Saguaro Wanderings

Seeing 2012 (#17)

2012-02-15T23:54:00.001-08:00

For your consideration:

A view down into a maelstrom of uncertain pedigree — at least at first blush. Closer inspection, however, might reveal some insights.

For one, despite the seemingly relentless and impenetrable, forceful flow — chaotic rush of movement in all directions — in the center is found a reassuring solidity, and even signs of growth where none would seem plausible.

When chaos reigns and fight vs. flight grabs hold and extols the latter, it is usually best to stay put, on known terra firma, rather than risk all in uncertain leaps into the unknown.

For the strength of solid home footing trumps the storm and the siren call of the wild, when all is said and done. It takes more courage, and fortifies the soul, to remain and tend to foundations rather than to flee and be scattered.

Untitled, #1845-20D

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Details: October 14, 2010; Canon 7D; f/7 @ 1/200 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 400;
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2012 (#16)

2012-02-14T01:21:00.001-08:00

For your consideration: a bucolic view into a relatively pristine valley, thus far seemingly little known to the frenzied nearby metropolises.

The day I had the joy of experiencing this area first-hand was one of the last in which I felt a deep, full, unbridled pleasure and sense of well-being. The weather, lighting and solitude combined to create an atmosphere of artistic and spiritual bliss.

Ah, but mirages lurk everywhere for the unwary.

This road invites an exploration towards a bit of heaven; little did I suspect I'd soon be leaving such beautiful terrain for the beginning of a trek into decidedly darker days to come. What shall be the destination — Shangri La, or Mordor?

All things are possible; only time will tell.

The Road, #5383-7D

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Details: January 22, 2012; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/1000 sec; —1 2/3 EV; ISO 160;
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8@ 16mm

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Seieng 2012 (#15)

2012-02-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: tranquility with just enough roiling to provide some tension and counterpoint.

This is a composite of two hand-held images; one (overexposed for the sky) was used as an adjustment layer in order to coax just a bit of detail from the rocky foreground.

Day's Finale, Pigeon Pt., CA, #4201/2-7D

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Details: December 10, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/664 sec; —2 EV; ISO 250;
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 16mm

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Seeing 2012 (#14)

2012-02-08T00:02:00.000-08:00

For your consideration:

'Tis been an exceptionally hard time of late, inner-cranium wise. Much darkness and synapses storms.

Thus this: an injection of a bit of light. Even in the darkest hour there can be hope; when minute hope is combined with the energy of spirited love the entire universe becomes blessed and awash in colorful joy and rebirth.

As with the Phoenix, so too with us!

Ferris and Palm, #4057-7D

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Details: December 2, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1.6 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 400;
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm

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Seeing 2012 (#13)

2012-02-05T00:03:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: a stoic sentry (one might say with a wooden expression) peering into an unseen distance of indeterminate expanse.

For those of us lucky to capture this setting earlier today, 'twas a case of seek and you shall find melded with what you see is what you get.

In point of fact, it was maddeningly hidden in plain sight.

Totem (White Face Beak), #5512-7D

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Details: February 4, 2012; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/8197 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 640;
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 244mm

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Seeing 2012 (#12)

2012-01-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: a case of terminal alienation, perhaps tinged with a deliberate obliviousness.

An acute sense of emptiness pervades this scene, set on the outer fringe of a metropolis built to be a magnet for against-all-odds riches and an endless supply of spontaneous, casual social bonding (with their attendant opportunities and eventual consequences) . . .

The windows create a sky filled with impotent rays of hope, mocking the potential for any desired interactions between the players. Certainly this was but one of an oversupply of missed connections.

Leaving Las Vegas (New Year's Eve), #5160-7D

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Details: December 31, 2012; Canon 7D; f/3.5 @ 1/250 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 640;
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 16mm

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Seeing 2012 (#11)

2012-01-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: a macro view of a porcelain topography, one which, upon close reflection, may lead to revelations for some.

I find the brain's nimble ability to parse amazingly complex patterns with ease endlessly fascinating. The simple cast of light and shadow across mild contours on this scarred and pockmarked surface is wholly enough to provoke a quick recognition of the true subject's spirit.

Physiognomy, #3038-20D

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Details: May 16, 2010; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/400 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 100;
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2012 (#10)

2012-01-26T00:52:00.001-08:00

For your consideration: a common object and setting, yet depicted (in a straightforward manner) as our eyes never quite see it . . .

The ability of modern cameras to "freeze" action by means of extremely short exposure times (up 1/8000 sec is not unusual) far surpasses the capacity of the human brain to see in any detail the incredible dynamics of something as simple as a water fountain nozzle . . . Here the cone, at first glance, appears to be encased in ice rather than a thin sheath of erupting water.

Cone Head, #2493-20D

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Details: July 1, 2011; Canon 20D; f/8 @ 1/1001 sec; —1 1/3 EV; ISO 200;
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 269mm

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Seeing 2012 (#9)

2012-01-23T00:28:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: a brief break in a bucolic valley, between onslaughts of the season's first, much-belated winter storms.

I had a great luxury of spending most of yesterday exploring this hidden jewel of a largely unpopulated region with fellow photography enthusiast Jerry. The experience featured a good deal of driving and great seeing: interspersed with bouts of icy rain radiated gorgeous waves of golden sunlight illuminating velveteen, undulating hills and dramatic, regal clouds from horizon to horizon. We both emerged with robust caches of potentially excellent imagery.

Not everyone, it would appear however, successfully negotiates a successful departure from this place.

Pinoche Valley, #5421-22-7D

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Details: January 22, 2012; Canon 7D; f/9 @ 1/1328 sec; —1 1/3 EV; ISO 320;
Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS @ 41mm

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Seeing 2012 (#8)

2012-01-20T00:10:00.001-08:00

For your consideration: geometric abstractions derived entirely from the play of light upon an object in an expected orientation.

There is much which can be mined in this canvass, if one is willing to linger and play . . .

An unknown creature's cry for help? A thermal mapping of an archer's aim? Juxtaposed planets, moons and rings?

Derived from whole cloth or metallic milling, the reality is subordinate to the pleasure of the contemplations to be plumbed; as with many things one's final interpretation of the visual evidence is likely to be illusionary.

Escape Velocity, #0208-20D

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Details: July 25, 2010; Canon 20D; f/5.6 @ 1.6 secs; —2/3 EV; ISO 400;
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2012 (#7)

2012-01-19T00:11:00.001-08:00

For your consideration: as suffix to the prior entry, let us momentarily consider another recent entry in the Lastest Discovery category . . .

The deeply penetrating Keck telescope has recently discovered more evidence that this particular universe of ours is populated with millions, if not billions of other planets beyond our humble solar system. Now the search is on to unearth observations of rocky spheres which revolve around suns at such as distance as to never long be either too cold or too hot — but rather in a narrow orbital circuit (the so-called inhabitable zone) such that surface and atmospheric temperatures are suitable for water to exist. In such cases the presumption is there is H20, life can arise from the ooze and take form.

Thus, a plethora of unknown species and their representatives on such wet planets might well be patiently awaiting to be encountered.

I've long thought it a disturbing case of acutely-human-centered anthropological conjecture that Life Elsewhere would look something akin to life as we currently know it on Earth (from a species point of view). What might a creature evolved from sulfur, say, appear to be to us? A yellow mound of moving powered mustard?

Perhaps instead other carbon-based aliens have evolved, comprised of vast stretches of connected molecules, creating multi-cellular life forms, just as we are. Who knows: our interstellar neighbors might turn out to be water creatures . . . strange things can happen when enough spherical objects closely congregate and congeal.

