If you did not read yesterday’s post, please do for context on this short series.
Next up was my artistic shot where the umbrellas of the Grand Hotel were going to be a number one best seller at fine galleries everywhere. I still like this one, I fixed the water from running off your page and did some adjustments on contrast and highlights.
Something a bit different this week. You may or may not have noticed yesterday’s photo from Mackinac Island. It was also from the first digital photos I took. I had just bought a digital Nikon 40. Now it is really sad that I did not know anything about how to use it. I had it on auto everything and most of the shots I took were not focused well or straight (lots of lake photos with the world tipping dangerously). I “thought” owning a Nikon was the same as magically being able to take photos that would rival National Geographic, or something like that. They were all jpegs, very small and mostly exposed poorly. So, the good news is you are going to get to see them, or a small subset of them, this week. I have adjusted the contrast and some corrections where possible but the out of focus or fill-in the blanks problems remain. I was very pleased with the at the time. Not quite so now. Oh, and the biggest issue was with my mediocre eyesight I never knew if they were in focus, just could not see in the viewfinder how they really looked.
I start with a shot of the fort. It was not too bad and I fixed the blown out highlights in L4 before posting.
“I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. “
1 Corinthians 15: 3-4 NLT
Interior window, historic church, Mackinac Island, MI
One of the few things we are doing outside of the house, practically the only thing we are doing is taking a walk or two each day. We have six places we walk with two of those having various options. Monday I shot a couple of photos on the iPhone as we walked along Crabtree Creek. This is part of the extensive Greenway system in Raleigh. There are over 130 miles of trails mostly paved like this one for bike, running or walking. This is an out & back and begins about a mile from our house, so we drive to a small parking lot (a lack of sidewalks for one reason). Our walk here is usually about 1.7 miles each way. We could go farther on the greenway but 3/2/3/4 is usual for us. It is often our choice when the sun is high and hot becuase there is a lot of shade. The path actually takes us to Crabtree Mall and we have walked there and shopped a couple of times. Monday’s walk was nice because the creek was a bit lower and slower and we had some nice reflections. You cross the creek just one time on the path.
From the one bridge
This old bridge was once part of the Wake County highway system now there is no road on either side. Good thing.
Typical of the Greenway.
Not with the virus thing but a couple of thousand years ago on a Friday it appeared that way but appearances have a way of not always being accurate.
Sunset over the Johnson River,, ALCAN Highway, in BC.
These photos are not too inspiring - three trips to the first flight monument and this is all I have. But major migraine tonight and not sleeping at all, this is all I have to post today. I will catch up the Eats! later today or tomorrow. Sorry too much pain right now to think.
First days flight path and landings.
Repica at VC
…who’s the fairest road of all. Not sure but the Ice Fields Parkway in Alberta is in the discussion.
Hiking along a ridge in Sitka we came across this eagle that was on a dark tree deep in the shadows. We may not have seen it if it were not for a bit of brighter light on the white head feathers. It was lower than we were which was unusual. I was not sure I even captured an image here as it was really dark but with a bit of work in L4 I got this and I think it is pretty decent. The eagle deserved a better shot - quite a magnificent bird.
A mountain towering over Mirror Lake in Banff. This was shortly before we got to the Lake Agnes Tea House. (See Eats! from last week.)
My dad was a plumber. He worked on a massive old house in Cheswick, PA, that was being turned into apartments but had belonged to a reclusive WWII general. When the tradesmen moved in there were floor to ceiling boxes of stuff in most of the rooms. I recall that the military people came and took out live ammo grenades, machine guns and the like from WWII. My dad - they were throwing out boxes and boxes, brought me a Japanese blood stained battle flag with a story written about it. (My mom threw it away) and several odd bits and pieces. One of which is this goblet that had the origin noted and in that hand written paper it explained where in Japan it came from (He was some sort of post war leader in Japan) and that it was about 2000 years old. I have had it ever since I was about 10. I used to use it as a dish for softening decals on my models! Now I just like to think that it was made in the time of Jesus - a continent away but still, 2000 years old. So I like to use it occasionally for communion when I served in the local church. Most often I would get it out for the Christmas Eve or a special service before Easter.
I am quite pleased with this shot it is pretty much as I envisioned it before i started and that is rare. I hope you have enjoyed this diversion from the norm here. I plan to do some more and experiment with a light background as well.
"This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” ! Corinthians 11:25 NLT
My Aunt Carrie was a traveler. She and her friends took a trip each year and eventually visited 49 states including Hawaii on the day it became a state. She was at the Great Smoky Mountain NP the summer it became a park. I always looked forward to her postcards. On one trip before WWII she visited Canada and brought home this carved nut bowl. I have no idea how I came to have it or why of the many beautiful things she had this is one of the few I still own. However, I did find it interesting that Andre Bourgault chiseled his name into the piece and, in doing some research, determined that he was a very well known folk art carver and on his authentic pieces he “chiseled” in his name. He died in 1957 and had started carving with his two famous brothers in the early 30’s. This was a piece for the tourists, I’m sure. While not wildly valuable this little bowl has two meanings.
