View allAll Photos Tagged optimistic
A short walk along the Icicle River from 8-Mile Campground, and the icy mountains remind us immediately not to be too optimistic about spring's arrival, yet.
“An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere, while a pessimist sees only the red stoplight. . . The truly wise person is colorblind.” ~ Albert Schweitzer
I see a lot of green uploads today! Does this mean all flickr people are optimistic folks? I guess I am right, at least on thursdays :-). Happy Gorgeous Green Thursday, everybody!
Manna Hill. Despite the low rainfall and semi-arid climate in the mid-1870s South Australians were so optimistic that they could grow wheat almost anywhere that the government set up an experimental 1,280 acre wheat farm on the Manna Hill sheep station leasehold in 1877. This followed a series of above average rainfalls in the region. This was the same time that the Willochra Plains near Hawker were being surveyed into farms. The Manna Hill sheep run was established in the early 1860s. At Manna Hill in 1877 three inches of rain fell in May, one inch in June which lulled the farm manager into believing a wheat crop would grow well and it did yielding 12 bushels per acre. In 1878 the farm manager suggested a plantation to be grown at Manna Hill farm. Another good crop was obtained in 1878 but in November 1879 the farm equipment and stock was sold and the farm closed down. The town was established at the government well at Manna Hill on the Barrier Ranges railway which reached the area in 1887. The discovery of gold near Manna Hill in 1886 reinforced the need for a town in this spot. The fine stone railway station dates from around 1887. The first government school opened in 1899 and closed in 1967 when the narrow gauge line was being replaced with a new standard gauge line and railway workers left the town. It is now a residence with a school roof ventilator. The Manna Hill Hotel was built in 1889 and a galvanised iron public hall was erected at some stage. It now has a blue painted besser block facade. Manna Hill has a stone police station built around 1890 which still operates. Joseph Kenworthy owned Oulnina station and built a race course next to the Manna Hill railway station on his land for public race meetings. He died in 1943. His memorial gates to the race course are impressive. Erected in the 1940s after his death.
The trunks of ancient trees in the virgin forests of the Pacific Northwest have a considerably larger diameter at ground level than they do even five or six feet above the forest floor.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, loggers had the Herculean task of sawing through these giant trunks by hand. It was a two-man job.
It's an odious task for me just to saw through a 2-by-4 by hand, so I can't comprehend how the men had the strength and endurance to pull and push those widely spaced and wickedly long saw teeth back and forth across the living wood. Perhaps the loggers worked in shifts to fell a tree, but I can't imagine that the team who had been spelled would have been allowed to sit around and play Wordle until it was their turn again.
To make the job just a little bit less overwhelming, loggers sawed the trunk above ground level where it was not as thick.
In order to apply the greatest thrust to their huge, double-ended saws, loggers needed to hold the saw at waist level or higher. The only way they could do that was to carve sockets into the trunk far above ground level and insert long planks for to stand on while they wielded their saw.
In solving one problem the springboards created another, namely that of losing one's balance and falling to the ground. Loggers worked without a safety net literally and figuratively then. That was of little or no concern to the timber barons and their wives who lived and entertained in great style in their mansions in Portland and Seattle.
Cedar is renowned for its resistance to rot. Hence the springboard notches remain plainly visible in the stumps of the felled old-growth cedars for generations after the loggers have joined their victims in the compost of history.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Close to Home ‘The great cedars call our names’ Willapa Bay’s Long Island is a Northwest treasure
Story by David Campiche
Sep 18, 2014
www.discoverourcoast.com/coast-weekend/coastal-life/close...
The birds are quiet, hardly a peep. The large Harvest Moon that was forecast is buried in gray slurry, in subtle shades of silver and pewter. A fine mist wraps its cloak over the soft green landscape. Long Island rests in the middle of Willapa Bay. Here awaits a late summer dreamscape.
Like the September full moon, leaves are turning yellow and umber. Among the 16 people gathered at the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, the mood is speculative but optimistic. I came from Naselle, crossed the Naselle Bridge in a flurry, and headed south.
West of the bridge I could just make out the Herrolds’ oyster plant, their weather-worn dock and graceful wooden vessel. Gargantuan piles of oyster shells lay mounded on the shoreline. The two brothers are descendants of the Chinook culture and proud of it. They have worked this bay for oysters since childhood. The two families have protected both these pristine waters and a lifestyle that predates these oystermen.