Water Entity, #9682-20D

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Details: July 11, 2010; Canon 20D; f/4.5 @ 1/6400 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 200;
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2012 (#6)

2012-01-17T00:40:00.001-08:00

For your consideration: perspectives on the possibility of realities beyond our ability to truly fathom.

For the past few years I've taken up the practice of meditation. Often, as I begin the process of "sitting", I'll venture down a specfic intellectual journey of reflection to clear my mind (a non-sequitur if there ever was one). I start by contemplating the fact that my body, and indeed all physical objects of which I'm aware, consist purely of atoms hanging out together in particular configurations.

These impossibly small particles are themselves essentially empty space: if an atom's nucleus were enlarged to the size of a golf ball, the closest electron would orbit nearly 3,300 feet distant. (Consider too that the nucleus itself consists of similarly void particles — quarks and their kin.) Consequently it is literally the case that the entirety of the physical universe is virtually without substance.

At times, as I follow this path of awareness (with obviously vaguely-defined visualization) a sublime sense of floating astonishment and awe fills my sense of being: the very notion of existence, let alone consciousness, arising from and manifested from such nonsensical nothingness is an incomprehensible miracle. Shells within shells of sub-microscopic architectures as the substrate of such concepts as Self-awareness and emotions (love, hope, joy, grief - the entire gamut) . . . this well-surpasses the Knowable.

And now this news, on the astronomically macro scale: it is increasingly plausible that our universe is but one of an unthinkable number of other Multiverses — a vast reality as simply one bubble amongst untold myriads of others.

Truth is often far more bizarre than any fiction; perhaps no realms of consideration surpasses the domains of physics and astronomy in the richness of case studies supporting this thesis . . .

Untitled (Multiverse), #5188-7D

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Details: January 17, 2017; Canon 7D; f/4.5 @ 1/1300 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 800;
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2012 (#5)

2012-01-16T00:47:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: a guiding light in the dark, a beam suggestive of warmth, optimism and safe harbor.

We call all use a beacon now and then. Sometimes we become the signal for others . . . a humbling calling, that.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse, #4379-7D

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Details: December 11, 2011; Canon 7D; f/2.8 @ 1 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 1250;
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm

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Seeing 2012 (#4)

2012-01-11T23:47:00.001-08:00

For your consideration: a study in contour, surface texture — and emotional ambiguity . . .

Is the mood hostile? Or one of confident greeting? Is that a smile, or an anticipatory grab for an imminent mammalian morsel? It's impossible to decipher; perhaps time will tell.

News across the wire today stated that astronomers' instruments have now surveyed enough of the sky to determine that we share a place in the heavenly vault with far more planets than stars. This makes sense: one Sun to nine planets in our Solar System [don't bother correcting me: Pluto gets my vote until my dying day!]. The accumulation of visual evidence now reveals many other systems with similar spherical distribution ratios as found in our interstellar neighborhood.

With so many unknown worlds out there, who could say what form and appearance other entities have taken on? I daresay it won't be any easier to assess their mood and intent than it is regarding the subject of this submission.

Vegas Denizen (Mirage), #5110-7D

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Details: December 31, 2011; Canon 7D; f/10 @ 1/500 sec; —1 1/3 EV; ISO 500;
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 170mm

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Seeing 2012 (#3)

2012-01-08T01:07:00.001-08:00

For your consideration: a study in texture, and a knotty mystery of of some substance.

It reminds me of an ancient fossil fish embedded in strata beyond the ages.

Fence, Kingman, Arizona, #4988-7D

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Details: December 29, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/665 sec; —1 1/3 EV; ISO 500;
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2012 (#2)

2012-01-07T01:03:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: justice, back home . . . well, perhaps in the olden days of yore, the Wild West, but by now most of us have found the accuracy of our childhood history books at least as off-kilter as the beams supporting the eaves here.

The dark implications of the coffin notwithstanding (ironically placed in front of the "bank" — although not a trace of Occupy Ghost Town was in sight), this honorable effort of a tourist spot was a quite blissful encounter, being largely deserted during most of the time I spent strolling the sole soul street.

I felt entirely safe, even when peering around dark corners . . . for, after all, I was always armed with my pix shooter in hand . . .

Casket, Chloride, Arizona, #4673-7D

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Details: December 27, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/1025 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 250;
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm

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Seeing 2012 (#1)

2012-01-03T23:48:00.001-08:00

For your consideration: a tableau from my most recent desert excursion — a little-known forest a bit north of Chloride, Arizona.

I spent upwards of four hours simply wandering, seeing, photographing and meditating within a space no larger than as many acres.

Well after sundown I departed, ruefully, knowing yet again, as always, that this arid Sonoran atmosphere with its seared peace and prickly beauty is my soul's true home.

I shall always ache for it's inhospitable and indescribable comfort.

Yuccas and Moon, Northwest Arizona, #4913-7D

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Details: December 28, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/64 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 250;
Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS @ 17mm

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Seeing 2011/2012 (#190)

2011-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: due to the lengthy 30+ second exposure, an expanse which appears here much brighter than it actually was well before dawn on the Pacific coast.

Even so, the sentiment intended is that of optimism for an enlightened year to come . . .

As 2012 arrives (on schedule, of course), let us take some substantial time to pause and reflect: on our individual successes, failures, trials, tribulations, heartbreaks and blissful moments, such that we may be better able to offer our best sense of loving compassion, equanimity, empathy and patience to ourselves, our kin, our friends and the plethora of strangers with whom we shall share the seasons ahead.

Let us be mindful that life can be difficult for every human being, and with such awareness let us remember to celebrate and encourage the spirits of our fellows and be a little less concerned with our own agendas.

Thus, my all our seas be calm, our horizons limitless, and our souls and hearts filled with fresh air.

Self Portrait, Pigeon Point, 4:27 a.m., December 11, 2011, #4372-7D

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Details: October 7, 2011; Canon 7D; f/5.6 @ 1/32 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 1000;
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 252mm

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Seeing 2011 (#189)

2011-12-31T00:01:00.001-08:00

For your consideration: à la Rod Serling, a scene from a play (Dead Man's Cellphone, a wonderful production put on by the theatre students at San Jose State University) . . .

A nod to the primary legacy and expected traditional pursuit in honor of this artificially imposed demarcation of our tiny planet's completion of yet one more circuit around the Sun.

Dead Man's Drink, #2406-7D

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Details: October 7, 2011; Canon 7D; f/5.6 @ 1/32 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 1000;
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 252mm

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Seeing 2011 (#188)

2011-12-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: an unintentionally poignant, ironic, and all-too-apropos setting for the symbol to which far more monetarily-driven consciousness is devoted vis-à-vis the profoundly spiritual message meant for our consumption.

Ever earlier the frenzied calls for material worship begins now: sickly sweet and pervasive caroling music assaults the ear beginning ere Halloween in some quarters of our Modern Society. Buy those presents!, on Sale!, be sure its not only the right gift, but better than last year's too! And if a real steal can be had via the early-bird approach, but the strategy threatened by competing shoppers — well, a little pepper spray provides the advantage!

Alas, I admit to being a curmudgeon for about the last quarter of the year: find me a clean, dry, modestly furnished hermit's cave far removed from the Christmas chaos and, in my own fashion, I'll be happy to emerge groundhog-like to see my own shadow sometime removed from New Year's.

It is sad to reflect upon just how walled off our society has become from the deeply reflective original spirit of the season; this is true regardless of one's particular religious tradition.

Pink Floyd was onto something.

Untitled, #1584-20D

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Details: April 30, 2011; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/800 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 400;
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 128mm

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Seeing 2011 (#187)

2011-12-23T00:25:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: hints of a suspension bridge by means of sweeping, archetypal arcs; yet the supported platform here is vertical rather than horizontal.

