man & nature # 94 ~ sitting here hoping

Moon Valley Farm, Au Sable Forks ~ Scottish Highland cattle • click to embiggenIt was sunny and quite pleasant yesterday with temperatures in the 20s. A good day for getting out and making some not-very-cold pictures. This morning I'm sitting here with bated breath and crossed fingers hoping for the 16-20 inches of snow predicted for today.

The wife was scheduled to leave this AM for 6 day tour of NYC and New Jersey: Weds.-Sat., Brooklyn to visit her new nephew; Sat., Monclair, NJ. for her brother's 50th b-day party; Sun.-Tues, south Jersey to visit her mom. However, due to severe winter storm warnings posted for this AM, she got out of town last evening.

In any event, here's hoping for a severe winter storm. The light snowfall that is suppose to be the leading edge of the big storm has already started.

FYI, maybe you've read about this - it's making the rounds of blogs - and I just thought I'd pass it along for your viewing pleasure. It's a single picture titled, We're All Gonna Die - 100 meters of existence. The 100 meter long picture is the culmination of 17 months of work by Simon Hoegsberg.

And speaking of big, in a weird kind of way this picture surfacing at this time comes right on the heels of my discovery of this little gem - the GigaPan Epic. This amazing (and very inexpensive) device together with its companion software GigaPan Sticher automatically pictures and seamlessly merges up to thousands of overlapping images into one gigantic one-gigapixel (or larger) panoramic picture.

Check out this 6.2 gigapixel picture by Julian Kalmar. Or go to gigapan.org and check out the Obama Inaugural Address pano and zoom right in on the president. This picture is made from 220 separate images.

This stuff is really neat. I have always been a fan of panoramic pictures and have made plenty in my day using a variety of equipment; 35mm Widelux, 120 Widelux, 35mm Roundshot, and, most recently, just about any camera I own by stitching multiple overlapping images together with software - the same technique that The Cinemascapist uses to create his Cinemascapes.

The GigaPan Epic is so inexpensive that it's hard for me to resist, but .... it does require a computer upgrade to an Intel-based Mac. That's something I have been studiously avoiding for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that all of computer/software stuff is working just fine, thank you very much. I am extremely loath to get myself into the upgrade black hole. However, I do need(?) a new laptop ....

Speaking of the upgrade black hole, I have had to dump using Firefox. The latest version (3.0.2) that automatically downloaded and install is a real piece of work. It's a bloated memory hog and has proven to be very unstable - it crashes all the time. I am not alone - a simple google of "firefox sucks" will point you to host of users with similar issues. It's just another example of a good product gone bad. It's so loaded with "features" that it has, IMO, become useless.

So, it's back to Safari for me (which seems to be working just fine).

A pox on all I'm-doing-it-because-I-can software developers, with a special spot in Hell for cell phone software developers - it's a phone you morons. Why can't I just buy a f**king phone - you know, one that doesn't have little tiny exterior buttons that take a picture every time I try to get it out of my pocket or turn off (or on) the ringer at the same time?

Although I must admit that I like the idea of a twitter enabled cell phone so I can use it for the sole purpose of asking those software morons, "What are you doing in Hell?"

FYI ~ 1 down, 2 to go

Decay / Vanitas ~ the POD book • click to embiggenThe Decay / Vanitas book is all designed and ready to go with the exception of my Artist Statement and a page of Notes and Information. I'll complete those tomorrow and, viola, it's ready to print.

FYI, I'm using Shutterfly and printing an 8×8 book. By sticking with the standard 20 pages and a photo cover, the cost is $29.99. I will order 2 copies and with 25% off of the 2nd book, my cost is $26.25 per book. I'll be offering them for $35, most likely from one of Shutterfly's personalized Pro Galleries where they handle everything - ordering, payment, and shipping.

In my experience with Shutterfly (after learning all the in and outs of their system), I am certain that the printed quality will be excellent - very accurate color reproduction, very good paper quality, and way more than acceptable cover and binding materials.

IMO, if you know what you are doing, Shutterfly delivers great results at a very reasonable price. Of course, it goes without saying that the if you know what you are doing part is very important.

