man & nature # 283 ~ words to picture (and live) by

An Adirondack backyard ~ Jay, NY • click to embiggen

Do not be caught by the sensational in nature, as a coarse red-faced sunset, a garrulous waterfall, or a fifteen thousand foot mountain... avoid prettiness - the word looks much like pettiness - and there is but little difference between them. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

civilized ku # 273 ~ words + pictures

3 vases at the Jay Craft Gallery ~ Jay, NY • click to embiggenHow much would it change your perceptions / feelings about this picture if I changed the title / description to a more complete and accurate description?:

3 vases and an intellectually disabled child on porch swing at the Jay Craft Gallery

Is the picture without the words a "failure" as the pictures-that-need-words-are-failures crowd would have you believe?

man & nature # 277-82 ~ morning fog

morning fog # 1 ~ Au Sable Forks, NY • click to embiggen
morning fog # 2 ~ Au Sable Forks, NY • click to embiggen
morning fog # 3 ~ Au Sable Forks, NY • click to embiggen
morning fog # 4 ~ Au Sable Forks, NY • click to embiggen
morning fog # 5 ~ Au Sable Forks, NY • click to embiggen
morning fog # 6 ~ Au Sable Forks, NY • click to embiggenIt was quite foggy this morning.

Update on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at 06:58AM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment: Mary Dennis wrote: "... Is there an intentional progression of the fog here Mark, from thick to thin?"

my response: No, there is not an intentional progression of the fog in the presentation although it does appear to be that way.

The presentation progression, such as it is, is based on the pairing of pictures with similar content - the top 2 are linked by road signs; the middle 2 by trees; and the bottom 2 by green grass.

That said, as it happened, the fog is most dense in the top 2 and progressively less so in the 2 other pairs of pictures. In a slightly odd manner, the fog was denser at higher elevations than it was in the lower elevation spots. Normally, it is the just the opposite.

civilized ku # 272 ~ so little time

Architectural oddity ~ NYS Rt. 28 - Adirondacks / Otter Lake, NY • click to embiggenIn a comment made by Joe Reifer on civilized ku # 264-67 ~ my Friday night room, Joe suggested that "50/60's motels in the Adirondack region would make an interesting larger project."

I agree. Especially so since so many of those motels have rather interesting neon signs. But ... for me, at this particular time, it's a matter of so many possibilities, so little time.

However, when I do get around to such a project, it will not be limited to 50/60's motels. As the picture with this entry illustrates, the Adirondacks are filled with lots of 50/60's architectural gems / oddities. Some are still in use, others are not.

The building pictured above has special meaning for me because, as a kid in the 50s, it signaled to me that our seemingly endless car ride to our Summer destination - Inlet, NY - was almost over. I don't remember what the building's purpose was but I think it was some sort of tourist souvenir shop or, quite possibly, a restaurant. It would be easy enough to find out.

In any event, a 50/60's architectural project should be undertaken sooner rather than later since many of these places are either crumbling into dust or being renovated.

man & nature # 273-76 ~ the Jimmi Nuffin triptych

Rain saturated landscape ~ NYS Rt. 5 - near Wampsville, NY• click to embiggen
Rain saturated landscape ~ NYS Rt. 5 - near Wampsville, NY • click to embiggenLast Saturday, as I was driving to Taughannock Falls, I was listening to our 3 CD set of The Greatest R&B Hits Collection - one of those late-night tv not-available-in-stores "special offers". The volume was on the rather amped-up side and I was definitely in the groove - listening to soul music and, as much as the seatbelt would allow, dancing like a white man.

Long about Utica, NY, I was overcome with the desire to talk to a black person so I called my good friend Jimmi Nuffin (the alias he comments under here on The Landscapist). I splained the situation to Jimmi and he was very understanding.

We conversed for about the next 20 miles or so when I noticed that I was passing by quite a number of picturing possibilities. When I came upon the scenes pictured in this entry, I just had to stop. Once again, I spained the situation to Jimmi and, once again, he was very understanding - he waited patiently on the line (on the microwaves?) while I disembarked and made these pictures. All the while I was picturing - I was pretty quick because it was raining pretty good - Jimmi was listening to the click-click-click of the car's turn signal sound, courtesy of our bluetooth-enabled car.

