man & nature # 160 ~ dancing and singing, singing and dancing

Another rainy day picture • click to embiggenIt continues to rain albeit "scattered" rather than continuous. Which, as far as I am concerned, is just more opportunity to picture in the rain.

civilized ku # 174 ~ what you see isn't always what you get

Bringing the outside inside • click to embiggen"Literacy" has always been understood first and foremost to mean the ability to read (and write). As associated with the word "literate", it also implies "educated". One could also say that a fundamental point of the process of getting educated is to become literate. One can also be said to be literate, as in having knowledge or skill in a specified field - a field not necessarily associated with reading and writing. Such as, he is very literate in computer usage.

What the word is not often associated with is pictures, especially so in the realm of general education. Sure, at institutions of higher learning - college, university, et al - there are specialized courses in what might be called visual literacy, but the fact remains that, for most people, a picture is just a picture. The exception to that is the personal snapshot of a loved one (to include animals) or even a beloved place (the old homestead, et al).

However, when confronted with a picture of, say, a plate of eggs and bacon on a greasy-spoon booth's formica table top, virtually all of the visually illiterate will struggle, assuming that they even try, to come up with any meaning beyond the obvious. It's just a picture of a plate of eggs.

The idea of visual illiteracy is not by any means a new concept. Take this as an example:

The illiteracy of the future will be ignorance not of reading or writing, but of photography. - Anonymous - cited in: “Germany - The New Photography 1927 – 33

And, at some point in time after that statement was put forth, this one was also offer up:

I think a photography class should be a requirement in all educational programs because it makes you see the world rather than just look at it. - Author unknown

To cut right to the chase, it seems to me that both of these statements have their genesis in the phrase, "more than meets the eye", and furthermore, that most are not very good at visually "reading between the lines". Or, to be more accurate when speaking of pictures, "seeing beneath the surface" of things.

Again, cutting to the chase relative to my point in bringing this up, our current economic crisis (at least from the consumer debt POV) is due to the fact that so many of us bought into, literally and figuratively, the pictures of the "good life" as offered for view by those who stood to gain the most from the embrace of that idea of the "good life" - the business class purveyors of that concept of the "good life".

In short, advertising / marketing pictures (and related visual media representations) as pure propaganda for a false notion of the "good life" - that is to say say a life predicated on spent-and-get, no matter the consequences to personal financial security, the planet / environment, the cultural / societal implications of self-centered aggrandizement, and so on.

I can't help but wonder where we might be if only we were more visually literate.

man & nature # 159 ~ accepting your fate

Pouring rain through the car window • click to embiggenAs is often my wont I headed out during yesterday's rain torrent with the idea of picture making in the rain. And picture-make I did.

However, the rain was coming down so fast and furious that I had to give up on the idea of getting out of my car to make pictures. So, rather than giving up on the idea, I decided to picture from the driver's seat. At first the intention was to lower the window - after having maneuvered the car into some pretty strange positions on the roadway - and have at it.

That idea lasted through only 2 picture making attempts (successful) because both me and the car interior were getting soaked even with the briefest of exposure to the rain. So, it was at that point that I decided to just go with the flow - that is, making pictures through the flow of the rain cascading down the driver-side window.

And I have to say that I am rather pleased with the results, 2 of which are displayed herein.

Update on Monday, June 15, 2009 at 12:28PM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment: Cedric wrote: "I reverted to this sort of photography recently when we went through prolonged rain periods in my part of the world. Like you I quite enjoyed it though mine came out somewhat differently as I focused on the rain rather than the scenery... 1, 2, 3

Cedric, thanks for sharing.

man & nature # 158 ~ he's back

Donnelly's Soft Serve ice cream stand, Donnelly's Corners • click to embiggenI'm back.

The worst is over and as a matter of fact the worst wasn't all that bad, just time consuming. And, most of that time was spent waiting for downloads and installations to happen. It's worth mentioning that the single most time consuming task was backing up my Applications folder, my Home folder, and my Font folder and that this was done as a precautionary procedure, not as a mandatory one.

I was informed by Apple Support (which, BTW, cheerfully refunded my support fee after I asked why I was paying them to fix a problem that they caused) that backing up those folders was not necessary when performing an Mac OS Archive and Install installation. However, since they indicated that would not come to my house and spend 2 days reinstalling everything, I went for the back up.

That said, the Archive and Install when soothly and after a few additional bits of Apple software updates, I was up and running almost as before. I did have to re-calibrate my monitor, a few Photoshop bits required re-installing, and a couple minor system settings required re-setting but that was it.

I also feel that I must state, primarily for Seinberg's benefit, that this incident is the very first one that I have experienced since I began using Macs back in 1992. Of the very few other problems that I have experienced almost all of them were limited to 3rd party software (like the recent Epson driver issues).

And, every single problem I encountered, to include this one, was a simple user fix - a software re-install or a or software update install and things were A-OK.

That said, I wouldn't give the troubles that my Windows friends have to a monkey on a rock.

x#%x#%x#%x#% !!!!!!!

Today's entry has been postponed due to a colossal f**kup by Apple.

My software update software told me that there was a Safari update which, of course, offered all sorts of "improvements". So, I dutifully did the update. At the end of the installation, I was informed of an error that did not allow the update to be installed. Fine. Whatever. I could live with that.