A tiny segment of a very large installation, this image evokes for me beauty inherent in gracefully sweeping symmetries, marvelous interplay of light and shadow, and allusions to a fascinating experiment related to quantum phenomena. The chains here stand in for photons seeking their way . . .

On a simpler and more practical plane, I submit this as an homage to the winter solstice: I, for one, am quietly exuberant that moving forward for the next six months the daily ratio of lightness to darkness begins marching in favor of sunshine . . .

Blind Chain (Slit Experiment), #2348-7D

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Details: October 7, 2011; Canon 7D; f/5 @ 1/1328 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 400;
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 214mm

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Seeing 2011 (#186)

2011-12-22T01:00:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: a native son, leading his tribe in silent procession.

Golden Gate National Cemetery, Great Eagle, #4575-7D

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Details: December 17, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/2660 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 500;
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 188mm

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Seeing 2011 (#185)

2011-12-21T01:00:00.001-08:00

For your consideration: a solitary moment of reflection . . . a study in contrasts between shadow and light, gravitas and flights of fancy, and the immeasurable gulf between permanent residency versus ad interim visitations.

Small conveniences of slightly elevated perspectives at best for the avian observer, these holy engraved slabs mutely testify of profound sacrifices to those paying attention . . .

Golden Gate National Cemetery, Crow Wives., #4637-7D

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Details: December 17, 2011; Canon 7D; f/16 @ 1/332 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 500;
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 300mm

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Seeing 2011 (#184)

2011-12-20T00:39:00.001-08:00

For your consideration: heaving seas aglow under the diffuse illumination of an obscured full moon. The relatively piercing light escaping the sleeping structure emits a wholly insufficient hint of what is sheltered within: the now removed Fresnel of the unseen, watchful pillar of the nearby lighthouse.

Despite the ominous atmosphere conveyed by this image, being utterly alone with the ocean's undulations, mild breeze and limitless sense of space was at once exhilarating and deeply soothing, an experience to which I ought submit myself much more frequently than I do. It refreshes my soul.

Pigeon Point, Museum Lights, 3:20 a.m., #4181-7D

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Details: December 12, 2011; Canon 7D; f/6.3 @ 32 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 400;
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm

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Seeing 2011 (#183)

2011-12-19T00:25:00.001-08:00

For your consideration: yesterdayI spent a the afternoon carefully exploring, at long last, the Golden Gate National Cemetery, located in San Bruno just next to I-280. It was virtually abandoned, forgiving of course the permanent residents.

This evening I made a rare foray into the holiday Mall Scene (maul seen), with Julianna, for some brief shopping.

Nobody seemed to have noticed the season's Good News — The War is over.

Golden Gate Cemetery, Late Afternoon, #4522-7D

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Details: December 17, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/2000 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 500;
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 79mm

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Seeing 2011 (#182)

2011-12-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

For your consideration . . .

'Tis the Season, eh?

Ah, the sweetness of plastic Santas, elves, reindeer and snowmen aglow in front yards, on roof tops and in mall windows; homes and retail edifices resplendent in multicolored lights; freeways and shopping center car lots similarly infused with (mostly red) , in the form of brake (but few signal) indicators and hot tempers . . . the annual ritualistic quest for parking spaces and harvesting of those requisite perfect gifts (especially on sale!) . . . and let's not forget the ubiquitous caroling, descending from speakers in elevators, display rooms and food courts . . . electronic voices well-honed and practicing since, oh, at least Halloween, no?

Yes, the hastened rush, as another calendar's close swiftly approaches, to check off all the names on the lists and fill the economy's coffers with hard earned coin and associated spreadsheets with positive numbers.

That time of year again.

So here I propose a pause, no matter momentary, to reflect upon the superficiality of so much of the trappings (increasingly elaborate on the whole), and to genuinely consider a matter far more crucial to glad tidings and cheer — the fabric of life, the most precious, sustaining (and often elusive) gift of all . . . the window into the soul's true yearnings.

Heart String, #3817-7D

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Details: November 18, 2011; Canon 7D; f/4 @ 1/400 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 640;
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#181)

2011-12-17T01:05:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: an effervescent sea, seen via a lengthy thirty-two second exposure taken under high clouds which played hide-and-seek (tide-and-seek?) with the full Moon . . . which never quite managed to break through.

Never mind: after two full hours in communion with the oceanic atmosphere (in virtually perfect conditions) my eyes had adjusted to the degree that all seemed awash in the dim glow of an embryonic dawn. Thundering waves, deliciously crisp, sparklingly fresh air and barely a wisp of a breeze wrapped my sorely needed solitary time with my spirit in a profound sense of comfort and deep pleasure.

Truly, it in such moments as these that I feel unfathomably alive, free and at peace.

Pigeon Point Rocks, 3:36 a.m., #4359-7D

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Details: December 11, 2011; Canon 7D; f/6.3 @ 32 secs; ±0 EV; ISO 400;
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm

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Seeing 2011 (#180)

2011-12-13T01:09:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: a late afternoon study in portals, rectangles, and rhyming geometry.

Pigeon Point Houses, #4153-7D

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Details: December 10, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/200 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 640;
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 70mm

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Seeing 2011 (#179)

2011-12-12T00:38:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: the scene greeting me and some close friends upon arrival yesterday for an overnight gathering at the Lighthouse hostel at Pigeon Point.

A composite of two exposures sandwiched (one using an overlay layer effect at 50%); consider this a first draft . . . the sky is a bit overdone and the foreground could be lightened some.

Pigeon Point Sunset, #4180-7D

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Details: December 10, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/1600 sec; —2 EV; ISO 250; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm

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Seeing 2011 (#178)

2011-12-10T00:42:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: another scene from last weekend's nocturnal safari . . . once the pork had been captured (see prior post) we strayed and wandered a bit east, and stumbled onto a free wheeling scene of delight and amusement . . .

Light Rides, #4040-7D

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Details: December 2, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/2 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 100; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 12mm

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Seeing 2011 (#177)

2011-12-07T01:03:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: some of the unexpectedly diverse bounty culled from a recent nocturnal neon hunting excursion.

This, on a sketchy, run-down corner on the fringes of downtown, was the first catch of the night. Denoting what must certainly be a local institution of some renown (it was new to me, however), its design and general condition suggested a long period of bringing home the bacon. An Irish bar is nearly directly across the street, on the other side of the tracks (take that as you wish).

Pure Pork Pig, #4014-7D

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Details: December 2, 2011; Canon 7D; f/16 @ 1/3 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 200; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 214mm

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Seeing 2011 (#176)

2011-12-05T00:15:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: a variation on Plato's Cave, wherein the implied information conveyed by the wall's shadows (apparently) are significantly removed from a much simpler reality.

From a simplistic and superficially disingenuous perspective, the "obvious" retort is of the form "naturally — it is obvious the silhouettes are cast not by the foreground tree but by others out of view". Yet this misses a much bigger picture. It is just the exact rush to swift deduction that too often leads us to ironically confirm the Allegory: far more frequently that we'd like to admit, we cling to our perceptions as truths based on quick assessments of what we believe to be the veracity of some set of supporting evidence.

We remain unconscious, oblivious to the possibility that the outlines themselves are illusionary and the genuine nature of the truth remains unseen behind our predisposed, and skewed, mental filters. It just may be that the reality of the tree at hand indeed leads to an enlightened comprehension of silhouettes, otherwise dismissed, as well as the Source.

