ku # 1133 ~ nature's natural order

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

ku # 1132 ~ delicate intricacy

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

ku # 1125-31 ~ all those damn twigs

Leaning birch ~ Near Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Twigs and vines ~ Near Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Twigs and vines # 2 ~ Near Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Twigs and vines # 3 ~ Near Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Twigs and vines # 4 ~ Near Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Twigs and vines # 5 ~ Near Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Twigs and vines # 6 ~ Near Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenFeatured Comment: Re: civilized ku # 1186 / ku # 1120-24, wherein I expressed my fondness for Twig season, Paul Maxim wrote:

More to the point, who wants to look at all those damn twigs? In any season......

my response: I assume, amongst the on-average 200 unique visits a day (excluding weekends) to this blog, there are some who like to look at "all those damn twigs" or pictures thereof.

How about it? Let's hear it. Any twig affectionados in the crowd?

civilized ku # 1187 / ku # 1120-24 ~ the 6th season / even more things to contemplate as they are ...

Yesterday's twig haul ~ around Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Backyard ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Reeds ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Thicket # 2 ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Thicket # 3 ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Thicket # 4 ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Thicket # 5 ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenIt has been said and, at this point commonly accepted, that the Adirondacks have 5 seasons - the standard 4 seasons plus the Mud season, which is sandwiched between Winter and Spring. It should go without stating, Mud season is not featured, nor for that matter even mentioned, in any tourism marketing materials / endeavors.

IMO, I believe with all my heart and soul there is also an another season, albeit unnamed, unrecognized, and (obviously) unheralded. That season, the 6th season, is the Twig season, another 'tween-er season which is sandwiched between Fall and Winter.

To be certain, twigs can be found, seen, and pictured aplenty all throughout the year here in the Adirondacks. Twigs, all alone or in tangles and thickets, are everywhere. However, it is only during Twig season that they are revealed in all their twiggy and, most often, tangled and twisted glory.

Sure, sure. Twigs are also on prominent display during the Mud season but who in their right mind wants to slog around in all that mud.

civilized ku # 1183-86 / ku # 1113-19 ~ the contemplation of things as they are ...

Grazing horse ~ Rt. 9 / along Lake Champlain - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Driveway ~ Rt. 9 / along Lake Champlain • click to embiggen
Fence ~ Rt. 9 / along Lake Champlain • click to embiggen
Tree ~ Rt. 9 / along Lake Champlain • click to embiggen
Tree # 2 ~ Rt. 9 / along Lake Champlain • click to embiggen
Tangle ~ Rt. 9 / along Lake Champlain • click to embiggen
Sumac ~ Rt. 9 / along Lake Champlain • click to embiggen
Sumac # 2 ~ Rt. 9 / along Lake Champlain • click to embiggen
Posted ~ Rt. 9 / along Lake Champlain • click to embiggen
Private property ~ Rt. 9 / along Lake Champlain • click to embiggen
Chain gate ~ Rt. 9 / along Lake Champlain • click to embiggen

The contemplation of things as they are, without error or confusion, without substitution or imposture, is in itself a nobler thing than a whole harvest of invention. ~ Francis Bacon

civilized ku # 1169 / ku # 1112 ~ testing ...

Morning frost / red leaf ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Pumpkin /sunbeam ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenThese 2 pictures were made this AM with a mint-condition used E-P1 and the kit lens, a 14-43mm/f3.5-5.6 M.Zuiko. I was testing the camera to be sure all was well before sending it on to my other son (not the Cinemascpist son) to replace his now non-functioning Canon G10.

The G10 was going to cost $200.00US (a flat fee no matter what was wrong) to repair. Why spend that $$$ when, as it turns out, a mint E-P1 w kit lens (in the box with all accessories, manuals, etc.) can be had for $260.00US on eBay. The camera even had the clear film on the LCD and there were no signs of any wear to be seen.

It is worth noting, for those who might like to try µ4/3 or want a backup camera, there are quite a few similarly priced E-P1s - kits or bodies - out there for the taking.

civilized ku # 1155-59 / ku # 1111 ~ it was a sunny day (on and off)

late PM light after rain ~ Jay, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Intersection signs ~ Jay, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Above the flume ~ Wilmington, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Late PM light ~ Jay, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Puddle with reflection ~ Jay, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Fall cover with fence ~ Jay, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenYesterday, for most of the morning here in Au Sable Forks, the sun was out and the temperature was rising toward a forecast low 60˚ish day.

It seemed like a great day to play golf in Lake Placid on my home course, which (weather dependent) will soon be closing for the season. As it turned out, the sun featured itself for the drive into Lake Placid and the drive home. In between, after only 7 holes on the course, the weather changed to heavy black/dark gray cloud overcast with lots of rain. I sat for 45 minutes in a rain shelter - cameras and umbrella locked safely away in my car - and, when the rain had turned to a light drizzle, played the last 5 holes.

