Thunder and Lightning from around the World
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Black-browed Albatross are monogamous and often mate for life. So no surprise that both, "Bikering and Beakering" can mark their relationship from time to time. They generally live 30 years but apparently can live up to 70 years... Juveniles return to the colony after 2 to 3 years but only start breeding around the 10th year, until then, they will only practice courtship rituals. The rituals could be quite elaborated and involve mutual feeding, beak touching and preening between mates. They use their fanned tail in courting displays... so, this seems to be a "non-bickering" session here...
Plan de la Besurta, La Ribagorza, Huesca, Aragón, España.
Ruta cuyo itinerario discurre en el entorno de las pistas de esquí nórdico de Llanos del Hospital en el Valle de Benasque. La ruta tiene su inicio en el Plan del Hospital atravesando en su recorrido bellos parajes como el Plan de Estan y el Plan de la Besurta para llegar finalmente hasta el espectacular Plan d´Aiguallut con magnificas vistas al pico Aneto. Se trata de recorrer una parte del conocido como Camino dels Aranesos que originalmente unía el Plan del Hospital con el Valle de Arán.
El recorrido se divide en tres tramos, un primer tramo muy corto y sencillo hasta el Plan de l'Estan, un segundo tramo tambien muy sencillo hasta la Besurta y un tramo final algo más exigente aunque accesible a cualquier senderista acostumbrado a la montaña hasta el Forau d´Aiguallut.
Route whose itinerary runs around the Nordic ski slopes of Llanos del Hospital in the Benasque Valley. The route begins in the Pllan del Hospital, passing through beautiful places such as the Plan de Estan and the Plan de la Besurta to finally reach the spectacular Plan d'Aiguallut with magnificent views of the Aneto peak. It involves walking through a part of what is known as the Camino dels Aranesos, which originally linked the Hospital Plan with the Aran Valley.
The route is divided into three sections, a first very short and easy section to Plan de l'Estan, a second section that is also very simple to Besurta and a final section that is somewhat more demanding although accessible to any hiker accustomed to the mountains until the Forau d'Aiguallut.
“But at times I wondered if I had not come a long way to find that what I really sought was something I left behind”
~ Thomas West
In truth, this umbrella really belongs to a story involving a portrait of a Chinese couple, but that's a rather boring tale. I'd rather ponder this image as a metaphor for needful things left behind. Perhaps a reminder during this Christmas season to treasure the tresures we already have. Too often we leave them behind in the cold.
What does it say when your interpretation of going crazy involves pushing the sliders of Capture One to the limit ;-)
Jaganath Rai Temple is a large Hindu temple in the middle of Udaipur in Rajasthan, just outside the royal palace. It has been in continuous worship since 1651.
It was built by Maharana Jagat Singh in 1651. Jagdish Temple is a splendid example of either Māha Māru or Māru-Gurjara architecture, decorated by beautiful and ornate carvings.
I printed this with Gamblin Relief Ink and used my new Iron Frog Baren (frog).
#oilpainting
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#oleo
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#Life-drawing
#life-painting
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#acuarela
#aquarelle
#art
#arte
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#newmexicoartist #drawing
#dibujo #
#painting
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#sketch
#sketchbook
#watercolor_involve #watercolorpainting
#linoleumcutprint
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#reliefprintingworkshop
Becoming a judge at a UK county show involves gaining expertise in a specific area (e.g., livestock, horticulture, showjumping, or dog showing)
The specific steps will depend heavily on what you intend to judge:
General Requirements
Specialised Knowledge: You must have significant, proven experience and expertise in the specific class or breed you wish to judge (e.g., owning and exhibiting pedigree dogs for a number of years, or experience in a specific form of agriculture).
Membership & Support: Often, you need to be a member of the relevant breed or discipline-specific association (e.g., the Shetland Pony Stud Book Society or a breed club for dogs) and gain their support for your application.
Stewarding/Experience: Accumulating experience by stewarding at a number of shows is a common prerequisite.
Formal Training/Assessment: You will typically need to attend seminars, workshops, and pass examinations or practical assessments to prove your competence. This often involves both theoretical knowledge (rules and regulations) and practical skills (judging different animals/exhibits).
Mid Devon Show, Knightshayes Court, Tiverton, Devon, UK.
