man & nature # 223 ~ dazed & confused?

Bill's Bait & Beer Shop ~ Brainardsville, NY • click to embiggenOver the pst year or so, it has become increasingly apparent to me that a fair number of amateur photography "enthusiasts" tend to run into a wall of sorts when it comes to making better-than-average prints of their pictures. That wall is almost always the one associated with the learning curve involved in coming to grips with Photoshop.

And one of the hurdles involved coming to grips with PS has nothing at all to do with PS or even picture making per se - it's a simple matter of computer literacy. On a very regular basis, I am continually amazed at how many intelligent people I know sort of freeze up when they sit down in front of a keyboard and a computer. Add to that the dizzying idea of keeping up with the computer Jones - constant software, operating system, and even hardware upgrades - and the whole thing just seems intimidating and unnerving.

So, I'm curious - how many of you feel that you making or even capable of making better-than-average prints? Does PS seem like some sort of alien species language? Do ideas of screen calibration, ICC profiles, and the like seem overwhelming?

man & nature # 222 ~ the beat goes on

I really dislike golf carts • click to embiggenThe wife and I continued on our winning ways yesterday with another golf event victory. It's almost getting to be boring.

I attribute our success to my relentless pursuit of golfing purity. For example, at yesterday's event in which there was a field of 170 participants, I was the only golfer who walked the course (propelling my golf push-cart in front of me the whole way). Imagine that, walking a golf course. Other than the fact that I consider walking a golf course 3-4 times a week a great form of exercise - a typical course is a 4.5 mile walk, walking allows me to stay "loose" and actually concentrate on the game.

Staying loose and concentrating on the course / game makes a big difference for me. On a typical course, my handicap is an 8, which means that on a par 72 course I would be expected (on a good day) to card an 80. However, even though I've never actually figured it out, when I play golf out of a golf cart, I almost always can plan on adding an additional 6-7 strokes to my score. That's why I only use a golf cart on new upscale "resort" courses, so many of which are not walking friendly.

It's a sad fact of modern golf life that, when I say want to walk the course (or when I pull up to the bag drop and take my push cart out of the car), they look at me like I have lobsters coming out of my ears.

man & nature # 221 ~ the dream endures

Johns Brook ~ Keene, NY • click to embiggenWhatever anyone might think about the Kennedys, there can be no disputing the fact that the family's story has played out like the greatest greek tragedy ever written. Rare, indeed, are families that have given more in the service of their country.

I am deeply saddened by the latest of those tragedies - the untimely loss of the voice of the Lion of the Senate. Amongst the many cruel twists of fate that Ted Kennedy had to endure, to be forced to sidelines as a spectator by a terminal condition during the national debate on healthcare - the cause of his life - is both cruelly ironic and ultimately tragic.

His voice as advocate for a wide range of causes, not to mention his ability to reach across the aisle to find and built common ground consensus, are exactly what the nation needs at his time. No one in government was (or is) better at articulating and illuminating a cause or a subject - not even the great speechifier, Barrack Obama - than Ted Kennedy.

On this sad occasion, 2 Irish blessings come to mind:

Teddy boy, may the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

And, may those who love you, love you; and those who don't love you, may God turn their hearts; and if He doesn't turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles so we'll know them by their limping.

He will be missed.

man & nature # 220 ~ creative thinking

Asgaard Farm ~ Au Sable Forks, NY • click to embiggenAs I have mentioned previously there is a regulatory body here in the Adirondacks - The Adirondack Park Agency, commonly referred to as simply the APA - that fills the classic role of "whipping boy" for not only many Park residents but also many business leaders / elected officials as well.

It would take a month of Sundays to list all of the accusations and epithets that have leveled at the agency but chief amongst them are the ever-popular; government intrusion into the lives of little people at the behest of and for the benefit of the "down-state elitists" (this one is over a century old); ruining the local economy by discouraging development; limiting access to state land; limiting land owner rights; and killing people because of their strict guidelines regarding cellphone towers.