As I walked down the last fairway, the sun begin to reappear through increasingly larger breaks in the clouds. It was apparent the sun was going to make a late day full on appearance so the picture making thought that I might make a few more sunny-day pictures (I made a few - intersection signs and above the flume - on my way in) on my drive home entered my head. That thought was on the money as several such picture making opportunities caught my eye.

FYI, on civilized ku # 1152-54, Steve (no link provided) commented - As for all of the photographers in the scene, renowned wildlife and landscape photographer Moose Peterson is up in Lake Placid/Wilmington teaching a class. Those people were likely with him I would presume.

After a little Google Machine investigation, it seems that Steve was correct. Moose Peterson was conducting a workshop in the area. That said, I had never heard of Moose Peterson and, after finding out some who and what about him, I can state without reservation that my life is still complete without ever seeing any of his pictures.

Moose may indeed be "renowned" but, re: my recent civilized ku # 1149 entry wherein I stated my reasons for my ongoing advocacy for straight picture making, he is an outstanding example of why I continue my crusade in defiance of the picture cliché*. Suffice it to state, Moose loves making clichéd pictures of clichéd referents, employing a veritable host of clichéd picture making/ processing techniques.

Moose does all of the aforementioned very well and he is quite successful at it, career and finances wise. He knows what he's doing and he knows his audience well. That statement is evidenced by the fact that he regularly sells out his workshops with the participants (20 per event) more than willing to ante up the (minimum) $1,500.00USD price of admission (instruction and party favors only). That would mean the gaggle of picture makers I encountered a few days ago were dropping in the neighborhood of $2,500-3,000.00USD (not including travel) each to learn how to make pictures (or sharpen the same skills already under their belts) which look just like everyone else's pictures.

Not that I should be surprised. People with money (lots of money), more often than not, spend a lot of that money trying to be just like everybody else - driving the same style cars, living in the same style houses, wearing the same style cloths, owning the same style status goods, using the same cameras (Canikons were everywhere in the picture making gaggle), et al. Creativity is usually not their strong suit. They seem all too bound by convention, which, quite obviously, is good, aka: a gold mine, for purveyors such as Moose Peterson.

My only regret at discovering the aforementioned gaggle of picture makers is that I did not know, until after my Google Machine inquiries, the renowned (IMO, justifiably so) Photoshop guru, Scott Kelby, was part of the workshop teaching proceedings (he was most likely part of the picture making gaggle). Had I known, I most certainly would have tracked him down and bought him a drink (or whatever) if for no other reason than to thank him for sending a lot of visitors to The Landscapist with a mention on his site:

I ran across this blog this past week, and I just really found the photography interesting. It’s called “The Landscapist” but it’s not your typical landscape photography site, and I particularly liked their vision statement, which is, “Photography that aims at being true, not at being beautiful, because what is true most often is beautiful.” There’s just something about their stuff I really like...

Thanking him aside, I would have liked to ask him if, after 4 years since making his comment, he has figured out what that "something" about my stuff he "really likes" is.

Update on Monday, October 24, 2011 at 05:39PM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment: Scott Hussey wrote: "I dunno, Moose Peterson does not seem like too bad of a guy to me .... I am not ready to lump him in with the people I really have a problem with."

My response: lest I did not make myself clear, let me reiterate - I do not have a "problem" with Moose Peterson or Moose Peterson wannabes, As I have stated (repeatedly), to each his own. That said, I do admit to not liking, out of hand, pretty picture clichés no matter how well or sincerely made they are.

That said, I am friends with quite a few pretty picture makers - as long as they are nice guys or girls.

ku # 1110 ~ autumnal splendor - a variation

Backyard tree # 2 ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenIn the first autumnal splendor entry, civilized ku # 1136, I opined about my dislike of screaming colorist (hue&saturation to the max) pictures of nature's annual rite of Autumnal color. In doing so, I also expressed my like of small touches of fall color pictured against less spectacular colors.

Herein, is a variation on the scene from that earlier entry wherein the background is a field of green. Like the the first picture only more so, the field of green depicted therein is comprised and composed of quite few shades of green. I point this green variation out inasmuch as such a variation within a single picture is something I do not see very often.

IMO, that's because most sensors tend to overload the color green with too much yellow-biased color content which, admittedly, makes for very warm and pleasing (to most eyes and sensibilities) greens. However, at the same time, it also obfuscates the often subtle, and at times even the not-so-subtle, differences in nature's many splendored shades of green. In my experience, it takes careful attention in the RAW conversion and PS processing stages of digital picture "developing" to get it right.

Of course, if your objective is to get it wrong (with the intent of featuring homogenized "wow"-em greens), feel free to forget/ignore anything I've stated.