What I can't live with is the fact that, because of some screw by Apple, the update software downloaded and tried to install a beta version of Safari that is not recommended for download.

Imagine that.

The result, I need to reinstall my system software which wipes out all the stuff on my hard drive. I now need to copy and backup all my Application folder and my Home folder to an external hard drive and start from scratch.

Adding insult to injury, I had to purchase a $50 phone support from Apple to work through the Screw up that Apple caused through absolutely no fault of my own.

So, I'll be back as soon as I get this fixed.

civilized ku # 173 ~ good composition can happen when you are sweeping the floor

Sweeping whimsy • click to embiggenOver the years I have received quite a few comments - email, blog comments, photo forum comments, and actual spoken words - regarding my "mastery" of the square format. I have taken this to mean that those observers of my square pictures find the "composition" found in my picture to be rather pleasing / compelling / nice - they like the way things are arranged in the frame.

I simply do not know how to reply to such comments because, as weird as it might sound, I really feel only partially responsible for the composition found in my pictures. In fact, it's accurate to say that I feel that I exercise very little control over the composition - that is to say, how things are arranged within the square frame.

The reason for this is quite simple - there is some sort of unthought known / preternatural awareness of / sensitivity to how things are arranged or organized in space at work in my head - especially so within the confines of defined space. Like furniture in a room or type on a page or type with pictures on a page or things in a camera viewfinder / on a groundglass screen.

I can not explain this perception other than to say that when I see/sense a pleasing arrangement - to my eye and sensibilities - of things, it stops my eyes (or is it my mind's eye?) dead in their tracks like the proverbial sharp stick in the eye. This perception does not need to be turned on. As a matter of fact, I don't think that I could turn it off even if I tried.

It is also interesting to note that this perception works in both an active and a passive manner. Active as in when I am designing an ad, brochure, logo, and the like as well as when I am making a commercial picture - deliberately arranging things/ people within the frame and framework of my chosen POV.

However, when to comes to my square pictures as seen here on The Landscapist, the perception is very passive. I see it. I turn the camera on. I picture it. End of story.

I do not "work" the subject other than an occasional and almost always subtle shift in my camera POV. I just picture what my eyes have already seen. The biggest decision I have to make is what stays inside the square frame which most times comes down to what just simply looks and feels right.

I mention all of this because, for me, "composition" just seems to come "naturally". I couldn't teach it to anyone no matter how hard I tried. I don't follow any rules other than those that I have either made up for myself or that I instinctively "sense".

This composition modus operandi is shared with quite few other artists, to include photographers, with whom I am familiar. They, like me, just don't seem to work all that hard at picturing the "right" arrangement.

IMO, this is why so many believe that composition can not be taught although, up to point, it probably can be learned. In fact, this why there are "rules" so that those who don't/can't "feel it" can have an actual guide to reasonably good composition, albeit most often rather "strained" or "stilted" . And, perhaps over time, some will discover how to "bend" the rules in order to develop a sense of how things should be arranged that passes as a somewhat personal manner of seeing.

As Edward Weston' stated:

Composition is the strongest way of seeing.

Does the arrangement of things come naturally to you or do you have to work at it?

And, answer me this if you can - when my wife wants to yank my chain, photography-wise, why is her favorite epithet of choice always, "Looks like the slavish adherence to the Rule of Thirds to me."?

civilized ku # 172 ~ you never know

My idea of chasing the light, aka - being a light-stalker • click to embiggenYou don't wake up in the morning thinking about making a picture of the toilet. But, if you're prepared when opportunity presents itself, you just might end up with the unexpected.

civilized ku # 171 ~ reverse logic

Just in case the devil comes a-calling ~ Upper Jay, NY • click to embiggenSince moving to a small village in the Adirondack Park (the largest wilderness in the eastern US of A), I have become quite enamored with/of small-town living. One characteristic which is really nice is the idiots-have-no-place-to-hide aspect of a small community. It's not that there are no idiots here about, it's just that, for the most part, they keep their various idiosyncratic ideas and related actions to themselves.

That said, a few wack-jobs do manage to rise to the fore - we have one bona-fide / certified black helicopters are coming to take us away today conspiracy nut on our local town board. Although, it must be said that he's a really amiable fellow - I buy all my rustic cedar building materials from him at his small one-man lumber mill on the edge of town. And, unless you bring it up, big bad government is never the topic of conversation.

I mention all this because oft times great amusement can be had by reading the Letters to the Editor section of our local/regional newspaper. Although, once again, it must be said that opinions from the fringe element tend to be mostly rather "civilized". However, recently said newspaper has re-instated a Speakout feature wherein writers can write and be published anonymously. Needless to say, this has resulted in some real gems.

Case in point - I have mentioned that this Spring has been uncommonly and consistently windy - blow down trees windy, not, gentle Spring-breeze windy. That fact was no doubt the genesis of this gem:

Has anyone noticed how windy it has been lately? I think it has to do with those windmills. Perhaps they were wired incorrectly so instead of using wind to produce electricity, they are using electricity to produce wind. This should be investigated ASAP.

Just thought I would pass this along for your thoughtful consideration.

Update on Monday, June 8, 2009 at 12:43PM by gravitas et nugalis

On a different but nevertheless somewhat related note, this little gem has come to my attention.