Seeing 2009 (#95)

Just for fun: Halloween offerings for your viewing pleasure. The first submission is that of some apparently Casperesque, friendly ghosts; this "pseudonatural" shot was recorded on a stranger's lawn next door to a friend's house. If all ghouls were as good humored as Mr Red I'd have had far less fear of the closet door in my childhood. This pair seems somewhat more mischievous than malevolent.

The second photograph is that of a Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos) exhibition in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., library. The artistry and attention to detail in the originals are exquisite and breathtakingly beautiful. And, despite their handsomeness, these spirits are not quite so as inviting as the first image's lawn denizens.

Glowing Ghosts #5304

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 23, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 8 secs; -1 EV; ISO 100; 55mm.

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Dead Head #5293

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 23, 2009; Canon 20D; f/8 @ 1/13 sec; -1 EV; ISO 400; 56mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#94)

Tonight's offering is the first published panorama attempt for me, a composite of 9 images taken between 7:20am and 7:23am. I was forced to crop a considerable amount, especially from the bottom, due to Photoshop's blending/splicing methodology.

Beyond the necessary trimming and resizing (the result of the merging process was a +268MB file size!) I've applied virtually no adjustments to this submission; the coloration is representative of the early lighting appropriately thirty minutes before sunrise. Near the far left edge is Mission Peak; the right edge is nearly due South, with Mt. Umunhum unfortunately just beyond the frame.

I'd never before been in the structure from which this shot was taken. Prior to arriving I'd high hopes of capturing at least the upper floors of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. library against the backdrop of the Diablo Range and impending appearance of ole Sol, but the unexpectedly tall building across the street eliminated that perspective.

This isn't my most artistic effort, but it was quite an enjoyable experience photographing the birth of a new day. Be sure to open the image to its full size for a much better detail, especially the low-laying fog against the foothills.

San Jose Dawn From Axis Building, #5309-5317

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 24, 2009; Canon 20D; f/8 @ 10 secs; ±0 EV; ISO 100; 18mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#93)

For your consideration: after a series of highly charged abstract night scenes, an early morning setting featuring a tightly structured tableau speaking to serenity and silence. Perhaps coffee is brewing, a newspaper being retrieved, and an unknown visitor soon to settle in for a quiet antidote for the adventures of the prior evening . . .

Still, the composition evokes a subtle tension, by means of leaving the primary elements incomplete and thus somewhat abstract despite their familiarity.

Early Morning Geometry Study, #5395

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 24, 2009; Canon 20D; f/8 @ 1/250 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 200; 61mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#92)

At friend at work sent me an email yesterday afternoon which lead to a wonderful experience today: "Sunrise for Shutterbugs." The setting: a couple of east-facing balconies in an empty 21st-floor condominium, a newly built structure in downtown San Jose. The time: pre-sunrise (ergo the event's title) until 9.00am. The weather: fabulous, if a tad hazy.

This gathering was arranged by another photographer (and her fellow-photographer-husband). Ostensibly the purpose was to garner some measure of publicity for the largely empty glass edifice; those of us who participated (perhaps ten fellow artists overcame bed-gravity) can enter images in an upcoming photography contest associated with the building. On a larger level, however, several of us compared notes and we may form a new Google-based photo group. I am enthusiastic about the prospect: it seems that amongst the potential members exists a broad range of complimentary areas of expertise . . . thus we can all learn a great deal from one another, and I have much to learn!

I shot perhaps 100 images this morning; after a visit to University Art for framing/matting supplies I came home and have spent the majority of the afternoon attempting to craft a few versions of a print for which I have a buyer . . . I've just shipped the results via the web for printing, and after a much needed nap I'm off to see if at least one passes muster. If so I plan to matte and frame the image this evening, for delivery this week.

None of which pertains to this submission, another offering Thursday night's (photographic) drive-by shootings . . .

Abstract (The Speed of Light), #5250

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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Details: October 22, 2009; Canon 20D; f/5.0 @ 2.5 secs; -2/3 EV; ISO 400; 30mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#91)

For your consideration: an extemporaneous study in geometry, motion and electric atmospherics.

Earlier this evening I had the great pleasure of joining friends for a journey north, to San Francisco's SF MoMA, to view the current Richard Avedon installation. We embarked on our jaunt later than planned, thus we had but very limited time to survey this amazing body of work. Even so, it was an extremely impressive, and surprisingly (to me) nuanced exhibit. Fortunately it will be on display through November 29, 2009; I intend to return with Julianna for a more leisurely and considered absorption of Mr Avedon's vision.

Not only was there too little time to give the show its due, but it was also unfortunate that tomorrow is a work day: this evening's weather in San Francisco was absolutely perfect - clear, temperate and without any hint of wind. It would've been wonderful to linger late into the night, simply wandering the streets; as I (alone) had my camera I secretly yearned to seek out promontories from which to photograph various aspects of the city's skyline. Hmm . . . perhaps a solo return visit tomorrow night?