. . . involves preparing three square meals a day, even though I'd rather be behind my camera. As I was preparing BLT sandwiches for lunch today - the Macro Mondays theme "My Daily Routine" popped into my head, so I stopped everything to take a few shots.
HMM everyone.
So Anita and I came to Chincoteague Island yesterday, arriving mid to late afternoon and after an initial tour of the island headed over to Assateague Island in the hopes of spotting some wild ponies. They proved to be as illusive as the black bears we hunt for! But we did spot this turtle trying to cross a very busy loop road. We stopped, put on the four way flashers and hopped out to give him a hand. Anita, having previous experience picking up Snapping turtles refused to touch him and I was photographing the event. Traffic was backing up. Finally he recognized us for his guardian angels and hiked himself up and started trundling across the highway. He got to the oncoming traffic lane and kept going but a car was coming at him and I stepped up and motioned to the car to stop.... he kept coming! I stepped another step into the lane thinking surely the guy would stop but he kept coming! That inconsiderate driver missed me by Inches and the turtle by less! But in the end, the turtle was safe on the other side of the road and we went on our way. Later in the day we watched 3 young men do the same with another turtle with much boisterous good will and waving some bottles of... I don't know, Beer maybe? LOL And so today, who knows what wild adventures await. We are off pony hunting which may involve electric go-carts, bicycles or boats. Who knows???
Pasadena Presbyterian Church has a proud past: it was the first church to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the new city of Pasadena in 1875.
In the decades since, PPC has enriched the lives of thousands of children, youth and adults through engaging worship, lively fellowship, thoughtful learning, and hands-on service to our community and the world.
For generations, Pasadena Presbyterian Church has been know for its outstanding music program. Music at PPC expresses our joy in God's love, enhances worship, enriches the congregation both young and old, and serves as an inspiring vehicle for community outreach.
The music ministry at PPC includes a number of choirs and ensembles, involving over one hundred musicians from Kindergarten on up. Participation is open to any who wish to join.
Pasadena. California.
The work of Swedish artist Hilma af Klint is inspiring. I regularly refer to her style in my image generation. On the Screenpunk website an article on Af Klint.
Seeing the northern lights does involve a great deal of luck (clear skies and aurora activity) but I guess you have to make your own luck. Get to a place where it might be good, check the forecasts religiously, and get out there! Was pretty chuffed with this little display, even though it wasn't that bright and didn't last very long - especially given that I was in agony after a fall earlier in the day.
Some family commitments involving a trip upt’ North stopped me posting over the weekend, so to prevent another Flickr blockage I made sure I did photoshop editing on my return to keep things loose, so to speak. However, when I thought this LE seascape was going to be a gas, I was wrong. It turned out a bit lumpier than I expected and I had a lot of cleaning up to do. Overconfidence can lead to embarrassing mistakes. That’s all I’m going to say about that.
This photo art involves no AI
When adding some colour to this plain white ball light, I was struck by how a combination of them might be made to look like the planet Jupiter. That couldn't be done, but you can mentally piece them together from this arrangement to see what I mean.
The title comes from a very historic period in Australian rock and blues music in the late 60s and early 70s. At the time pubs were full of live music and provided new bands with an ideal launching point for their careers. Alas, no more. Pity the younger generation of musicians.
One of the legends of Australia blues rock was Lobby Loyde and his band the Coloured Balls.
Lobby Loyde and the Coloured Balls - Working Man's Boogie (1972) www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPInO0ybDhs
Lobby Loyde was born John Barrie Lyde in Longreach, Queensland in 1941. His music style was heavy rhythm and blues and his influence on other Australian guitarists at the time was immense. He was also one to popularise the "Sharpie Movement". Sharps were one of the youth gangs that predominated in Melbourne (and to a lesser extent in Sydney). They were known for their hair styles and slick dressing with large boots. Unfortunately they were also known for their violent subculture (although to be fair it followed a strict code that wasn't the case when the more nihilistic, and to a large degree racist, Skinheads emerged).
Lobby Loyde later joined Angry Anderson and Rose Tattoo, but eventually moved into producing music. He died of lung cancer in 2007.
Copyright Susan Ogden
Another from the Milky Way shoot on Friday night. The atmosphere was simply perfect...clear skies, slightly windy which kept us from being devoured alive by the mosquitoes and warm enough not to need an extra layer of clothes.
