Time And Video

I have been trying to get caught up with photos from my latest adventures but also thought I would give you a look at what I have been up to that slowed me down as I worked on them.

Some of you are aware I have a You Tube Channel that I use to host the videos I present on this and another site. You Tube has started a feature that allows you to create an introduction video for your channel. After putting up over 30 videos (not a huge number but a lot for me) I finally decided to put up an intro video so that viewers had a chance to understand my channel and maybe decide to look around.

I will confess that while I love doing video, I subscribe to the school of thought that wants to get beyond putting up a raw unfinished product, and so... it takes me a little while to put one together. One (wo)man shops usually work that way. But I hope you like what I've done and the channel intro is provided below.

Now to just find the time to upload my pictures from a recent Feather Horse festival. 

Hope this picture increases your patience while you wait...

Random is...

Periodically I like to check which blog posts are the most popular with viewers, and in doing so recently discovered that a slideshow service I used back in 2008 was no longer working. Someone attempted to view the page and simply received my intro to the slide show but no slide show.

And so, in my never ending attempt to please the customer (or simply too much time on my hands), I went back and reworked the slideshow into a short video and updated it with more pictures. I will admit it was a fun project with the overall attempt being to add a little whimsy for the eye. I hope you find it entertaining as it gave me a chance to just throw in photos that I thought were interesting.  And, maybe I repaid in some small way the person who encountered that empty page.

Morning In Small Town America

I recently joined a photography group and really enjoy the interesting suggestions to join with others at specific locations to take pictures and compare product. My first outing was a place I had photographed before, Green Cove Springs, Florida. The difference this time: The group would meet at 7am to photograph the sunrise. I tend not to be a good early riser so after a strong cup of coffee, was ready to head out at 5:45 am. As usual, click each photo for a better view.

What really shocked me about arriving so early in the morning was how colorful the beginning of a day could be. I am one of those people who tends to work well into the night, and much like a vampire seeing the sun rise becomes a dangerous thing. But, surprisingly, I felt no ill effects and actually became brave and began to walk around.

The pier, which received a short mention on my previous trip now took on a whole new meaning. It became a beacon of light that would allow me to venture out on to the water.

If you are a regular reader you already know about my desire to see life from a different angle, and the pier was no different. Looking at it from a lower level creates a very different line of sight. And,  highlights the very focused way I guess I see life. From this angle the pier could be a landing strip, an alien space ship, or even a bug of some kind. Interesting what things come to mind when you give it free reign to wander...

Time is passing, and as I gaze off in the distance, I find the spot where the sun will actually rise. A look and then the realization that I might want to find a different spot to view the big event.

More time passes, and finally the big event! The sun begins to slip above the horizon. All of us are in awe that something so simple as the rising of the sun could have so much meaning and beauty. As you can see, I was not the only one struck by the wonder of this moment. Once again, I understand how Mark Twain must have felt as he greeted the morning sailing down the Mississippi River.

Moving along the river to change my spot, I hurry to get in position because with each ticking second the object of my attention is changing as it rises in the sky. Even though the camera gives a slightly red tint to the scene, it still is an amazing sight of something you and I have seen every day of our lives.

We are now almost fully engaged as the glow of the sun casts an even larger shadow across the river. Darkness has lost the battle as sunlight begins to spread across the landscape.

The battle may have been won by the sunlight but not against the computer. Rather than do a color photo I decided to display it in black and white. I got the idea from another photographer who did an amazing shot using that technique. Strange but somehow doing that makes you appreciate daylight.

The session has now come to a close and the camera is loaded with shots. But, just before I'm ready to pack up and head home I spied this tree locked in the tight embrace of some unknown vines. I could not resist, the play of light through the trees and the tangle of vines resembled a wooden Medusa welcoming a new day. And now home and back to bed!

When The Old Is New

There is an expression that if you wait long enough, what is old will become new. Every now and then you encounter something that proves the point. I like to wander through thrift stores and frequently find great gems that others have thrown away. The picture below is an example. As usual, click the photo for a better view.

I've beveled it for effect but take a really good look at the two women in this photo. There is something about it that simply called to me. If you take a quick glance, it almost appears that there in the 1920's one of them is checking her iPhone. That was my first take on it. 

It does not tell who took the photo (and it is a real photo) but there is something ever so pleasing about these two quite fashionable women in Paris (my take on it)  deep in a conversation that is very important to them. I guess you could say that is the magic of photography, that here is a simple moment in time that somehow seems just as intriguing today, almost a hundred years later.

I bought the photo and hung it in a very prominent place in my Den, as it gives me something to aspire to in the art of photography. Now that you understand the mystery for me, go back and look again!

