Gated

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Gates 4 ESCC Photo Share in April

I created this image for a monthly Photo Share for our Eastern Shore Camera Club meeting in April. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of directed-art, by the way. 

I have no problem finding things I consider art-like in the world around me so I don't particularly care for a curated theme. 

Still, this call was for interesting shots of Doors, Knobs, Windows, Gates or Fences. It was really quite interesting to see what everyone came up with turning such mundane things into something pretty or interesting. So, maybe I'm saying that I'm a little less, anti-curated-theme after seeing everyone's work!

That reminds me.. I was asked how this image came to be..

So, basically, the processing was... Nik Silver EFX, Film Noire 1.   Then a little light masking back in of color from the original image.   Film Noire adds all this wonderful grain and coolness but I wanted to draw the eyes to the gate, by bringing in a small amount of color on the gate, it makes the gate less grainy and helps the viewer eyes to not be so distracted by the grain elsewhere in the image.

The EXTREME ZOO EXPERIENCE!!! Post #3 -- Cellphones & A Shark Tank

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CellPhoneSharkTank

You know how some folks wear their cellphones as a piece of jewelry.   Like, folks that wear the bluetooth headset, everywhere.   They start talking and -they don't make eye contact -- so you don't know if they are speaking to you, the voices in their head or the voice in their ear.

So, in this installment of the extreme zoo experience, my suggestions to liven up and Americanize the Zoo experience, I introduce to you - the cellphone shark tank.      What we do here, is place a person's cellphone in a water tight, opaque enclosure and throw them in the shark tank.   The cellphone owners, we wrap in bloody muscle meat and invite them to dive for their cellphone.   They can keep any cellphones they manage to harvest.

It's sort of like, a shell-game, meats shark-week, meets The Price is Right. 

.....I say this all tongue in cheek, of course.   Just poking fun at our American need to entertainment-alize (tm)  everything. 

The EXTREME ZOO EXPERIENCE!!! Post #2 -- EXTREME "Arm" Wrestling

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Trunk Wrestling
Can you imagine trying to arm wrestle an elephant's trunk?  How completely stupid, erm, I mean  -- awesome would that be??   I mean.... can you see the contestants lining up to answer such a challenge???   Never has there been a more concentrated collection of skoal cans and rebel flag bandannas in one place!

Or... maybe the crowd could place bets and have the elephants trunk-wrestle one another!  Yes -- brilliant.  The winner gets to eat dinner that night.   The looser gets to mull in hunger and consider the sting of defeat, fuel for tomorrow rematch!!!

It could be telecast on ESPN-5.  The T-Shirt sales alone should match annual ticket sales to the Zoo.

.....I say this all tongue in cheek, of course.   Just poking fun at our American need to entertainment-alize (tm)  everything.

The Extreme Zoo Experience!! Post #1 - Who Changes the Litter Box?

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DSC_1362

 

I've never really been super-excited about Zoos.   Don't get me wrong, I think animal conservation is cool and I like to see exotic animals but it can be a bit boring staring at sedated animals through plexiglass.   
Maybe if there was some more interaction with the audience.    

Take this Lion, for instance.   Instead of feeding it nyquil-laced porkchop every 4 hours: 
Randomly pick an adult ticketholder.    Spray them down with some wild pheromones and outfit them with a jacket full of raw meat.  Then, off the races.   

Place bets on who wins?   Seems way more exciting.    

Sure, there are kinks to work out but I think we are onto something.  I know that I for one prefer there to be a little more danger involved with spotting wild animals.    But, I guess if that were the case, the I wouldn't have brought the kids along.

They had an absolute blast.  Support your local Zoo and consider investing in hopped-up-lion-races, coming to an animal race park near you. 

.....I say this all tongue in cheek, of course.   Just poking fun at our American need to entertainment-alize (tm)  everything. 

An Easter History Lesson to my Future Grandchildren

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from Film - The Blakeley Crosses

Gather round, boys and girls, to grandpa's hover-rocking chair and let me pontificate on how things once were.   In my day,  iPods were called walkman.  Cars ran on fossil fuel, their potential output measured in cubic inches of displacement, not kilovolts.

Liquor contained actual alcohol, a by-product of a thoughtful, artisan fermentation process; not this synthehol garbage you kids drink today.

Cameras were different back then.  Take this photo for example.    As I clicked the button, a shutter curtain briefly opened exposing a plastic strip of film, coated in silver halide salts to a specific amount of light.   None of these 128-gigapixel, light-field semiconducting sensors in today's newfangled cameras.    Yep.   Back then we snapped a shot, sent the film off to have it developed and didn't see the result of our work for weeks.

A really miserable way to determine you left the ol' lens cap on all day during your trip to Rome.  :)

Okay kids, that's enough, grandpa needs a post-lunch, mid-afternoon nap.   Go play with the robotic dog.

…lol .. sorry.

The Easter Bunny delivered my negatives and scans from the recent photo walk with the Eastern Shore Camera Club @ Blakeley.   I shot with 35mm and an iPad that afternoon.  It is nice to finally get to see some of the results…   Digital Photography sure has us spoiled in a great way.    Still… if you have a film camera around… I'd recommend using it for an outing, if nothing else - to hone technique and learn to appreciate the conveniences we take advantage of!

Private Pier (and a camera for sale)

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Private Pier

umm.. the pier.. isn't for sale.   This is the private pier in Orange Beach that is located about halfway between the Romar Beach Public Access and the pass at the Flora-Bama line.    I parked at Romar Beach and made the trek to the pass and back, the other day -- after work.  

Doing so, I learned that 1) I really like jogging on the beach and listening to headphones.  2) I really like taking pictures along our public beaches and 3) I was completely wrong in how I thought I would use my current cameras.

