod.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was held on a Sunday afternoon in the school\u2019s cafeteria. When I got there, I recognized everyone immediately, but I got not a glimmer of recognition, so before I said a word to anyone, I asked loudly for everyone\u2019s attention and announced that I was a photographer \u2013 never giving a name – who was hired to photograph the event and that I would be running around taking pictures.<\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone accepted that, posed willingly and no one suspected a thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

At some point, I made a second announcement – a two-parter:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. \u201cBefore the afternoon is over, I will need to take a group shot before anyone leaves.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2. \u201cAnd by the way\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026I was NOT hired to photograph this event. I\u2019m your classmate, Bob Leafe\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026or Robert Leafe, if you\u2019re a nun. I guess I changed a little bit.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

They were kind of surprised \u2013 especially the women (I got some nice attention after that). A couple of formerly-clique-ish 13 year-olds became very friendly 32 year-olds.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I graduated HTS, I was 5’2″. When I graduated high school, I was 5’11”. I think I went from the shortest guy in this class to the tallest \u2013 at least amongst the guys who showed up.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the fun wound down, I set up the group shot, using the timer so I could run around and stand in the back (on the far right). Even without my Afro, I\u2019m taller than everyone else.<\/span><\/p>\n

I even got a date out of the deal\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..that already makes it better than any of my high school reunions could have ever been.<\/span><\/p>\n

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I shot this sharp-dressed man in the annual Ridgefield Park Fourth of July parade. I lived about 3 doors away from it, so how could I not?<\/span><\/h4>\n

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I used to shoot for NYC rock powerhouse WNEW-FM, which used to hold annual Bike-a-thons for cerebral palsy in NYC’s Central Park, so I shot while the GF biked.<\/span><\/h4>\n

The first picture shows three of NEW’s DJs:\u009d (l-r) Scott Muni, Meg Griffin and Tom Morrera. Tom and I became friends and it was very sad when he passed in 2012.<\/span><\/h4>\n

As the event was winding down, popular DJ Pete Fornatale asked me and the GF if we could give him a ride down to the station so he wouldn’t be late for his show.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Sure!<\/span><\/h4>\n

He gave us a tour of the studio and I took a picture of him that did NOT turn out well, but I’m including it because I was proud to know him.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Unfortunately, he also died in 2012.<\/span><\/h4>\n

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Fortunately, no one died in the wings of the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ, thanks to these helpful signs. That second sign plants a scary visual in the mind.<\/span><\/h4>\n

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November 8, 1979: my last day running the physical science labs at the college I worked for…………the last day of using the chemistry degree I put so much effort into getting.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I had shot concerts for the entire 6+ years that I was there and this is when I dumped security and chemicals for full-time passion and music – probably the best decision I ever made.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the picture, I’m shown at my desk wearing a “Wave” button from Patti Smith’s 1979 “Wave” album, as I waved bye-bye to this aspect of my life.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The GF and I flew to Florida’s west coast (Fort Myers?) to visit two of her elderly relatives. The first 4 pictures were taken from a moving boat. That first one needed some really good timing to achieve symmetry (he says, modestly). A couple of these shots from the boat look a bit oversharpened.   […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=377"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6330,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377\/revisions\/6330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}