Really Surreal?

I stumbled upon a book on the history of photography and have found myself deeply engrossed and fascinated by it. I particularly like the surrealists which strikes me as odd. I say odd because I am generally a purist regarding the pictures I take and refuse to do anything to them other than cropping (Photoshop is the antichrist!). But something about what I was seeing struck a chord and I realized I could manipulate my photos  to provide a whole new meaning to the term "mind's eye". As usual, click each photo for a better view. 

What really surprised me about this whole affair is that I could let my mind run wild and see orchids as butterflies.

flowers as balls,

a wet leaf as a road traveled by rain drops,

a pier as a twisted road,

and parts of a bamboo shade as whirls.

This little experiment has opened a whole new world for me. And, while I'm not ready to run out and buy Photoshop I will admit to being willing to see the world in a different way.

Bringing in the New Year!!

I decided to bring in the New Year in of all places, St. Augustine! The City was having a "Beach Bash" and it seemed a fitting end to the year: Watching fireworks on the beach. As usual, click each photo for a better view.

A good number of people felt the same way as the St. Augustine Beach pier was packed with a well rounded group of young people out for a good time, families enjoying an evening out, and of course shutter bugs like me looking for pictures. The event did not disappoint!

There were several bands that were surprisingly good. This group played a medley of 80's tuned that filled the night and brought back warm memories.

The real surprise of the evening was this young group who were well versed in tunes from "The Doors" and "Pink Floyd". I really liked this shot of one of the band members.

Coming from Denver I am always having to make the mental recalculation of how the winter is spent. Here we are in the middle of December, waiting to bring in the New Year while watching fireworks, and a family is laying a blanket on the beach.

And now the stage is set... to let the fireworks begin! I told Alex that some of the explosions looked like stars or constellations. You be the judge.

NASA has nothing on this display. I sort of imagined myself in a space ship floating out through space, enjoying the sights.

And on to the next collection of stars that brighten up the night!

The changes in colors was magnificent and at times I shifted between being in space and somewhere deep under the ocean.

Diamonds anyone?

And finally, my favorite. It was hard to decide if this was two stars or two sea urchins. Either way it makes for a beautiful sight.

No matter how you spent the evening as we slowly walked into a new year, I wish you all the best that comes with re-setting the clock for all the hopes and possibilities you can imagine. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My Gift To You...

Have you ever stumbled on to something that was so wonderful that you could not wait to share it with someone else? Well I did! Like all of us have done from time to time I clicked the "next blog" button and stumbled on to a photography blog I found amazing!

What was amazing is that the photos were not just the usual beautiful pictures, and they are beautiful, but possess the unusual quality of making the ordinary something strange and mystical. They caused me to want to use my camera above in more ways than I have tried before and to see things from a different perspective than I have in the past.

The blog is titled A Photographic Day, where the photographer has decided to take a picture a day and post them. On the face of it not a very difficult task, but what surprisingly arrives every day is something other worldly or thought provoking from the simplest of objects.

I asked Chris, the photographer, if I could feature her on my blog and she graciously consented. And so my gift to you is the highlighted link above. Look through several posts and not just the first few days to really get a sense of what I mean about her making the ordinary interesting. Go prepared to see pictures that can cause you to ponder for hours exactly what is the meaning of something you probably see everyday, and yet through her eyes now see in a totally different light.

An Almost Black and White Night

Alex and I realized we had been working much too hard of late and decided to take out the cameras and just have fun at one of our old haunts: the downtown landing. It may not have been a good time for people watching because there was a good deal of construction going on nearby, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves for some nightlight shots.

This is the time of year you love to be in Florida (ask me again in July and you might get a different answer) because it is November, there is not a hint of snow anywhere, you can still wear shorts, and Fall seems like a forgotten cousin you are happy to welcome. As always, click on each photo for a better view. The bridge above is a well known downtown landmark and I love this shot because there is something about the angle that makes the bridge kind of curve out at you.

This is well traveled territory for us as we visit here often. And, despite the fact we had taken some of the shots before, I decided to do something a little different and show things in black and white... well almost.

These lights caught my eye and the sense for the eye is very different from a color shot. Somehow there is a feeling of loneliness that is hard to explain.

I have taken shots of this sculpture before, but this time really focused on it's features and was surprised at the result.

I like the black and white appearance and also the way the street lights add perspective.

I found it really interesting how something I was used to seeing in color takes on new meaning in black and white. Here is a front view. The lack of color allows you to really "see" the texture designs in the piece.

And finally, this shot came by accident. The glare of the lights behind the piece gives the impression that it is actually moving! What do you think?