No matter. Being quite pleased with some of the driving rain imagery I took earlier this week -- and having awakened a long suppressed desire to explore the depiction of motion in my work -- I put my camera to good use during the ride home this evening. In contrast to the storm shots, haphazardly taken while driving, tonight I had the luxury of riding in the passenger seat and thus was able to deliberately compose and concentrate strictly on the potential photogenic aspects of the swiftly unfolding scenery streaming past the car windows. I am pleased with several of the results, the first of which I offer here.

Abstract (Triangulation Impact), #5279

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 22, 2009; Canon 20D; f/10 @ 4 secs; -2/3 EV; ISO 400; 27mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#90)

This time, a personally unprecedented offering: a composite image constructed from two photographs taken months apart. Forgive the roughness of it -- I'm not yet nearly the master of digital post-processing I strive to become.

Over the course of many years I've often reflected upon the mysteries of courtship, romance, and how frequently it seems risky to reveal our true selves, particularly in those first, tentative encounters. This submission attempts to comment on this struggle.

Blind Date #1

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details - Head: April 18, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 5 secs; -2/3 EV; ISO 100; 80mm.

Details - Torso: October 17, 2009; Canon 20D; f/16 @ 8 secs; -1/3 EV; ISO 200; 49mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#89)

Two offerings in this post, reflective of the vast spectrum of possibilities, hopes, optimism and the onslaught of stormy weather and challenging moods and experiences.

Yesterday morning the crisp and first image's marvelously painted sky bespoke of a clear day ahead, and carried a sense of good tidings and positive outcomes, much of which came to pass. However, as the second image illustrates, physical, emotional and perhaps even spiritual atmospheres can be subject to rapid change and sometimes deterioration: the sky was clear outside today but my own interior was hit an unexpected shift to slippery, dreary and turbulent conditions. C'est la vie. This too shall pass.

Morning Clouds, #5176

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 19, 2009; Canon 20D; f/5.6 @ 1/80 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 100; 45mm.

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Driving Rain, #5214

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 19, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/4 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 100; 39mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#88)

Tonight's submission: the first subject I countered during last weekend's extemporaneous late evening meanderings around Campbell's downtown district.

I found this storefront window tableau bemusing, thanks to the arrangement of an incongruous bauble laden miniature Eiffel Tower near a suggestively female mannequin's feet. The juxtaposition of diminutive statue and looming curvaceous form reminded me of a long-ago wry lyric from a 1960s female singer, Melanie: "anything is a phallic symbol if it's longer than it's wide."

Glowing Pink Model with Yellow Light, #5101

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 17, 2009; Canon 20D; f/7.1 @ 1/15 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 800; 28mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#87)

Tonight's submission: a scene I couldn't resist . . . a street fair shuttered for the evening, largely unremarkable were it not for a shirt peculiarly modeled in midair.

In obsessive fashion I spent an hour creating twenty-two varied images of the floating chemise and its surroundings. (I might have shot more, but I grew weary of the endless supply of intoxicated pedestrians who in apparent oblivion wandered through the scene; the obnoxious factor predictably rose in proportion with the passage of time.) In the days to come I will post several more from the resulting collection.

Here, perhaps another reflection on impermanence and Dukkah: two torsos, missing their heads. One seems more at peace with the notion than the other.

Nightshirt Self-Portrait (For Lease), #5123

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 17, 2009; Canon 20D; f/16 @ 10 secs; -1 EV; ISO 400; 27mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#86)

For your consideration: a study in contrasts on several levels: confinement verses the freedom to roam; chaos and serenity; acute, formal and imposed structures set against a vista of serendipitous simplicity.

Here also exists subtle and explicit compositional symmetries . . . the tracks echo the wall's planks, the massive rectangle of the door is mimicked by the railroad ties; the sweeping streaks of black graffiti parallel the slope and wave of the horizon as well as the paths of the distant dirt roads; an unruly mound of tangled debris provides an ironic similarity to dark forms of oaks on the hills.

In my high school junior year (Clifton, AZ) I had a fascinating and intensely engaging character as my Chemistry and Biology teacher. Occasionally he proffered his opinion that evolution was a mistaken notion -- to the contrary, his view was that mankind (in particular) began as a much higher life form and has ever since been on a declining trajectory. I don't concur vis-à-vis with his evolutionary theories, yet my species' propensity to inflict wantonly destructive behavior with abandon upon disused buildings does give one reason to pause.

The scene offered here presents a stark duality between the elegance of nature's workings and that of earth's highest life form . . .

Impermanence (Devolution), #5057

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 11, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/160 sec; -1/3 EV; ISO 200; 22mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#85)

A study in the geometry of relationships . . . taking from a rare outing onto the 5th floor balcony roof of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., library.

Two women, connected by line and form, traverse a precisely defined and proximate space within an otherwise empty plane . . . yet rather than sharing a momentary acknowledgment of mutual existence the pair instead demonstrates a deliberate indifference towards one another. The sterility of the scene is echoed and reinforced by the arid interaction.

In an increasingly populated planet Earth this photograph reflects our own too frequent disdain for the chance to experience the wonder and variety of the journeys of our fellow travelers, simply because we often fail to take risk transforming strangers into acquaintances, and perhaps becoming friends and companions. We are each miracles of consciousness, vessels possessed of an utterly unique kaleidoscope of memories, visions and life experiences. Our time together on this mortal coil is but fleeting, and our own terrestrial voyages are immeasurably enriched to the degree that we choose to share our humanity.

