A series of interpretations

After walking down the trail and viewing the roots that Herb Ellis photographed to win first place in the photography division, I decided to try my hand at some roots. Herbs was done in black and white, and my efforts at his roots were not the same. These vines were further down from his. I think I lean toward the one toned down, number three and four. What do you prefer?

Yeats

I used this photograph to illustrate a Yeats poem at John Clare page. It is about an 8 second time exposure of the tree in Mrs Duncan's yard. It is the same tree I used for thirty days straight. This night the dipper was just over the tree. I enhanced this beyond reality in post processing.

Quick Draw

I rounded the corner of the Willow Pond Trail at the Alligator Lake Park Recreation area.  This Columbia County owned park is made up of a large series of old dredged dikes the Hill family farmers created years ago. They even had the audacity in the old days to run a dike through the main body of water of Alligator Lake, creating fertile fields for crops. Amazing in that it was even allowed. But, today the dikes serve as good hiking trails through the scenic stands of cypress, oak and pine.
One rule of thumb as in hunting, one has to always have the gun loaded, finger on trigger, stopping often to observe and wait. I heard a pileated woodpecker working in a tree deeper off the trail, so I stopped and listened, trying to find him. I took a few shots into the dark shadows to check my exposure. Then, before I even had time to focus, he flew directly at me and lit on a tree about ten yards in front of me. He did not see me. As he peeked around the tree, spotting me, I was only quick enough to get a quick shot of his tail feathers as he flew off, never to be seen again.
I was amused at my shot, while at the same time lamenting I did not capture the peek around the tree at me.

Praise with elation

Well, sometimes titles are driven simply by what is at the time playing on the Pandora radio. I set the Pandora to shuffle through many of the radio stations I have set up. Metallica may be followed by Roy Rogers. Today, Cat Stevens was playing Morning has broken.
Today is Friday. We plan on traveling down to Williston tonight and return Saturday afternoon. I would have liked to stay in town and attend the Wild Azalea in White Springs, hearing my friend Johnny Bullard of White Springs sing, but another time. I hope to get some good early morning photographs of the Dixie Lily Ranch outside Williston on US27 for Diane Webb. We shall see.
Today the weather is crisp and cool. The sky clear and blue. Melanie winds up her home job today. She already has a video interview today and another on Monday. I will apply for a Park Naturalist position at the Olustee Battlefield. It says Civil War knowledge helpful. I have some of that. We shall see. The thought of retail turns me into groaning.
And so we continue to photograph with what we got. The Nikon D3100 sparingly, the Canon S95 and S100 more so. I see where several of the younger types use Instagram. I signed up for that too, just to see what all the buzz is about.

For Thine Is

the kingdom
the power
the glory
forever


amen


after the Dr Randolph's nice technician and his nice young dentist daughter cleaned my teeth, x-ray ed me, told me i had cavities, i returned home only to venture over to Alligator Lake again, to get the contrail shot from the other day right. Today, after taking about two dozen shots from various angles of the lilies, I liked this one, where the lilies were lined up. And no jet streams.
I walked about up and down the trails, in search of barred owls. Heard them, but only in the distance. A nice pileated woodpecker flew right up to me, but I was only quick enough to get his tail before he flew off.
No deer, no turkey, no baby gators, though the mother is still on the bank. They grow fast and are probably nearby but growing quite independent.
Continue to lament the heavy toting of the Nikon and the metal and glass long lens. Would be nice to have a lighter, sharper, faster alternative. Nikon came out with the micro four third V3 today, but at 1200 for just the body, too expensive.
Again, if money was no object, probably would saddle up to the Canon Mark 3 at around 4K for body only. Money is always the object. Lack of.

Thursday Denistry

This morning at 7am we were on the road for Gainesville. Melanie had a mammogram and a dentist appointment. Between appointments, we ate breakfast at Perkins next to the mall. We both over indulged. The fellow with him elderly mamma and the big mickey mouse stuffed toy they eat with were there. A nice son indeed. Melanie said, we sure will never see that!
We came on home to various text messages from my sister and will she, won't she take mamma tonight. Wrangling, we decided it just easier to keep her here as she loathes leaving.
And so I swept the pool from all the high wind and leaves. And the ACC tournament is on. And Wolfie is in Crete. And Rick is stuck in the muck of Bell Springs. Whatever is that fellow up to? Wish I was along, both places, but I am about to saddle up again and go for my dentist appointment at two. A new dentist, Randolph, since I care not for my old dentist any longer. A nickel and dimer even though, aren't they all.
And so our insurance comes to a close tomorrow. And so we are trying to get it all in before then.

I forget, this blog is not about to be all about me, me, me. And it is not compelling. And I do  not know what you will learn from it.

The photograph above is taken with the Canon S100 point and shoot. I hold it upside down and let the manual flash, set at minus two, fill in from below. I turn the exposure compensation down also to about minus one and a half to two, depending on the amount of sky I want to lighten or darken. In this case, I wanted to downplay that infernal roof line of Mrs Duncan that intrudes in about every shot. I also put the focus on manual at about four inches. I guess at the distance. I have a little metal ruler, but always forget to carry it.
Not much else. Vivid on the color. ISO set to auto, but sometimes 80.
As I said before, I like the manipulation I can achieve with this camera much more than I do the fancier Nikon. This one is just more intuitive. I can do it with eyes closed. And isn't that how it should be?
There, a photography lesson.
Learn to photograph blindly.

in conclusion

i have come to the conclusion that i shall go the way of Yeats and Clare, in a state of rhyme, one who dreamed and loved the poetry, who would rather see the deer and turkey alive, the snake not hung to dry.
i was one who would sit for hours and watch the moon, just to catch a jet puncturing it. one who loved the photography and the artistry, though everyone ignored it basically and never understood it. who would rather see pictures pretty and not too deeply and just once quickly, never mulling and studying, like he did.
who blogged daily, though it was considered shallow and boring by many, except around thirteen who said they followed. i conclude therefore, this world must not be my home, that i was made for a world where Yeats and Clare and Vincent went, far from the jets that streaked close, but not quite close enough to the moon i watched.

