Where have I been?
I have been on a slight, unplanned hiatus. Self-inflicted mostly. I fell off my bicycle and broke my arm about six weeks ago. The reason I say “self-inflicted” is that if I wasn’t so damn stupid I wouldn’t have fallen off in the first place.
Rule #1 when you have shoe clips – always unclip when approaching a stop. I didn’t follow the rule.
So I broke my right ulna about an inch from the elbow and actually ended up with surgery. I now have a metal rod in my arm, which will be a great conversation piece at TSA checkpoints.
Luckily, I only had my arm immobilized for a week after surgery – the surgeon said I could get my arm back if I behaved myself. It’s been very painful and I’m finally starting to get some semblance of normalcy.
That means I’ve gotten my shooting hand back. I finally felt well enough over the last couple weeks to actually do some things and you’ll see some results. I’m starting to play with a few things, including a little “cheer me up” purchase of an IR Converted Olympus E-PM2.
I’m off on a short vacation this week, but I wanted to toss some things up here and share my experiments. I hope to be back in full swing after another week or so.
Happy shooting!
Chain
Olympus OM2N, 50mm f1.4, Neopan Acros 100
I feel the words falling in a rhythm
I see the wind bearing its decision to never give in
– Enigk, Goldsmith, Mendel
Long Day
It was a long day today meeting with everyone. I think it went well, but no offer was extended. So, I’m not as confident.
It’s a beautiful area and would be a great place to live. I just hoped I would have come out with something more definitive.
Who knows.
Something’s got to give…
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Hello from Albany!
Rest stop on the NY Thru-Way.
And if we could have gone thru Canada, we would already be there…
Oh well.
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Last One for a Few Days
Since I’m taking off tomorrow morning, here’s the last photo for a few days.
(At least photos not from my iPhone as I blog during my trip.)
One for the Nose
Olympus OM2n, 50mm f1.4, Kodak Tri-X, Yellow Filter
And in case you are wondering, yes that is my daughter. I gave in for the last time on the piercings. This was a little one for the nose and is actually quite cute. I’m terribly fond of the lip ring, but she’s a teenager and she worked her ass off around the house to get it.
Some more follow-up on the Ex-Wife saga:
I confirmed that she does not have right of refusal on traveling with my daughter. Even if I was going through Canada. So there!
She still didn’t hand over the birth certificate, so we’re taking the long way around. Kinda spoils the plans for a little stop in Toronto on the way home, but that can wait until another time.
And guess what went in the mail today? I ordered up my own copy.
See ya on the road!
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Flame On…
Why won’t she just LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!!!!!!!
Why does she have to keep ruining my life? She did that enough for so many years and when I finally grow some and decided to leave her, she puts on the full-court press.
Why does she treat her kids the way she does?
Everyone who knows her knows the truth. They disapprove. But there’s no telling her that she’s doing wrong.
I have to spend so much fucking money to prove to the court system that she’s a FUCKING NUT CASE.
Actually, they kinda know that. We just have a new judge that needs to have it proven to.
It’s so tiring being “the better person”. So damed tiring.
Thus ends the rant.
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Hostage
My Ex-Wife is such a peach.
I don’t know if I mentioned, but the folks I’ve been telephonically interviewing with over the last week have asked me to come out to Vermont for a face-to-face for a whole day. I think it looks pretty good since their paying for my hotel. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Well, I planned on taking my daughter with me. She wants to go – check out the area, spend some time with Dear Old Dad, and enjoy a little road trip. Since by law I have to notify the Ex of any trips and the plan is to drive through Canada, I need my daughter’s birth certificate (which the Ex has conveniently continued to hold hostage).
She’s refusing. Not allowing my daughter to travel with me. She’s also going to “fight as long and hard as possible” to prevent my daughter moving with me if I do get this job or any job that has me moving more than 100 miles from her.
Here’s the most ridiculous thing:
My daughter does not want to stay with her mother.
My daughter doesn’t really want to see her mother.
Child Protective Services has been involved twice with complaints on how the Ex treats my daughter both verbally and physically. None of those complaints, I might add, came from me as axe grinding. They were initiated by the Court and the School on separate occasions.
Why is the Ex doing this? Because it would hurt me. Not about what is good for my daughter. Because it would hurt me.
She ruined my life for 13 years and she’s still trying to do so two years after the courts freed me.
Apogee
Luna Nubilum
Olympus E-1, 50-200mm ED Zuiko
Tonight’s full moon is the closest apogee since 1993. For those non-astronomy buffs out there, that means that this is the closest the moon’s orbit has come to our little blue ball in 15 years. Cool, huh?
Work like this reminds me why I’m just a photographer and not a graphic artist – I suck at Photoshop.
In fact, I really don’t use Photoshop that much. I use Aperture to handle color correction, sharpening, and other global affects. I use both Aperture and Photoshop to handle basic cloning for more repair work. I just don’t do composite images very well.
This is actually two shots put together. No camera in the world (nor film, for that matter) that I know of has the dynamic range to capture the moon like this and the clouds together. We can view it that way with our eyes as our brains can interpret the scene to provide the full range – detail on the moon and still showing the wisps of clouds. So, the only thing a photographer has at his/her disposal is the composite.
It came out OK. But, I worked on it for almost an hour. If I really practiced, I could probably do it. But I would rather capture my images in the camera instead of spending so much time in the darkroom – digital or analog.
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Nice Pussy!
OK. Now that I’ve got your attention 🙂
Here’s one of my favorites from the weekend darkroom work:
Big Cat
Olympus OM2n, 135mm f3.5, Kodak Tri-X, Yellow Filter
When we were at the Brookfield Zoo during my last trip to Chicago, I shot up a roll of film. The weather wasn’t too bad, but it was still generally chilly. So, most of the animals were indoors.