Untitled (Winter's Sentiment), #2678-20D

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Details: November 18, 2010; Canon 20D; f/8 @ 1/1600 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#175)

2011-12-02T01:00:00.001-08:00

For your consideration: after hibernating for nearly exactly a year, a canvas culled, massaged and significantly enhanced from my increasingly large pool of overlooked images.

From a relatively young age I've been drawn to the profound depths and stunning variety found in the night sky; the planets seemed to me to be living entities of their own, resplendent with character lines and personalities to match. Of special, enduring fascination has been Jupiter, in particular its centuries-old storm which by itself is the size of several Earths.

The subject of this submission is considerably more benign and entirely terrestrial in its nature: an otherwise ordinary plank of wood, whose topography has been transformed by the tools available to me in the digital darkroom.

Red Spot, #2828-20D

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Details: December 5, 2010; Canon 20D; f/2.8 @ 1/160 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#174)

2011-11-29T00:26:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: cloud vapor streaming high over the halls of local governance power. Were I not more cynical I might confuse origin of the atmospheric mists for simply more hot air escaping the baffled chambers within these elegant and expensive edifices.

Even so, there is a beautiful interplay between the sweeping arcs of these structures, which lends a sense of sweeping funnels channeling the current events.

City Citadels, #2985-7D

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Details: October 16, 2011; Canon 7D; f/20 @ 1/500 sec; —1 EV; ISO 500; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 14mm

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Seeing 2011 (#173)

2011-11-27T00:06:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: an alien framing of odd developments suspended, frozen in time and space, of uncertain origin, location and destination.

Even the scale is indeterminate: microscopic, or galactic?

Ovum? Amoeba? Animal, mineral, or immaterial?

Friend or foe?

Alas, to limn the mystery would be a disservice, as the mystery at hand could take you down many intriguing mental corridors . . . let your mind give birth to your own answers through the windows of your own enlightements.

Rising Genesis, #0797-20D

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Details: March 28, 2011; Canon 20D; f/5.6 @ 1/640 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#172)

2011-11-26T00:45:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: one of the sixteen various "floats" (statues, really) clustered in the proximity of San José's City Hall, depicted here as a thrusting counterpoint to the far more ethereal contrail which rhymes the form from far above. The canvas explores the notions of negative space, the juxtapositions of concreteness against impermanence, solidity, and illusion, and free motion over anchorage.

For the record, this piece has been interpreted as "Innovation", according to information at this site, which took me far longer to find on the web than did my image processing of my own interpretation of the work for this posting.

Untitled, #2982-7D

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Details: October 16, 2011; Canon 7D; f/16 @ 1/320 sec; —1 EV; ISO 500; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 16mm

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Seeing 2011 (#171)

2011-11-25T16:11:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: a composition offered as a black-and-white counterpoint to the last post . . . form versus function.

After several years harboring a low-grade obsession (is there such a thing?) I finally returned to the site of what I consider to be one of the oddest ostensibly mainstream religious objects around, a 32-foot tall stainless steel homage to Mother Mary.

Despite the location being local (less than five miles from my home), I'd not approached this memorial since c. 2004. Several things were different then: I was using a Canon G2, my first digital camera (a robust 4Mp); it was daylight; and I'd yet to develop a blog. What has not changed, however, is this: a remarkable edifice, one can evoke a startlingly vast range of mood and messages simply by taking time to consider photographing it from a number of unconventional vantage points.

Indeed, from my virginal visitaion of this subject I came away with several images meant to depict a decidedly un-welcoming sense of scenery; a few examples of this can be found in this archive gallery from my original website (you'll need to scroll through a few sets of images in the scrolling slide strip for the reward, but do take a look).

This most recent canvas seems a bit more ambivalent to me: the harsh lighting washing over her metal attire recalls something of a knight's suit of armor, while the outstretched arms are less of a inviting embrace (as is the original sculpturer's clear intent) than a posture of pleading to an ill-defined orb.

That glowing sphere happens to be the Moon, which, thanks to the astonishingly wide angle of my lens fell into the broad confines of this scene. (I took several more shots attempting to capture a version correctly exposed version for the moon alone, but in the final editing I decided that the relatively dim, quite small mottled-sphere would be more of an ill-defined distraction instead of glowing beacon.)

Mary Beholding Moon, #3701-7D

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Details: November 13, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 3 secs; —2 2/3 EV; ISO 250; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 12mm

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Seeing 2011 (#170)

2011-11-24T00:06:00.000-08:00

For your consideration (after a bit of an absence) . . .

A sighting dear to my heart: a simple statue of an elk, considerably gussied-up, with a color scheme that pays more than just lip service to the gaudy and surreal end of the spectrum.

The specimen was spotted from the highway, stiffly standing in a grassy field between a small brick office and the motorway. Late afternoon, and not that you can tell, but also very nippy outside at the time (40's, with wind), in western New York state.

Several more angles will likely be posted on the smugmug site; for now one must be satisfied with gazing upwards at quite a rack.

Meanwhile, I've been at loss for an apropos title . . Dear (Deer) Me? Endearing Gaze? Oh, Dear!? I'm open for suggestions.

Untitled, #3837-7D

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Details: November 18, 2011; Canon 7D; f/22 @ 1/60 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 400; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 16mm

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Seeing 2011 (#169)

2011-11-13T22:27:00.001-08:00

For your consideration: a somewhat apocalyptic atmosphere which could just as well have been recorded forty years ago as (much) earlier today— given the ambiguous age of the vapor-spewing plant and the vintage of the main subject.

The image here is the latest entry from what have become enjoyable and always unpredictable excursions in what my fellow night crawler Jerry and I term Nocturnal Photography. Our most recent foray, last night, entailed a trio of venues, none of which were destinations set before the moment we started out (at 9:00pm): neon signs on a local downtown street, a prominent religious statue near a major freeway, and (spotted from the latter) a mysterious source of massive plumes rising skyward.

Reaching a spot from which a decent, unobstructed view of the steam-spewing plant was a bit of a treasure hunt; a combination of intuition, deduction and satellite mapping lead us to an obscure route though a largely abandoned business complex parking lot. Just as it was beginning to seem our efforts to discover a good venue for shooting would be thwarted we stumbled into this end-of-times scene.

Sweetening the reward for our persistence: the magnificent prop of this well-preserved vehicle straight from the nostalgia of my very early youth . . . the first new car I can recall my dad buying for our family, when I was perhaps four years old, was a Valiant exactly like the jewel in this canvass. A terrific final subject for a long evening of pixelation.

A final note: this is a HDR composite of three successive images having exposure times of 1/2 sec, 1.5 sec and 4 seconds.

Valiant Steam, #3730/31/32-7D

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Details: November 13, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 4 secs; + 1/3 EV; ISO 640; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 14mm

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Seeing 2011 (#168)

2011-11-12T00:15:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: a canvas infused with a dominant tone of melancholy, somber emptiness; the overall sense is that of an expansive void overwhelming any notion of energetic life — the abandoned deck does nothing to suggest any current sentient activity whatsoever.

Yet from the vast, seemingly limitless plane of dreary loneliness arrives a singular, potent reminder of a profound truth: hour by hour, tirelessly, relentlessly and (for all intents and purposes) eternally, a state of perpetual and constant change exists and persists. An unfathomable number of waves will continue their march to shore long after the architectures of Man decay and are swept aside. Observed or not, the ocean remains restless, dynamic, and a source of energy beyond comprehension.

Unceasing impermanence on a grand scale.

Seaside Seas, #1825-7D

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Details: September 24, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/400 sec; — 2/3 EV; ISO 500; Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS @ 64mm

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Seeing 2011 (#167)

2011-11-11T00:59:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: a trio of spheres, floating in space, forming something akin to a rather permeable Maginot Line — presumably an implied boundary keeping the world at bay. Close inspection reveals a sweeping current arcing through this moist expanse; it would seem to be oblivious to man-made restrictions, as are most facets of nature.

