• landscape,  Plants,  sunsets,  trees

    A Photographers Serenity Prayer

    August 18, 2022

    God, grant me the serenity to accept the scenes I cannot change, courage to change the scenes I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

    I have been praying the Serenity Prayer every morning before my feet hit the floor for a few years now. The prayer is about three basic things: serenity (acceptance), courage (to change) and wisdom. I’ve become aware that I’ve been using this prayer in my photography without realizing it, but with a slight twist. I would suggest you may also. Let me explain using these two images.

    I noticed this scene while driving along County Road 19. I knew from the get-go I was not going to have the image I wanted because of the close proximity of the house and tree. I wanted the sun setting behind the tree without the house but with the tree more towards the center. Wasn’t gonna happen in this scene. A couple extreme options were…

    I could burn the house down but there would be court dates to deal with and I didn’t think the image would be worth the outta pocket expenses. Another option was to move the tree but I didn’t have a chainsaw for that task, nor the time. I don’t know about you but I seldom carry a chainsaw in my camera bag. Or I could….

    … accept the scene as it is. So, I began by changing my expectations. The image I wanted when I first saw this scene I was not going to get. But, here is what I could do. I could work with my exposure, making sure it was what I wanted. I had my 70-300mm zoom on my camera because I had been photographing pronghorn antelope a few minutes earlier. So, I took a half dozen images, cropping at various focal lengths with and without the house in it. Again, I had little time to decide before the sun set.

    I’ve been shooting long enough to know that I will not always come home with a keeper. I’m comfortable with that knowledge and therefore do not get as frustrated and lose my (serenity). I knew I could accept the scene as it is, aware I may trash all of them later (courage). Of course this is much easier today with digital than film days (more courage). I also knew that I was there to witness this gift of nature and store this scene in that place Mary Oliver calls the “kingdom we call remembrance.” I also know there would be other opportunities to come (wisdom).

    After bringing the images home I found a couple that worked for me. The top image is without a crop and includes the house. It turned out better than I envisioned. I find it quite acceptable. The second image is the same image but with the house cropped out. Having the tree as far to the edge of the frame really did not take away from what I first saw. Shows you what I know. Both images are acceptable to me. If you are so inclined please let me know which image you like better. And, what experiences have you like this?

    Just for fun, and because Tom stirred the pot, I went back and looked at other images I took to see if I include the whole house. I did and like them as well. I also did not realize how I must have moved along the road in my attempt to eliminate the house because this image has the sun on the opposite side of the tree.

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  • Software

    Here’s what I did

    March 10, 2021

    Had an issue with Lightroom not seeing or reading my new 64Gb SD cards. Took a while but figured out what was going on. All SD cards 64Gb andlarger will be formatted in exFAT rather than FAT32. So, on my Macbook Pro I needed to change the setting in System Preferences. Here is what I did.

    Quit Lightroom.
    Opened System Preferences
    Select Security & Privacy
    Select tab Privacy and scroll down the left side list to “Files and Folders”
    Then make sure the option for ‘Removable Volumes’, Downloads Folder’ and ‘Documents Folder’ boxes are checked. You may have to unlock the padlock.
    Exit out and restart Lightroom Classic.

    Snowflakes are appearing as I post this. We are not expected to see much today or tomorrow but Friday and into Saturday could bring heavy snow day for us out here. Made a run to the store this morning and stocked up on chocolate, peanut butter, Irish Oats, cashews and toilet paper. 😁 I’ll keep you informed of the weather.

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  • Art,  Creativity,  fog,  landscape,  Software,  trees

    A bit like a kid

    November 19, 2019

    Morning fog

    Yes, I’ve been playing around with Lightroom on some images from the past, adjusting colors and any other slider I can find. I’ve been asking myself, “Well what does this one do?” and then see what happens. When it’s an ooops, I type command Z to get back to where I was and try the next one. I feel a bit like a kid.

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  • coffee shops,  lifestyles,  Photography,  rants,  Software

    Here Comes the Snow

    March 1, 2019

    Now sitting at a coffee shop looking to the mountains in the west. They are now being shrouded by clouds as a storm moves into the Colorado Front Range. There will be more snow and plenty of cold over the next few days.