That said, I will be very happy to help anyone who steps up and bites the bullet. Have question? Any question? Just ask and I'll share the answer here on The Landscapist so that everyone can come along for the ride.

FYI ~ a change

You may have noticed one of the changes I have made here on The Landscapist - a category named picture, no words.

My intent with this is to post pictures (at this point, my pictures - but that could change) without words - other than a caption - in order to put a bit more emphasis on the idea that it's all about the pictures.

My hope with this is to stimulate discussion / conversation about pictures in and of themselves rather than the usual discussion / conversation about the medium of photography.

Where this goes is anyone's guess but many of you who have responded to the survey have mentioned that The Landscapist is one of the few blogs / sites on which the medium of photography is discussed beyond the realm of the technique / technical - a trait that many of you find of value in figuring out, for yourself, things photographic.

IMO, opinion there is much to be learned - for me and for you - from conversation / discussion about the results of all that figuring.

Let's give it go.

FYI ~ a short cautionary tale

It would kind of dumb not to mention the momentous and historic events of yesterdays' USofA presidential election.

I am quite pleased that we have a black man with the very strange (to most Americans) name of Barrack Hussein Obama as President-Elect of this country. Even if it is for no other reason other than he is a black man with a very strange name. This country needs to be slapped upside the head, given a wedgie, and a swift kick in the ass. In addition to the fine fix that we find ourselves in, this is just one more way to do any or all of those things.

That said, here's my tale - I'm child of the 60's. Actually I'm / was a coming-of-age teen/young adult of the 60's. During that tumultuous time, the times they were a changin' and their were many, including myself, who were filled with a sense of the power of hope and the promise of change. Incredibly large gatherings of people, mostly young and white but with a very healthy mix of all ages and ethnicity, marched in the streets and came together in demonstrations for all manner of causes and change.

There were charismatic leaders who fueled the ideas of hope and change - King and Kennedy (Bobby) were 2 whom I admired. And we, the people, drove a sitting president from office.

In a very real sense, nearly half a century later, we find ourselves in a similar place. Of course, on the plus side you have to grateful for the fact that the present charismatic leader has actually achieved his goal of the presidency as opposed to having his head blown apart. And, the fact that all of those gathering in Chicago didn't have their heads bashed in by the authorities. (did anyone catch the irony of a Mayor Daley actually inviting a throng to gather in downtown Chicago?)

But, putting that aside, as I was watching last night's historic events unfold - the election outcome, the incredible number of people gathering to show their support and fuel the fires of the hope of change, the speech by Barrack Hussein Ombama - I couldn't help but have any sense of hope and change that I might have felt greatly tempered by the experiences of what I have witnessed since that 60s decade of hope and change.

Back then, just as now, the agents of hope and change (both the leaders and their followers) and, in fact, the very idea of change, are met with a vitriolic and hateful rhetoric from those who oppose it. Those who seek it are said not to be part of "the real America". They are said to destroyers of families and family values, to be in league with terrorists and those whose aim is to destroy America, to be thieves who will steal both your property and your wealth, and to be both villainous and beneath contempt.

Nevertheless, here we are. Where we will end up is anyone's guess.

Update on Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 12:35PM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment: Mary Dennis wrote: "The irony of the current Mayor Daley issuing an open invitation to the democratic throngs to come into Grant Park is not at all lost on me. In August of 1968 I was nine years old sitting up in my bedroom window just outside Chicago watching numerous street fires burn up and down my street. I was scared shitless that my house was gonna burn and it darn near did. The emotion and immensity (dare I say gravitas?) of the event has been seared into my psyche. I am often floored by the circular nature of things and this is one of them."

FYI ~ 6 linear feet of thoughts

Prints on my bedroom wall • click to embiggenJust thought you might like to know where some of my prints end up. In this case, 24×24 inch paper with 20×20 inch images on my bedroom wall.

Since figuring out a profile (of a sort) for a local chain store's epson printer, I have been making a number of biggish work prints. They're cheap - $26 for a 24×24 inch print - and while they are not 100% accurate to my finished files nor are they on the type of paper I will use for a finished print, they are more than good enough to hang on a wall.

