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Mark Perfetti Photography LLC
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Me and My daughters, Jessica & Rachel, they make my heart beat
Jessica, Rachel and me, They make my heart beat…
Happy 19th Birthday to my Daughter Rachel, I Love You!
Happy 19th Birthday Rachel, I Love You…
St. Baldricks
The guys asked me how much to shave my mustache for St. Baldricks, I said $500, they raised it in less than 5 minutes!!! So its gone!! First time in over 20 years without it, but its was so worth it!!!!
Kenny and Me!
Shang and me back at work!
Eagles
A few people were telling me about the Eagles they have seen in the area lately, so, I took my camera and went to the locations I was given (Shhhhhh), a few turned up, NBAA, ( no birds at all) then I went to a location given to me by a good friend, Bingo!
What I found was, it takes patience, lots of it, it gets boring, Eagles can perch for hours, and hours, and Zzzz.., oh, I’m sorry, back to my post, and hours! it gets boring! I made 5 trips so far, lots of other birds, but the first time you see an Eagle, WOW!
My first attempts were poor, hell, my LAST attempts are poor, overall I took about 100 photos, the first visit was so bad I didn’t get 1 usable photo, I went home and did some research on birds in flight photography, (YouTube), I learned I was doing EVERYTHING wrong, and, AND, you have to be somewhat rich to do this, the people that do photography like this use lenses that are around $6 to $10 THOUSAND Dollars! I’m sure there are better and closer locations in the area, but when I was there, the Eagles were elsewhere, ( maybe shopping, vacation, school, who knows).
These photos were taken at about 1,000 yards with a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV with a Canon 70-200 2.8, way under par for this job, with additional cropping and just a little sharpening in Photoshop I can use about 2 images from about 100 that I’m kind of happy with.
Without a doubt, I’m sure a lot of you got better shots than this with a Point and Shoot! if so, can I have lessons?
I will check other locations in the near future, maybe with some luck I can get closer, or maybe I should just wear a hat with some salmon on it! Anyone that wants to sit for hours and keep me company speak up now! its boring!
Posted by FDNY Firefighters, I’m proud to share it
I wish you could know what it is like to search a burning bedroom for trapped children at 3AM, flames rolling above your head, your palms and knees burning as you crawl, the floor sagging under your weight as the kitchen below you burns.
I wish you could comprehend a wife’s horror at 6 in the morning as I check her husband of 40 years for a pulse and find none. I start CPR anyway, hoping t…o bring him back, knowing intuitively it is too late. But wanting his wife and family to know everything possible was done to try to save his life.
I wish you knew the unique smell of burning insulation, the taste of soot-filled mucus, the feeling of intense heat through your turnout gear, the sound of flames crackling, the eeriness of being able to see absolutely nothing in dense smoke-sensations that I’ve become too familiar with.
I wish you could read my mind as I respond to a building fire “Is this A false alarm or a working fire? How is the building constructed? What hazards await me? Is anyone trapped?” Or to call, “What is wrong with the patient? Is it minor or life-threatening? Is the caller really in distress or is he waiting for us with a 2×4 or a gun?”
I wish you could be in the emergency room as a doctor pronounces dead the beautiful five-year old girl that I have been trying to save during the past 25 minutes. Who will never go on her first date or say the words, “I love you Mommy” again.
I wish you could know the frustration I feel in the cab of the engine, squad, or my personal vehicle, the driver with his foot pressing down hard on the pedal, my arm tugging again and again at the air horn chain, as you fail to yield the right-of-way at an intersection or in traffic. When you need us however, your first comment upon our arrival will be, “It took you forever to get here!”
I wish you could know my thoughts as I help extricate a girl of teenage years from the remains of her automobile. “What if this was my daughter, sister, my girlfriend or a friend? What were her parents reaction going to be when they opened the door to find a police officer with hat in hand?”
I wish you could know how it feels to walk in the back door and greet my parents and family, not having the heart to tell them that I nearly did not come back from the last call.
