12 31 12

 

Yeah, I know it's supposed to be Milk!

 

 

Don't get me wrong.....there is no real new baby...that's just a metaphor of sorts.  Let's see I usher out....a year of

 

Endless politicians lying to us.

A year of better personal health.

A year of 108,000 hits on Fine Art America.

A year of 9,700 hits on this Blog.

A year which saw my oldest grand start college.

A year of good health throughout the family.

A 13.2% increase in my annual income.

Only a 12% increase in my annual expenses.

 

And we usher in a year with....

 

A trillion dollar tax increase in an already weak economy.

Hope that the economy doesnt' implode.

Some new photographic adventures.

Maybe a real vacation.

Continued good health for us all.

 

Finally, a huge thank you for.......

 

 All the readers of the blog.

All the visitors to FAA.

All of my buyers without which I would probably take up knitting.

Sheri and God for putting up with me.

My kids and grand kids who are simply the best.

 

And finally my new year's resolution stolen from someone far smarter than I!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 26 12

BLESSED!

 

This is the traditional morning after the morning before blog.  Or the day after Christmas.  I finished a five day power trip to Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania on the 24th and was home just in time for family Christmas eve events here in SC.  I have to admit that the thousand mile rounder is a little tedious......but worth it.  Maybe next time I'll look into a train ride, which might make an interesting adventure to report here but we'll to see about that.

 

In Pennsylvania!

 

 

One of the advantages of being behind the camera is that you never have to be seen in these obligatory images.  Son [in dark shirt], daughter to the right, son-in-law in red shirt, daughter in law standing.  The rest are the grands....three girls left and son saddled with carrying on the family name.  Great meal and great togetherness, of which I do not get enough.  Love them all beyond reason and don't tell them that enough.

 

 

The family cats could have cared less about what was going on...they literally are fat, dumb and happy.

 

Speaking of dumb and happy....back in South Carolina, McGee just wants to be fed and kept warm.  Presents hold his interest for about thirty seconds.  But mention a cookie and look out!

Missy is our performer and cannot wait to open presents.  It is truly amazing that for two weeks, presents sat under the tree and she didn't touch them.  But on Christmas morning........she knows!  Somehow she KNOWS!

 

She is the opener of all things wrapped and wears herself out doing just that.

 

 

Ready to go for the next one.

 

It's her job..........once a year!

 

Sheri and Chrissy admire a photograph framed in a Victorian antique frame while surveying Missy's handiwork.

 

 

OK, so most of the photos were about toys, pets and family. But we all know the real reason for the season called CHRISTmas and I did get a chance to read the bible last night............so it has been a blessed holiday.

 

Can't wait to see what Missy does for New Years Eve!

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 15 12

OLD AND GREY

 

I borrowed this from an old friend, Carol, with whom I went steady back in the 8th grade for about three days.  She in turn got it from Linked Souls dot com.  I remember carrying her books home from school on one occasion.  I don't know how that counts as going steady, but back then it was that important and that innocent.

 

Does any kid do that any more?  Or adult for that matter.   Maybe it would help our culture if we took the time to quietly relate to one another.  My eternal prayers and thoughts rest today with the parents and friends of those going through a horrendous time in Connecticut.  They're lives will be forever changed by a mentally ill young man who was a step to far from Heaven and one too close to Hell.

 

 

12 14 12

THE ART WITHIN

 

Someone once asked me why I take so many photographs.  I guess it was at a wildlife show in Maryland, but am not sure.  It's sorta like what I do!  And no, I don't throw them up on the wall and see what sticks.  There was once a very famous wildlife photographer, not me certainly, that made a renowned living of taking too many photos.  This was back before digital....you know when the wagons were going across the country exploring the west.  And yes, I do feel that old at times.

 

Back when we bought film [around $8 a roll], had it developed [about $8 a roll], kept only the one image out of 36 if we were lucky [good], and then looked for someone to buy that single image.  It was tough to get a decent business going. 

 

I'll answer that original question in a minute, but when asked what it takes to be a great photographer I had this to say.  "You need money, no family, and the best equipment that money can buy, travel constantly....then to get just the right photo.....You gotta be there" 

 

 And that's how you make a great image.

 

  Selling it is a whole nother herd of cats.

 

Anyway, that famous wildlife photographer [sorry but I can't remember his name, so much for fame] would find, let's say, a moose in the wild.  He would set up his assistants [5 or 6] in a semi-circle around the hapless animal and they would burn hundreds of rolls of film.  This did a couple of things.  First it pretty much insured getting a saleable image.  Second, at that time we had to actually send the slide off to the magazine or book for approval.  Hence, that image would be out of circulation for up to two months.  Nobody else could see it.  But this guy had hundreds and could send almost the same image off to hundreds of buyers.  He got published a lot, made a bunch of money, gained a potload of fame,  but it cost him a boat load of cash.

