My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
As I write this post my mind is fried. Not much seems to be between the ears this evening. Every once in a while I slide into one of these places where fatigue and confusion seem to rule. Anyway I wanted to post something. This was taken back in 2007 along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. Coleen,a fellow photographer from the pbase website, picked me up at my hotel and took me to a park along the lade for some sunset photos.
As I was looking back over some images from 2004 I came across this photo of my BMW 1150RT Sport Touring motorcycle. I purchased it after being laid off and broke it in with a wonderful 3 week, 4200 mile trip. There were many trips to follow this one as I found motorcycle touring to be a great experience to see this country of ours. I bought this bike after talking to an older gentleman at a campground in eastern Oregon. I had already been looking at a BMW motorcycle and after noticing his bike I walked over and started a conversation. His tent was pitched, riding gear was laid out to take on the fresh air. He was eating baby carrots, slicing up a tomato and drinking a glass of wine. He told me he was heading to Seattle on his way back from New York. His stop in Seattle included picking up his girlfriend and riding up to Vancouver then taking a ferry ride to an island for the weekend. He was 72 years old. I wanted to be just like him. His sales pitch and life style sold me, so the following year I met up with him in Idaho at a BMW MOA rally and got to meet his girlfriend while on my silver RT.
This campsite was in the Gros Ventre Campground just outside of Jackson, Wyoming. I have used this campground as a base for several camping/photography trips. In face I may go back and post of few images from those trips. Sadly I needed to sell the bike in 2008 and move on to other things in my life. Inside I still dream of riding one of them on a twisty mountain road. Heck I’d like to have it on any road. Maybe someday.
“All you can work on today is directly in front of you. Your job is to develop an imagination of the possible.”
Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland
While on a trip to the Smoky Mountains I dropped and broke my Nikon 80-400mm VR lens, a $1400 loss. Ouch! Needles to say I spent the last 3 days of our 7 day trip with nothing but two other Nikon lens, a 16-35mm and 24-85mm. Now my longest focal range dropped from 400mm to 85mm, what was I going to shoot?
The first morning we were able to shoot in Cades Cove we were met with fog, wonderful fog. Along with the fog comes the heaviness of the morning dew, so needles to say we were pretty wet by the time we returned to the hotel. I noticed a barb wire fence covered with dew near the Tipton Place and wandered over to have a look-see. I discovered this grasshopper hanging upside down and patiently waiting for the morning sun to dry his body for the days activities. Since the 24-85mm also had macro capabilities it worked great for me to get some nice images. The fog was burning off and you can see the sun approaching in the background. This image was one of my first attempts at macro photography and spurred the purchase a nice macro lens. So, I ended up working on what was in front of me.
“You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”
Ansel Adams
Do we take the bus or ride the bicycle?
When taking my camera for a walk, since I don’t have a Hobbs or a Foster, I need to always remember to look all around me which means I also need to look up. Never know what I might see. 🙂
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
Thomas Merton
I’m on a 4-day trip and sitting my hotel room. It’s quiet. I like these times. These are times when I read or journal, check emails or read a few blogs. After finding the above quote it has perked my interest to write.
For me the past year has been focused around art. Most of the books I’ve read all pertain to some form of art: writing, painting, photography, sculpting, etc. I’m not sure how much I considered my photography as art but because of all the reading I’ve done, and looking closely at how I work at photography, my views are changing. Photography is my paint brush for expressing my vision, my creativity and how I see the world around me. I’m learning to listen to the voice within me to create images pleasing to me and even write posts about my photography. As I’m listening to the muse, as Pressfield suggests, I’m finding out new things about myself and seeing the world with a fresher vision. I press the shutter button on my camera for my need to express myself. And, to express myself I need to know more about myself.
Here are some of the books I’ve enjoyed reading lately:
I found this image in a window in Rockville, New York. It made me laugh as I just passed over the 60 year mark. Hope everyone has a great day. And, hopefully I’m getting better at this love of photography.
Earl’s been posting images of the Smoky Mountains and stirring up some fond memories of a trip I took back in October of 2003 with fellow photographer Jeff Svoboda. Jeff and I spent a week shooting early mornings and late afternoons. My first experience in the park, loved it and hope it was not my last one. What a great place to experience. As I’ve been cleaning things up on my hard drive I’ve also been finding images I’ve forgotten about. Here’s a morning sunrise from Foothills Parkway: First light.
I’ve been doing a bit of house cleaning; deleting and organizing images on my hard drive. I purchased another and larger hard drive about a month ago. I’ve moved everything over and have it the way I want it. Again, it is enjoyable to look back over images from the past and see where I’ve been and where I’m at now. I found this fellow from 2003 and felt like posting his portrait. He (she) is sure checking me out and looking cute.