• A Sunday Story,  The Pen

    A Sunday Story: The Purchase

    This is the first of a series of short stories about a pen. It is an idea conceived by Faye White when she made a comment on one of my posts. We have agreed to come up with four stories about a pen and its travels. You may say it’s a strange idea or concept, but hopefully entertaining. For me, the pen in these four stories has an encounter with someone. Its task is to empower those who use it to bring their ideas, thoughts, dreams and visions on paper. I intend to post each story on four consecutive Sundays. I also encourage you to visit and enjoy Faye’s story here. Leave us comments to let us know you stopped by, we’d appreciate it.

    This story begins when a young man fresh from college walks into a small gift shop called the Pen and Prose located in Reagan National Airport. Just inside the entrance to the small shop was a tall glass display case filled with pens and mechanical pencils. The lighting and presentation of the display drew the attention of the casual traveler to the wide assortment of writing instruments. However, the beauty and elegance of one of the pens caught the young man’s attention. It was so elegant, something he had never thought of owning. He wandered around the store for a while, not really looking to buy anything, but lingering near the pen. He stopped to look once more before leaving the store then asked to see the pen. Yes, it felt good in his hands. The weight of the pen allowed the roller tip to easily move across the paper and that dark black ink popped on the page. Now that it was in his hand he knew he would have a difficult time putting it down. Even though the price was more than he wanted to spend, the pen had found its first owner.

    He used it at today’s meeting, jotting down notes, listing ideas and helping the customer set their goals and to be successful. The pens’ large silver body and gold trim gave it a look of importance and also caught the eye of his client. When his client asked about the pen it allowed any walls of apprehension or nervousness to come down and opened up the way for a successful meeting for everyone.

    Later that evening back at the hotel, he would use the pen to journal about the day. It felt good to write with this pen and he was thankful he’d purchased it. It had been a good day!

  • Candid Portraits,  People/Portraits

    Practicing

    Self

    My self portraits are not about me. I use myself as a model for practice whenever I have an idea or want to try something out. It sure would be easier if I had a model and stayed behind the camera but sometimes I need to be both in front of an behind the lens. Sure slows me down. In this image I’m practicing off camera flash units and ambient light. I then worked on some post work in Lightroom just to see what I could come up with.

  • Metro Parks

    A Cold Path

    Blendon Woods

    I enjoy walking along foot paths, with my camera, and taking images as I move along. I took this one a couple of days ago in Blendon Woods Park. It was cold with light snow falling and a nice crisp breeze blowing right through my pants. Brrrrr! Bring on Spring!

  • Avian,  Photography

    Does it Matter?

    Pelican

    This post was stirred by Scott Bourne when asked why he pursued the career of a photographer. His answer, “Because I want to do something that matters.”  I really had to stop and think about that for a minute. I know I take photographs because it’s an enjoyable hobby, to nurture the creativity within me and to share my vision of this world but I had never stopped to consider if it mattered or not.

    He suggests we can protect our memory of a scene with our cameras which is true with the weddings and portraits we shoot. I believe we often walk through life without being present to the here and now. We can easily get lost in our thoughts and miss seeing the small sprouts of a flower breaking through the soil on an early spring walk, or miss seeing the farmer plowing his field, or the pelican as it effortlessly circles above us, or the children waiting for the school bus, etc. Photography has helped me to see the world as it is at that very moment, even if it’s 125th of second. I also see the world using different lens. I’m learning to see things up close and take in the scene that’s taking place across the street. It all matters to me.

    So, do you think your photography matters?

  • Photography

    Why do we?

    Shadows

    Sometimes as we walk through this world of ours, our inner eye, our vision, our muse, the small voice, whatever it is, calls us to stop, look and take a photo. I’m learning listen to it more often and follow through with it’s nudging. I don’t always know why anymore than other photographers that ask the same question. It may come to me later as symbolism to something in my life. It may just be the subject or the light or the place. I’m not sure it really matters if we know or not. Some of us just need to shoot.

  • Camera Equipment,  Photography

    Cameras I've owned

    Lost in Thoughts

    Paul Lester had an interesting post about the cameras he has owned. The post started an interesting thread so I decided to follow suit and list the cameras I’ve owned. I was surprised at how many cameras there have been. I’m also surprised I can’t remember what the brands and models of some of them were. Getting older!

    1. Yashika Twin-lens reflex – Not sure what model it was (124) or how I received it. I shot black and white film and developed it in my dad’s basement with the help of a man who I worked for.
    2. A Pentax or Canaon 35mm SLR bought in 1970. Strange I can’t remember what it was. Anyway I sold it and the Yashika TLR, when my wife and I needed to purchase a washer/dryer for the our first house.
    3. Nikon EM – bought partly because of the all black body. 🙂 Still have it but it doesn’t work.
    4. Nikon FG – another nice simple camera.
    5. Nikon FE2 – wish I still had this one.
    6. Nikon N70 – never did like this one for some reason
    7. Nikon N80 – shot my first weddings with this one and actually owned two.
    8. Nikon D100 – my introduction into digital (Loved it) and still have both of them
    9. Nikon D300 – Have no desire to move on to another one, yet. I do keep up on the latest and greatest, so I’m known to fall prey to “camera body lust.”

    Not sure why the draw to Nikon. I sometimes think I would rather have worked into the Canon world as I feel they have a more appealing range of lens to change from and a nicer price. Thanks for your interesting post, Paul.