Now let me state right up front that I am an APA advocate. That is not to say that I think the agency is "perfect" or that I agree with every decision it makes regarding land use (both public and private), but it is to say that, without question, if land use decisions were left up to the free market and the "little people", this place would be a mess.

A case in point - many local business leaders / elected officials are calling for the need for local economic development (duh?) because so many locals, especially the young, are being driven out by the lack of good jobs. The APA is almost always named as culprit number one responsible for this lack of local economic development.

The common cry is that if the APA would just get off the backs of honest and hardworking individuals (regulation, "bad" - free market, "good"), everything would be just fine. However, as those who are living life with two eyes open in these current economic times know, that idea can and very often does go horribly awry.

But that said, few, if any, local business leaders / elected officials can point to any specific ideas regarding what type of economic development is even possible in an area like the Adirondack Park. Simply stated, just by nature of its natural topography alone, it's a fact of business life that the largest wilderness area in the eastern US is not a very hospitable place for industrial development on anything but a very small scale.

Sure enough, there are a smattering of small manufacturing and high-tech businesses within the Park boundaries, but they are the exception, not the rule, to what is primarily a tourism / service based economy. To my knowledge, the APA has never prevented or discouraged such businesses from locating / operating within the "blueline" (the boundaries of the Park).

At one time, many years ago, the timber and mining industries provided a large number of Park residents with decent jobs /income. But those days are gone, not because of APA regulation, but because national / international consolidation in those industries has decreed that it is not profitable to harvest timber and mine on those lands that they still own in the Adirondacks.

All of that said, here's the issue that is the elephant in the room that no local business leaders / elected officials ever talk about. The issue that is first and foremost with hindering economic development and driving locals out - the increasing lack of affordable housing within the Park.

Sure enough, some business leaders / elected officials give lip-service to the need for affordable housing but the thing that never gets mentioned - IMO because the reality is in direct conflict with their just-let-the-free-market-work mentality - is that there is so little affordable housing because the free-market has driven the price of housing within the Park out of the reach of working class families.

The soaring cost of real estate is the result of the market demand for both second/vacation homes and that for retirement homes (for those of means). Some locals have decided to fuel this demand by cashing in their investment (sell their house). Some have actually been forced to sell their home because with soaring property values comes soaring property assessments and soaring property taxes.

The consequences of this situation are twofold - one way or another working class families can not afford the cost of living within the blueline, and, with the loss of the working class, businesses that might like to locate within the blueline have a problem with the fact that there is no working class (and how does a business recruit the working class when there is a lack of affordable housing?).

Some would blame the APA for the lack of affordable housing because hamlets, villages, and towns are not able to "grow" beyond their current boundaries - they are surrounded by "forever wild" state land, as protected by the state constitution and regulated as such by the APA. However, on this point, the APA is just simply doing the job it was created to do - maintaining the protection of the forest preserve by protecting the public and private resources of the Park through the exercise of the powers and duties provided by law.

That said, the APA is doing its job based upon the State Land Master Plan, which was signed into law in 1972, followed by the Adirondack Park Land Use and Development Plan in 1973. But here's the thing, according to the APA - "both plans are periodically revised to reflect the changes and current trends and conditions of the Park."

It would seem to me that that notion could allow for some expansion of hamlet, village, and town boundaries specifically for addressing the need for affordable housing for full-time, working class family residents.

In order to assure that land was used for that purpose and for no other use (and to protect that use for future generations), notions such as community land trusts have to be considered and implemented as part of a master plan. Unfortunately, such ideas as community land trusts are meet with skepticism and outright derision by most free marketers. You know the mantra - socialism, communism, government power grabs, and so on, ad nauseum.

IMO, most (not all) local business leaders / elected officials (many of whom are business leaders), who give only lip-service to the idea of economic development and affordable housing under the guise of benefiting the local working class families, are looking out for themselves and their economic welfare first and foremost. It is the same as it ever was.

