Tumblin' Dice

Sitting in a train, kinda bored, passing through the countryside, shooting out the window. Do you ever do that? Anyway, this time at least, some of the compositions ended up being kind of interesting. There was plenty of light so I could use a fast shutter speed and a narrow aperture to get sharp and deep focus, which is what I was after. It is interesting to contemplate the role of chance and probability in photography.

Insomniac Photography

Although it was pitch black outside, I decided to go check the mail. So, I strapped on a headlamp, grabbed my camera and headed out the door. It is a five minute walk down the hill to the street and I grabbed a few shots of the yard and flower beds, using the beam of light from the headlamp to illuminate things. That is one way to isolate your subject, I suppose.

Hope your weekend is full of good light, fellow traveler. 

For The Birds

Birding is one of those genres of photography that has been greatly facilitated by developments in technology. In contrast to say, conceptual work, which, should you ever feel so inclined, could be carried out with whatever shit camera happens to be lying around. To be honest, I never felt a burning desire to try photographing birds before the arrival of digital cameras, having a strong gut-level intuition that my main accomplishment would be to waste a lot of expensive film. These days, however, why not? After all, I'm no photo-snob. So, yeah, I've tried it a few times, mainly with owls, which are inherently interesting and thankfully sit still for long periods of time, and the vultures that circle overhead looking for dead things to eat. Once I even chased a woodpecker around the yard and got a few decent shots. In future, if any cool birds turn up around here, I'll know what to do. In the meantime, I've got a conceptual series in mind involving a murmuration of starlings...

Evidence

The history of photography is replete with instances of folks finding 'evidence' of an alien presence in their photographs. To be honest, I wasn't wearing my fine art hat or conjuring my inner Larry Sultan or Mike Mandel when I made this particular snap. Nope, I took this photograph simply because the cars on blocks in the yard reminded me of what I see all the time right here in my little corner of the universe. And speaking of the Universe, when I was prepping the image for posting, I noticed a little piece of schmutz midway up the sky just left of center. On closer inspection, it looks to be a drone of some sort. That, or a very small alien spacecraft. It has been over a decade, so I thought it would be safe to post. I'll see if modern software can enhance the details like in those NCIS shows. Stay tuned.

Untold Stories

Sometimes I think that conceptual art is akin to telling a joke. The bummer is that once you hear the punch line, that's pretty much it. At any rate, I'm sure we have all dreamed up little conceptual projects, many, if not most, of which never actually see the light of day. That is a shame, I think. These days, with print-on-demand being so easy and affordable, why not do a one off? Who cares if anyone else gets it? Not everything is destined for the gallery wall. A few years back, I came up with the idea of the 'industrial palimpsest'. You see, we were on a cruise (last one I'll ever do), and I had some time on my hands between ports. The ship was passing through an area of industrial decay, and the surfaces were interesting. Kind of like a safari in a way, hunting for abstract compositions rather than big cats.