6962-78 / common places • common things ~ 5 days of ordinary life

all photos (embiggenable)

Some people are still unaware that reality contains unparalleled beauties. The fantastic and unexpected, the ever-changing and renewing is nowhere so exemplified as in real life itself.” ~ Berenice Abbott

OVER 5 DAYS, LAST WEDS.>SUNDAY, IT RAINED A lot. I took the ferry to Vermont for service for one of our cars and killed time in a Panera Bread. Next day I played golf along Lake Champlain on a Canadian wildfire smokey day. Saturday there was a motorcycle rally in my home town and then it was off to Saratoga Springs for the running of the Belmont Stakes-2nd leg of the race for the Triple Crowd, a fitting appointment to have my irons re-shafted, and to hear our son-in-law’s band. Sunday was a quiet, sunny day at home.

FYI, I have made a few photo books that fall under x-number-of-days titles, i.e. like the title of this entry. Making such a photo book happens when I have had a number of consecutive days of intensive picture making for one reason or another–or, at times, for no reason at all. When I show the books around, viewers are usually rather intrigued by them inasmuch as they are rather fascinated by their interest and attraction to seemingly mundane picture matter.

That written, viewers almost always find a picture or two that really hold their attention and I am often surprised by their selections. I have even has requests a copy of some of the books. The most common comment I hear about their selection(s) is “I never would have thought to take a picture of that” and I must confess that that reaction gives me a great deal of pleasure.

RE: Abbott’s quote …. I would amend it to read that real life provides opportunities to make fantastic, unexpected and beautiful photographs. That cuz, real life does not always present us with unparalleled beauty. And, to my eye and sensibilities, the magic of photography is its ability to transmute the commonplace into something else, i.e. a beautiful–or at least interesting–print.

# 6431-32 / landscape ~ weathering the weather

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DID I MENTION THAT WE HAVE HAD a lot of rain-massive displays of thunder and lightning-over the last few days with flash flood warnings galore. Throw in uncommonly high temperatures for this time of year with uncomfortable levels of humidity and it’s accurate to write that it has been a unusual couple of days.

# 6772-76 / landscape • rain ~ reaching way out there

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WOKE UP TO RAINY OVERCAST DAY. AFTER MY morning wake-up routine, I was overcome by an unusual desire…the need to get out and make photographs with a tele-only zoom lens. An activity which would, gasp!!!, require the use of a “real” camera.

I can write, for a fact, that I have no idea what came over me. Nevertheless, I pulled out one of my Olympus µ4/3 cameras and my Zuiko 50-200mm e100-400) f2.8 lens, donned rainy weather gear, and headed out the door for short, 3-4 mile picture making drive around the “neighborhood”.

I will admit to it feeling kinda weird hauling around what felt like a large brick, looking through a viewfinder, making aperture-mostly wide open cuz I was not looking for maximum DOF-and shutter speed adjustments, and checking for critical focus. FYI, most of the pictures were made with the zoom set to focal lengths somewhere between e300-400mm.

Despite the fact that using a “real” camera felt somewhat old-timely, I can write that I have always enjoyed making pictures with the use of long focal length lenses. That’s cuz the so-called perspective compressing effect captured by-but not created by-long focal length lenses helps emphasize the flat 2D field of a photographic print. To my eye and sensibilities, an emphasis that, with careful framing of selected sections of the real world, reveals the purely visual 2D viability of that 3D world. iMo, an emphasis that elevates a picture into the arena of fine art because it gives the eye and visual senses something to view, consider and appreciate beyond the mere literal depiction of a section of the real world.

# 6749-56 / landscape • rain • kitchen life • sink ~ autumn drive with pie

SATURDAY PAST I TOOK A MEANDERING COUNTRYSIDE DRIVE TO a farm stand to procure some fresh apple cider, concord grapes, and some produce. The weather was absolutely enchanting with rain, mist, and a leaden overcast. The landscape provided a bounty of picture making opportunities.

The fall harvest bounty was put to good use. I made a grape pie with the concord grapes. On Sunday the wife made roasted acorn squash-cut in half to make bowls-filled them with her homemade beet borscht soup with dollop sour cream. Then served them for dinner with a side of pan fried kielbasa. All in all, it made for a great weekend during which we celebrated our 26 wedding anniversary.

# 6735-40 / landscape • common things • rain ~ status is where you find it

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WE HAVE HAD A 24 HOUR HEAVY RAIN EVENT which has created a number of picturesque opportunities:

• rivers are flowing at or above flood stage

• the overflow stack at the old mill is leaking

• lots of leaves have been knocked to the ground

iMo, good stuff all around.

Writing of good stuff, yesterday the wife and I drove out to a small gallery in the middle of nowhere to attend the opening reception of a 4-photographer exhibition, my son, the Cinemascapist included.

the cinamascapist + laurie (the exhibit organizer / director)

The turn out was impressive, about 40 people, considering the fact that the exhibit was in the middle of nowhere. Each participant gave a 15 minute talk about his/her work. The audience was able to ask questions and there was a great deal of interest expressed in the work and the picture makers themselves.

The experience told me that: 1. photography ain’t dead or dying, and, 2. even in the middle of nowhere there is appreciation of the medium and for those who practice it. It’s almost as if photography has some status.

rain / the light / # 3642-45 ~ image and Doppler evaluation

(embiggenable) • iPhone

(embiggenable) • iPhone

(embiggenable) • iPhone

the umbrella

the umbrella

YESTERDAY I SPENT THE DAY HAVING A transesophageal echocardiogram. This is a procedure in which an imaging device was put down my esophagus in order to obtain a close / detailed view of my heart. In my case, this procedure was performed to determine that: 1.) the blood clot found in my heart last December had dissolved, and, 2.) confirm that my heart was a good canidate for the Watchman procedure. I passed on both counts. So, next Monday, I do the Watchman thing wherein they put an "umbrella" in my heart.

Moving on to other recent news, this past Saturday evening we experienced a somewhat uncommon manifestation of what we have dubbed, Hobbit Light. Hobbit Light is an atmospheric condition which causes the landscape to be bathed in intensely yellow-red light. The very air itself seems to be yellow-red.

In most cases, Hobbit Light lasts about 15-20 minutes and happens at sunset, with a heavy cloud cover, and following a heavy rain. It is most intense after the sun has set, during the time known as the gloaming or, as I like to call it, entre chien et loup (between the dog and the wolf).

iMo, there are 2 characteristics of Hobbit Light which make it rather eerie: 1.) there is no directional light which results in a flat / soft, almost shadow-less, "murky" light, and, 2.) every time I have experienced it, the air is as still as a statue which creates a very quiet / still landscape.

Taken together, that creates a very other-worldly feeling. Kinda like Middle Earth.

civilized ku # 3538-39 ~ rise to the challenge

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some of my coronavography ~ (embiggenable) • Screenshot

ONE OF THE CORONAVOGRAPHY CONTRIBUTORS SEND A selfie-with-mask picture. And the question is, "Hey dumb-ass, why didn't I think of that?"

In any event, 2 things came to mind. Make a selfie, dumb-ass and put out a call to all coronavographers to do the same and send in the picture. Although, as another dumb-ass said, "It's not a requirement, it's just a suggestion." I would add, "I did it. You should do it. What do you have to lose?"