And, please, if you choose to comment on this topic, any and all references to tinkle-down economics will be summarily dismissed and deleted.

man & nature # 219 ~ Jay Range

The Jay Range ~ Jay, NY • click to embiggen3 frames auto-stitched in Photoshop.

man & nature # 215 ~ kicking butt

Barn and weather front • click to embiggenLast evening on our way home - after winning yet another golf tournament - the wife and I encountered some interesting weather. The display was both awesome and rather eerie.

The front was fast moving so I didn't have the time to set up my tripod - for this picture, I used the car roof-rack rails as a brace for a 1/5 sec. exposure.

The spoils - a set of 4The wife and I were pleased as punch with our set of 4 Pilsner glasses that were the spoils of our golfing victory. This event did not use the handicap system so we had to win our flight (division) - the "mixed" flight, i.e., teams formed with men paired with woman (now there's a golfing handicap) - by posting the lowest raw score (without a handicap applied). We posted a -8, which matched our personal team best.

We're playing in another tournament on the same course this coming Thursday. We hope to come away with the plates that match the beer glasses.

man & nature # 214 ~ prints

Sundown from the Main Street bridge ~ Au Sable Forks, NY • click to embiggenDuring last week's visit with Aaron's workshop participants, one person in particular - who was familiar with my decay pictures from viewing them online here on The Landscapist - was kinda blown away when he viewed an actual print (24×24') of one of those pictures. I'm paraphrasing here but the reaction was along the lines of ...

Wow. The difference between seeing this picture online versus seeing it in print is amazing. I know that you are an advocate for making and viewing prints, and I agree, but this viewing experience really drives that point home in a very dramatic manner.

... or words to that effect. And that set my mind to wandering.

The one photo constant in my life was the C print - a negative-to-positive chromogenic print also known as a color coupler print. They were there when I started (back in 1967) and they were there until I dropped out of film-based picturing long about 2003. As far as I know, they are still there.

For almost all of that time, I made my own C prints - thousands of them, most of them for my commercial photography endeavors - during which time I became intimately familiar with and quite enamored of the look of C prints. The fact that C prints are made from color negatives, which have the most extended dynamic range capability of all color films and are very adept at reproducing subtle colors, gave the prints a beautiful appearance that was quite natural in look and feel.

C prints were, almost by default, the preferred media for those in the Fine Art scheme of things. A small number of Fine Art picture makers used Cibachrome prints, primarily for their archival qualities, but Cibachrome prints never had broad appeal due to the fact that the printing process (which used highly toxic / abrasive chemicals) was a positive-to-positive one - from one high contrast media (transparencies) to another very high contrast one (the cibachrome papers). Cibachrome prints were tack sharp and long-lived but also known for texture-less blacks, blown highlights, and colors that were, well, metallic chrome-like. All of which was exacerbated by an extremely high-gloss paper surface.

All of that said, I believe that comment regarding online viewing v. print viewing came in large part due to the fact that, independent of subject matter, a beautifully crafted print is, in an of itself, an object that can command its own attention.

Obvious examples of such are the BW prints of Ansel Adams, the dye-transfer prints of Eliot Porter, and the C prints of Joel Meyerowitz. It is very easy to get lost in just the very surface of such prints. I would have no argument whatsoever with someone who purchased one those prints to hang on their wall just to admire the print - and so that they could say,"isn't that beautiful" - meaning the print, not the picture.

That is not to say that I would do so - my preference is for beautiful prints with interesting pictures on their surface.

