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May 29, 2018

WANDERABOUTING TIDBITS

... we've been making visits to watch the eagles and osprey fishing the alewives in the shallows of the sebasticook river just below the dam in benton ... this is liz in her expedition outfit ...
  

... i don't have a lens that's specifically proper for such photography, so i make do with my "legacy" (read that "30+ years old) 300mm f/4.5 nikkor ...
  

... this year i was surprised at how sharp the images were that i had taken hand-held ... then i remembered that one of the reasons i moved up to the sony a7ii was that it has built-in image stabilization ... needless to say, it works ...
  

... john and i made a little wanderabout to witness the alewives running the sheepscott river in alna ...
  

... on pemaquid neck i decided to forgo the lighthouse and play around a bit ... i shot the seagull floating above the rocks, then made five images of breaking waves ... when i got home i layered and merged the wave images, even though none of them matched any of the others ... i then added the seagull and experimented with the color ... i like the result, if for no other reason that i like seagulls and waves  ...
  

... i lost count of the pictures i've taken of these "rats with wings" ... truthfully, i admire seagulls ... i find them both beautiful and smart ...
  

... my friend and wanderabouting buddy ... i think the picture on the right is one of the best candid portraits i've ever taken ...
  
 

... there wasn't much i could do in terms of composition, but i think i managed to portray how pitching up and down on the great blue sea the little sailboat appeared to me so very alone ...
  

... we had a nice visit with john's daughter, emily ... she made me an absolutely perfect cup of coffee, so i decided i would give a little on my moral principles and snap a picture of her cat ...
  

... returning home via a back road i suddenly jammed on the brakes, "that tree, that's worth a picture" ...
  

... pink, defined ...
  

... this is darrell's brother ... over thirty-years ago he built this wood splitter from odd parts and a volkswagon diesel motor ... it had been sitting outdoors all winter, yet when he pushed the button it started up, coughed a couple of times, and then ran smoothly without a bit of hesitation ... as for power, i've a feeling it'll easily split any piece of cordwood that can be lifted and placed on its slide bed ... i was seriously impressed ...
  

... i've been taking pictures at "universal bread" ... adrian'll is using them for business cards, posters, etc., but for me it's simply great fun with my camera (all the fresh bread i can it, too, that's a nice bonus) ...
  

May 15, 2018

PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW!

... chad, john and i have our work on display at the framemakers in waterville ... you're invited to take a few moments to enjoy the images we've captured ...
   

... my work is presented in a keynote show ... the images will be available bound in a quality book ... there will only be 12 copies of the book printed, each will be signed and numbered ... no other copies will ever be printed ... !!! ... if you are interested please contact me about pricing details (hint: in this case the word "quality" negates any mention of the word "cheap") ...
   

May 3, 2018

JOIN ME ON A SAN FRANCISCO WANDERABOUT

  
... presented in no particular order, walk along with me and share some of my impressions of the city and people of san francisco ...

... not sport, in san francisco skateboards are one of the many forms of energy efficient transportation ...
   
  
... he stared and stared, at what i could not determine ...
   
  
... while this isn't one of them, in san francisco there are all sorts of bikes and scooters parked along the streets for the public to use ...
   
  
... the trolly car was stopped because of some sort of mechanical failure in the signal system ... i asked him why he was dancing, "we get paid whether we're movin' or standin' still" ...
    
  
... the view from where we enjoyed an excellent lunch ... (i think—no, i know absolutely that they made it ... day after day, during exercise time looking over the wall and seeing this restaurant, i know i would've) ...
   
  
... jon needed a quick portrait ... i shot this in the room against the curtains, then did a bit of work in photoshop ...
   
  
... we enjoyed a stroll along the edge of the bay ...
   
  
... over 10,000 feet long and 200 feet above the surface of the bay, the western spans of the oakland bay bridge are awe inspiring during the day and most spectacular at night when they flash an "until infinity never repeating" display of l.e.d. lights (they did the math wrong, but i'll allow that it's close enough) ...
   
  
... thinking, perhaps ...
   
  
... everywhere are ad displays that make me want to find a hole to crawl into ...
   
  
... i've come to think of those who live on the streets as "open air residents," if for no other reason that doing so allows me to not feel guilty for all the blessings in my life ... this resident was most intensely studying the bible, a few minutes after i snapped the picture i listened as he and a passerby had a most intelligently involved discussion concerning "what jesus really meant" in matthew 5:11-12 ...
   
  
... the palace of fine arts is one of the few structures surviving from the 1915 panama-pacific exposition ... it has been restored both to its original architectural glory as well as to modern earthquake-resistant standards ... 
   
  
... as i was snapping pictures he came over and rather abruptly commented, "you should ask before you take someone's picture" ... i responded that he was going to be in the images from every camera being carried by the many tourists and visitors strolling the waterfront, to which he—well, he wasn't very nice ... i asked, "did you ask permission from the fish you're catching" ... yea, i haven't lost my touch, he called me a rather nasty name ... i relaxed since i knew matt and i could take him in an unfair fight, calmed myself, and made sure to take another set of frames to insure i'd get a really, really good photograph ...
   
  
... earlier in the day we visited the other side of the bridge ... warning:  if you zoom in on some of these images you might see some men wearing—well, wearing nothing whatsoever ... i watched them as they strolled into the sea ... they may not have been shy about showing their stuff, but all of 'em were pretty much surf wusses ... me, if my shoulder were fully healed, i'd have been out in the deep water ... (and, please, let not any of you bay area residents talk to me of the "cold water" ... middle of the summer i don't think the waters of old orchard beach ever rise to these temperatures—did i tell you, by the way, that i think frank and his buddies survived and made it to shore) ...
   
  
... i was conversing with matt about making photographs about humanity ... this picture i like, his was sublime but he might not be able to post it publicly  ...
   
  
... i stopped into a little photo/electronic equipment store and struck up a wonderful conversation with the owner ... he's a very good photographer, but i've a feeling he wants to be more than that ... we talked about pictures, then i navigated the web to a site displaying the work of henri-cartier bresson ... "me," i said, "i hope that before i finally put down my camera i capture at least one image of which he would approve" ...
   
  
... i'd like to think this might be that image ...
   
  
... i've a feeling that beneath every single one of the world's great bridges there's someone doing exactly as is he ...
   
  
... while matt walked in the mucky water looking for a picture, i turned and snapped this delightful composition ...
   
  
... it mattered absolutely nothing to matt and i that the beautiful evening lacked any of the characteristically dramatic golden gate lighting ... we, and a very small handful of others, enjoyed a peaceful moment that served to remind us of the great experiences we have and and all wonderful people with whom we share our lives ...
   

"San Francisco has only one drawback – ’tis hard to leave."
RUDYARD KIPLING