Merry Christmas!
Apologies for the blurriness but I find night lights exciting and hypnotic, be they Christmas lights or otherwise, and what started out as a recent rainy night in Soho was no exception. The cold rain battered down upon the lens and I suppose I should have cared more than I did but I didn't. I would be leaving New York for London the following day and these clicks, and so many more, were my Christmas farewell kisses of missing to this wonderful, crazy city. Yes, they are blurry and splattered in patches of rain. They are not perfect. Life is not perfect. Christmas, the mother lode of expectations, is forever far from perfect and life passes by in a blur but we are a resilient species programmed in the way of hopes and dreams. I dream of taking better photographs! And writing that novel. And being a better person. . .
My family? They're hungry and hoping I will stop soon and cook supper. They know there is a feast awaiting - bangers and mash, with as much tomato ketchup as their little hearts desire. Thank you all so much for making my spirits bright throughout these pages with your generosity of fabulousness. It has been such a treat to meet so many talented and generous people both out there in the streets and here in the world of the www. Merry Christmas and so many best wishes to you all!
Merry Christmas Patti. I love your pictures, they capture the essence of the City. Can’t wait for the novel.
Merry Christmas to you Tom and thank you so much for the photo love. As for the novel, don’t hold your breath! All best!
Amazing photos. I love the lights and the colors.
Merry Christmas!
xx
Merry Christmas to you Nicole and best wishes for lights and colours where you are! 🙂
Merry Xmas Patti.
Thank you sweet Harry and Christmas wishes to you and your family!
Again, such great captures with your camera. I see true love shining through the rain drops!
Merry Christmas, Patti, to you and yours!
Now this naive American is going to look up bangers and mash.
Hope to see some photos from England! Enjoy your stay!
Annie, safe travels to you and so many best wishes to you for a restful and relaxing Christmas break after your marathon effort putting those Amazon orders through! Your Tin Can adventures are truly inspiring!
Bangers and mash, hoping not to disappoint are sausages and mashed potato (with parnsip, turnip and sweet potato in my recipe!)
I have a packet of StoveTop you know what here with me . . . !
The combination of potatoes, parsnip, turnip and sweet potato sounds heavenly! I will definitely be making that one! Cheers!
These imperfect photographs are the perfect Christmas photos. Merry Christmas Patti. Kiss a Londoner for me!
Christmas wishes to you Lanier, the tinsel to your birthday celebrations! Will kiss the Londoner for you!
Yay!!
Everyone’s happy! 🙂
Merry Christmas Patti, great pictures, the blur adds to the atmosphere…
Oh Mike, thank you so much. I was in such a rush to get from one part of town to the next but so wanting to take all the time in the world . . . . Merry Christmas to you and your family for happy celebrations!
(I tried to leave a comment on your Bah Humbug with the delightful Rooney but the WP feed has been so tetchy and difficult. All best!)
Merry Christmas to you, too, and thanks so much for your wonderful gifts all year long. I hope we both get our novels done in 2013!
You are way ahead of me in the novel stakes and all best to you for your re-draft! Thank you so much for your sharp observations of the powers that be and those who so desperately want to be. In retrospect we can thank certain people for the surreal sideshow running up to GOP nominations which was a cliff off awesome sorts to contemplate . . .. Merry Christmas to you!
Merry Christmas, Patti! Have a great break!
And compliments of the season to you Richard with many thanks for your wonderful talent at keeping the streets of London so vibrant and so alive! Mind you, you would never be stopping me on the streets! 🙂
Back at ya, Patti!
Who, me? My pleasure! Merry Christmas John!
happy holidays, patti and best wishes for another great photographic year!
Thank you so much Olive and same best wishes to you!
Love that second image. Merry Christmas my friend.
Merry Christmas to you Terry, enjoy the snow and hope your holidays hum!
Merry Christmas, Patti! 🙂
As always I liked these pictures a lot. Beautiful work.
Thank you Arindam, it was a fun time out in the rain! Happy Christmas and New Year to you!
May your Christmas be a magical one …..
Merry Merry … Feliz Navidad
Isadora
Thank you Isadora and Feliz Navidad to you and your family!
Merry Christmas!!
Hope yours was a grand one Derrick!
“Motherlode of expectations” – love that! Your thoughts were helpful – thanks for stopping by my blog, and have a good one (as they say in NY!) wherever you are.
Thank you so much for your very kind words and now we have next year to look forward to!!! Seasons greetings to you bluebrightly!
Merry Christmas! Sometimes our photos don’t need to be technically perfect to make a beautiful image! This set of images is beautiful! Especially the first one, where the wanderers seem to glow! Enjoy your time in London! Oh, and can’t beat good old fashioned bangers and mash!
Merry Christmas Mark and all best wishes to you for a wonderful year ahead! So pleased you enjoyed that first image which hit me as I came out of a cafe/bar/restaurant in Soho which seems millions of miles away from where I am now in lovely soggy countryside. Hope you are warm and dry where you are!
lovely mood 🙂
wish you a Happy New Year 🙂
Happy New Year to you Joshi and thank you so much for all your wonderful portraits!
Happy New Year, Patti. Thank you for capturing the feeling of the wet streets and bright lights of Christmas in the big city. So quiet here. . .
There was an odd sense of peace and quiet in these busy streets, or so I felt at the time. Strange isn’t it, where we find it . . . .
Happy New Year Susan, enjoy your quiet!
