single woman # 14 ~ lunch and a phone

Woman with phone at lunch ~ Saratoga Springs, NY • click to embiggen

picture window # 43 ~ window view

2 chairs and a window ~ Gideon Putnam Hotel - Saratoga Springs, NY • click to embiggenMy ongoing body of work, picture windows, is gaining enough of a critical mass of pictures for me to start showing it, portfolio-style, to galleries with the purpose of having an exhibition. Time to get printing.

civilized ku # 1121 ~ they're at it again, and again, and ...

Street scene with shadow ~ Saratoga Springs, NY • click to embiggenA recent entry on TOP - this sensor vs that sensor, size matters vs size doesn't matter, this RAW converter vs that RAW converter, (and another entry, re: The Most Desirable Camera on the Planet: # 11) - is enough to make me cry.

I realize there are people in the picture making world that are in it for the gear and, more to the point, endlessly talking/writing about gear but it's enough to make me want to turn off the internet and go only to galleries and/or look at picture books.

I mean, scratch my back with a hacksaw and give it a rest. Get a camera that meets your needs and get on with making pictures already. That is to say, making pictures that are more than about resolution, sharpness, dynamic range, low noise, etc. Pictures that are interesting to look at for what they have to say about the world and our place in it, aka: life.

Of course, it's been said before but it is only other "serious" picture makers who give a crap about all the technicals and techniques.

Most non-picture makers I run into could care less about such things. I have had a number of gallery exhibitions this year and not one gallery goer I have talked with has inquired about anything but how the pictures strike their fancy, emotionally, intellectually, and visually. It such a relief from the endless gear, technique, and technical entries that seem to be bedrock of so many picture blogs/sites.

Slowly but surely my online picture viewing is becoming more and more limited, with a few exceptions, to online photo magazines. Magazines where the pictures are king and rarely a word is heard about gear and other techno stuff.

civilized ku # 116-20 ~ urban trees

Clouds over Plattsburgh ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
Urban trees ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
Urban trees ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
Urban trees ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
Urban trees ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggenWhile in Plattsburgh waiting for the wife to arrive for the fundraiser (see the following entry), I walked around making pictures of urban trees. The late day light was soft, directional, and warm.

FYI, all tree pictures were made with the E-P2 and the Zuiko 25mm f2.8 lens (with adapter). The sky/cloud picture was made with the E-P1 and the Lumix 20mm f1.7 lens. Not that there is any significant difference between the pictures made by each camera but just thought you might like to know.

civilized ku # 1114-15 ~ busted

Theater Restoration Fundraiser ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
Theater Restoration Fundraiser ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggenActing in my role as charming arm candy, I accompanied the wife to a fundraiser last evening. The event was for a wonderful old theater in Plattsburgh that is being restored.

That said, it wasn't until that event that the wife finally noticed the addition to my camera gear collection - a new E-P2. Even though the new camera had been sitting around the house in plain sight, side by side with my E-P1, it required a scenario where both cameras were hanging on my body for her to notice it.

I purchased the E-P2 for a number reasons, not the least of which was a great price - $319.95US. That price is for a boxed brand new body with a full Olympus warranty complete with all accessories - battery charger, strap, cables, software and manual. Anyone interested in getting a great camera for an insanely low price should jump on this deal at
Cameta Camera* before they're all gone.

Obviously, the price reflects the fact that the E-P2 has been replaced by the E-P3 and I do know that Cameta buys big quantities of discontinued gear at discounted prices. Maybe when the E-P3 is replaced by the E-P4, I'll buy one of those.

FYI, I have no complaints with my E-P1. The camera has performed flawlessly and continues to do so. The E-P2 is essentially a "backup" camera although I will use it side by side with E-P1 - the E-P1 with the 20mm f1.7 and the E-P2 with the 25mm f2.8. The 25mm lens will be replaced with the 45mm f1.8 when it becomes available.

*Cameta Camera - this not an endorsement (nor do I receive any compensation from them) but I have purchased from Cameta previously and have always had good luck and service.

civilized ku # 1112-13 ~ the king is dead - long live the king

Gone / Foto Hut ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen
Gone / Ritz Camera ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggenIt might be a slight exaggeration to state that the King, aka: film, is dead but film and the processing thereof is fading fast.

Signs, quite literally, of the fading process can be found all over the place, where the "ruins" of camera stores and film processing establishments litter the consumer landscape. That is especially true in urban landscapes where the rule of thumb is to pull the plug, turn out the lights, and get out of town ASAP, leaving behind a facade destined to crumble and fade in the now much-pictured urban decay motif.

I find it rather ironic that establishments which once catered to the picture making trade are now picture making fodder for the same audience. Think about it - who would have thought of making pictures of these places before they were abandoned?

As many may be aware, here in the good 'ole US of A, Detroit is viewed as the Mother/Mecca of All Urban Decay locations. The urban / industrial ruins there are plentiful and decayed to the point of being overly ripe for the picture making picking. However, IMO, Pittsburgh is running a close second. In fact, in some ways it may be King of the Decayed and Decaying Heap.

