Prince Lee 1994-2012 RIP

I never knew how to deal with loss. And I never really experienced loss so close to me.

This afternoon I received news from my ex in New York that my son Prince Lee had a seizure and he had decided to put him to sleep. As a gay man, I probably never would have any children, and Prince is the closest thing to a son to me – which is why he inherited my last name.

Prince has been there for me through my highs and my lows. He was an excellent cuddle buddy. And in my darkest hour when I had alienated the world, he was there to keep me company. In 2007, he was attacked by unleashed dogs and had to be in the emergency room for four days. He did not fully heal til three months later. Despite all the challenges in life, his will to live had been an inspiration for me, and I would like to dedicate this post through photography on our lives spent together.

2005. At SML Universe NYC Backyard

2005. Playing with toys

2006. Chewing with all the attitude

2006. Chilling out in hand-knitted sweater

2006. Scared by the Macro twin lite

I know it's crazy but I bought all my macro gear just to photograph Prince!

2006. Snout :)

2006. Menace

2006. The Last Laugh

2006. ”Coffee”

2006. I'm a lion

2006. Untitled

2006. Beauty Queen

2006. Licking Action

His tongue is quite amazing. :)

2006. Charmed

2006. Stop bothering me when I'm sleeping

2007. Prince Scarlet

2007. Recovering at the backyard

Pain in his eyes, but still a will to live – my inspiration, my hero.

2008. Somewhat recovered, walking on a rainy day

2009. Treasure hunting

2009. Fresh after haircut

2009. Bored

2009. Prince

This is the last photograph I took of Prince. I had broken up with my ex by then. It was his dog. But he remains my son. I did say goodbye before I leave New York for Hong Kong. At 18 years old, he was very old and can barely recognize me.

If seeing my dog die will bring so much emotion, I learned that it must be hard for my parents when I contemplated death a while back. Even through death, Prince was an inspiration for me to live, and for that I am forever grateful and thankful.

The full set of Prince is also available on SML Flickr.

CC-BY SML

Eastern State Penitentiary

Eastern State Penitentiary (Wikipedia) is considered one of America's most historic former prisons. It was the world's first true penitentiary, a prison designed to inspire penitence - or true regret - in the hearts of criminals. the original seven cellblocks spread like the spokes of a wheel, and had running water and central heat before the White House.

Its vaulted, sky-lit cells held many of America's most notorious criminals, including bank robber "Slick Willie" Sutton and "Scarface" Al Capone. The prison stands today in ruin, a haunting world of crumbling cellblocks and a surprising, eerie beauty.

I had a chance to visit the place thanks because Novaid Kahn (Flickr:numbphoto / SML Flickr) offered to drive me there. The day before the trip, I met up with Aaron Johnson (Flickr:Erotocrat / SML Flickr) for the first time, and I asked him to come along.

Check out the full set on Flickr. Detailed description of the photos are included on the Flickr photo page. Here are some highlights.

Hallway

Hub at the Center

Typical cell

The cell of Al Capone

Abstracts

HDR

The extreme lighting condition at the Eastern State Penitentiary (Flickr set) makes a fine candidate of creating some HDR photos. I'm glad that I brought my tripod!

ESP Photo Trip Camera Bag

See Flickr notes for equipment details

Novaid Kahn

Aaron Johnson

SML Me!

Photo Credit: Aaron Johnson

Related SML
+ SML Collections: SML Location
+ SML Flickr Sets: Eastern State Penitentiary
+ SML Flickr Tags: Eastern State Penitentiary

Abstracts in C

Downtown Brooklyn is changing very quickly, with buildings going up at a very fast pace. With development comes the scaffolding and other construction materials that often present itself as a wonderful canvas for photography.

Abstracts in C major and C minor refers to the dominance of the color cyan. C major is where cyan fills out the photo. C minors are duets of cyan with other colors.

These were shot with the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens and the Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX flash on a tripod.

Abstracts in C

Abstracts in C minor

Related SML
+ SML Flickr Set: Absracts
+ SML Flickr Set: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
+ SML Flickr Set: Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX

Hong Kong Flower Show 2008 / SML

The end of my trip in Hong Kong coincided with the annual flower show so I decided to pay a visit, in particular to give my macro lens some use since I carried it half the planet over anyhow.













Related SML Universe
+ SML Flickr Set: Canon 10D
+ SML Flickr Set: Canon EF 100 f/2.8 Macro USM
+ SML Flickr Set: Hong Kong
+ SML Flickr Set: Nature Photography

Brooklyn Botanic Garden / 2007-09-09

I visited the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for the first time last year but never got to process the photographs. Here are some of the highlights from the day. Complete coverage can be browsed on SML Flickr Tags: Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Crown / SML

Crown / SML, originally uploaded by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML.

1/1000 sec, Canon 100 f/2.8 Macro USM, MT-24EX macro twinlite, FP Sync

CRW_40380

Copyright 2006 See-ming Lee (SML Pro Blog). All rights reserved.

SML Copyright Notice

Copyright 2007 See-ming Lee 李思明 SML / SML Photo Blog / SML Universe. All rights reserved.