    Spent almost 6 hours with Adobe support yesterday trying to get Lightroom Classic installed and running. I had to let them have control of this new computer on a couple of occasions. Amazing, this technology and how far behind I am. They had to go into my keychain, which I knew nothing about, and delete some Adobe files that were dated back to 2009. Whew! It was a test of my patience and think theirs. Now have Lightroom working and used it for the above image. See, I’m already a better photographer. And, it was a raw file rather than a jpeg.

    I can feel the difference in this keyboard. There will be an adjusting period. Don’t suppose this new laptop will make me a better typist? I may type faster which means I can misspell more words faster. 🙂

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  • rants,  rants,  writing/reading

    Things I Think I Need

    August 20, 2018
    The County Road
    The view on a County Road 90

    The Things I Think I Need otherwise known as TITIN. I think I caught it. It explains much of my thinking over the past few decades. I’m pretty sure there are no med’s for it, although I suppose I could ask my family doctor. He may get a kick out of it or have the same affliction, disease, broken thinking, or whatever ya call it.

    My TITIN thinking is trying to justify purchasing a new laptop or an iPad Pro or a Surface Go to replace an old Chromebook and a nine year old Macbook. I use both of these tools for writing on my blog, reading your blogs, checking emails, editing my images and, of course internet shopping for the next thing I think I need.

    According to marketing both tools are outdated, which means there are hands wanting to take more money from my wallet for their latest and greatest. They don’t seem to understand there is no money in the wallet. I’m retired! Every once in awhile the Sugar Mama solution enters my mind but the side effects may be worse than the solution.

    In all honesty the Macbook is outdated due the constant updating of software. However, my simple needs are met with both the tools I have. I wonder if TITIN is related to GAS Cramps.

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  • Candid Portraits,  Documentary/Street

    It’s what I felt

    August 12, 2010

    Somewhere in thoughts

    A couple of years ago I purchased a new 70-300mm lens and took to the streets to see how it worked. I wanted to make sure my investment was going to make me a better photographer. 🙂 I’d headed to the old part of town where they have an area setup as a square. It was around 10:30 in the morning when I noticed this young man sitting dejectedly. All of his body language seemed forlorn, telling me life was not going well. I kept my distance and shot this at 300mm. Just after I took this image a young lady joined him. I’d peeked into their lives for a moment and now needed to move on.

    Anyway, the mood of this scene is why I raised my camera to my eye. His emotions and struggle are what I felt. I’m not sure how much attention I paid to the composition of this scene, it was taken too long ago. But, as I study the image, I think my focus was on his body language. There is a sadness in his face. The first time I posted this image I did it in black and white.  Since posting this image I’ve learned more about the  power of Lightroom and how to express more about what I felt when I took the image. So,I revisited this image and place more of the focus on him and tried to eliminate as much distraction as possible. I also added the sepia feel to go along with the mood I felt when taking this image. Again, I ask for feedback on what you think of this version.

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  • Candid Portraits,  coffee shops,  lifestyles

    Three Amigos

    June 26, 2010

    Three Amigos

    Okay, so I’m in this coffee shop near the airport in Charleston and I see these bar stools and I love their patten, and I love the color and I love the wood texture. So, my mind starts to work and envision how I want this image to come alive. I try a few frames with just the bar stools but it ain’t happening. I figure a coffee cup on the bar would help but it still ain’t happening. I change the color of the cup but again it ain’t happening. People around me are starting to worry, I can see it in their faces. They’re probably asking questions like, “What the heck is this strange guy trying to do?” or “What hospital did he escape from?” (And, let’s not tell them, okay.) I notice a mother and her daughter are just smiling at me, that feels real uncomfortable. The baristas in the coffee shop are wondering how they can get me to leave, I can see it in their eyes. Things are getting uncomfortable, so I sit back down at my table, put my camera on the table and sheepishly smile at everyone.

    And then it happened. A mother and father with three children come in to enjoy a cool drink on this hot day. The children climb up on the stools and now I have the image in front of me. It’s right there! I quietly ask the father permission to take a few shots. The silly man agrees.

    After taking the previous images I know what exposure I needed to use. Two frames was all I needed then some adjustments with Lightroom and Topaz Adjust to create this image. I like it. It was fun. I also liked the process of its creation. And, thankfully, no one called the cops or the hospital. Whew!

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