Tag: close up

Ah the fun that an old man can have with the simplicity of a small piece of an already beautiful thing. How light reflects, creates shadows, small valleys and rises. The color, already vibrant, can be made to seem to make a solid into transparency. All with the simplicity of a bloom and a small maglite. Add the fact that in can all be done within the comfort of eighty degrees when it’s 101 outside.

It somehow seems a bit of cheating the mindful practice, using artificial means to achieve what used to take hours of waiting until the natural light became what you needed or wanted. I long to be of the nature like Ansel Adams. I had read of the lengths that Mr Adams would go (or wait) for the images to form to his liking. But then I read his description of the making of his haunting image: Moonrise over Espanola.

                                                                                               ©Ansel Adams

From Ansel Adams, in Examples:

“We were sailing southward along the highway not far from Espanola(NM) when I glanced to the left and saw an extraordinary situation—an inevitable photograph! I almost ditched the car and rushed to set up my 8×10 camera. I was yelling to my companions to bring me things from the car as I struggled to change components on my Cooke Triple-Convertible lens. I had a clear visualization of the image I wanted, but when the Wratten No. 15 (G) filter and the film holder were in place, I could not find my Weston exposure meter! The situation was desperate: the low sun was trailing the edge of the clouds in the west, and shadow would soon dim the white crosses.

I was at a loss with the subject luminance values, and I confess I was thinking about bracketing several exposures, when I suddenly realized that I knew the luminance of the moon—250 c/ft2. Using the Exposure Formula, I placed this luminance on Zone VII; 60 c/ft2 therefore fell on Zone V, and the exposure with the filter factor o 3x was about 1 second at f/32 with ASA 64 film. I had no idea what the value of the foreground was, but I hoped it barely fell within the exposure scale. Not wanting to take chances, I indicated a water-bath development for the negative.”

Realizing as I released the shutter that I had an unusual photograph which deserved a duplicate negative, I swiftly reversed the film holder, but as I pulled the darkslide the sunlight passed from the white crosses; I was a few seconds too late!”

Please do not think that I am comparing myself to “Da Man”, other than we both use the same tool (of sorts), the likeness fades like an under-fixed print…..Peace Out †††

“WE BUILD TOO MANY BRIDGES AND NOT ENOUGH WALLS.”   Isaac Newton….. 

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Just as I find the outside flower pickin’s on the slim and fading away side. I discover the $5.00 bouquets of flowers from Albertsons provide not only a source of beauty for a good week or so. But give me a pretty and kind subject that sits still and poses for as long as needed.

Then the afternoon setting sun rays become reflected off the petals through the vision of a Lensbaby, and all is good.

Beauty feast through my eyes, life slows and becomes almost without season.

enjoy, monos en theos †† jasL

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Rainy days are made for:

A. Read a book

B. Movies

C. Naps

D. Play with old images in Photoshop

As the weather cools and our rainy season is upon us, my body is healing and now I wish I had some flowers to photograph. So, the second best thing is to pull up a summer made image and play around in Photoshop. Rainy day friend and all that.

Peace out.††† jas L

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I have already stormed through Brene Brown’s latest read. And when I say stormed I read like Gen Sherman marched through the South.

I need to lay down my torches and read it again. I so want to be the man in the arena, and even more so desire to be the man who rises strong to finish the battle.

My first read makes me feel that I may lay too long and languish with my face in the sand seemingly that I am not rising at all. But I find that we rise strong at different speeds. I am just not one that quickly arises with sword in hand ready to lay siege to the castle

I find that even with tattered and torn wings, I must just hold strongly awhile until my heart, mind, soul and body find ways to do battle that will end with me truly rising strongly.

And even knowing all of that, there are some battles that I cannot win.

So hold tightly today and prepare your body to rise strongly!  monos en theos ††† jas L

DSC_6956 copy copyUnlike most butterflies, gray hairstreaks do not prefer one specific habitat. They are widespread in tropical forests and open, temperate woodland areas. They can also be found in meadows, crop fields, neglected roadsides, and residential parks and yards are often homes of this fascinating butterfly.

Gray hairstreaks can be found in Southern Canada to Central America and Northwestern South America. They occur from coast to coast and in a variety of altitudes ranging from sea level to nine thousand feet

Not to mention they are skittery and fast. Glad to find a butterfly to match my persona. Well not that I am ever any longer thought of as fast, skittery, yes. A wild hair for sure.       monos en theos †† jas L

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My wife, Susan, and I often fall into opposite sites of  corners when it comes to our favor of seasons. I fall ( no pun) into a general dislike of  things falling and fading. She is quick to remind me of my like of fall colors and of change in general, the flavor of turkey and pumpkin. The damp smells and subtle earthy color. She makes me see how it is is not so much  dying and dormancy. Rather a time of rest and hibernation. A time of rest and rebirth. Fading turns to endless warm tones of gold, brown and red.

Much like fall, change slowly overtakes me and peace filters up through the soles of my shoes and into my heart.

And so I pause. Move slowly. Take time to see, smell and feel the change. The rust tones fill me and i long for a slice of warm pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream. I also receive the addied bonus of finding that hearts  that have grown close to us come to understand the inside of us better than we see.   monos en theos……jas L

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So part two of the Metamorphosis thing. The whole process just takes my mind to places I cannot quite put into place. I am sure the caterpillar has less of a thought process than me. But I got to figure when he goes into the cocoon thing, he has to figure this it it, I’m one dead bug. And then after a few days, weeks months whatever it takes, he awakes and emerges a whole new and different creature.

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
― Helen Keller

Enjoy both the closed and newly opened doors!   monos en theos †††† jas L

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Okay, I admit this guy is a little scarey now but little does he know what he will become. Oh that we could experience such a metamorphosis.

Yeah I know we can all make major changes but to curl into a cocoon and a few months later come out a whole different creature just rocks my imagination. Stay tuned for the morphed version……..monos en theos jas L †††

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #905 – Henri Cartier-Bresson on The Minds Eye

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“MY PASSION has never been for photography ‘ in itself ‘ but for the possibility –through forgetting yourself– of recording in a fraction of a second the emotion of the subject, and the beauty of the form; that is, a geometry awakened by what’s offered.

The photographic shot is one of my sketchpads.”        HENRI CARTIER – BRESSON  8/2/1994

I have been reading Henri Cartier – Bresson’s book about photography: The Mind’s Eye. It should be required reading for anyone who attempts to see and record images!    monos en theos  †† jas L

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #904 – Holding on in the wind!

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We have been waiting (somewhat patiently) for Hagerman Wildlife Refuge to reopen. They were hit pretty hard with the Lake Texoma flooding from a couple of months back. The amount of damage was still evident and the folks have been working hard to get things back to normal, but it is a long haul.

We spent the afternoon there, whiling away the day with the company of many butterflies, waterfowl and other flying and crawling creatures. The butterfly garden was a real treat and we basked in the beauty that only He can put together, What fun.

These two dragonflies were part of a gaggle of twenty or so all hanging on to the barest of little stalks. These two were taken from the same angle as I was on the ground and it was impossible to hold focus on the both of them. They were about a foot or so apart. So I made two separate photos with both in focus and then stacked them together in photoshop. What fun !

monos en theos…….jas L