There are no frames, matting, or glass involved. I just push pin them to the wall. My thought is that they look better on a wall than they do rolled up on my work table. Not to mention Sir Joshua Reynolds' observation that:

A room hung with pictures is a room hung with thoughts.

What do you with your pictures?

FYI

While the brain trust at SquareSpace attempts to deal with the issue of support people who aren't code programmers giving code programming advice (and maybe even the code issue itself), I can give you this advice - the most recent update of the Firefox browser will automatically give you a window resize handle (lower right corner) on my SS thumbnail popups.

How ironic - I'm suggesting that you "upgrade". Please shoot me.

The New Adirondack Vernacular

Postcards from the woods • click to embiggenI have been reading Adirondack Vernacular, The Photography of Henry M. Beach. Beach was one of many, albeit very prolific, native late 19th / early 20th century Adirondack photographers. This book is by the same author, Robert Bogdan, who wrote Exposing the Wilderness: Early-Twentieth-Century Adirondack Postcard Photographers, another book in my collection.

Nearly every village and hamlet in the Adirondacks at that time was home to at least one picture maker. They were usually jack-of-all-trades, photography-wise. In addition to the landscape, they pictured people, towns, industry, events, and just about anything else from which they could make a buck. The result is a treasure trove of photography from that era, most of which is still hanging around in area museums, libraries, and private collections.

The sheer quantity of pictures can make one wonder if there has ever been a region of the US of A that has a more picture-documented past than the Adirondacks. In all likelihood, this stems from the convergence of 2 events - the newly developed ease of photography at that time which coincided with the opening up of the Adirondacks to a veritable flood of tourists.

In an effort to capture the tourist dollar, many a photographer offered a line of Adirondack picture postcards. I have a very modest collection of Adirondack postcards, some postmarked as early as 1911. Amongst the postcards, my favorites are those that have been mailed, replete with all manner of messages - some short and sweet - Having a fine time. Wish you were here. Others much more wordy, like the one posted here whereon the writer not only writes small but also strings the sentences around the edge of the card.

The reason that I like these used postcards is that the written messages are so utterly timeless. Many of the pictures, despite the differences from today in dress and transportation, are timeless as well. Lots of people - locals and tourists - doing then exactly what they are doing in the Adirondacks today.

Soooo ... I just can't leave this alone. After noodling it around in my head and on the computer for a while, I am fairly certain that something in the manner of what you see here is how I want to present a sizable chunk of my Adirondack photography. I very much like the sense of same as it ever was that derives from the then and now juxtaposition of the old and the new.

I also am intrigued by the idea of writing many of the messages myself - directly on to a blank postcard back on the prints. In fact, there are quite a number of possibilities .... time to get back to the noodling. And, tomorrow, it's off to an auction that lists a nice collection of vintage Adirondack postcards as an auction item.

Update on Monday, July 21, 2008 at 01:08AM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment: Steve Durbin wrote: "... There might well be something gained by printing much larger than actual postcard size; it would certainly clue the viewer in to your message. I see only one problem: you'll have to abandon your beloved square."

my response: I am still wrestling with the details of how I approach this concept, but one thing is certain - I will be printing the postcard component large than life-size. Currently, I am printing them at 9 inches wide.

As for my beloved square, I am leaning towards the postcards as an "addendum" of sorts to my square prints, printed on the bottom border of a large print - 48×60 inch paper, 30 inch square image, postcard front and back printed side-by-side (approx. 5×8 inches each) centered underneath the main image.

FYI ~ totally rad, dude

l-r, Aaron, The Landscapist, Jason - circa 1983 • click to embiggenHold on to your Hats, boys and girls. This one's a doozy.

I've mentioned Amy Stein before, specifically, her domesticated series. Well, now she's up to something else (Bunny Hops to F-stops) - getting a grant for the purpose of collecting and displaying (book? exhibit?) pictures of photographers who once rode BMX;

If you are a modern photographer genius who spent their youth doing tail whips, table tops and endos, let me know and please send me a photo. I think I can get a grant for this.

Aaron has already sent this picture to Amy, but I just have to ask - are there any BMXers out there amongst you guys / girls? If so, do you have a picture to share? Come on dudes and dudettes (also known in the BMX world as powderpuffs), fess up.