Thank you for your holiday greeting and always a pleasure to find photographs showing the reality and the vision of your way, always interesting. A wish for happiness for the new year 2013 coming next. Thank you for your art …
Carlos – Cruz del Sur
Thank you so much Carlos! It is always such a delight to visit you in your colourful part of the world and all best to you for the warmth of your holiday season. Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas to you and yours, Patti!
Thank you dear Frizz and fond greetings to you!
subliminal eh? Tanqueray gin, old navy rum and any old spirits … onya pk, cheers
First round is on me! Cheers to you Pete!
Nice phtos, as alsways. Merry Christmas, Patti, keep up the good work! 🙂
Christmas greetings and thank you so much Bente!
Patti, your night photos have that “real flavor” of the streets with their holiday regalia, and they are fine–even with the raindrop blurs. I hope your trip to the UK foes well.
Best Wishes for the New Year.
Hope it was a spirited Christmas for you Phil and thank you so much for your kind words and best wishes!
Back in NYC next year Patti? Wishing you a wonder-filled 2013 and looking forward to sharing more of your vision. Have jolly good hols! Philippa
And so many best wishes to you Philippa for the New Year! Am sure your portraits were a big hit – what a generous gift for the little ones to have!
Thanks Patti. Happy London landings.
I LOVE the reflections, Patti! I’m such a sucker for this kind of ‘atmosphere’… beautiful! And I think that a bit of rain on the lens can often help express that… really creates the feeling of ‘being there’, I think. And a wise photographer once told me, ‘there’s the ‘technically’ correct way to produce an image, and there’s the correct way to produce an image’… I think he was right about that.
I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday, Ms. K!
🙂
SiG, it was great fun out there – almost like falling into a kaleidoscope, with no technical instructions for getting out! What great words you were given and thank you so much for passing them on.
Thank you SiG for your best wishes and holiday greetings to you and the lovely Annabelle!
Some very sharp shots. Tripod?
Wow, thank you so much mostlymonochrome for your comment! As for the tripod, I don’t have one . . . . but thinking about it. It is definitely on the list!
Merry Christmas Patti 🙂
Thank you Jake and Happy New Year to you!
Merry Christmas Patti! Was it a final goodbye to NY, or you are going back after the holidays? I would not worry about blurriness that much sometimes it adds a bit extra …. I like this series. As for 2013 …. my cards are telling me there is a novel somewhere coming out of you very soon… My best wishes dear Patti.
You’re so sweet, thank you Paula! Hope Christmas was fun for and all best wishes to you for the New Year. Will keep you posted on the novel but the feeling is I will still be saying the same next year, as indeed I have been saying for the last however many decades. Nothing if not consistent!
Back to NY soon and hope all well for you where you are! 🙂
Christmas is about finding our reasons for joy, hope and faith. It is creating a happy moment with the people that means the world to us. Beautiful post. Wishing you and your family a warm, happy, unforgettable Christmas.
Thank you IT for kind wishes and please know how much I really do try to create those happy moments but I fear I am the one who ends up being trying!
Happy New Year wishes to you and your family!
Best wishes in the New Year, Patti!
And Happy New Year to you Karen, thank you!
It’s always interesting to see your N.Y. photos. Love them! I wish you all the best for 2013!
Thank you Cardinal, your night shots are always so good! Hope you get to visit NY soon and so many best wishes to you for the New Year!
I’ve already been naked in New York, but I’d love to be again 🙂
http://cardinalguzman.wordpress.com/2011/08/27/naked-in-new-york/
Thank YOU Patti, for showing us New York through your eyes. It has been a pleasure following your blog.
Love every one of these atmospheric night shots! Hope your Christmas was joyous and the new year is splendid in every way 🙂
My absolute pleasure and thank you for your kind words Madhu! What exciting adventures will you be taking us on this year? Looking fwd to them!
You take Awesome Photos…
The Hurricane Aftermath ones a bit surreal for me. Being from eastern North Carolina, and having lost a home to Hurricane Fran in ’96, and another one to “Floyd” in ’99…My heart goes out to those devastated by Sandy.
Bless You ~HAPPY NEW YEAR~
Bless Yo
Oh my goodness, I am so sorry to hear about your Hurricane losses. We see, and hear, accounts of such in the news etc, but to have so much collapse around you, to have to pick up so many small and large pieces of life is so dispiriting and such hard damn work to repair and recover from.
Thank you so much for your kind comment about the photos – I am very mindful of intruding upon the space and privacy of people who have more than enough to deal with but devastation is not an overnight news sensation . . . .
Happy New Year wishes to you, I trust and hope you and your family are safe and secure where you are now!
Ah, Patti, can’t believe it’s been a month since I dropped by – and all those terrific shots I’ve missed! I like the image of the raindrops on your lens representing your tears, but most of all I like the way the raindrops have bloomed, especially on Come Fun Come All, which now seems more complete. But it’s Get the Holidays Hummin’ that is all I’ve come to love about walking the streets with you – just so New York, gritty and whimsical … 🙂 Hope yours was terrific, and that 2013 will set your heart racing with excitement and adventures behind that lens of yours 🙂
Lovely pictures, Patti, capturing the spirit of the season with amazing colours. Imperfect is perfect – and your family can wait just a little longer so we all can enjoy one more of your great pictures…
Patti, the blurriness and water flares are minor. These are beautiful shots.
A belated but Merry Xmas to you! 🙂