This guy was one of the exceptions.
And what was really nice is he hung out up close to the viewing area. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Brookfield Zoo, with some of the big cat habitats, they have little nooks where you can get “up close and personal” with theanimals. As close as you can get with a thick sheet of plexiglass separating you and the subject.
So, this guy was just hanging out by the viewing area. Pacing a bit. Scratching up a tree that was near by. Took a leak (really). The real funny moment was when a group of school kids from some area high school, obviously on some sort of science class outing, boisterously came up to the exhibit. He turned, staring right out the window at the kids with this look of “Hmm. Food.” on his face.
It was priceless. Mainly ‘cause they were being quite annoying and it really wouldn’t have been such a bad thing for him to have eaten one of them.
Haven’t Got a Clue…
So maybe I should head to the WalMart and buy one 🙂
This is from the last trip into the darkroom:
Problem is I can’t think of a title. And I really hate “untitled” on photos. Or any art for that matter. Seems kinda lazy.
Anyway, this scene (and the photo) really grab me. You have some very linear elements with the buildings – their edges, the shingles, the siding, the bricks. Then you add these twisted pipes that carry who-knows-what between the two structure with their nice curves. And to cap it off, some very interesting shadows being cast from the whole lot.
I go back to trying to remember what initially grabbed me – what I was thinking at the time when I got this into my sights. Unfortunately, I just keep coming back to one thing:
It was damned cold out!
So, who knows. Any suggestions or comments, drop ‘em below and you’ll be granted much appreciation.
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Negotiations with the Ex
Isn’t the point of negotiations to have to parties come together with a decision?
Isn’t part of that process to keep an eye on the greater good?
And isn’t one of the key components to any negotiation concession?
A negotiation is not one party telling the other what they will do, how they will do it, and when they will do it.
If she’d only understand that is one of the main reasons I divorced her.
I need to have a say in things.
I want to be heard.
She needs to provide concessions. Not just me.
I rant, therefore I am…
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Third Time’s a Charm
Well, this is my third post for today. I guess I need something else to keep me busy.
A JOB for example. Now that would be nice.
Anyway, darkroom activity just finished up. I’ve got the last couple prints I whipped out on the drying rack. Those took a little work with some split filtering and a smidgen of burning. But the rest came out pretty well as essentially straight prints.
Of the 24 I started with, that’s been cut down to 17. A few “eh”, some keepers, and a couple of winners.
At least that’s what I think now. Give it a few weeks when I look at them again. I’ll probably change my mind. I’ll share some of the last few day’s work after I get them in the selenium bath. I’ll probably knock out a half-dozen or so tomorrow night. I’ll pick the best of the best to do first so I can share.
I’m sure you’re all waiting with bated breath…
On another front, I a “double interview” with a company today – one with HR and the other with the team I would potentially be supervising. Went pretty well. So well, in fact, that I’ve been invited out for a face-to-face next Wednesday. This gig’s in Vermont with a really great company. So, a little road trip is in the works!
I also have another interview with a local organization Wednesday. We’ll see if one of these cuts loose.
God, I hope so.
I really, really, hope so.
Keeping all appendages crossed, including those that aren’t even mine.
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My Rainbow
Saw this posted on dari_67 ‘s page and gave it a try.
What is says about you: You are a creative person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you’ve mastered it.
Pretty much nailed me, I think.
Darkroom Day
Today’s been a Darkroom Day. Well, most of it anyway. I didn’t actually get started until mid afternoon.
So, first with the contact sheets. Simple. Just needed to let the sheets dry enough for handling and markup.
Then to the film photographer’s drudgery – exposure strips.
24 of them. Ugh.
It’s not that they are hard to do. They just take so long compared to the output. You really just want to get to the full size prints. That’s where the excitement lies. Where the true creativity happens.
So, five hours later and they’re hanging to dry. That was two hours ago and now it’s time to determine exposures for work prints.
OK, it could have been four, but I had to take a couple smoke breaks. Give a guy some slack, will ya?!
Since I have to get up at a decent hour, all I’m going to do for the rest of the night is run through the strips.
Tomorrow’s the fun day…
Sentries
Beatnic
I’m a beatnic tonight. Hanging at the Museum of Cintemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) while the kid attends a show around the corner.
I love this place. First time being here and I’m already thinking about coming back. I’m going to hang here until I get the word from The Brat that they’re done.
It’s an old industrial building that they’ve converted for the artwork. Just the building is fascinating. Then add the galleries. Nice.
Sure, it ain’t New York or Chicago, but it’ll due.
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The Reader
Another one from the Downtown Detroit Series…
Something I need to do more of myself. I could say that I haven’t had time, but that would be a flat out lie.
However, I’m trying something and I’ve already finished one book – eBooks.
eBooks on my iPhone, believe it or not. What a techno geek, huh?
It’s actually not too bad. I haven’t decided if I miss handling a book – the feel of the paper, the smell. But I have found that I can get myself lost in the words, which is really the most important part of reading for me. When I read, I shut out the outside world and just dive in full force.
Yes, it’s a small screen. But messing with the eBook reader settings, it does make it easier on the eyes. And if it’s good enough for Jean-Luc Picard, why can’t I try it out?
(Note: Yes, Picarddid read actual books, but since there were so few surviving in the 25th century a lot of his reading was done via tricorder. And yes, I’m talking about a fictional character as though he was a real person. Boy, I need help.)
My So Called Life 