Learning the timing of getting the rays in the lighthouse beam, or just the glow of the light ...learning the correct exposure to ensure round pindots of stars and not oblong blobs! It was fascinating and so interesting that i had no idea that when it was over, it was 2 am! Jay was a terrific teacher and has been more than gracious to offer to take phone calls to rehash what we learned and even to sit and help reset my camera and allow me to write things down when he returns from his Colorado vacation! (I am so bad at numbers and formulas involving math...i need something in writing just to remember them!)
This is one of my favorite shots...i love the walkway leading into the scene...THIS will be the next lens i purchase. I borrowed this one from Jay, and it was hands down my favorite lens to use!
HAPPY FOURTH of JULY, my friends...stay safe and God Bless America!!
William’s Practice involves beading everyday objects. With this work, he explores the ideas around trespassing as he subtly critiques rights of land. These camping chairs – created by many hands and thousands of glass beads – are set on river rocks that acknowledge the waterways and shorelines that run through Turtle Island. He raises the questions: “Who is claiming ownership of these lands?”
I ran a 'Shoot with Me' session with my camera club, Offshoot, which a few of us had fun taking part in. The idea was to take funny photos involving fruit or vegetables. This was my selected shot.
With a few obvious exceptions, all of my images involve automobiles, and reflections. None are AI or Photoshopped., etc. They are what the camera has seen....
Start of a weekend involving three gigs in three days -making a total of five in five from Wednesday through to Sunday. I set off early but wasn't able to check into my hotel until 2, so I went on a speculative wander and discovered that neither London Camera Exchange nor Jessops in Manchester sold the triumvirate of cheap Sigma primes...after checking in at the hotel, I recharged my phone and set off around 7.15 to Jimmy's, a semi-subterranean bar with a spectacular but totally over the top lighting system for the size of venue. The singer I'd come to see, Emily Capell, was on last. Faced with back-lighting, low lighting, contrasty lighting that was tricky to gauge exposure for and the humble Stylus 1 (good as it is) I converted most of my shots to black and white...
RF59GYR & RJ59LNK Unused Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Ambulances at SECAmb HQ in Lewes bound for two stations in Kent
You can support your local ambulance service by becoming a member. Signing up is easy, and it’s free!
To become a member of SECAmb, just fill in a membership form, become a part of the organisation and get as involved as you like
Click Here to see their short DVD and let their staff show you what their work involves and tell you how you can get involved.
Salvation involves a change in the relationship between God and a person. Salvation includes God’s adoption of believers into his family, his acceptance of them as righteous and his forgiveness of their sins. It also includes personal renewal and transformation through the work of the Holy Spirit.
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Eph 2:19–22.
There are 35 images in my Burrowing Owl album - this photo shows one of the first and only Burrowing Owls that I have ever been fortunate enough to see in the wild. To say that it was a thrill is an understatement! These endangered owls are tiny and so difficult to see, especially when they are down in the grasses. They are a true delight when or if they are seen on a fence post, so that the whole of the bird can be seen, not just a bright yellow eye peering out between the blades of grass. We saw two different individuals, possibly three, and for a brief moment both were perched on distant fence posts at the same time. Most of the time, though, they were mainly hidden in the grass, so my photos tend to be of "eyes". Such a great pity that this is an endangered species!
Without the help of two friends (Ron and Joyce) who helped us know where we might find these birds, and friends Cathy and Terry who invited me to go with them on a wonderful three-day trip to Waterton Lakes National Park, I would never have had this amazing sighting. For years, I had longed to see a wild Burrowing Owl, but never thought it would actually happen! Same for Cathy and Terry, so all three of us are SO grateful for the help we received! I'm still on a natural high and I know I will be for some time yet : )
During out three days away, we saw so many things, I hardly know where to start. This always happens when I go anywhere with Cathy and Terry - every day is a very long, fun-filled day, full of exciting finds.