Luther Day

Today is the day, March 12th, that the Lord chose to call Luther Ray home. Have you ever pondered what your day will be? I do. I often visit cemeteries, especially the ones out in the country beside the old wooden churches. There is much from them the living can learn. One thing for certain, we all have a beginning, a dash and soon an end. They say, what you do with that dash is important. We have nothing to do with the beginning or the end.
As for Jordon, he is one of two sons. He still lives at home. Landon, his older brother, is in Japan in the Air Force. We haven't heard from him in a year. His silence the most difficult thing we have had to endure, more troubling than even the death of his grandfather in 2011. There is a finality to the end, there should never be finality in the dash.
When I look at this photograph, I see myself so vividly in my father holding Jordon. I turned 59 this past January 30th. My father was probably a little older here, but not by much. Jordon had to be around two or less. Nathaniel, Landon's son, now three this past January 5th, the grandson I last saw this March a year ago, I see so vividly in Jordon.
So today, this 12th of March, I will ponder the ones passed on, those of us passing on, and try desperately, through prayer, supplicaton and every means I can, to reconcile those letting the dash of life be their finality.

Blog Advice

Steve Coleman gave some good advice for bloggers today on Facebook. He basically said, stop blogging, it bores us and unless you have compelling and interesting content continually, don't bother. I stated, I will apologize to my thirteen followers. Geesh. So, I apologize to my thirteen followers for having the nerve.
There is probably a reason I only have thirteen followers. I break all the rules Steve mentioned. I carry on way too much about myself, I do not consistently post high quality photographs that wow my audience. I am just not that great a photographer or writer. I know that I am not as interesting as I often think I am, the sparse following reminds me of that daily.
I will have to look into this Dave Carol fellow he found interesting and compare what he is doing to what I am doing. Whatever Steve. There will always be someone exciting out there. I am not one of them. Move on.

Now back to the rule breaking...

Today I went up to the Lab to get my blood drawn. Artistic heh? I then, on my way home, detoured to Alligator Lake pier. There, I found my friend, Mr Bill, or Bill Chandler. Mr Bill says he loves to fish. He also is a good bird watcher. He has helped me out several times to spot birds far away. It was good to see Mr Bill today. I came on home and had two cups of coffee.  There, I blogged.

Durn Contrail

I was unable to look directly into the sun as I was too busy trying to get the lilies composed properly, not over-exposing them. Wouldn't you know it, in all but one or two of the frames is the ugly jet streak, ruining the shot, or at least, adding the element of man into it. Goes to show, if you are not careful in selection and not deliberate, but in a hurry, as I usually am, such occurs. Some guys I suppose could simply photoshop it out, I am not that advanced yet.

Which brings me to another point, not so much in the carefulness and deliberation, but finding a camera that I do not have to fight with in order to get proper exposure, or at least one that knows what I am after and does not refuse to deliver. The Nikon D3100 is just a beast for some reason to properly meter, etc. Maybe it has a glitch in it I am unaware of since it was a re-furbished model. I just know that if I do not use manual exposure, with the spot metering, the matrix metering, which is supposed to be so great, over-exposes every time. Some days I will have the exposure compensation at minus two for geepers sake.
Today I worked on cranking up the ISO to 400, which helped some to give me more latitude with the f-stop.
I talked with my favorite nature photographer John Moynahan today and he, as I suspected, uses  the Canon MK Mark 3 with the L lenses. The full frame makes a big difference. His quality is outstanding. A real artist.
Told him I will someday evolve into a Canon man, as I have the beginning of flippers with the Canon S100 I use.

Alligator Walk

A slow,long walk with somewhat lighter gear in tow today. Only carried a fanny pack with the 18-55 and polarizer,neutral density graduated, the D3100 with the 180mm 2.8 and TC-201. Had on the belt the Canon S100 and the Iphone. Used the 180mm to capture the mother alligator with her babies. The first time, the contrast was too great. On the return walk, better. The rat snake was taken with the Canon S100. He was not spooked and let me get within four inches of him. I tried to get more with his tongue out, but only one came out. I used manual focus, fill flash and under-exposure by about two stops. The snake would look at the black lens and kind of bend its head. I could have taken more, but figured one was enough and I let him slowly slither on.
They dwell in grass
the unspoken
the lowly pass
never knowing.

Love of a life

This was on the eight of March, three days before my father passed away. Unable to speak clearly from the massive stroke, it was as if my father was attempting to apologize to my mother for divorcing her. He often said he regretted that, but sadly, never made good on that regret to reconcile. My mother, the saint she has always been, never had an unkind word, and said that he was the love of her life.
Amazing love, that one could endure such as she did for so long, and yet, in her heart, remain faithful and loving. Her reward has to be great, it has to be. Grant it Lord Jesus.