Despite its sometimes high ranking as a "most livable city", Pittsburgh abounds in neighborhoods and whole sections of the city that are not so "livable". That is not to say people don't live in those areas, many do, but those areas are not very picturesque. Unless, of course, one is into making urban decay pictures. In that case, they are very picturesque.

That said, the urban decay most on display in Pittsburgh is on a small scale, which is to say most (not all) big scale decay - industrial decay - has been bulldozed out of sight and memory. As an example, trying to find a steel mill, decayed or operational, in or around Pittsburgh is a little like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But, if residential / small storefront decay is your wont/want, you won't go hungry for lack of golden opportunities. Whether its in the heart of the Golden Triangle (Pittsburgh's downtown) - or in many of the city or near-in neighborhoods / communities - see Braddock* as an example - Pittsburgh and its surrounding environs are at or very near the top o' the heap, urban decay picture making wise.

Because of my tentative and ever changing schedule during my recent visit to Pittsburgh, I did not get out and about, picture making wise, into the city's decaying urban landscape. However, as General Douglas MacArthur once said, "I shall return", or, at least I hope to before I fade away (in one form or another).

Re: the king is dead - long live the king - while I'm certain the new King, aka: digital picture making, will live long and prosper, my only wish is for it to stop "updating" in such a fast, furious, and oft times very frivolous fashion.

*Braddock - only a few miles from downtown Pittsburgh, Braddock is a mix of boarded-up storefronts, houses in advanced stages of collapse and vacant lots. The state has classified it a “distressed municipality” — bankrupt, more or less — since the Reagan administration. The town was featured in the film version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Road.” Set in a post-Armageddon America where food is so scarce that many survivors turned to cannibalism, “The Road” was shot partially in Braddock.

ku # 1095 ~ a midnight run

Blue Mountain Lake ~ in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenOur recent trip to Pittsburgh began with a foggy in-the-dead-of-night drive through the Adirondack PARK. Mid way through the PARK, I came upon the above scene at Blue Mountain Lake where the pre-dawn morning light was just peeking through the fog and mist.

The beauty and mystery of the scene was tempered by the fact that approximately 30 miles previously, while driving on a 25 mile stretch of extremely dark, totally traffic free, surrounded by wilderness forest 2-lane road, we came upon a very eerie sight - a nasty single car accident.

It was made eerie by the fact that I could see the a trooper's flashing lights from a fair distance away - a somewhat strange sight in the vast darkness of the remote and isolated scene - leading me to think I was coming upon a routine traffic stop for speeding or some such infraction. It wasn't until I was right upon the accident that it became apparent this was nothing "routine".

The car was on the roadway resting on its partially crushed roof. All of glass was blown out, glass all over the road, and the trunk lid and hood wide open (that would be the boot and bonnet for the British in the audience). The front, rear and driver side of the car were quite damaged - it appeared to have rolled more than once. There did not appear to be anyone in the car or on the road. Whether someone (or more) was thrown from the vehicle and into the woods was not obvious.

It also appeared a state trooper had just arrived on the scene - he was sitting in his vehicle - although it's possible that an ambulance had come and gone and he was waiting for tow truck and cleanup crew to arrive.

In any event, it was all a bit unsettling and the scene stuck with me for quite a while on that AM.

civilized ku # 1111 ~ home sweet home

Fresh fruit and produce ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenThe wife and I finally arrived home from Pittsburgh late last Friday evening, a full week from the day on which we left for what was suppose to be a 4 day trip (Sat.-Tues.)

When I made an entry last Tuesday, we were scheduled to depart Pittsburgh that afternoon but, in fact, our departure was delayed for 2 more days by the wife's trial delays. She was scheduled to testify (as a witness) on Monday with a possible holdover until Tuesday. Then it was delayed until Tuesday. Then it was delayed until late Wednesday with a continuation through Thursday.

We left Pittsburgh late Thursday afternoon, stopped in Rochester that night, and continued on to Watertown (NY) where the wife had a date as a panelist at a seminar. At the end of the day we finally made our way home.

Our extended stay in Pittsburgh was incurred one day at a time with the need to stay another day determined late each afternoon. This was a colossal pain in the ass since it required that I pack up, check out of the hotel and load the car late each AM only to have to unload the car and check back in later the same day. By Thursday, the wife and I were beginning to feel like we were living a sequel to the movie Groundhog Day.

In any event, it was a delight to get back home and sleep in our own bed.

On Saturday, while we were out running errands - amongst other things we needed firewood since our furnace has not been repaired from the ravages of TS Irene, we both came home with a lot of locally grown fresh fruit and produce, to include a fresh chicken and a fresh baked apple pie. Yahoo, it's back to home cooking.

Aaaahhh, it's great to be back home (even though we're back on the road again this Thursday).