Perhaps I will simply mention some of the things and then add more detail to each photo as I add them to my photostream. Of course, we couldn't have had a more beautiful area to explore! Waterton Lakes National Park has amazing scenery and wildlife. The weather forecast that I saw before we left Calgary said that we were in for three beautiful days of sunshine - too often, it can be rainy weather. So, luck was on our side, giving us warm, sunny days - until the BIG STORM hit, lol! We drove eastwards from the park, hoping to see Yellow-bellied Marmots and, if we were really lucky, a Burrowing Owl. Yesterday, I posted a photo of the storm that was approaching very fast, around 5:00 p.m. just before we started our return trip to Calgary. It was like nothing I had ever seen before - a menacing shelf (?) cloud that was travelling fast and furious. Despite trying our best to get away from it, it eventually engulfed our car, surrounding us with more or less zero visibility, pounding hail, thunder and lightning. There was nothing to do but stop the car and sit tight, hoping that the hail would not break the car windows and that this severe thunderstorm would not develop into a tornado! This storm was very scary, but at the same time, exciting (only because all turned out OK in the end!). Our road trip sure went out with a bang! Someone from the Alberta Tornado Watch told me that this particular storm was a Mesocyclone.
So, a few of the things we saw - fantastic scenery, 4 Black Bears (including one that was swimming in the lake), Bison, Deer, Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks, various bird species including the Burrowing Owls, a few wildflowers, several Yellow-bellied Marmots (a first for me!), a few different insect species, and a family of Dusky Grouse (uncommon in Waterton Lakes National Park). I even got the chance to see three or four new-to-me old, wooden grain elevators.
Cathy and Terry, thanks so much for yet another wonderful trip with you! Can't thank you enough for inviting me along. You always do such a great job of finding so many interesting things for us to see and enjoy. Lots of fun!
"As a result of the Burrowing Owl's ENDANGERED Species status in 1995, it has the focus of a variety of conservation efforts. Operation Burrowing Owl and other projects involving habitat preservation with landowners have been created. Populations are monitored by Fish and Wildlife departments. They have been reintroduced into the British Columbia interior, where it was extirpated. Outlook would improve if larger areas of habitat were preserved and harmful pesticides were banned in all areas of their range. Numbers could increase if an increased tolerance to burrowing mammals develops (i.e. badgers) – provides homes for the Burrowing Owl. Outlook: perilous." From burrowingowl.com.
Pigeon Point Lighthouse is one of the most picturesque lighthouses on the Pacific coast. This pic really doesn't do it justice. The tower stands on a rocky promontory and has long been a landmark for ships approaching San Francisco Bay from the south. This headland, and hence the lighthouse, took its name from the ship Carrier Pigeon that wrecked here in 1853. It is the tallest lighthouse (tied with Point Arena Light) on the West Coast of the United States. And as an added bonus it is located right on route one so getting to it didn't involve any crazy detours!
A rare sunny (though still not quite a blue sky) picture from this years trip to Sri Lanka.
M8 number 847, a product of Banaras Locomotive Works in India (effectively a WDM-2) is seen arriving into Galle with an express from Belliata to Maradana, Colombo (or was it the other way around?). The amount of smoke produced while simply arriving at the station giving a very strong clue as to why the loco was so filthy!
All through trains reverse here at Galle, involving a run-round of loco hauled trains, often also involving a trip on the turntable. This makes it an interesting place to spend some time watching the shunting and station operations, all controlled from the signalbox just on the left.
Just a short walk from the station is the beautiful Dutch Fort town where we were staying.
My 2024 trip report from Sri Lanka is now online here.
The Sauschwänzlebahn from Weizen to Blumberg, involves approximately 250 meter gain in height, and the military authorities specified that the line must not have a gradient of more than 1:100 since there was a need to move heavy military equipment. Accordingly, the line proceeds in a series of curves (including one complete circle), taking 26.5 km of track to travel a beeline distance of 9.5 km, with spectacular large viaducts, tunnels and bridges including the only spiral railway tunnel in Germany. The track is of standard gauge and is mainly single track; the bridges and tunnels were built on a scale to allow eventual doubling of the track, though this was never carried out.
It is a bird in the honeyeater family, and endemic to Australia. It is grey, with a black head, orange-yellow beak and feet, a distinctive yellow patch behind the eye and white tips on the tail feathers. It's a vocal species with a large range of songs, calls, scoldings and alarms, and almost constant vocalisations. They are gregarious and territorial; they forage, bathe, roost, breed and defend territory communally.