Naturally.

Untitled, #0715-7D

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Details: July 21, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/2000 sec; — 2/3 EV; ISO 200; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 16mm

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Seeing 2011 (#166)

2011-11-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: a rare session of voluntary and even enjoyed, agreeable posing for the camera on the part of my wife yielded this unusual study in angular composition, lighting, and a deliberate disregard for sacrosanct portraiture rules.

The occasion was our private, affectionate getaway for our sixth anniversary; we stayed at a hotel directly on the beach of Monterey Bay, took in a wonderful exhibit of Edward Weston photography, indulged in good food and naps . . . and had a sweet, tender time together.

I have known and deeply loved this amazing woman for a decade and more, and she continues to demonstrate a wonderful approach to living life which I relish. To think: one night, seemingly forever past, I took her to dinner to seek advice about a disintegrating, hellish relationship I'd been enduring . . . it was during that meal that I found myself wondering, "Why can't I have a woman like her?"

Ah, sometimes dreams come true.

Julianna in Seaside, #1959-7D

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Details: September 21, 2011; Canon 7D; f/3.2 @ 1/332 sec; — 1/3 EV; ISO 800; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm

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Seeing 2011 (#165)

2011-11-09T01:07:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: a scene of literal motion capture . . .

One of the delightful perks of my venue as a university employee is that I am frequently exposed to varied and usually new experiences related to the Arts; so it was when I was invited to photograph (as well as help set up) a stage for a demonstration of the latest in motion-capture technology.

Thus I was in a unique position to record a moment of suspended animation, as it were, when one of the expert technicians was paused in contemplation of his next step on the path ahead.

This composition features some interesting symmetries: the steps rhyme with the staff's seven lights; the ovoid turban subtly echos the arc of the odd, undulating cord tracing across the mid-background. All in all a complex depiction of serene competence, stasis and implied motion cohabiting interiors physical and mental.

Enlightened Man, #3026-7D

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Details: October 21, 2011; Canon 7D; f/5.6 @ 1/20 sec; —1 1/3 EV; ISO 1000; Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS @ 61mm

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Seeing 2011 (#164)

2011-11-08T00:10:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: a snippet of the Point Lobos reserve, on a typically overcast day. The Monterey peninsula hugs the right-side horizon.

Pinnacle Cove, Point Lobos, #2006-7D

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Details: September 25 , 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/2000 sec; —2 EV; ISO 250; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 16mm

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Seeing 2011 (#163)

2011-11-07T00:22:00.000-08:00

For your consideration: a singular burst of color in the midst of an otherwise largely gray day on the Northern California coast.

Taken near the end of a sweet anniversary weekend my wife and I spent in the Monterey area, at my favorite venue on the entire Pacific coast (San Diego to Vancouver).

The real challenge here was capturing this lithe, weightless petaled bowl's pose between unpredictable buffets of soft and sometimes stiff breezes; the slightest movement beneath the macro lens' extreme magnification and the inversely proportional shallow depth of field presented significant challenges to both patience and execution.

Point Lobos Poppy, #2073-7D

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Details: September 25 , 2011; Canon 7D; f/6 @ 1/500 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 640; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#162)

2011-11-02T23:50:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: symbols of a bureaucratic alien invasion, perhaps? (UFOs, in triplicate!)

Considered with more gravity, this canvass could also be seen as a multi-exposure, rapid strobe capture of a high-velocity landing. Or, a hat-trick, if you like.

However the eye chooses to interpret this subject, there is a certain music to the forms: razor edges delineating surfaces at once cylindrical, undulating and subtly veined; a sense of openings to be explored, noted, and ultimately found to be of uncertain scale.

Untitled, #1602-20D

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Details: June 23 , 2011; Canon 20D; f/5 @ 1/80 sec; —1 1/3 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS @ 44mm

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Seeing 2011 (#161)

2011-11-02T00:37:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: the view from Serenity Point at the St. Francis Retreat Center, near midnight.

Gilroy, Morgan Hill and undoubtedly some ambient presence of San Jose make themselves known on the horizon.

A single exposure of 28 minutes and 7 seconds (I was trying for 30 minutes but was estimating all the way). There is an art to capturing star trails, which I have clearly not yet mastered; far better results are derived from taking a large series of relatively short exposures and blending them together. Ah but that requires much more discipline and precision.

The downside of of employing single, lengthy shots such as this one is the accumulation of significant color noise. Removing it also, unfortunately, eliminates many of the fainter, finer streaks in the darker areas. Thus, this version, while largely devoid of the ugly grain, is also lacking considerable trail paths present in the original raw capture.

Heaven knows: perhaps next time . . .

True North (Polaris over Hwy 156), #2215-7D

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Details: October 1, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1687 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 250; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm

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Seeing 2011 (#160)

2011-10-31T23:14:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: connections dyadic, static and dynamic.

The metallic pair face down the scene, a set of heavies strategically posted as racketeers staking out turf (and carriers of old news); perhaps the consequences of crossing them lie at their feet beneath concrete markers. The authoritative fireplug faces away — paid off?

Even the directional sign points to the better idea of skirting this scene stage-left.

Regardless — or simply oblivious — a couple in love (or at least on their way) boldly stride through this territory with confidence and verve, demonstrating the power of their mutual affection, connection and joyful immediacy to carry them through whatever gauntlet awaits.

The power of optimism can thrive even in the grayest times.

Metro Couples, #0359-20D

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Details: May 31, 2011; Canon 20D; f/4 @ 1/200 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM @ 74mm

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Seeing 2011 (#159)

2011-10-26T00:40:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: evidences of past voyagers echo visitors apparently moments from touch down.

The parallel contrails, which unexpectedly rhyme with the tower's columns, provide the essential structure to this composition.

There is something of an ominous feel here: one hopes the unseen runway is not smothered and rendered invisible to the pilots in charge. More acutely, an illusion of a dirigible mooring post (complete with gauzy line) hearkens back to another, long past, landing gone terribly awry.

(The photographer can report that the vessel captured here reached its destination without undue difficulty.)

Sunset Flights, #0370-20D

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Details: May 31, 2011; Canon 20D; f/8 @ 1/3205 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 135mm

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Seeing 2011 (#158)

2011-10-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a surrealistic echo of the ebb and flow of life, ethereal and defying any clear geographic frame of reference . . .

. . . although, in the larger view a frame would fit the scene exactly.

The essence of this particular depiction of implied suspended motion depends largely on a transitory bath of angular lighting, as well as the passing effects of atmospherics. With some careful contemplation the true nature of the subject may seem transparent.

Falls, #2356-7D

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Details: October 7, 2011; Canon 7D; f/6.3 @ 1/1250 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM @ 146mm

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Seeing 2011 (#157)

2011-10-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: an invitation to rise above the occasion, by means of solving a mystery and conceit of rectangular layering.

The trick of course is to somehow surmount the wall — to effect an ingress as prerequisite to egress (and, despite a famous advertising campaign's promise, the light's obviously not been left on for you).

Curious too: the notion of a rooftop door, in a rooftop wall, as a portal to open sky above. A disconnect is afoot in this schema. Dante inverted.

Sky Door (Heaven's Gate), #2354-7D

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Details: October 7, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/640 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM @ 70mm

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Seeing 2011 (#156)

2011-10-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: an example of one of the many reasons I'm glad I won the Earth's Species lotto . . .

This past Saturday my beautiful wife and I attended an event in Mill Valley; she sat indoors and absorbed much wisdom and good humor from Michael Meade . . . on my way in to join her, a camera in hand (de rigueur for me) my optic nerves were at once assaulted and captivated (only metaphorically thankfully) by a series of magnificent webs and their astounding engineer/architects.