Glenn Lamb is the executive director of the Columbia Land Trust. He and his staff have performed diligently in the Pacific Northwest. They have, in particular, a deep affection for Pacific County and the Long Beach Peninsula.
“It is all about wildlife, about restoring habitat,” he says. Lamb picks his words carefully. He is a careful and amicable man.
The organization outlines its parameters as, “Two states. One iconic river (the Columbia). 13,000 square miles of wonder.” Set in our backyard, the Columbia Land Trust projects hope with this succinct statement: “We conserve the Northwest you love.”
We are heading to the Don Bonker Cedar Grove, a 5,000-year-old copse of mostly ancient cedar trees on the west side of the island. U.S. Rep. Bonker saved that grove and then cemented public ownership of the entire island in the 1980s. In the grove are 274 acres of old-growth. The island is seven miles long and half as thick. In all of Pacific County, only 1 percent of the tall trees remain. Someday, as second-growth matures, the entire island will again rebound with a cornucopia of old-growth. This is Bonker’s gift to our grandchildren, to future generations.
Two capable assistants anchor our large barge-like craft at Smoky Hollow, and we make our way on an easy trail a half-mile to a trailhead that reads, “Cedar Grove.” Traveling the trail from the old logging road into the center of the grove is a quick route. One ponders the third-growth woods along the way, small timber the loggers call “pecker poles.” Don’t give up hope: Yards ahead is one of the treasures of the Pacific Northwest. In his long, fruitful tenor in Congress, Bonker left a legacy for you and me to enjoy. Today, the great cedars call our names.
Western cedars are referred to as cathedral trees. Lightning often strikes the tree tops. The resulting twisted limbs often bear shapes like giant candelabras. In this ancient copse, we are surrounded by massive and tall cedars. These trees preserve a quiet dignity. Perhaps, they project an elder’s wisdom, for they are old, very old, some 1,100 years. The landscape is like a natural church, but festooned with lichen, fern and a variety of mosses.
We stroll up the forested apse, a trail carved out by awestruck pilgrims who have ventured into this magical place since the advent of the Chinook civilization.
“Inspire love of place” — it doesn’t take much effort here. To see is to believe. The grove is much older than the trees in it. Like pilgrims coming to Mecca, we, the happy 16, have the rare privilege of standing amid this living and breathing antiquity.
The trip is short and fruitful. We traipse back to the scow and soon travel back to the refuge. By boat or kayak, Long Island is accessible to bow hunters, biologists and campers. Over a dozen campsites punctuate the island. The island provides infinite opportunities for photographers, or for those just seeking solace. Willapa Bay rolls through four tides a day. The Willapa was called Shoalwater Bay at the turn of the century. The shallow bay sustains that reputation. It also produces about 20 percent of the nation’s oysters. Those piles of bivalves are razor sharp. All that is to say: Beware of low tide, your unprotected hands, and the boat’s bottom.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Long Island cedars are living fossils"
By Rob Schubert
Longview Daily News
Apr 2, 2019
WILLAPA BAY — The term “living fossil” is one that mixes a sense of being out of place with one of awe and mystery. The coelacanth, a fish that lived alongside dinosaurs, was believed extinct until a living one was found in 1938. Another such living fossil is right around the corner, on Long Island.
That six-mile long island nestled in Willapa Bay is like stepping into the past. The 5,500-acre island includes 274 acres covered in cedar trees that were around when Constantinople became Istanbul in 1453. And unlike other forests, which are constantly in a state of flux due to development, fire or storms, this primeval grove has been untouched for thousands of years.
According to a 1985 article written in Washington Magazine by current Daily News editor Andre Stepankowsky, the first trees of the Long Island grove began sprouting about 4,000 years ago. While those first trees have not survived to this day, the average tree is still between 150 and 160 feet in height, with the oldest individual trees being roughly 1,000 years old. Old rotting cedars on the ground may have been sprouting when Julius Caesar was a child.
When studying forests, most of the discussion is about old-growth forests. The definition of this term varies depending on region, but in the Pacific Northwest, a forest reaches old-growth status when the majority of trees are more than 250 years old.
Old-growth forests already constitute a small fraction of all woodland in the area, but the Long Island grove is old enough to earn itself an entirely different distinction. These trees make up a “climax forest,” a steady-state system of self-reproducing trees so rare that before this grove was found, some researchers believed there were none still in existence. Usually, fire or windstorms interrupt the evolution of a forest to its final “climax” condition. But not at Long Island.