The noisy miner is a large honeyeater, 24–28 centimetres (9.4–11.0 in) in length, with a wingspan of 36–45 centimetres (14–18 in), and weighing 70–80 grams (2.5–2.8 oz). Male, female and juvenile birds all have similar plumage: grey on the back, tail and breast, and otherwise white underneath, with white scalloping on the nape and hind-neck, and on the breast; off-white forehead and lores; a black band over the crown, bright orange-yellow bill, and a distinctive patch of yellow skin behind the eye; a prominent white tip to the tail; a narrow olive-yellow panel in the folded wing; and orange-yellow legs and feet. A juvenile can be distinguished by softer plumage, a brownish tinge to the black on its head and the grey on its back, and a duller, greyish-yellow skin-patch behind the eye.
The noisy miner is a gregarious species, and the birds are rarely seen singly or in twos; they forage, move and roost in colonies that can consist of several hundred birds
The noisy miner does not use a stereotyped courtship display; displays can involve 'driving', where the male jumps or flies at the female from 1–2 metres (3.3–6.6 ft) away, and if she moves away he pursues her aggressively.
The noisy miner primarily eats nectar, fruit, and insects, and occasionally it feeds on small reptiles or amphibians. 3286
While in Jim Thorpe for a long weekend I had one major photographic goal that did not involve the Reading and Northern. Norfolk Southern still has a limited presence in the area continuing to own their upper Lehigh Line from Allentown to Leighton then sharing the RofW and owning one of two mains from there to Jim Thorpe and on up through the Lehigh Gorge to Penn Haven. At that point the Lehigh Line continues north, under the sole ownership and operation of RBMN, while the NS' Ashmore Secondary climbs the grade to Weatherly and Hazleton.
For the last five years the upper Lehigh Line has seen nothing but local freights, and north of Lehighton they have operated almost exclusively at night. However a recent schedule change has seen NS running local H66 in daylight on Sundays making a late morning turn north from Allentown to Hazleton and back. After dropping off five tank cars in the yard the pair of SD60Es now have four covered hoppers as they start back east, seen again here on the Hazleton Running Track (the westward other than main track continuation of the Ashmore Secondary) at about MP 143.5 on rails of the former Lehigh Valley Railroad's Wyoming Divison. This area was once laced with a mind boggling maze of trackage and at one time this particular line which was built by the LV in 1871 was double tracked to support the flood of anthracite coal flowing out of area mines. While vastly diminished, there is still a limited market for anthracite and several mines remain active though today they are nearly all open pit strip mines with I believe only four active underground mines left operating.
The edge of one such open pit mine is seen in the background and has expanded such that the railroad used to run straight through where it is and had to be relocated creating the dog leg seen in this photo and the one posted earlier. This is the Atlantic Carbon Group's Stockton Mine located here on the eastern portion of the Hazleton Coal basin which primarily extracts coal from the Mammoth seam, which reaches thickness of over 20ft in the bottom of the basin, with additional reserves in the Primrose, Diamond, and Orchard seams. Atlantic Carbon is the second largest Ultra High Grade (UHG) anthracite producer in the United States. In June of this year the company was purchased by Delta Dunia, an Indonesian based holding company and you can learn more in this press release: deltadunia.com/post/737/delta-dunia-group-completes-acqui...
And here's a nice local news piece on the modern day market for anthracite coal: www.standardspeaker.com/2024/01/20/anthracite-and-coal-th...
And lastly, if the name Stockton Mine rings a bell you might be a history buff as the original underground mine located nearby was site of a freakish disaster in 1869 which you can learn a bit more about here: wynninghistory.com/2019/12/18/remembering-stockton/
Hazle Township, Pennsylvania
Sunday October 6, 2024
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: I Do Not Condone Any Acts Of Vandalism Nor Do I Participate In Such Criminal Activity. I Am Simply An Observant and Take Photos Of This Graffiti You Have Come Across. ALSO I Will Not Condone Any Usage Of My Photos To Support Any Legal Matter Involving These Acts Of Vandalism Therefore YOU ARE NOT WELCOME TO VIEW OR TAKE THIS MATERIAL For ANY Purpose...
William’s Practice involves beading everyday objects. With this work, he explores the ideas around trespassing as he subtly critiques rights of land. These camping chairs – created by many hands and thousands of glass beads – are set on river rocks that acknowledge the waterways and shorelines that run through Turtle Island. He raises the questions: “Who is claiming ownership of these lands?”
This composite image contains the aftermath of a giant collision involving four separate galaxy clusters at a distance of about 3.5 billion light years. Officially known as Abell 2744, this system is also referred to by astronomers as "Pandora's Cluster" because all of the different structures found within it. This view of Abell 2744 contains X-ray data from Chandra (blue) showing hot gas, optical data from Subaru and the VLT (red, green and blue), and radio data from the NSF's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (red).
Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/ITA/INAF/J.Merten et al, Lensing: NASA/STScI, NAOJ/Subaru, ESO/VLT; Optical: NASA/STScI/R.Dupke
nle Lake is a freshwater lake located in the Nyaungshwe Township of Taunggyi District of Shan State, part of Shan Hills in Myanmar (Burma). It is the second largest lake in Myanmar with an estimated surface area of 44.9 square miles (116 km2), and one of the highest at an elevation of 2,900 feet (880 m). During the dry season, the average water depth is 7 feet (2.1 m), with the deepest point being 12 feet (3.7 m), but during the rainy season this can increase by 5 feet (1.5 m).
The watershed area for the lake lies to a large extent to the north and west of the lake. The lake drains through the Nam Pilu or Balu Chaung on its southern end. There is a hot spring on its northwestern shore.
Although the lake is not large, it contains a number of endemic species. Over twenty species of snails and nine species of fish are found nowhere else in the world. Some of these, like the silver-blue scaleless Sawbwa barb, the crossbanded dwarf danio, and the Lake Inle danio, are of minor commercial importance for the aquarium trade. It hosts approximately 20,000 brown and black head migratory seagulls in November, December and January.
In June 2015, it becomes the Myanmar's first designated place of World Network of Biosphere Reserves. It was one of 20 places added at at the Unesco's 27th Man and the Biosphere (MAB) International Coordinating Council (ICC) meeting.
The people of Inle Lake (called Intha), some 70,000 of them, live in four cities bordering the lake, in numerous small villages along the lake's shores, and on the lake itself. The entire lake area is in Nyaung Shwe township. The population consists predominantly of Intha, with a mix of other Shan, Taungyo, Pa-O (Taungthu), Danu, Kayah, Danaw and Bamar ethnicities. Most are devout Buddhists, and live in simple houses of wood and woven bamboo on stilts; they are largely self-sufficient farmers.
Most transportation on the lake is traditionally by small boats, or by somewhat larger boats fitted with single cylinder inboard diesel engines. Local fishermen are known for practicing a distinctive rowing style which involves standing at the stern on one leg and wrapping the other leg around the oar. This unique style evolved for the reason that the lake is covered by reeds and floating plants making it difficult to see above them while sitting. Standing provides the rower with a view beyond the reeds. However, the leg rowing style is only practiced by the men. Women row in the customary style, using the oar with their hands, sitting cross legged at the stern.
In addition to fishing, locals grow vegetables and fruit in large gardens that float on the surface of the lake. The floating garden beds are formed by extensive manual labor. The farmers gather up lake-bottom weeds from the deeper parts of the lake, bring them back in boats and make them into floating beds in their garden areas, anchored by bamboo poles. These gardens rise and fall with changes in the water level, and so are resistant to flooding. The constant availability of nutrient-laden water results in these gardens being incredibly fertile. Rice cultivation is also significant.
It was common to see dogs and their owners on the street, but this scene was actually fairly unique: a muzzled dog, who seemed to be patiently enduring the contraption that had been stuck on his face.
I have no idea what kind of dog this is, or whether he was prone to bite anyone within reach; it might have been something as simple as preventing the mutt from barking too loudly. In any case, both dog and owner seemed to be strolling along without any great drama.
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As I’ve mentioned in a couple of recent Tumblr blog postings, I’m working on an exercise for a new class that I’ve started taking at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in the fall of 2015.( You can see the earlier Tumblr postings here and here.)
In addition to taking a bunch of photos (see the other Tumblr postings for details and descriptions of what the photos are supposed to illustrate), we also have the task of editing our images down to a maximum of 10 “presentation images” that we will share with the ICP class next week. When our instructor, Joanne Dugan, asked me last week if I anticipated having any problems with this aspect of the assignment, I shrugged and said, “No, I do this all the time …”
Well, yes and no: I do do a lot of editing/winnowing of my photos before deciding which ones should be shared with anyone else. But I had forgotten that I also do a lot of cropping, color-adjustment, tweaking, and general post-processing before I upload my photos to Flickr, Facebook, or even Instagram. For this particular ICP exercise, we were also told not to crop the photos, and not to do any post-processing. That makes things a lot more difficult …
On the other hand, part of the exercise is to assemble and share a maximum of ten photos that collectively tell a “story” of some kind – and to “tell” that story with anywhere from a word, to a sentence, to a paragraph for each of the photos. That makes things a lot easier … after all, if a photo has to be presented in isolation, then it truly stands alone. And it is intended to be viewed without any accompanying text, then it really stands alone. There’s nothing wrong with that; indeed, one might argue that that’s the whole point of photography: a picture should “tell” a story all by itself, without any extraneous verbiage to “explain” what might not be obvious to the viewer.