 

Notice, nowhere up there did I mention "Art" or the artist's "Eye"  Well, it doesn't hurt to have a good eye and to know what does or can put together a decent image.  Like I have said, I shoot some pretty unattractive views.  But in so doing, I get to see just what is "In" the image.

 

 

This is the Congaree River.  The light stinks.  Everything is brown.  Water is reflecting.  Ugh!

 

But!

 

 

Well, that's a whole nuther kettle of fish!

 

 

12 13 12

Who knew?

 

I could probably crop this somehow to eliminate some of the clutter.........Nah! 

 

 

I walk by this table a couple hundred thousands times a day, but never saw it.  I sit at the thing a couple of times a day to eat a meal, but never see it.  I vacuum around it at least twice a week [we have two dogs you know], but never see it and probably cuss the chairs when they're in the way. 

 

Then one day I had the door open [back left] and the sun was setting....you know that golden hour business that we photographers love and brag about.   

 

The idea is to get a low sun casting shadows and emitting a yellow to red tone to things.  Some call it "Painting with light".  I mostly call it lucky, or good planning and luck!  I admit that one can get some pretty dramatic images during the first and last light of the day.  Things do look different.  Prettier perhaps.  More colorful perhaps.  More mystery or intrigue. So what is it the makes us stop and open our eyes.  Like being hit between the eyes with a 2x4!

 

Simply put ........... it is the eternal war between lightness and dark.  Shadow and Bright.  Innocence and depravity.  Good and Evil.  God, is that Edgar Allen talk?  [For those of you with a public school education, I am of course referring to Poe ].

 

  Nah!

 

  Just takes time for stuff to penetrate.  Of course I am only speaking for myself.

 

  The only difference between beauty and the mundane is the light!

 

  Deep huh? 

 

12 12 12

THE ART WITHIN

 

The date alone, 12 12 12, suggests a day within that won't get repeated for a while.  I had the opportunity to visit our local "Old" waterworks building a day or so ago.  Another of my walks for health and the acquisition of bits and pieces of random and probably useless information.  There are a couple of things about Americana that seem to set a tone of some kind.  Rust and cracked paint!  Add ambiance, feeling, nostalgia and more bits of fiction and fact of garbage knowledge from my almanac.

 

 

Within this tourist trap of information lie a number of artsy angles, colors, shapes and history.

The American Gauge Company for instance.  No, I didnt' google it...I leave that chore to you but needless to say this is a collectible image. 

 

It tugs on a number of heart strings.  First and foremost is rust!  Industrial!  Gauges!  Lines!  And a scroll for God's sake in an industrial plant?  And finally, cracked paint.  It just doesn't get any better than that.

 

 

12 11 12

THE ART WITHIN

 

Often there is pretty much nothing but junk to shoot when I am doing my daily walk.  Maybe I should concentrate more on the exercise of my bod and not my eye?  But you never know.  This is part of about a mile of a new walk just outside of town...mostly woods.  To date all I have seen is a nervous blue heron and two squirrels.  Great, I've got the latter just outside the kitchen window.  Missy and I chase them off the feeder about a thousand times every day.  I think there are five separate ones living in the oak tree in the neighbor's yard. 

 

 

Some would say I actually look like a troll living under the bridges as I walk along.  Not much there right?  If you look closer, there are probably gators and snakes that would eat ya alive given half the chance.  So stay on the concrete walkway.  But look closer.  Crop with the camera and not on the computer later.  Makes a better photo.  But there is something hidden within.  No, not a Sasquatch although I did damage my walking stick doing a couple of tree knocks.  Hey, who knows?  If it wasn't for finding Bigfoot and Duck Commanders, there would be no television.

 

 

Who woulda thunk it!

 

 

 

 

THE ART WITHIN

At the risk of giving away any trade secrets, I am going to start a series called "The art within".

 

Of course, you all know that the art within can be found in the website, but here goes.

 

Just a railroad track in small town in central South Carolina.  How many small towns have you been through where the local main street runs right along the railroad?

 

 

Pretty standard photo.  But there's gotta be something one can do with it.  Crop and a little fog!

 

 

 

12 6 12

Some days....no matter what you do.............it just feels so right!

 

 

12 5 12

A fine place to meditate!

 

I have been blessed in this life to find a number of "Fine places to meditate".  Just a shame I never took advantage of most of them.  It seems to me that fog helps me find those places.  Water is just as much of a lure as well.  Put both of those natural events together and I guess I'm in Nirvana.

