Posts Tagged: Photography
The Sugar Bowl
The Sugar Bowl
Just over two and half years ago, I moved my mom out of her apartment nearby, and into a board and care facility. As I prepared to move everything out of the apartment, I decided I would photograph everything in it. Every thing. I did. The aim was to document all the objects which held some significance before casting anything to oblivion. Actually, it was to document everything and figure out later what has significance. The truth of the matter is that every single thing did. That’s just how I am.
There were just a few things I missed because they were not in the apartment at the time. A sugar bowl had been in use at my house for a couple years. It was my parents’, probably my father’s from before his marriage to my mother, and I remember it from early childhood. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I learned what depression glass is, or that it is somewhat collectible.
A month or two after I had completed the documentation project, I decided to photograph the few things that were scattered around my house. The sugar bowl was in heavy use near the stove. I thought to wash it before photographing it. That’s when I dropped it in the sink and broke it, and my heart. Though broken, I decided I would still photograph it, but I didn’t do it then. I was too disappointed at the time. I finished washing it and put it up on the shelf above the stove for later. Two and half years later, I’ve finally got it over with so that I can now,… cast it into oblivion.
Mystery of Communication
Lomo Stationwagon
Late last week I finally decided to stop and shoot the station wagon I’d passed several times on my commute to and from work. That night as I was perusing Google+, I read something which led me to some free Lightroom presets. I decided I’d try out a couple. The first one was a kind of lomo effect. I applied it to the station wagon and posted on flickr. I didn’t think to much about it; I have not been too active lately and I’ve not been getting many veiws, which is understandable. I have just been trying to keep up with the post-a-day project, and not getting much chance to check out what everybody else is doing.
So, I was surprised the next day when the photo had been explored and getting tons of views and faves. I thought it was a pretty boring shot. I guess people like this lo-fi stuff. The popularity of hipstamatic is testament to that. So with that here a gallery with a couple more attempts to explore this theme.
- Lomo Stationwagon
Albany Streetscape
Shot from the bathroom window as the sun descends behind Marin.
Trying to Re-Engage
No, the photo is not stretched horizontally. That’s just how they used to make ’em. And no, I didn’t pump up the saturation at all. Sometimes the light just does that. I don’t know why.
I fall further and further behind in dealing with my photographs. This, despite the fact that I am shooting far fewer photos lately. Of course, both of these facts are related to starting a new job and feeling the pressure of getting work done. Few walks around the neighborhood when I’m at work, bringing work home on occasion, studying up a bit, and various other tasks and projects make it difficult to do much writing or photography. For the last month or more, I’ve pulled some really late nights doing everything from getting taxes done to a spectacular, last-minute, marathon sprint to complete online traffic school. The late nights make me slower at work, which makes me bring work home, which leads to late nights, which,…
I believe, and I hope, the worst of it is now passed.
Similarly, I am also fabulously behind on both this daily post to the blog, and the project 365 group on flickr. I continue to feel a bit torn about both of these projects. I want to do both everyday. I really do. I want to be able to say I did it, and I want have the resulting output from participating in projects like these. But on the other hand, I think that it does not often make for very good or interesting results if one is always pressed for time. Does it make sense to just take a picture of anything at all and throw it up there just to meet the obligation to post something everyday? Does one get better by doing that? Does it make sense to write a few sentences in the most dry and mechanical way just to meet the arbitrary goal? I think that if one isn’t taking time to think about it, or attempt to practice a particular kind of shot, or whatever, then one is not communicating anything or improving one’s skills.
As for photos, since there is plenty of work to do catching up on processing and archiving photos already taken, I am going to solidly re-commit to uploading something everyday, but the photo will not necessarily have been taken on that day. I took this photo on April 29th, but posted it to the group for the 28th. I had nothing on the 28th. Zero. And yet, I got a handful of fun shots on the 29th. Some days are just like that. And while there will be a photo representing each day, there may be multiple photos in my submission to the group taken on the same day. That’s a clear violation of the group rules, but it’s the only way to keep with it at this point. And I’d rather put up photos I actually like than put up photos taken on 365 different days but that I mostly hate.
As far as the blog goes, I hope to get back at it and write about something everyday–about something other than why I’m not writing.
Still Life with Lamp
Lamp, Chair, Photograph.