Being armed with my f/2.8 maco in lovely but low-light conditions, I just had to try . . .

As with virtually everything on this globe of ours, this subject category has been recorded on film and pixel times beyond count, yet the technical challenges posed by the macro's extremely thin depth-of-field, the potentially skittishness of the "sitter", and the additional factor of unpredictable and nearly constant movement from wafting breezes demanded the challenge be taken.

Out of perhaps 120 shots taken over the period of 45 minutes or so, six or seven were within tolerable consideration for post-processing. Thus, one of the few . . .

(By the way, I did get to hear some of Mr. Meade's fascinating talk.)

Brown Orb Spider (Butterfly Stroke), #2829-7D

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Details: October 15, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/400 sec; —1 1/3 EV; ISO 1250; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#155)

2011-10-18T00:01:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: a study in formal geometric composition — and illusion.

The tromp l'oeil derives itself from the juxtaposition of the planes, which are actually perpendicular faces of buildings standing at least fifty feet apart.

As for the title: that mystery is for you, dear reader, to surmise.

24/Red Lines, #2352-20D

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Details: October 7, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/664 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#154)

2011-10-17T01:30:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: earlier today (Sunday, October 16, as I write) the sporting world was shocked and aggrieved by the horrible death of Dan Wheldon on the 12th lap of the Las Vegas Indy 300 race.

I may be one of the (relatively) few Americans who still puts the annual Indy 500 race on the calendar well in advance. My father got me interested in it when I was quite young (sadly, the only sport we share as a passion); we listened to it on AM radio before it began to be aired via tape delay on television. It was a bit of nirvana for me when the broadcasts went live, despite the fact that this required an adjustment of getting up before 8:00am to begin a 3 or 4 hour lock on the family television, rather than the evening, post-dinner airing of those video tapes. (My family was grudgingly, graciously accommodating and, truth be known, even mom "got into it" as the cars screamed down the track as the race progressed.)

Countless so-called sports fans have dismissed the event as a boring series of 800 left-hand turns. Superficially, yes, but at 220 MPH with traffic determined to get ahead you sans turning indicators, and millions of dollars and great fame on the line, I hardly deem such dismissals informed. I've driven 145 MPH, briefly, and even that comparatively pedestrian pace seemed to bend and blur the normal lines of sight as far I was concerned (brain: "take your foot slowly off the accelerator, and don't make any sudden movements of the steering wheel until you're under 90 . . . "). My long-cherished fantasy of someday turning laps at the Brickyard have been dimmed by the notion of the of insanity of actually strapping my butt into a seat barely a foot off the racetrack pavement and voluntarily subjecting myself to unimaginably blinding speeds as the professionals master.

And yet at events throughout the year that is exactly what race car drivers do (on closed circuit, scrupulously maintained and medically-supervised and supported tracks, not public streets and highways). They do it well, they're paid well to do so, and everyone involved is acutely aware of not only the risks but also the vital, essential need to rigidly adhere to the very narrow parameters of prescribed behavior during the competition. Failing to do so kills any chance of a checkered flag . . . Still, Death in racing, as was the tragic case today, is blessedly far less frequent than it once was due to advances in engineering safety in the cars. Of course, its specter lingers nonetheless.

These reflections bring me back to this: while this country shed 58,000 lives over the course of fourteen years of military combat in Vietnam — deaths which caused massive upheaval and continue to echo in our national political consciousness — every year upwards of 38,000 men, women and children die driving in the United States. Every year. More than 100 a day.

It doesn't take much deep thought to posit that the vast majority of these fatalities — and the pain, suffering and irreplaceable loss they bring to an untold sea of affected family members — are needless, pointless, and the result of reckless, inane, inexcusable driving. And yes, most by teens who play A. J. Foyt pretenders even while undoubtedly oblivious even of the name, if not some notion of the thrill and distorted perception of coolness to be bestowed by revving engines, sheer velocity and demonstrating a pathetically macho sense of being faster than the car in the next lane.

Thirty-eight thousand.

Sobering? One might hope, but I fear it is a myopic wish on my part.

In my youth Arizona's highways seemed dotted with roadside memorials (in the days before the Highway authorities began frowning upon and banning such important talismans). During a visit to my home state a few years back I spotted four such altars along a road which was long, straight, and free from obstruction. That brought back those childhood memories of the crosses and flowers laid in places for reasons I did not yet have the capacity to truly understand; since then I keep an eye out for them when traveling.

I've been slowly assembling a series, Roadkill, (for that is what it is), and plan to publish the imagery in a book eventually. Meanwhile, I'll hold out some optimism that these public, raw markers might serve to moderate the carelessness of at least a few.

I recently spotted the scene below while returning to civilization from my annual October men's retreat. The roses adhered to the massive eucalyptus trunk wrapped in fading, ever more opaque plastic only magnified the grimness of the spot.

The homemade marker:

RUIZ 22
YEARS

Roadkill (Ruiz, 22 Years), #2330-7D

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Details: October 2, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/1320 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 320; Tokina 11—16mm f/2.8 @ 12mm

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Seeing 2011 (#153)

2011-10-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: one of the last shots of early evening excursion from last weekend, taken at 6:35pm with the "long lens" in my glass inventory. An exquisite coda to a lovely exploration and walk.

While writing this post I am suddenly remembering my first attempt to photograph the moon at night . . . I was very early in my photographic journey, living in Clifton, Arizona, in 1975-76. I lived with my parents in a bizarre home, one fashioned by somebody having attached a structure lengthwise to the side of a single-wide trainer of some considerable vintage. There wasn't a level floor in the place. This eclectic abode also featured a porch which afforded a commanding view east, overlooking the town and hills in the distance and a terrific perch for taking in moon rises. (Ironically, Clifton featured waterway is the San Francisco River, seen from our outlook, about as far roomed from Bay Area ambiance as one could imagine.)

It was from this porch that I decided one night to take a shot at photographing La Luna. Being nighttime, I mounted my Minolta srT-102, loaded with either Plus-X or Panatomic-X film, and tried a number of long exposures. (After all, it was dark.) It didn't take long to experience disappointment: I had a semi-permanent darkroom in the laundry room, and the negatives showed the moon as a blindingly glowing blob more akin to the sun shining through a nuclear winter shroud of blackness than anything else. I was perplexed . . . nighttime, long exposure — what???

Years later I learned the "secret": the Moon, after all, is bathed with brilliant sunlight, so . . . one exposes for that (the illumination of the subject, regardless of its surroundings, just like any other situation demands). The darkness of sky is irrelevant.

Thus it may now not be so surprising to the astute reader who notes that the exposure for this submission's subject is f/11 @ 1/400 sec, with a relatively low ISO of 320, all hand-held even with a heavy telephoto lens.

It's a beautiful thing.

Moon Shadows, #2534-20D

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Details: October 8, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/400 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 320; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 252mm

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Seeing 2011 (#152)

2011-10-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: easily the most delightful — and utterly unanticipated — discoveries during the recent dusk photo excursion with Jerry (see prior post).

Aside from the sheer vibrancy and virility of the organism, providing me with great relish in trying to capture this image (very challenging due to low light and consequent depth-of-field issues) was the fact that it was hidden in plain view: the tree is located in the midst of a blind S-curve on a particularly winding section of mountain roadway.

Cars careen at the rapid pace of downhill skiers on this route, so not only did I need to focus on the details of composition and exposure, I also needed to ensure a successful execution and survival of the shoot by paying close attention to the sound of oncoming drivers. Obtaining the combination of framing and close detail I wanted require stepping back several feet onto the roadway; motors approaching called for a temporary project abandonment and a quick return to the safety of the tree.