An aid in research
This well-preserved forest has allowed scientists to step into a snapshot of the ecosystem that once dominated coastal regions. Researchers from groups like the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Washington have used their rings to gain insight to the history of the area. A 1997 project, headed by David Yamaguchi and Brian Atwater, dated cedar stumps along the coast to 1699, which led them to believe a massive disaster occurred before spring of 1700, the same year that a massive tsunami hit Japan. In their report, researchers concluded, largely through comparative tree dating, that 1700 was the year of the last major earthquake in the region.
But the grove’s survival even through disaster is no mere stroke of luck; the trees were perfectly placed to avoid what felled similar groves around the region.
Long Island is tucked into Willapa Bay, with the Long Beach Peninsula shielding it from the worst winds off the Pacific, while the frequent fog and rain keep fire risk to a minimum. Additionally, its position on an island makes it very unlikely that wildfires started elsewhere will spread to the grove.
The location also spared the grove from heavy logging. While Weyerhaeuser Co. acquired the lands for logging from Northern Pacific Railroad in 1900, the cedar grove survived because its location inland on the south portion of Long Island was far more distant to the places where logs were rafted into Willapa Bay and, from there, to shore.
Weyco-federal pact
Weyerhaeuser began to log the grove in the early 1970s, but its moves were met with protests. The company ultimately agreed to a deal with the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the ancient cedars.
The pact originally required the government to pay Weyerhaeuser each year, and the cost was being met with growing resistance by the mid-1980s. Southwest Washington Congressman Don Bonker stepped in to broker a lasting deal in which the federal government purchased Weyerhaeuser’s timber rights and preserved the grove in 1986.
Today, the Long Island cedar grove is open to the public, but getting there is a challenge. There are no bridges or ferries to Long Island. Anyone who wants to visit needs to find their own transportation. Visitors to Long Island who arrive from the southeast are met with signs for the Don Bonker Cedar Grove Trail.
Bonker was also instrumental in the creation of the Mount St. Helens Volcanic National Volcanic Monument, the Columbia River National Scenic Area and Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge, as well as many state parks and refuges he expanded.
In a 2005 interview with The Daily Astorian, he called the purchase of the cedar grove “special... a rare moment” among the many accomplishments in his legacy. It was preserving these special places, he said, that always meant the most to him.
This is another shot from the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin Germany. My previous shots were looking down and looking over. This time, it is looking up. This isn't my favorite shot of the bunch but it is the most optimistic - even in such circumstances, there must have been those who looked up and imagined a brighter, sunnier future.
-----
The We are Here challenge on January 2 2017 was: optimistic Cloudgoat
Lighting: 1 SB-600 1/16 right; 1 YN-560-III 1/16 left, into umbrellas, 1/2 CTO gels, wireless triggers
© all rights reserved by B℮n
Please take your time... to View it large on black
Traditions are strong, history long and the people are friendly in Rauris, a traditional, unspoilt resort in a protected national park area of great natural beauty. The entire valley promotes itself as the Raurisertal, although Rauris remains the main centre. Everyone is warm and inviting. Austrians also have a lot of respect for their country side. The Rauristal is very clean and well kept. Some years ago Rauris had to decide whether to opt for mass tourism, or a gentler, more traditional way of life. They decided to preserve the local precious countryside, plants, animals and mountains. The resort is located within the picturesque and protected Hohe Tauern National Park. Traditional animal species extinct in the area have been reintroduced into the National Park and have since made it their home, along with smaller animals which have lived in the Hohe Tauern for centuries. Look out for imposing Bearded Vultures or once the snow melts, free-roaming marmots Apart from its enviable natural heritage, The Raurisertal is also one of the few Tauern valleys to be a site of continuous settlement.
Cycling in Rauris is about enjoying the genuine alpine landscape on very well marked bike paths through the mountains. We cycle the bike tour Rauris - Kolm Saigurn. This spectacular Mountainbike tour starts in Rauris and leads to Kolm Saigurn. Along the way I met an elderly couple taken a rest on a wooden bench. They didn't mind I took three photos. When you travel Austria, you'll be charmed with its delicious cuisine, joyful festivals, distinguished musical traditions and friendly people. Austria is a very beautiful country in Europe, famous for the Alps mountains and the amazing scenery, good music and fantastic food. The best skiers are from Austria! Arnold Schwarzenegger is too! Mozart, Sigmund Freud and Red Bull as-well!