It is supposedly going to rain today here in the paradise south of the sun.  Not yet---and I was going to use that as an excuse not to take a walk.  Of course that would mean you would have to put up with all my crass commercialism on the blog, Face Book, Twitter and/or Fine Art America.  But i guess that's the price of fame. 

Listening to a DVD by Jimmy Buffet, a childhood idol of mine.  If I had had different circumstances, lots of money, was able to play a guitar and sing....there but for the grace of God go I.  I mean...who else could get away with publishing such songs as "We are the people our parents warned us about" or "Why don't we get drunk and screw"!  Or the old standards like "Margaritaville" and "Cheeseburger in Paradise"  True classics.  Reminds me of another place of contemplation.  A beach side palm in Buffetville!

 

Stately old oak trees either in St. Augustine, Florida or Charleston, South Carolina make great places to give thought to things greater than ourselves.  Just amazing the things around us that don't cost a dime, yet are building blocks for the soul!

 

Flat water and a canoe equals closer my God to Thee!  Or just flat water!

 

 

I guess it's more about quiet places alone with the crazy things that rattle around between the ears.  Some parts of nature I like to call "The big Woods" can prompt the same emotions.  Just a note, if you double click on the highlighted words you can find some more stuff.  Click on the photos for a better resolution.  There is still time to ship before Christmas up to the 12th without doing overnights.

 

Still not raining and the "Coconut Telegraph" is ringing, so I'm going to go find that Cheeseburger!

 

 

 

12 4 12

Sedentary old fool!

 

At least that is what I feel I have become. 

 

 So I have taken up my walking stick and revisited the Riverwalk and other environs.  You'll remember the walking stick [or perhaps not], it has about a pound of lead embedded in one end of a five foot stick and an two inch spike in the other.  The creation of same was spawned from an encounter with a German Shepard and his stupid master.  Dog attacked me while the owner stood by saying....."He's never done that before", and meanwhile the dog is literally at my throat.  Now, not only do I beat the crap out of the dog but shove the stick where the sun don't shine on the owner.  OK, that was off subject but refers back to the old fool part of sedentary.

 

It was foggy on Monday and you know I cannot resist a foggy day.  Sorta like the flasher who can't be seen until it's too late.  Sneaking around, in my case, and taking pictures.  I can't stand the laughter incurred in the other thing.

 

My first image does have some phallic, albeit hairy, representation to it.

 

 

How the heck did I get on that subject anyway.  Falls into the category of the old fool part I guess.  I did walk a couple of miles and it felt good.  Now I won't get my svelte athletic figure of late high school days back, but I have a stress test in February and I don't want to fall off the tread mill [again]!

 

The thing we call "The Riverwalk" is a five mile [ish] stretch of paved walkway along the edge of the Congaree River between Columbia, SC and Cayce, where I live.  This is probably one of the minuscule examples of how government actually spends tax dollars well.  It's either that or somebody donated a barrel full of money to put this thing up.  The physical walk does give some separation of people from crawly critters like gators, copperheads, moccasins and timber rattlers.  The only one I have not seen are the rattlesnakes.  Now their the easy things to avoid, then you have the homeless and thugs looking to steal their way into hell.  For them , I do have a concealed carry permit.  Don't ask if I do----cause if you have to ask it may be too late.  And then there is the all-purpose stick.

 

 

After all that "Rambo" talk, I show my softer side in this image of lace and rock.  The bend in the tree is what attracted me in the first place.  Sensitive huh?  If I were up north, I could say the fog helped to hid the bodies floating down stream, but down here it's just the normal pollution of chemical and human waste that gets into the water.  Hey, I am not a greeny, but come on people just don't throw stuff in the waterways.  It'll go a long way in making the place we live in nicer.

 

 

Just so you know........just because there is fog......there is still color.  Double click on the image and you will get a better resolution.  The river flow is left to right.  The rock formations in the river are left to right.  Hey, the plants are left to right.  Why should I have to point all that out to ya?

Oh, and BTW there is still time to get your Christmas shopping done at that unbelievably fine website of mine.  Just click on the highlighted words in the text, arrange for a second mortgage, and have at it.  See isn't that slick?   My Paypal account would be just tickled if you do.

 

 Time to think about where I will walk today.  I hear the garbage men outside picking up the weeks leavings...maybe I'll just amble out and follow them for a block or two.  Or until they ask me what I think I am doing!  Maybe I'll see that pretty lady at the end of the block doing her walk.  God, I hope not...........I'd have to suck my stomach in and hold it for at least a half block.  Not sure I can do that!