I can well imagine the several drivers who were doubtless startled by my loitering just off the pavement in the middle of nowhere . . . and I felt a sweet pleasure knowing that I was lucky to be able to enjoy the sublime beauty of this immobile life-form, simply because I had the luxury of slowing my life down enough to take a walk in in the woods as the world rushed by.

Eruptive Fungal Florescence, Bear Creek Road, #2443-20D

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Details: October 8, 2011; Canon 7D; f/5 @ 1/250 sec; —1 EV; ISO 1000; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#151)

2011-10-14T00:08:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a post-sunset post, one of a dear friend . . . a chip off the old block as they used to say.

Jerry and I have developed quite a good friendship stemming from both a mutually-shared large circle of friends as well as photographic pursuits. While our essential vision is somewhat divergent, a common sense of delight in the pursuit of intriguing subject matter (and the occasional successful result stemming from these adventures) has served to forge a delightful bond between us.

Pictured here, Jerry "sat" at my request as an oblique homage to a black and white image I took many many years ago — circa 1976 — which involved having my high school photography teacher (Mr. Swenerton) poke his head into a window opening (looking into the room) of a bunker at Battery Spencer. That posed shot, probably taken with my Minolta XE-7 with a Rokkor 135mm, was the last on my roll of 35mm film, likely Plus-X Pan (ISO 125). The outcome turned out to be an award-winning effort: titled The Cell, it took First Place in three of the four photo contests in which I entered it.

Although I doubt very much this post's offering will win any prizes, there are some interesting parallels, not the least of which is that, like that long ago day in '76, Jerry and I were exploring a similarly decrepit, deteriorating landscape, one of buildings long abandoned and suffering the slow erosion imposed by the unceasing toll taken by nature's elements.

Jerry Berkstresser, #2492-20D

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Details: October 8, 2011; Canon 7D; f/3.5 @ 1/125 sec; —1 EV; ISO 800; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#150)

2011-10-11T00:33:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a post post, as it were. After all, such are the the staple of blogs, n'est-ce pas?

Spotted during a (too rare) exercise excursion in the form of a brisk walk about the perimeter of campus (~ 2 miles, that). Apparently not so rapid a pace as to preclude spotting the odd scene for which my eye and lens hunger.

The exiled scrap trapped in this tableau may well be a modern fossil: I wonder if, in this Age of ubiquitous obsession with all things electronic media, any consciousness exists any longer for the simpler, passé modes of communication via actual paper-based signage? As the masses even when strolling outdoors stare now virtually uninterrupted by the gravity of their mobile devices' seductive glow, who would notice, or even comprehend, a flier stapled to a telephone pole?

In this image we can linger over a reminder of simpler times, and ponder the mystery of that last message. The flow of the staples themselves across this image seems to suggest that even they are moving on.

Staples, #0897-2011-20D

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Details: March 31, 2011; Canon 20D; f/8 @ 1/400 sec; ± 0 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#149)

2011-10-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a tableau echoing a stark summit, a peak radiating fractured transmissions in all directions.

Perhaps there is a subtle economy here . . . with scant detail one can nonetheless discern a downward trend being conveyed.

Untitled, #2270-7D

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Details: October 2, 2011; Canon 7D; f/6.44 @ 1/395 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 320; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#148)

2011-10-06T01:51:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a vortex deceptively bathed in a warm glow . . .

Taking on airs of hurricane proportions, nonetheless this frame captures the stiff filaments which make up the skeletal remains of a sunflower's disk florets. Things are certainly not a smooth as they may (or may not) seem.

Sunflower Eye, #2294-7D

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Details: October 2, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/1300 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 800; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#147)

2011-10-04T01:36:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: a late afternoon illumination, being lightly brushed across the bark of a long-ago fallen eucalyptus limb.

Untitled, #2286-7D

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Details: October 2, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/332 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 800; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#146)

2011-09-28T01:17:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a local's discarded, neglected cabinet, material which devolved to furnish my observation of it as an appealing objet d'art.

This composition serves to further my astonishment at the mind's ability to recognize patterns, even amidst chaos. Significantly cropped to more tightly focus on texture, nonetheless enough visual references exist to render this scene immediately identifiable as a common bedroom piece. Ironically, the small handle, being the singular element utterly devoid of both texture and color, provides the convincing argument enabling this recognition.

Peeling Dresser, #2666-20D

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Details: November 28, 2010; Canon 20D; f/16 @ 1/320 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#145)

2011-09-27T01:04:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: perhaps for the foliage congregated herein, a nightmarish outcome (life after death becomes a rather wooden pedestrian journey).

For the rest of us, this scene may be at once soothing and edged with unresolved tension . . . Where do these paths take us? What to make of the platform affording an elevated vantage point, yet does not seem to promise a clear view to the way out?

An odd construction seemingly in midst of a forest, echoing the overarching nature of one's journey: strive as we might to find a path to enlightenment, in the end the Unknown remains just that, until we pass out of sight and through the unseen portal.

Los Gatos Stairs (stasis), #2838-20D

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Details: May 29, 2011; Canon 20D; f/4 @ 1/50 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 400; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 14mm

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Seeing 2011 (#144)

2011-09-22T01:22:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: the results of a blissfully peaceful, quiet, solitary sit by a slowly ebbing campfire (see prior post) . . . this specific inactive activity is probably my absolute favorite, all-too-rare, indulgence in life.

Taken during this contemplation: a composite image — sandwiched photographs of the moon's surface, correctly exposed — layered over the otherwise overwhelming brightness picked up by the camera's sensor during the much longer exposure required to reveal the fog-enshrouded sky and trees.

Sunset Beach Midnight Moon, #1647-7D

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Details: September 10, 2011; Canon 7D; f/4 @ 1/6 sec; +1 1/3 EV; ISO 1250; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 70mm

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Seeing 2011 (#143)

2011-09-20T00:51:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: two photographs depicting four married concepts: Earth, Fire, Water and Air.

Elementary, of course.

Homage to Dante, #1616-7D

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Details: September 10, 2011; Canon7D; f/5.6 @ 1/40 sec; —1 EV; ISO 1000; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 100mm

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Water Pillar, #9669-20D

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Details: July 11, 2010; Canon 20D; f/4.5 @ 1/4016 sec; ± 0 EV; ISO 200; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#142)

2011-09-17T01:47:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: a subtly defensive pose . . .

In this canvas things are certainly not what they seem, on many levels . . . virtually all aspects of this composition may be suspect . . . as dubious a representation as the demeanor of the visage which exudes a contempt for something seen apparently just beyond our view.

Our presumed subject, comfortably smug in his private (yet publicly displayed) disapproval of unseen offenders, might be shaken up and find himself disoriented were the image perspective rotated 90-degrees . . . for the original scene from which this is extracted is a burning candle depicted close-in.

The Aristocrat, #1572-7D

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Details: April 30, 2011; Canon 20D; f/16 @ 1/1000 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 200; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 244mm

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Seeing 2011 (#141)

2011-09-14T02:03:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: a depiction of the nature arc of Life, at least as we tend to experience it on this mortal coil.

Genesis Pod, #1168-7D

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Details: August 14, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/2 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 500; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#140)

2011-09-13T00:14:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: a simply study in yearning, and patience.

Tubular, #1156-7D

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Details: August 14, 2011; Canon 7D; f/2.8 @ 1/664 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 800; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#139)

2011-09-07T01:28:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: a study in Euclidean geometry cast within a billboard, metal variety. On particular interest to me is the nimble, nearly instantaneous ability of the mind to recognize and properly complete familiar patters from partial clues.