Downhill skiing has a long history in the valley. Wilhelm Ritter von Arlt brought the ski-sport to Rauris. Together with goldmine-owner Ignanz Rojacher he brought the first skis from a study trip to Scandinavia back to Rauris. Soon a group formed around Ritter von Arlt who loved to go skiing. The equipment then was simple wooden planks with no edges, bended up at the tip. The used different wax to go up or down the hills. In March 1902 the first ski-lessons took place in Rauris and marked the beginning of now more than a century of ski-lessons in Rauris. Today skiing still takes place on the Hochalm and adjacent areas above the village. . A variety of finds attest to the fact that the paths across the Rauriser Tauern Hochtor were used in very early times. These include six silver coins found in the market square, three of which bear the head of King Philip of Macedonia, who ruled in the Balkans from 360 to 336 BC. Other finds include a small Hercules statue from the Roman era and a bronze sword from about 1300 B.C., as well as a scarab from the time of Ramses ll (2000 BC). Today's town of Rauris was formerly named after the Gaisbach, on whose alluvial cone it was built. Its existence was first documented in 1120.
Why is it too optimistic to hope for happiness? Too extreme an imagination to think everyone will smile today?
Every day 17 out of 100 women become victims of violence at home or in the workplace.25% of them die. Although the government has signed different international conventions and introduced special laws to protect women and children, it has ultimately failed to provide adequate security for them. As a result, women are constantly becoming victims of violence at home or in the workplace everyday. We have reached to a point where Acid victims are no surprise.It's very unfortunate but Bangladesh still has a long way to go in its treatment of women, from the ordinary to the very top leaders.
Is it unimaginable to make acid victims , violated women and eve-teasers only fairy tales?
It's not if we care , share and inspire enough.
STOP violence against women.
Press L please.
Retos de la Familia Fotera // Reto XVIII - Optimismo / Optimism
Llega el reto nº18 de la Familia Fotera dedicado al optimismo. La verdad, llevo unos días con mucho trabajo y muy poco tiempo libre, así que mí optimismo anda más bien escaso y menos para preparar el reto tal y como se merece. Pero esta mañana, Wall-E ha insistido en acompañarme al trabajo y para levantarme el ánimo, se ha dibujado una sonrisa y se me ha plantado ahí con esos ojillos de no haber roto nunca un plato. Cualquiera le dice que no…
+info: thinkinfreak.com/blog/2012/03/07/retooptimismo-la-foto/
It's been rainy and foggy under consistently leaden skies for the last four days, temps not reaching 50F. Even the most optimistic of souls might be forced to admit that it has been downright dreary. However, perhaps it's nature's way of providing its own version of "texture" in the expanding world of photography...a somewhat impressionistic (albeit dark) version of fall colors shown above.
[More texturized large]
Photo captured via Minolta MD Tele Rokkor-X 200mm F/4 Lens off of State Route 261. Columbia Plateau Region. Adams County, Washington. Late November 2017.
Exposure Time: 1/500 sec. * ISO Speed: ISO-125 * Aperture: F/8 * Bracketing: None * Color Temperature: 4200 K * Film Plug-In: Kodak Portra 160 NC
I was always optimistic and hopeful that Obama would win the United States presidency. I was at a company celebration on the evening of the 4th and all I could think about was the election results.
I was celebrating this historic moment as it was happening. I was truly, profoundly moved when I learned that Obama had officially won (when I got home). I'm still riding on that feeling since last week, watching the Obama victory speech, Obama fan videos. It really has made me renew hope in humanity and even if I'm not American, I believe Obama can unite more than a nation.
To people expressing cynicism, saying that Obama can't change anything and that hope will only be crushed, I say that hope drives us forward and drives us to do unimaginable things. At the very least, hope is making me and a lot of people a bit happier for the time being.
Watch It's a New Day from will.i.am on youtube for some Obama-inspired music.