I wish you could know how it feels dispatching officers, firefighters and EMT’s out and when we call for them and our heart drops because no one answers back or to here a bone chilling 911 call of a child or wife needing assistance.
I wish you could feel the hurt as people verbally, and sometimes physically, abuse us or belittle what I do, or as they express their attitudes of, “It will never happen to me.
I wish you could realize the physical, emotional and mental drain of missed meals, lost sleep and forgone social activities, in addition to all the tragedy my eyes have seen.
I wish you could know the brotherhood and self-satisfaction of helping save a life or preserving someone’s property, or being able to be there in time of crisis, or creating order from total chaos.
I wish you could understand what it feels like to have a little boy tugging at your arm and asking, “Is Mommy okay?” Not even being able to look in his eyes without tears from your own and not knowing what to say. Or to have to hold back a long time friend who watches his buddy having CPR done on him as they take him away in the Medic Unit. You know all along he did not have his seat belt on. A sensation that I have become too familiar with.
Unless you have lived with this kind of life, you will never truly understand or appreciate who I am, we are, or what our job really means to us……
I wish you could though.
I wish you could comprehend a wife’s horror at 6 in the morning as I check her husband of 40 years for a pulse and find none. I start CPR anyway, hoping t…o bring him back, knowing intuitively it is too late. But wanting his wife and family to know everything possible was done to try to save his life.
I wish you knew the unique smell of burning insulation, the taste of soot-filled mucus, the feeling of intense heat through your turnout gear, the sound of flames crackling, the eeriness of being able to see absolutely nothing in dense smoke-sensations that I’ve become too familiar with.
I wish you could read my mind as I respond to a building fire “Is this A false alarm or a working fire? How is the building constructed? What hazards await me? Is anyone trapped?” Or to call, “What is wrong with the patient? Is it minor or life-threatening? Is the caller really in distress or is he waiting for us with a 2×4 or a gun?”
I wish you could be in the emergency room as a doctor pronounces dead the beautiful five-year old girl that I have been trying to save during the past 25 minutes. Who will never go on her first date or say the words, “I love you Mommy” again.
I wish you could know the frustration I feel in the cab of the engine, squad, or my personal vehicle, the driver with his foot pressing down hard on the pedal, my arm tugging again and again at the air horn chain, as you fail to yield the right-of-way at an intersection or in traffic. When you need us however, your first comment upon our arrival will be, “It took you forever to get here!”
I wish you could know my thoughts as I help extricate a girl of teenage years from the remains of her automobile. “What if this was my daughter, sister, my girlfriend or a friend? What were her parents reaction going to be when they opened the door to find a police officer with hat in hand?”
I wish you could know how it feels to walk in the back door and greet my parents and family, not having the heart to tell them that I nearly did not come back from the last call.
I wish you could know how it feels dispatching officers, firefighters and EMT’s out and when we call for them and our heart drops because no one answers back or to here a bone chilling 911 call of a child or wife needing assistance.
I wish you could feel the hurt as people verbally, and sometimes physically, abuse us or belittle what I do, or as they express their attitudes of, “It will never happen to me.
I wish you could realize the physical, emotional and mental drain of missed meals, lost sleep and forgone social activities, in addition to all the tragedy my eyes have seen.
I wish you could know the brotherhood and self-satisfaction of helping save a life or preserving someone’s property, or being able to be there in time of crisis, or creating order from total chaos.
I wish you could understand what it feels like to have a little boy tugging at your arm and asking, “Is Mommy okay?” Not even being able to look in his eyes without tears from your own and not knowing what to say. Or to have to hold back a long time friend who watches his buddy having CPR done on him as they take him away in the Medic Unit. You know all along he did not have his seat belt on. A sensation that I have become too familiar with.
Unless you have lived with this kind of life, you will never truly understand or appreciate who I am, we are, or what our job really means to us……
I wish you could though.
Mark Perfetti