Photography

As a result of some new changes in website design and future-proofing my database, I’ll have to resist the temptation to add images to posts. I want this site and the database to be lightweight and streamlined. In the near future, I will add blog-related images to a specific Flickr folder designated “Website Images” or something to that effect. Maybe even add links to both that are easily accessible to the public here and there. That was the original intent of the social internet after all.

I set a photography goal for myself to shoot a photo with the Hipstamatic every day, for 366 images this (leap) year. Today is day 168. I had them all on my photo website that I recently took down but for now, I’ll just add a few from the past two weeks here.

I love looking through the photo archives. Photographs, to me, are a record. They show me how things were “way back then”.

Lately I have been wondering what are the new photographs I have, as well as future images for?

This is causing a thought-shift in how I approach photography and why I should choose to pursue it.

It is a fair question to ask if what I leave behind will be appreciated by others after I am gone but I am not so sure. It’s possible my daughter can peruse the archives as a record and hopefully share in my life, my memories and of our time together. But after that? No one else will care and decades worth of images will become digital dust. Sobering thought.

We just recently acquired and discarded decades worth of photographic memories of a loved one who documented everything. But those were their memories, not ours. No one else in the family wanted them either so into the bin they went. This saddens me deeply.

I’d like to print at least 50 of the best images for each year in the past and moving forward, as physical mementos that my daughter can pick and choose to keep if desired. I hope she finds joy in looking back and sparking her own memories. Other than that, who wants to keep around all that crap? They’re just photos after all.

I suppose the answer, currently, is that they are for me and my memories. I also enjoy the photography process and the pursuit of that elusive master shot.

The battery is charged again, so off I go to make more memories.

Welcome to the first newsletter sent from Cape Coral, Florida where a new latitude calls for a new and different photo project. In the past I would capture unique faces, diverse neon signs, wall art, etc. Anything that is in abundance and varies will do for me. Today is the start of “Palm Sunday”, where once a week I will share images from all the Florida frond foliage found and photographed, and probably even share a few words about them.

Palm trees are usually what comes to mind regarding beautiful, exotic islands and vacationing. But with all trees, there is so much more to learn and think about.

A lot of civilizations use products made from these trees such as cosmetics, cooking oils, lotions, jelly, wine, and biodiesel. However, not many know about the symbolic meaning of these large, evergreen plants.

There are over 3,000 species of palms, making them some of the most common and easily recognized plants. They thrive in tropical regions and are considered among the hardiest trees in the world as they’re resistant to most pests and diseases.

Coconuts are some of the most popular palms, with their nuts known for their nutritional benefits and distinct taste. Their hard brown shells protect the nut from damage when they fall from the tree, and the white flesh inside is used for making oil and cooking in many Asian countries. Coconut oil is considered the healthiest oil made from palms.

And because today is a Sunday, here are a few quotes: In Psalms 92:12, those who are righteous were compared to palm trees. It states that righteous people shall flourish and grow “like palms and cedar trees in Lebanon…” In Psalms 7:7-9, the palm tree is associated with victory, where getting hold of its fruit was compared to triumph.

Next week, I’ll share some palms taken from either Sanibel Island or Fort Myers beach. Oh, and as a little bonus, here is an image of a girl chasing seagulls on the shore:

-Chris in Cape Coral

Over the past month or so I have witnessed a few stellar phenomena such as the total solar eclipse in Arkansas on April 8 and a record solar flare-induced aurora light show in Florida (of all places.) Throw in a Space-X Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral and it’s been a great month. I may have access to a telescope soon that I can hook up the iPhone to and maybe view/capture something else- like an orbiting Tesla?

After a three hour drive to Paris, Arkansas, I parked the car behind a roadside bar and awaited the moon to orbit in between the Sun and the Earth. I’ve experienced multiple solar and lunar eclipses but this was by far the best In a total coverage of the Sun.

I used the iPhone 15 Pro Max to capture the moment, shot in RAW and full magnification behind an old DSLR lens filter. Well, the neutral density filter was not strong enough so I just used the special-filter glasses for better results. 

While the others grabbed beer being served at 1PM on a Monday in small town Arkansas, I was setting up the tripod and watching the moon make its journey in between myself and the Sun. I lit my pipe and relaxed as the shadow slowly moved from the south. The sky turned cobalt blue, then purple and finally it was dark. Off to the west the sky glowed as if the sun were setting as it should but that won’t happen for another 7 hours. 

My eyes were darting back and forth from the astrological event above me and to the tripod to push the camera button as the slow shutter perfectly adjusted to the low light in the sky around the moon perfectly and even captured some solar prominences. 

The sky remained dark for a few minutes, the wind stopped and the temperature dropped. Everything was surreal and quiet except for the chatter of my companions. Can we not enjoy the moment in reverence?

Seven frustrating hours later I arrived back home to relax and wonder at what we had witnessed. Then it was my turn for a beer at the pub and thought it was appropriate to sing ”Eclipse” and “Brain Damage” by Pink Floyd. What a great misadventure today was. 

Shooting landscape photography forces you to get outside and find the beauty around you. Sometimes this means discovering places right in front of your eyes that you just never noticed were beautiful before. Other times this means exploring new places and getting out on a hike or nature walk. For today’s newsletter, I wanted to share a few of my favorite landscape photos from sun up to sundown.

Rare is the opportunity to visit the places I want to go but when I do, the area is scouted and explored beforehand only then does the camera and tripod come out. 

How do I make these rare, beautiful images? There is an app called Photo Pils that assists photographers in knowing when and where the sun/moon are at any point and time. By using a that tripod to steady the camera, and then attach a neutral-density filter to the camera lens to block UV rays and glare. In post-processing the images, I’ll fire up the software and reduce the highlights, then boost the contrast accordingly. 

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“A picture means I know where I was every minute. That’s why I take pictures. It’s a visual diary.” – Andy Warhol

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selcouthist- One who encounters the strange and unfamiliar with a boundless sense of wonder and awe.

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“This is one corner… of one country, in one continent, on one planet that’s a corner of a galaxy that’s a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond. And there is so much, so much to see.” – Doctor Who

Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart, but that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change
you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.