ku # 1140 • civilized ku # 2214 ~ fractured fairy tales & a poem lovely as a tree

Au Sable River / Whiteface Mt. ~ Au Sable Forks / Clintonville, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggenOn Sunday last, when I came across a scene (on the road to my house, 2-3 miles away), as documentarily recorded in the picture which accompanies this entry, I thought to myself, "I really need to transform this scene from what it is into whatever I want it to be. I am, after all, God's chief Assistant Art Director and He has created what's in front of me as just so much grist for my picture making mill."

The temptation was strong in me to stretch and warp significant features in the image (such as mountain ranges), to engage in radical modification of the color palette present in the image as captured (in a mere documentary fashion) by the camera, to remove and/or move significant elements of the photograph such as rivers, trees, rocks, etc., and to duplicate or, as long as I'm having at it, add significant elements to the picture.

But, even as such saccharin sugar plum visions danced in my head, something else came into my head that I had read:

I think that I shall never see
A "meaningful" picture lovely as a tree.

Such pictures are made by fools who can't see,
But only god can make a tree.

So, hell did not freeze over and I tried to just be in the moment, to see what was in front of me, and to picture it as truthfully as the medium and its apparatus allow.

civilized ku # 2082-83 / ku # 1139 ~ doing laps

Olympic Center ~ Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
Whiteface Mt. / Mirror Lake ~ Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
Church steeple and mountains ~ Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggenDespite the dearth of snow, winter has been cold enough for ice on lakes, ponds, rivers and, in the case of wintertaining the wife's family, cold enough for ice making on the 1980 Olympic Speed Skating Oval in Lake Placid (the last Olympic outdoor speed skating venue - where Eric Heiden became the only athlete in the history of speed skating to have won all five events in a single Olympic tournament and the only one to have won a gold medal in all events).

So we all headed into Lake Placid for an afternoon of skating on the oval and on Mirror Lake. The day was cold, but not too cold, and the sun was out for most of the afternoon. Later in the afternoon, as the sun and its warmth were waning, there were some very pleasant late-day vistas to enjoy.

ku # 1138 ~ rare sighting

Artic/Tundra swans ? Vermont Green Mts. ~ Lake Champlain / Peru, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggenUnfortunately, I did not have my 400mm (35mm equiv.) lens with me when I saw these, very rare for these parts, 3 Artic/Tundra swans on Lake Champlain - 2 adults + 1 young swans. The swans seem to have taken up winter residency on Lake Champlain near Au Sable Point. They are rarely seen around here but the mild winter has allowed them to hang out here rather than much farther south down the Atlantic Coast.

I could use this sighting to launch into a weather-weirding / climate-change scree but it's a nice day and I don't want to upset the flat-earth / anti-science crowd.

FYI, I'll most likely head back to Au Sable Point with the long lens.

ku # 1137 ~ late winter afternoon

Whiteface and clouds ~ viewed from near Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

ku # 1136 ~ out of sight / out of mind

Whiteface from Monument Falls ~ Wilmington, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenIn response to my whining in the the best ever, most perfect holiday gift - what I want for Xmas entry, Anil Rao contacted me with a holiday gift exchange offer. Anil has created a new folio, Fractured, which he has graciously offered in exchange for some of my work (yet to be determined). I am looking forward to viewing his new folio and I certain that it will be the equal of his Rocks and Stones folio which I already possess.

In his Email, Anil mentioned that his Fractured folio is featured in LensWork Extended #97 (online - membership only) along with an interview with Brooks Jensen. As coincidence would have it, recently, I have been thinking about how, with the passing of Borders bookstore, I have not purchased any photo periodicals in the past 5-6 months - Borders is was the only bookstore within 150 miles - without taking a ferry ride or leaving the country - with a half-decent selection of photo periodicals.