When I left to Picos de Europa NP with my family, to photograph the rare Wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria) was well beyond my most optimistic aspirations. I thought that it was a challenge for the more serious nature photographers. :-) But, after a few days I had seen and photographed all the other species I was so keen to at least see, including the Griffon Vulture, the Alpine Accentor, the Alpine Chough and the Dipper… which made me think that all that was left to see was the Wallcreeper. So, on the last day, before heading back to Portugal, we made a return visit to Fuente Dé, with the aim of finding this bird, which would be the cherish on top of the cake. Despite the fact that I had not seen one in the previous days, somehow I felt optimistic towards this last chance… I have to admit that it was my wife (not that keen on birdwatching) who at some point said “look, there’s something there”. And, when I was expecting the “something” to be just another Redstart or Alpine Accentor, there was a Wallcreeper in front of us!! I just could not believe it! Then, as I was photographing the bird, she said “look, there’s something hiding on the floor, I think it’s a rat”. And there was the Least Weasel from the photo below. :-))
Quando parti para umas férias familiares no PN Picos de Europa, fotografar a raridade Trepadeira-dos-Muros (Tichodroma muraria) não constava nem das minhas aspirações mais optimistas. Pensava que isso seria um desafio para os mais aficionados. :-) Porém, ao fim de uns poucos dias já tinha conseguido fotografar todas as outras espécies que pretendia no mínimo avistar, incluindo os Grifos, a Ferreirinha-alpina, a Gralha-de-bico-amarelo e o Melro-de-água… o que me fez pensar que só faltava mesmo a Trepadeira-dos-muros. Por isso, no dia do nosso regresso a Portugal, ainda aproveitámos a manhã para dar um segundo salto a Fuente Dé, com o objectivo de encontrar esta ave, que seria a cereja no topo do bolo. Apesar de não a ter avistado nos dias anteriores, eu estava com uma fezada que desta vez é que ia ser… Tenho de admitir que foi a minha mulher (que não se interessa muito por aves) quem a certa altura me disse “olha que está ali qualquer coisa”. E, quando eu esperava que a “coisa” fosse mais um Rabirruivo ou mais uma Ferreirinha-alpina, lá estava uma Trepadeira-dos-muros ali bem perto de nós!! Eu nem queria acreditar! Logo de seguida, enquanto eu fotografava a Trepadeira, ela disse-me “olha, está ali qualquer coisa no chão, pareceu-me um rato”. E assim fotografei também a Doninha da foto abaixo. :-))
Fuente Dé (~1500m above sea level), Picos de Europa NP, Spain
Bên trời xanh mãi
Những nụ mầm mới
Để lại trong cõi thiên thu
Hình dáng nụ cười
~ "Bốn mùa thay lá"
www.vmdb.com/viewSong.jsp?id=1891
I missed my flight today. Unbelievable. Wonder why I still have the mood to give such optimistic color.
This Monday, I'd better catch the flight.
Explorer #362 on Sunday, December 21, 2008
I'm going to be optimistic today. Because, frankly, I really really need it.
1. I love my cameras. Even though I grumble about it a lot, I do enjoy looking back on my past 365s, so I can only imagine I will do the same for this one. Even the crappy, quick snaps like this.
2. My kid is my ultimate happiness. There is nothing more amazing or unexplainable than the love between a mother and her child.
3. I really enjoy rain. I know, sunshine is lovely, and lately I've been craving it...but nothing beats that low-lying blanket of clouds and the sound of raindrops plunking into puddles. For me, anyway.
4. I love coffee. A lot. I grew up every day of my life watching my parents sit at the breakfast table with big mugs of steaming coffee and talk and laugh. It's more than just some awesomely delicious liquid that zaps the sleep outta me. It's...comfort and habitual and a memory.... and I adore that.
5. I love simplicity and snuggly clutter. Yes, both. I like things like...bare white walls and a simple one color bedspread with a shelf that is just chock full of knick knacks and odds and ends. It's a balance, you see.
6. I love that feeling when you wake up all warm and comfy and know you have nowhere to be. Of course, I'm a mommy...so technically...I always have 'somewhere' to be...but at least I can do it in my jammies.
7. I love it when I can't find the words to finish what I want to say, or I say the wrong word, and whoever I'm talking to just knows exactly what I mean and doesn't say a word. Bliss.
8. I love the smell of a new book. I also love the sound it makes when you first open it.
9. I love it when everything is where it belongs. I have a mini-panic attack when I wake up to a mess...pretty much anywhere.
10. I love laughing so hard that I feel it in my stomache...the next day. Where, its so funny you are in physical pain and your eyes water. It doesn't sound awesome, but trust me....it makes your whole week better.
11. I love waking up from happy dreams, and my whole day seems that much brighter.
12. I love simple pleasures. Like a surprise candy bar, or water by my bed when I wake up, or when a diaper miraculously changes itself. Yep, my husband is pretty good at that stuff.