So I don’t really like fairs and carnivals ( though I worked at one for a week once ) and we were in Alaska, land of grizzly bear and moose and mountains and… a state fair. I went reluctantly. And it was better than I thought it would be and not good enough to ever want to go to another one. What I did like were the photographs and the crafts. In one craft area were wood turners, a club actually. There was a man talking about the craft while a younger fellow demonstrated. I was amazed by the transformation of the wood and asked a couple of questions. Okay, a lot of questions. At one point the man - either because he wanted rid of me or, as I choose to believe, he was impressed by my insightful questions, handed me a pen he had made that morning. This pen. The wood is a beautifully grained Alaksan hardwood, therefore birch. It writes smoothly and better than I deserve with my awful handwriting.
Did you know I was the only student in the 5th grade who failed to get a Palmer Method Writing Certificate. Still hurts.
Anyway. the Alaskan people we met were usually like this man, a delight and generous with their time and treasures.
Bob Martin owned this very interesting mid-century Kodak Signet 35 camera. I didn’t know Bob liked or pursued photography. (He also had a nice Olympus OE 1.) To be clear I am simply the temporary custodian of this camera until a suitable home is found. The camera, designed in early 1950, had five variants. This one, the 35, was first a military model with a more rugged machined aluminum frame instead of plastic. Other details from this Wiki article: “The Signet 35 has a coupled coincident image rangefinder,[1] an excellent Ektar 44mm f3.5 lens with rear helicoid focus, automatic film stop counter with double exposure prevention, all built into a sturdy cast aluminum alloy body. The shutter must be cocked manually, and only it only had four shutter speeds.[2] The Signet 35 is very different in appearance, function, and durability, from the rest of the Signet line.”
I met Bob and his wife, Mary Lou in the fall of 1975 when I enrolled at Johnson in Knoxville, TN. Bob had just arrived from Kansas to serve as the minister at Forest Avenue Christian Church. Cindy and I were among the few there on that first Sunday (but the Kansas Contingent was strong!). We were invited to stay for chili, as I recall, perhaps incorrectly. It was from Bob, first as my minister, then friend and later professor that I learned my most enduring and important lessons in theology, lessons I rely on every day. The really critical life lessons were simply being around Bob and Mary Lou. From them we all learned patience, kindness, grace, love, genuine prayer and a host of other amazing faithful expressions of what the Body of Christ was really to be modeling, Bob was, in my time, a careful, meticulous and ordered man. His extensive library of books were rotated on a schedule to keep the spines straight. Astonishing. Bob was also generous but not on himself, frugal and Bob seemed to fit. So I was very surprised to learn that the Younger Version or perhaps Bob 1.0 would have expended over a $100 on a camera in 195X. But it makes me very happy to know that about him.
I like to imagine that like me the camera was a tool to see differently and enduringly the world God created. Anyway, that’s what I choose to think.
This is a totally non-April fools post.
I don’t know why but I decided to try and learn to carve something. My courses are randomly found on YouTube where there are a host of such offerings. The primary one I have watched is Doug Linker. All of this precedes the fact we are now in Hibernation Mode. Actually since the lock down I have not completed a new project but I got one started Sunday. So far I have finished 14 very small projects. So one of them has become the subject of the second Studio (!) shot.
This photo includes the knife I use, a finished penguin (since it is well known by the type of hat I did not really need to provide that bit of information) and a few shavings. And my thumb guard. The thumb guard is on my right or carving hand and I use a glove on my left hand that has metal in the fabric and it has saved me a few times already. Not sure how this activity will progress but I am committed for a year. It takes time to learn -even a little bit so to give a proper effort I hope to make about one project every week or ten days. Not sure how long the learning curve will be to get a decent finally product.
Meanwhile I am enjoying shooting these photos and will try to finish out the week with Stylized Studio Shots & Story. Have a couple ready to go - but watch for Sunday!
In case you are unaware:) we are not out traveling or out much at all. Grocery runs and neighborhood walks are all we have done for 3 weeks. So, I set up a “studio” consisting of a dark shirt over a board, a stool to place it on, a work light, a small adjustable temperature LED, and a handheld flashlight. So, the next few images are the first of this type I have tried. Be patient!
This is a snippet of a plant off our back deck. It is a Chinese Fringe Flower. The small container is a wine carafe from a pre-WWII Pennsylvania Railroad dining car. The design was to keep it stable on the dining car table.
I love the song this little bird sings but don’t often get to see them still and low enough to photograph. This male was singing in a tree low to the ground (actually all the trees here were short) as we hiked a trail near Valdez, Alaska. And as a bonus he was in his brightest breeding plumage.
“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13 NLT
Someone wrote and asked if I had a photo of the Orca that I posted last week with just a fin above water. We are nothing if not responsive!
I just like the look of this photo. We are off the coast of Alaska near Valdez late in the day as the fisherman were completing the catch for the day. Here they are going after Salmon.
A lovely spot near Sitka where we were able to have a picnic midway on the hike.