Geometry Students, #3055

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: May 14, 2009 ; Canon 20D; f/16 @ 1/250 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 400; 85mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#84)

On the way home from last weekend's escape to the foothills I took a short diversion in order to explore a long-abandoned rail station (of sorts). Wandering around the collection of utterly derelict structures, which were severely marred by a mixture of weather and graffiti, yielded a deep nostalgia for when I first began my photographic pursuits in earnest, c. 1975.

In those halcyon days I was in high school in the small, isolated desert town of Clifton Arizona. I spent considerable solitary time investigating shuttered, empty buildings in what passed for downtown, as well as the crumbling remnants of the original copper mine smelter site located on the fringes of town. Those early exposures to the pervasive sense of an oddly lost history latent within the discarded and crumbling detritus set the tone for my lifelong attraction to the photogenic possibilities inherent in items and structures discarded as useless . . . and I derive considerable pleasure transforming them into unexpected objets d'art.

An alternative title I considered for this submission: A Wrinkle In Time.

Abstract in Blue and Yellow, #5037

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 11, 2009 ; Canon 20D; f/5.6 @ 1/800 sec; -1/3 EV; ISO 200; 55mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#83)

October has arrived, thus my annual pilgrimage to the foothills above San Juan Bautista, this year my 18th sojourn. As will always be the case, the gathering arrived right on schedule: my soul craved the respite and healing inherent in these holy grounds.

For just the second time over the course of these many visits circumstances prevented me from traveling and rooming with Nino; this year however I was unexpectedly able to have Jerry as my companion. Jerry and I share many common interests, among them being nocturnal photography and the occasional, when-away-from-home cigar indulgence.

Thus this image. Although not apparent, Jerry is sitting in a precariously balanced plastic chair at the very edge of an overlook which falls away to a rural valley. The thirty second exposure time, taken at 11:22 p.m., reveals the glow of Hollister seeping over hills in the distant east.

Jerry Lighting A Cigar At Serenity Point, #4922

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 10, 2009 ; Canon 20D; f/9 @ 30 secs; -1/3 EV; ISO 400; 28mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#82)

It's been a long week.

Going on a retreat this weekend - right on schedule. Looking forward to time for meditation, reflection and renewal.

The lighting in the scene below was oddly flat for a mid-morning, utterly clear day. Still, this serves the mood: a strangely sterile tableau for a setting generally associated with high-energy sport (sans furniture on the courts!) . . . for me this composition suggests a surprising sense of estrangement - of a gathering somehow preempted for unspoken reasons.

Untitled, #4521

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: September 5, 2009 ; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/500 sec; -1 EV; ISO 100; 55mm.

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Seeingn 2009 (#81)

This past weekend my wife Julianna and I trekked up to Lake County and rode our bicycles in the Konacti Challenge.

Julianna's goal was 100 miles; she breezed through 65 before heading off the route for a soft landing at my parents' home. As for me: not being nearly as fit as my bride, combined with having a mountain bike (vs. a touring model), I was convinced that the 30 mile option was in my best interest . . . and that proved to be a challenge indeed, not helped by having taken two wrong turns (adding two massive climbs and about 10 extra miles) and running into 15-20 m.p.h head-winds over the last three . . . agonizing . . . miles . . . Ahh, but we survived with a sense of mutual accomplishment.

This submission provides related but dramatically different images taken at the shore of Clear Lake, just before the peddling, perspiration, persistence and pain began. For those of you who take the time to view these offerings, I'd be interested in your preference, and the reasons for your choice.

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Boat and Dock, Lakeport shore of Clear Lake , #4785

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 3, 2009 ; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/1000 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 400; 25mm.

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Untitled , #4775

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 3, 2009 ; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/1000 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 400; 18mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#80)

Two offerings from an 2005 European bus-tour vacation taken with my then-fiancée Julianna and my parents . . . Spain, the Rivera and Italy. Quite an adventure . . . perhaps more on that in another post.

For quite some time I thought I'd irretrievably lost all of my images from this trip due to an external hard drive crash; nearly three years later I rediscovered the original CF cards and experienced the unspeakable delight to also learn that I'd not erased them, as I had thought.

The first is the side of a house in the lovely, soothing and serene village of Lucca, Italy; the arrangement of the windows immediately invoked some of Picasso's simpler depictions of faces.

The second image is one of a great deal of shots taken in Pompeii on a very hot day just past noon. I rarely take photographs under such generally flat light conditions. Nonetheless, on that particular day several scenes presented themselves as unusually abstract constructions, due to the sun's position nearly directly overhead. It was hot, extremely sunny, and Mt. Vesuvius loomed close by . . .

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Lucca House Façade (Ode to Picasso), #5412

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: July 6, 2005; Canon G2; f/5 @ 1/640 sec; -1/3 EV; ISO 50; 18.8mm.

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Pompeii, #5491

(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: July 10, 2005; Canon G2; f/8 @ 1/250 sec; -1/3 EV; ISO 50; 14.6mm.

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