So, under the circumstances, I felt that naming this triptych the Jimmi Nuffin Triptych was the honorable and courteous thing to do.

man & nature # 272 ~ the opportunity just slipped by

Moose River and old mill ~ Adirondacks/McKeever, NY • click to embiggenNot every picture I made this past weekend was part of a triptych.

This picture could have been a perfect candidate as part of a man +- nature picture, but, to perfectly honest, I just wasn't seeing / thinking that way at the moment.

civilized ku # 268-71 ~ closed for the season

Cottage No. 3 ~ Adirondacks / Inlet, NY • click to embiggen
Closed for the season ~ Adirondacks / Inlet, NY • click to embiggenThe final triptych count from this past weekend is 10 and, as mentioned in an earlier entry, the triptychs will be the basis for a POD book and Folio entitled Saturday ~ November 14th. My intent for the book/folio is twofold.

First and foremost is simply the intent to create the book/folio. I will use all of the pictures in the book and select 10-15 pictures from the book with which to make the folio. They will be offered as a set and separately.

However, second and almost as foremost, as a set, the intent is to illustrate an exercise in editing - the book will be composed of the triptychs (all of the pictures) whereas the folio will be composed of single pictures from taken / edited from each triptych. An exercise wherein I will select, IMO, the "best" single picture from each triptych.

But, that said, IMO, here's where it gets interesting. Each purchaser of the set will have the option to return the folio of my edits and request a new folio composed of their edits, or, Each purchaser of the set will have the option to return the folio and request 1 24×24" print of their choice - chosen from the entire group of pictures in the book. Now this assumes, of course, that the folio is returned in pristine condition (cotton gloves will come with the folio).

The intent of this exchange / exercise is to create a two-way learning experience - I get to learn what others think of my "selects" while a purchaser gets to have a peek into my edit / selection process and thinking. And, to aid in this whole process, I will make myself available to purchasers - via e-mail, snail-mail, or even by phone (US/CA) - to discuss my/their opinions on the matter.

All that said, first and foremost, pt. 2 - the time has come to get an online gallery of folios and POD books launched. And I'm not just talking about my folios/books, I'm talking about your folios/books.

This past weekend when I was talking with Paul Maxim (on the phone prior to meeting), I mentioned that I was going to Taughannock Falls to make pictures. He asked, "What are you going to do with the pictures?" and I answered that I would be posting them on my blog.

That's when it occurred to me that just posting them on the blog was not enough anymore. I've said it before and I'll say it again - pictures as PRINTS are the thing. Anything else is half-ass.

In addition, I want to become a "collector". I want to hang the work of others in my house - not the work of the "big-name" picture makers, but rather the work of so many others who are making great pictures but just not displaying them in the big tent. Those who probably wouldn't mind a little fame and fortune but who, nevertheless, make pictures just because they love to make pictures and would also like to share their work with others.

And, as I have stated before, this thing can't work without the participation of others. By "participation of others" I mean, simply, the pictures / books / folios of others.

How about it?

civilized ku # 264-67 ~ my Friday night room

Dear Meadows Motel & Cottages ~ Adirondacks / Inlet, NY • click to embiggenDependent upon one's personal likes / dislikes, one of the preeminate charms / banes of Adirondack tourism is the "classic" late 50s / early 60s-era mom&pop-run roadside motel. They are, quite literally, everywhere.

Some, like Dear Meadows, are meticulously maintained - clean, comfortable, and with a modicum of modern amenities like cable tv and in-room coffee makers. Although, like the Dear Meadow sign indicates, "Phone" means that there is a phone somewhere on the premise but it won't be in your room. However, on the plus side, one phone is much better than no phone because, more often than not, like in Inlet there will also be no cell service either.

The reason for the plethora of 50s/60s-era motels in the Adirondacks is due mainly to the 50s/60s-era advent of the interstate highway system after which tourism in the Adirondacks went into a serious 3 decades-long decline. People in the region were going on vacation much farther afield and, quite obviously, taking their tourism dollars with them. Consequently, very little "upgrading" of accommodation facilities took place. In fact, many traditional and glorious Adirondack lodges / inns went the way of the burn-it-down-for-firefighter-practice due to financial insolvency.