I often see wonderfully moody shots of interiors–you know, all dark and mysterious. I guess it is harder than it looks. Or maybe you just aren’t supposed to have the light in the frame. The lamp reminds me a bit of David Lynch’s stuff. I’m going to keep experimenting with it. But even with the dimmer, I couldn’t get this 300w bulb down low enough. I couldn’t get the color right. I seemed green to me. Just a scooch to the right, and suddenly too magenta! So, back the other way. Back and forth, back and forth. Finally, I just kinda left it where it started. I still like that Cougar, though.
What’s New is Old Again
Afternoon Edition 4. Oakland CA. April, 2011.
I am now on the fourth run of The Afternoon Edition, wherein I explore the environment around my place of employment. It looks like a very rich area for exploration, except there is an official warning to not venture into the neighborhood to our immediate West as there have been problems. Anyway, this shot uses a Lightroom preset downloaded from flickr friend underthewaves called Ultimate Vintage. It sure worked on this one.
Can’t Fail
Can't
Fail
It really is true. Parenting takes time. We’ve had a lot on our parenting plate lately, and that’s another reason, perhaps, why I’ve missed some days posting. But today was the culmination of much of that effort with the execution of the dreaded piano recital. I say “dreaded” because we all came to dread what might happen. Theo was not practicing as much as a tiger mother would have him. The pieces were not there. We would put our foot down. He would pout. We would yell. He would frown. Then he’d play for a few minutes. Then jump up to reenact a Clone Wars battle scene. Occasionally, a real practice session would ensue.
And so it went until the day was upon us. Boy was he nervous. Frankly, I was nervous too, like I was the one going on stage. In the end, he did reasonably fine (Crappy compressed video here.) Better than he thought he would. Indeed, all the kids did really well, so much so that the whole thing was thoroughly enjoyable. Theo’s reward was going out to dinner to his favorite restaurant, Rudy’s Can’t Fail Cafe in Emeryville for a cheeseburger and a root beer float. And of course, along the way I found the opportunity to get my daily photo and even daily post out of it.
Can’t Fail. It all seemed fitting somehow.
Ocean
Ocean
Two things happened to coincide: I was preparing to back up the next folder on my hard drive and it happened to contain photographs from last summers trip to Hawaii. Then I looked at the daily email from WordPress for the postaday project and it was the weekly photo challenge: Ocean. So, what could I do? I had to post a photo of an ocean. But I suppose to be my usual solf-subverting self, I ended up selecting this blurry one instead of one of the more conventionally pretty ones. Who knows why?… not me, that’s for sure.
Retrograde Commute part 1
El Cerrito Plaza Station, El Cerrito CA.
I catch the BART in El Cerrito. Often, but completely accidentally, I find myself on the Fremont train to downtown Oakland. I say accidentally because it could just as easily be the San Francisco/Milbrae train. When it is the Fremont train, it waits at Macarthur Station for the SF train on the other line, so that people can transfer. And it waits to allow that train to pull out first. That leaves me with the views pictured below, which I am intrigued by. I’ve playing around with some different processing approaches. These are the full frame versions. The next post will present the square crop versions.
El Cerrito Plaza Station, El Cerrito CA.
Macarthur Station, Oakland CA.
Macarthur Station, Oakland CA.
Lunch Rush
City Center
Right now, the lunch rush is to shoot as much as possible in downtown in the time I have left. I’m gettin’ everything I can from big to small, and close to far. The downside is forgetting to eat, and then getting low blood sugar and then wandering around looking for the perfect thing that I want to eat right now that I’m fixated on and that only exists in my addled mind. And then I end up back in the cafeteria on the fifth floor of the Federal Building. At least I get some photos out of it.
Stand-off
Ghost Sign
14th St Window Display
Morning Commute, March 16
This morning’s commute was inspiring. Starting with the dumped over the shopping cart and bag of baby shoes and ending with downtown buildings in soft overcast light.
“Confusion will be my epitaph
as I crawl a cracked and broken path
If we make it, we can all sit back and laugh
But I fear tomorrow I’ll be crying
yes, I fear tomorrow I’ll be crying”
State of California
I’m not sure what further connection there is between these two yet, but I feel strongly that there is one.
You must be logged in to post a comment.