All of that said, I was wondering how many of you have ever seen a C print and I don't mean of the drugstore, 1-hr print variety (yes, those were C prints). What I mean is a C print that is produced to high standards and mostly likely viewed in gallery. Prints made by/for the likes of Joel Meyerowitz whose Cape Light prints are amongst the most beautiful prints of any kind that I have ever seen.

man & nature # 213 ~ the face of The Forks

The Hollywood Theatre ~ Au Sable Forks, NY • click to embiggenOn yesterday's entry, man & nature # 211, Matt Dallos commented:

A few weeks back I was up in the Adirondacks for a few days. In the process I ended up driving through Au Sable Forks. It was actually quite a jolting experience. I thought I had a good idea of what the town looked like from your photographs, but the actually place was much different than I had expected ... [T]oday's picture feels more like what I saw. But I didn't see much more than the few buildings you pass along the main road.

My first reaction to this comment is to express my disappointment that Matt was in town and didn't let me know or look me up. Damn. I always enjoy meeting the followers of The Landscapist. A few have even enjoyed the joys and comforts of an overnight stay in my house.

So, just in case any of you are in town or in the neighborhood, please feel free to get in touch and stop by. The more the merrier. Seriously.

That said, it's on to Matt's "jolting experience". I have only posted a relative handful of pictures of the village of Au Sable Forks. There is no particular reason for this "oversight" other than I really haven't taken seriously the idea of picturing the village other than on a very occasional basis.

That said, it is quite a coincidence that Matt should chime in about this at this time - over the past few months I have been contemplating a number of ideas regarding a picture project about the "Forks". Amongst many considerations, one factor that instigated this contemplation was the announcement that an organization from NYC had acquired / was acquiring the vacant Former Masonic Lodge building on Main Street for renovation and development as hub for Arts & Culture - the Tahawus Lodge Center.

Not that I am holding my breath waiting for this project to actually happen. In no way meant to denigrate the idea, it is worth noting that, barring an infusion of private money (lots of private money), this project could be years and years in the making. I have volunteered to help move things along, but ....

In the meantime, actually yesterday AM as I was making yesterday's entry I was struck with a flash of inspiration, I have proposed a mini arts & culture project to the owner of the local movie theatre on Main Street (right next to the Masonic Lodge).

It occurred to me as I was starring at the picture, Plant life at the Hollywood Theatre, that the "coming attractions" display windows on the theatre facade were empty - they have been empty ever since the theatre reopened after decades of vacancy. The new owners, a postal delivery person and his wife, put a lot of sweat equity and a relatively modest amount of money into fixing up the theatre. Nothing at all "fancy", just what has to be done to get the place open and showing movies - which, btw, are first-run movies at $5.00 a ticket.

Much remains to be done as time and money, mostly money, allow. The "coming attractions" display windows are on the list somewhere, but no where near the top. So, my proposal was simply this - I'll put in display boxes in return for using the "coming attractions" display windows to display my village (and surrounding area) pictures - 2 per window on a 2-3 week rotating basis.

The purpose behind this idea is to introduce the village to my work and to lay the groundwork for my picturing-making heart's ultimate goal - to picture every village resident, ala Richard Avedon style - which is to say; plain white bkgrnd, come-as-you-are, plain and simple style.

But I digress. I think that Matt's "jolting experience" regarding what I am reasonably certain was his surprise that the village of Au Sable Forks is not, by a long shot, a picturesque Adirondack tourist town (hey, we don't need no stinking Starbucks). The village, at least the most visual part on Main Street, has the look and feel of a slightly depressed and worn-down working class town - which, btw, it actually is/was.

But, on the other hand, if Main Street is the "face" of the village, the true character of the place isn't visible unless one sees the small residential areas off of Main Street. There you will find well cared for working family homes and yards, many of which have been recently renovated by the "landed gentry" (not) like the wife and me. Children play, adults power-walk (some just stroll), people sit on front porches and say, "hello", it's quite quiet and very very safe.

In an attempt to help others who may venture into our village from suffering the same fate as Matt, I will actually attempt to tag all of my previously posted pictures of The Forks with the tag "the forks" so that they can viewed as a "collection" of sorts. Hopefully this critical mass of Forks pictures will better prepare those who come to town to know what to expect.