13. I love warm, sunny summer evenings where you have nothing but a screen door between you and the smell of growth and moisture and bbqs, and you can almost hear the grass move as you watch it.
14. I love days of quiet and privacy, where I can wander around in my shorts and tank tops all day and noone sees me but my 1 yr old. If the doorbell rings, I ain't home.
15. For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness. ~ Emerson
*hugs*
mwah
.K
Random Fact: 16 pennies stacked up equals one inch, and 16 pennies in a line is one foot.
Duncan is cautiously optimistic about his Mets right now.
But, while baseball is fun, we are all extremely concerned about the enormous hurricane that's about to hit Florida. Prayers to all in the path of Milton.
(and yes, Liz, this is from two years ago. With Duncan's back leg mobility issues right now, I'm not taking a lot of photos)
I met Kim and her beautiful young daughter outside the shopping mall. I was feeling a bit discouraged as I had several people who said no to letting me photograph them for the 100 Stranger's project. (People are starting to shop for Christmas now so most of them said they didn't have time.)
Finally Kim came along and said "Yes". I asked her what she thought her strength was and she said "optimism". I could see she had a nice friendly relaxed style about her. Her young teen daughter didn't want to be photographed but she agreed to help me with holding a reflector for her mom.
The reflected silver light made a big difference on this dreary fall day.
I chose f-stop 2.2 to try to blow out the background more but the focus was so narrow so that only one eye was sharp. Since it was the closest eye I was content. I think next time I'll try a narrower aperture and try to be more fussy in the choice of my background.
Kim says she works in telecommunications banking so doesn't get much time to interact with people. She said she enjoyed our conversation very much. Thanks Kim for agreeing to do this
Any helpful comments will be appreciated. Cheers!
.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This picture is #05 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page
I hope that this will bring you LOVE and JOY to your day. This is the wildest image I think I have made of this motion art to date. hope some of you will like it as much as I do. Now I have to up the game. Hope I can reach the new place I have seen here in my images.
Michael and Albert (AJ) Patnode - Artist Statement
Father and son collaboration
Our photographic art is a kinetic motion study, from the results of interacting with my son A.J and his toys.
He was born severely handicapped much like a quadriplegic. On December 17,1998. Our family’s goal has always been to help A.J. use his mind, even though he has minimal use of his body.
A.J. likes to watch lights and movement. One of the few things he can do for himself is to operate a switch that sets in motion lights and various shiny, colorful streamers and toys that swirl above his bed.
One day I took a picture of A.J. with his toys flying out from the big mobile near his bed like swings on a carnival ride. I liked the way the swirling objects and colors looked in the photo.
I wanted to study the motion more and photograph the whirling objects in an artful way, I wanted my son A.J. to be a part of it. After all, he’s the one who inspires me. When A.J. and I work together on our motion artwork, A.J. starts his streamers and objects twirling, I take the photographs.
Activating a tiny switch might not seem like much to some, but it’s all A.J. can do. He controls the direction the mobile will spin, as well as when it starts and stops. The shutter speeds are long, and sometimes, I move the camera and other times I hold it still.
I begin our creation with a Nikon digital camera. Then I use my computer with Photoshop to alter the images into what I feel might be an artistic way. Working with Photoshop, I find the best parts from several images and combine them into the final composite photograph. I consider the finished work to be fine art. The computer is just the vehicle that helps my expressions grow.
I take the photographs and A.J. adds the magic. It’s something this father and son do together. After I’ve taken a few shots, I show him the photos in the back of the camera. When the images are completed, I show him from a laptop. He just looks. He can’t tell me whether or not he likes the images, but he’s always ready to work with me again.
It offers me my only glance into A.J.’s secret world. We’ve built a large collection of images and I hope the motion and color move you as much as they do me.
A.J. inspires me to work harder to understand my life in the areas of art, photography, people, spirituality, and so much more. He truly sets my mind in motion and helps me find the beauty in everyday things.
AJ Patnode - A Journey of Hope (documentary):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR7m8QFcmRM
AJ'S blog:
I hesitated to process this because of the difficulty for me. The extreme contrast did not initially leave me optimistic.
Laying over in Nov 2013 at Carmarthen train station, Y551XAG was a former London United/Transdev Dart with the obligatory dual doors. Their need in West Wales seems rather hopeful with this machine working for Taf Valley Travel