When I bought the A77, I always intended it as a "hip camera" for photo walks.   When I preordered the D800, I always intended it as a tripod/scenery camera.   The lenses on the Sony are pretty great, less expensive than their Nikon counterparts.    The 16-50mm kit lens might just be the clearest piece of glass on the planet.

and so, as I made my trek, here I was adorned in what I thought would be my perfect "photo walk" gearing.

A 10 lb 36 megapixel perched on my mid-size manfrotto tripod, awkwardly acting as a walking-stick.   A 5 lb camera on a sling at my side.   Ipod Nano jamming. Ready to do business.   Watchout seagulls...

Yeah, I'm stupid. 

A human being can only really use one camera at a time and I'm not a serious, professional-need-my-camera-to-provide-for-family type of guiy, so I don't need two really super ridiculous expensive cameras on me at the same time.  Besides... if I'm equipped with a super wide angle lens and then some portrait-worthy person walks up and I don't have that portrait-ready hip cam to use, is it really the end of the world?  Nope.

Moreso, I really don't need to own two of them at one time.

So, with the Sony A77 back in my possession from having the LCD replaced that I scratch and in as-new condition, I'm sad to see it go.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180857126967?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_718wt_1413

But, it will.

 

Worlds Apart

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Worlds Apart

Isn't it interesting how we can all occupy the same planet but we each live in our own little worlds?
Some people live in worlds riddled with violence, poverty, crime, homelessness or uncertainty.     
Some people live in worlds filled with investment properties, payroll headaches, tee times & travel iteneraries.
Some people live in worlds filled with daycare, paydays, mortgages and late night baby-feedings.
Some people live in worlds filled with the uncertainty of illness or disease.
Some people live in worlds filled with health foods, training regiments and workaround schedules.
So many worlds and our situations aren't static.

I increasingly push to live in a world filled with simplicity.   Where a handshake between two people and a firm glance means more than a contract.   Where a friend can help another without being asked.  Where deadlines give way to family time.   Where we sit and commune at the table and not on the couch on TV trays. Where smartphones stay down when you are with friends.  Where I'm not deemed to be hellbound for having a dark beer with my steak @ dinner.  Where I can pick up a hitchhiker just for the opportunity to meet a new person, free of criminal concerns.

But... we don't all live in the same world, do we? 

Try not to get too wrapped up in the details..

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Don't get to wrapped up in details

This is one of my favorite shots from my very-very brief photo excursion over to nearby Fairhope, Alabama this weekend.   I suppose the reason for it is that I'm a sucker for silhouetted scenes.   There is something about seeing a scene for what's happening but not being inundated with unnecessary details.  The blacks leave room for mystery and for your imagination, assuming the adult still allows your imagination to come out and play. :)

Here, someone feeds the gulls from the pier.  A young boy fishes for minnows with a net while his parents lounge on a blanket just off frame.   A young couple get photos for their upcoming wedding and a small boat fishes off of the man-made wave barriers on the Marina. 

Memories

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SilhouettedMoments

Dear Soon-to-be-married couple:
To the wedding-bound couple who had your pictures made in Fairhope, Alabama this evening... Thank you for adding a charming lifestyle ambience to my shots today. 

May your marriage be long and fruitful and remember: When you argue... always do so in the nude. It will keep you from staying mad at each other and make for some .. interesting.. dinner parties later on in life.

The Southern Alabama Sunset

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SouthernAlabamaSunset

This is my first HDR from the D800.

I almost didn't go to Fairhope, Alabama yesterday for a sunset photo opportunity.   I'm so glad that I did.   Fairhope was all-abuzz with springtime activity.    Fishing carts rolling up and down the pier, chinese tourist dads videographing every possible minutia of their family outing, families out for a stroll and photographers scurring about doing their thing.

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead..

 

Infrared Photography?

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Infrared_Curious

Have you ever looked into Infrared Photography?  

I'll admit that I've been a bit infrared-curious for some time now.  For those of us that enjoy really - far - out looking images, infrared photography can be quite amazing to see.

I saw this link hovering around the GooglePlusOSphere the other day and it reinvigorated my interest in the subject.  

Pretty amazing stuff if you ask me. 

I haven't tried capturing infrared images yet and I'm really not even sure where to start aside from a "infrared filter" they sell on the intertubes.  Some of the sites even mention making modifications to your camera's high-pass filter.   Well, we won't be doing THAT but a filter should be easy enough to experiment with: I'll keep you posted!

Some Sony Redemption...

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P1000864
So, awhile back I posted a general post about the sadness of the state of product support, in the electronics industry.

http://www.graffitivisuals.com/blog/2012/3/19/an-open-letter-to-the-electronics-industry.html

A call to Sony provided an example exchange of the customer service sadness.    

Well, Sony "did me right" so I didn't want to be one of those folks who only writes the negative.

The recap:  My Alpha A77 camera screen was scratched in some Mardis Gras mayhem.    Recalling a previous Alpha camera had a protective film on the screen, I attempted to locate that protective film on the screen and managed to pull back the corner of the LCD screen with my prying fingernails.    

I just made it worse and I'm not one to be hard on gear.  I tend to keep things pristine.
Understanding the fault was my own and expecting to pay for the repair, I engaged Sony for a replacement LCD. They expressed that I would have to mail the camera to them for an estimate.  Of course, any damage I did to the LCD wouldn't be covered under warranty.

Yesterday, Sony shipped the repaired camera back to me, for delivery this week.  
Free of charge.

Thanks for doing me right, Sony.  I'm excited to have two fantastic cameras to work with now.