Anil's mention of LensWork, a periodical I would regularly purchase at Borders, reminded me that I should give some thought to subscribing to a number of such magazines. Unfortunately, that prospect creates a few problems for me: 1) I don't necessarily want each and every issue of a given magazine - some issues are not always to my liking, content wise, and being able to browse through them at a newsstand was my method of pick-and-choose, and 2) magazines, via the mail, often show up bruised or mangled and, once again, being able to pick through them at a newsstand for the best condition examples was a plus.

That said, at this time, I don't have an alternative. It's subscriptions or nothing given the fact that I am not about to travel 150 miles every month for the express purpose of buying magazines. So now it would seem that I have another problem - 3) trying to determine which photo magazines are worth subscribing to.

Any suggestions?

tangles, thickets, and twigs ~ fields of visual energy

Twigs - the book ~ sample spreads • click to embiggenMy POD picture book, Tangles, Thickets, and Twigs ~ Fields of Visual Energy, arrived yesterday and, self serving as it may sound, it is an incredible piece of work.

The book - 12×12inch hard cover, 36 pages, with 30 9×9inch color plates (to include 1 visual joke - FYI, even the wife burst out laughing when she saw it) - is my first it's-about-time attempt at organizing / editing my so-called "twig" pictures. Pictures made over the past 7-8 years which have been sitting (languishing?) in my 3,400+ pictures finished picture folder just waiting to be brought to the fore. After viewing the book, I can state unequivocally that it was well worth the time and effort.

As is so often the case, the pictures, when viewed as a body of work, make quite an impression and a very strong visual statement. While each individual picture in the book is, IMO, worthy of consideration as stand alone "greatest hits", when viewed together, they positively sing - musically speaking, all the individual notes come together to create quite a pleasing symphony.

All of that sales spiel said, the book is available for purchase. The price is a moving target - Shutterfly is currently offering a 30% discount which brings the price down from $90.00US to $70.00US. If you're not in a hurry and can wait until Shutterfly offers a 40% discount - mostly likely right after the holidays - the price will be $60.00US (all prices are + shipping).

If you are interested (and who wouldn't be?), email me with your mailing address (so the book can be shipped directly from Shutterfly). I will advise you of current discounts and the book's "market price" before placing the order.

Current Book Price

North America (includes shipping) $62.00 USD international (includes extra shipping cost) $70.00 USD

Price includes shipping cost. The International book price reflects the extra cost (via USPS First Class Mail) for overseas shipping.

Update on Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 10:21AM by gravitas et nugalis

ADDENDUM - 12/15: As of today, Shutterfly is offering a "Limited Time" 50% discount. So, today's "market price" for the book is $50.00US + shipping. As they say on late night TV, "Act now! Operators are standing by."

PS - Since this book is already selling well, I will order a few more to keep on hand (at the $50.00US price) for those who need a little more time to think it over.

civilized ku # 2003-05 / ku # 1135 ~ catching up

Wall display ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
Building Lots (for sale) ~ Jay, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
20 Main / Thanksgiving day ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Tangle with birch trees ~ Saranac, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenOver the past 10 days I have made over 40 "final" pictures. That is to say, 40+ "keepers" which are processed to finished standards. Which is not to say that each and every one of them will see the light of day in one form or another. But, that said, there are quite a few good pictures in the bunch.

It is also worth noting, that I do not, for one reason or another, get around to posting every "good" picture I make. Even if I wanted to post them all, there isn't enough time left on any given day to do so. So, I tend to post only the best of the best and leave the rest to be dealt with in another way.

In any event, here are 4 pictures from the 40+ last 10 days pictures I have processed and saved. There will be more to follow.

ku # 1134 ~ wherein Einstein rumimates on the limits of clichéd picture making

Milkweed ~ near Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. ~ Albert Einstein

IMO, it takes little or no imagination to make pictures of stuff everyone has already made pictures of and already knows about. Conversely, it takes a fair amount of imagination to see the wonder/beauty in stuff that everyone sees but to which very few are paying attention.