But not very many things exist in complete isolation of the rest of the universe, especially in today’s interconnected world. I suppose some people would debate that point quite vigorously; and some people might argue that a photograph of a person, place, or thing should be able to “stand alone” without anything else. I certainly have seen photos that fall into this category, and I suppose I’ve taken a few like that, too. Or, maybe if I never intended my photos to be considered in complete isolation from one another, perhaps that’s how some people prefer to look at them …
But for me, that’s a pretty rare phenomenon. Almost always, I find myself telling a story. The photographs obviously present one “dimension” of the story, in a visual form; and I’ve been trying to remind myself lately that videos can present can present one, and sometimes two, additional dimensions (motion and sound) that can add enormously to the viewer’s understanding and appreciation of the underlying story.
But even if one uses only traditional photos, I find that it’s almost impossible for me to crate (or make, or take) one photo by itself; invariably, I take dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands, which collectively tell a story. It may be a story about someplace I’ve been, or some event in which I’ve participated, or some individual (or group of individuals) that I want the viewer to know and appreciate in more detail than would be possible to communicate in a single photo.
And then there are the words … maybe it’s because I spend part of my time as a writer and teacher that I find it almost impossible not to augment my photos with words. Lots of words. Indeed, sometimes far too many words; and sometimes clumsy words, or the wrong words. And I do realize that there are times when the situation would be improved if I would just shut up, and let the photograph do all of the communication. But for better or worse, I guess I’m a photojournalist.
With that in mind, I began the process of editing the photos for my recent ICP assignment. Here’s what I found:
1. It’s not as easy as one might think, when you start with a large number. I began winnowing the original images when I had 2,700 (after 9 days of shooting), and I still had 5 days of shooting left).
2. It’s much more difficult than I had imagined, given the constraints of my ICP class: no cropping, no post-processing, and a maximum of only 10 images. I’ve worked within those constraints for the final images that I’m submitting to the ICP class; but for these Flickr uploads, I’ve ended up with 40-45 images – and they have been heavily cropped, tilted, color-corrected, noise-dusted, and tweaked in various other ways. C’est la vie…
3. Using the collection of photos to “tell a story” is both easier and harder than I thought it would be. I’m including these background notes in all of the photos that get uploaded to Flickr … because I’ve learned (form past experience) that some visitor will zoom in on just one particular photo, without necessarily looking at all of them, and/or without seeing the overall notes for the entire album. And I don’t think I’ll find it difficult to write a few sentences to provide the background details for each photo … but whether they “flow” and create one overall, coherent “story” remains to be seen.
4. Aside from a narrative “story,” there are some “themes” that I noticed throughout this entire two-week exercise. The most significant one was exactly what I had anticipated: patterns. If you are lucky enough to sit in the same spot at the same time, day after day, you see the same rhythms, the same people, the same repetitions of life’s little actions and emotions. Many people have the opportunity to see these patterns, because they do follow the same schedule, day after day, on their way to their job or their school. But some of us have irregular routines, and any, most of us don’t pay any attention. If you slow down, and pay attention, you’ll see the patterns.
But sometimes the pattern involves uniqueness – i.e. strange and unusual people or events that seem to happen only once. But I have to keep reminding myself that my visits have lasted only two weeks; if I was here for a month, or a full season, or perhaps an entire year – then perhaps I would see these strange incidents repeating themselves
5. Another theme – which I did not anticipate, but was delighted to see – was the pervasive sense of affection and caring between and among everyone on the street. Mostly it was apparent in the interactions between parents and children; but sometimes it was between dog-owners and the dogs they were walking; sometimes it was between friends who happened to be walking along together; and sometimes it was between complete strangers and me, as the strangers would smile and nod and say “hello” if they noticed I was watching them. It was a great experience.