A Tribute to My Muse

I know there are times I tend to go on and on about Alex' madding little quirks, but his recent trip to Moscow over the holidays gave me a little time apart to step back and really look at him. As I gathered together this series of photos it came to me that he is really my muse and that my life is a lot less fun when he is not involved in it.

He is the smartest man I have ever known. And, despite his tendency to analyze and organize everything, he has a sense of humor and fun about him that always seems to lift my spirit.

When it comes to photography, of the two of us he is the one with the better eye. He seems to work at positioning and composition in ways that make people interesting. I prefer objects because they are what they are and I simply have to find them. People are always moving and you have to anticipate and then wait for that perfect moment you hope to capture. He never seems to tire of the waiting...

One day after a particularly active day of photographing something he decided on a nap and I took some study shots of him as he slept.

Those eyes...

There was something odd and peaceful about them that caused me to want to focus only on that part of his face. Maybe this is how we all look once we are asleep but I don't see you while you are napping. Click to enlarge the photo and really look at the eyes. Maybe you too will see what I saw.





I particularly liked this shot and his positioning. The hands seem strong and gentle at the same time, and then they disappear behind the legs. It is a strange position but one he generally finds comfortable and assumes quite often. And yes, I know, the legs are quite white...but that too is Alex. As he puts it he is "a winter man."










This one I titled "Deliverance Alex" and you can tell we are movie buffs. He has all of his outdoor guy stuff on and has assumed a strictly business pose that hides his curious nature.

Every time I view this picture I am reminded of the time we went to the Okefenokee Swamp and he was determined to ride a boat through the swamp. He pestered and harassed the boat rangers until they provided instruction and then pushed our boat from the pier. You know you are in for something different when you hear the ranger say "If you are not back by 5 o'clock, we will send out a search party." But his sense of navigation was true and he even was able to overcome my naive excitement to "Get closer!" to take a picture of a gator from the boat. We made it back alive...and have pictures to prove it!

And so I just wanted you to know that the next time I complain about something he has done in print...don't pay any attention. It is simply a momentary loss of appreciation of my muse.

The Light at the Lightner Museum, Part II

I am always amazed when you go looking for one thing and find another. I mentioned in Part I that Alex and I were simply looking for an afternoons entertainment and decided to go to the Lightner Museum to take pictures. We discovered one entire floor is dedicated to all types of glass and in particular the stain glass of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Born into the wealth of the Tiffany diamond family, he was an interior designer who wanted glass to transmit texture and rich color. When he could not get them he opened his own foundry to create them from 1848 to 1933. His inventiveness both as a designer of windows and as a producer of the material to create them caused him to develop a type of glass he called Favrile. The trade name Favrile was derived from the French word, fabrile, meaning handcrafted.

Favrile glass possesses a type of iridescence which causes the surface to shimmer as well as a degree of opacness. This iridescent effect was obtained by mixing different colors together while hot. The result would make him renound the world over for some of the most beautiful stain glass windows ever to be produced.

I call this piece "angel" because I forgot to take pictures of the actual names which allowed me to keep track of the titles. There was simply so much to see you almost become overwhelmed.

I like how it seems to float in the black background and the colors are both soothing and amazing.

Next is an Art Nouveau window that would have provided any parlor of the time a great deal of light and was what we would have considered very fashion forward.

For the music lovers of the time you could have Beethoven providing a bright shining light just above the piano for inspiration.

And the piece that everyone fell in love with when I used it on the other blog. The sight of it almost forces you to take a moment for restful contemplation.

A little side note to history. In researching Tiffany and of course the Tiffany Lamp I discovered Clara Driscoll who was the Director of the Tiffany Studio's Women's Glass Cutting Department. It has recently been discovered that "The Tiffany Girls", led by Clara Driscoll, chose the colors and types of glass used in the Studio's famous glass items which gave them more life and movement and ultimately more popularity.

Also as the creative force behind the Tiffany lamp, she was the designer and craftsman of more than thirty famous lamps. Sadly as a widow she worked for Tiffany for more than 20 years but once she remarried in 1909 her career ended because married women were not allowed to work at the foundry.

The following two stain glass windows are so beautiful they almost take your breath away. It is a feast for the eyes as you find yourself visually roaming each piece.

And finally the lovely Marie who works at the Museum and gave us tips on where to find some of the wonderful items you see here.

Despite the fact it was Sunday and late in the day, she was cheerful and full of information. And, she seemed to genuinely want to make sure you enjoyed your visit.

All in all this was one of the most difficult posts I have ever had to do. There was so much to see and most of it was so amazing that the hardest part was deciding what to include and I still did not come close to giving you a real feel for the place. If you are ever in Florida and near St Augustine it is truly a "must see."