Impressions From S.R. 2

Another from the S.R.2 quartet of intentionally blurred images.

Along State Route 2, Northwest Indiana

On the bus, headed from Notre Dame, Indiana, to Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on October 26, 2010, following a visit to my aging Dad...
It had been a warm, windy weekend and on the 26th, a cold front passed through Wisconsin, Illinois, & Indiana bringing thunderstorms, high winds, and a few tornadoes. O'Hare International was closed for an hour or so due to the severity of the storms creating havoc for some travelers. This created something of an opportunity for me, since the backside of these weather fronts usually means a few hours of lingering clouds and maybe some lingering showers, but mostly much clearer air, even if it's a touch windy. In October, with longer shadows and the colors of the remaining leaves on the deciduous trees still changing, it's a real opportunity to have some fun with all the possibilities. As things turned out, the weather cleared shortly after I boarded the bus and as we rumbled along S.R.2 through La Porte County, I thought I'd try and capture some of the tumult and turmoil of the morning's weather and its aftermath along with a taste of the season photographically. By using a slow shutter speed 1/10 of a second or so and riding on the bus bus doing 50 mph, I knew that most everything would be blurred, with objects in the foreground being more blurred than those in the distance, creating am Impressionistic sense of motion. What also makes it lots of fun is you're never sure what you'll get, so it's something of Chaos Theory thrown in for good measure. More to come anon.

Autumn skies, looking up...

Getting up early has its advantages: you get to see some lovely skies and blue hues, especially in October.

Fall Composition

Combining four separate images of the same subject - playing with the abstract forms and colors of autumn found in the backyard.

Looking Up, part three...

In the atrium of the National Museum of the American Indian, the concentric rings of the upper galleries and the cupola resemble the orbits of planets around the sun or a beehive, and possibly,  an exotic wheel cover.
Very fitting, in any event.

Looking up, continued...

Enroute from viewing a magnificent photo exhibition at Pier 24 back to BART recently, my fellow photographers and I cut through the lobby of Spear Tower. Off to one side of the atrium was this towering lattice-like structure. And looking up, was rewarded with this kaleidoscopic image.

Looking Up

Remember when you were wee small and had to look up all the time? Here's a strong visual reminder that it can provide you with a fresh perspective on objects and scenes you may not be inclined to view that way and make a strong graphic image, too. This is the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. taken on a lovely spring day. More to come soon!

Raygun Gothic Rocketship

Now boarding at Pier 14 along San Francisco's Embarcadero for inter-planetary destinations. Spotted enroute to the magnificent photography exhibition at Pier 24 this morning. If you haven't been yet, it's a must see for any photography afficianado.

Alas, original plans to have visitors aboard the Raygun Gothic Rocketship fell through due to ADA issues, but it's still a fun addition to the waterfront, IMO. It will be up until October, 2011. It's the product of a consortium of 70 Bay Area artists led  by by Sean Orlando, Nathaniel Taylor and David Shulman.

"Sweet" Light, continued

As pointed out on the previous post, by being open to the world as it presents itself to us, we can find beauty in everyday occurrences. The hours just before sunset and after sunrise flood us with golden warm light and bathe our environment with the potential for memorable moments or simple reflection. Here, the long diffuse rays of light strike the bookcase at a very sharp angle creating a dramatic study of some well worn and read books that otherwise would have been quite dull.

Fiber Up!

Photographers like to talk about the quality of light or "sweet" light in their photographs. For most landscape and architectural photographers, it generally occurs in that period of time from dawn to three hours after sunrise or from three hours before sunset to dusk. These are the times of day when the length of the shadows cast by objects are most dramatic as the sun rises or sets. Its light is also passing through denser layers of earth's atmosphere, so it's warmer or more golden then when it's more overhead during the mid day hours. Of course, we don't always get to choose the time of day when we are on assignment or when we will be at a particular location when enroute to one place or another and sometimes we do. Sometimes we just get lucky staying open to the possibilities that surround us daily. Like morning light on a bowl of unadorned cereal. An "all natural" photo- i.e. no fill cards or additional lighting, no special filters on the lens, no programmed effects, AKA a "straight'' photo with minimal contrast adjustment. And now, I'm hungry.