The local viewers of this entry are challenged to determine the specific signage. The rest, enjoy meandering about the subtle flow and symmetries latent in this composition.

Blue and Gold Four-Square, #1580-7D

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Details: September 3, 2011; Canon 7D; f/6 @ 1/2049 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 250; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 229mm.

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Seeing 2011 (#138)

2011-09-05T01:55:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: after a fortnight or more spend indoors hunched over my dining table with matte cutter in hand my soul was in dire need of an exterior excursion.

Wandering near San Jose's main library where some of my work is currently on display, in splendid weather, I caught sight of this interesting interplay of texture, geometric layering, and subtle anomalies. The arrangement was a ready-made composition . . . yet here again we have a (relatively) rare example of shooting at noontime — normally unfriendly for dramatic shadowing and dynamic color — defying the norm by sharply enhancing the stucco surface of the walls.

Had I strolled by this scene an hour earlier, or much later, it would've been largely devoid of the elements which make it compelling here. As it is, it reminds of of a tug boat or old paddle-wheel making its way down the muddy Mississippi.

Pinched Stack House, #1533-7D

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Details: September 3, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/1000 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 250; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 200mm.

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Seeing 2011 (#137) - Exhibit Announcment

2011-09-02T10:57:00.001-07:00

Greetings kind followers, subscribers and new visitors!

Twenty of my images are now on display at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., library, in downtown San Jose, CA. (A photograph of the library from an earlier post appears below.)

For those of you are are local, or have quick access to a private jet for distance travel, I would love to see you:

Reception for the Artist today (Friday, Sept. 2, 2011) from 4:30pm - 6:00pm, on the fourth floor of the library. Entrance is of course free, and snacks will be provided. (The best parking option is in the City parking structure across the street from the library.)

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Library, #0196

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Details: May 31, 2011; Canon 20D; f/8 @ 1/100 sec; +1 EV; ISO 100; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm.

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Seeing 2011 (#136)

2011-09-02T03:19:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a sunny early afternoon on the southern California coast, at Morro Bay.

Looking away from the famous rock, eastward . . . fog burns off while other elements seem to fill the void.

Moro Bay Fog, #1276-7D

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Details: August 21, 2011; Canon 7D; f/7 @ 1/3000 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 640; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 95mm; polarizer;

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Seeing 2011 (#135)

2011-09-01T02:00:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a macro microcosm of peace, serenity, and impermanence in the pristine freshness of a new day.

At the smallest scale these orbs are universes unto themselves, formed from condensing vapor, soon to evaporate and scatter into an unfathomably large existence. A wondrous journey witnessed by nobody . . . demonstrating a profound lesson needed by many.

Early Morning Atmosphere(s), #1255-7D

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Details: August 21, 2011; Canon 20D; f/5 @ 1/664 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 640; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#134)

2011-08-30T23:57:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: an homage to Paul Klee, who's abstractions I first encountered during an outing to the Art Institute of Chicago (many years back). I deeply appreciated the minimalist constructions capacity to convey such intense emotions and energy — seemingly in inverse proportion to the canvas's space allotments for his spare subjects.

This photograph was taken during an early morning stroll — meditative in nature — around the pond on the grounds of the St. Francis Retreat Center. I find the pointed, arced, thrusting vectors here, cast against an utterly serene backdrop of languid water, a splendid summary of my life's script over the past few weeks.

Ultimately this evokes imagery of large-beaked birds, poised to pounce.

Twittering Machine, Redux, #0406

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Details: June 3, 2011; Canon 20D; f/9@ 1/320 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO400; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 146mm

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Seeing 2011 (#133)

2011-08-28T01:45:00.001-07:00

Note: the original image for this post has been re-processed and replaced due to severe pixelation in the original rendering of the photograph. While to my eye the small version on this entry also has some disturbing pixelation, the new full-sized version does not.

* * *

For your consideration: a brief sketch of objects in high places which in their own right imply occupants past and present, all engaged in high-wire acts with uncertain destinations.

To date I've visited twenty-six of the United States' fifty; like many once and future business travelers my haunts tended towards the right and left coasts. Middle America served largely as an impassive, passing tapestry of scenery seen through narrow portals of blessedly hardened glass at 30,000 feet. On parade far below, spanning the horizons for much of each flight: the "overflight" States.

I knew of rumors of inhabitants in such places, but despite ribbons of roadways and tapestries of city blocks strewn hither and yon, actual animate evidence of such beings was as lacking as the absentee sources of tennies tossed over telephone line.

Overflight Soles, #2803

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Details: May 26, 2011; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/100 sec; —1 EV; ISO 200; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 13mm

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Seeing 2011 (#132)

2011-08-27T01:34:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: a sign of both the importance of as well as the imperfect nature of mutual support in the face of challenging and disabling conditions.

When genuine commitment is present, no amount of fractured scarring, nor lack of apparent terra firma, is enough to render asunder the intimate and deeply attached bonds shared between those united in a cause of common welfare.

An unexpected symbol of the sweet song of unity, espied on an entrance door to the Music building on campus.

Fractured Duality, #2508-7D

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Details: July 24, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/250 sec; —1 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 135mm

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Seeing 2011 (#131)

2011-08-26T01:24:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: an entry from the Mannequin Series, this being a crowd of somewhat stiff party goers (or so it would seem) uncertain about what to do with their hands . . .

Mingling, #0931-7D

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Details: July 24, 2011; Canon 7D; f/9 @ 1/40 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 1250; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 16mm

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Seeing 2011 (#130)

2011-08-24T01:35:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a pointed moment in the day's waning residue of sunlight, on the grounds of the Pacifica Graduate Institute, visited this past weekend.

It was an exploratory journey — academic potentials for my sweet wife, compositional and luminosity research for the photographer. We both emerged rewarded.

Fin de la Journée, #1213-7D

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Details: August 20, 2011; Canon 7D; f/5.6 @ 1/1000 sec; —1 1/3 EV; ISO 500; Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS @ 80mm

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Seeing 2011 (#129)

2011-08-23T00:52:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: an image taken under brilliant afternoon daylight conditions, rendering accentuated planes and sharply defined crevasses and boundaries. Future versions will be offered illustrating the marked alterations arising from radical different illumination.

Taken as a desperate hedge against an agonizing anguish messily churning within the soul of late.

Susan Sontag posited that the camera often functions as a shield against reality for the photographer. In these times the inner weight seems too much to even lift the lens, yet the muse manages to seep through in brief instants, bringing microscopic relief. Thus posts will be considerably more sporadic until this scorched psychic terrain is navigated.

Untitled, #1211-7D

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Details: August 20, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/500 sec; —1 1/3 EV; ISO 500; Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS @ 85mm

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Seeing 2011 (#128)

2011-08-15T01:09:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a calming, hopeful end to a turbulent week fraught with shifting currents and uncertain outcomes.

Returning to work after a full month absence imposed immediate pressure to not simply catch up, but indeed to grapple with a myriad of newly loose threads and looming deadlines with now critically compressed time-frames. Mix in an equal measure of messy, difficult tribulations and the mental atmosphere took on tones caustic and dim.

In much need of a brief, known refuge I grabbed camera, lens, tripod and hunkered down behind the viewfinder, seeking indeterminate destinations. Lo, (lacking much capacity of original thinking at the time) my landing became a well-trod venue . . . albeit resplendent with unusual architecture, considerable statuary, and wonderfully tended landscaping.

The great irony here is that I arrived fully 45 minutes beyond what I saw as desirable lighting — the Sun had sank below the city's tree-line horizon, casting most of my potentially interesting subjects in muddled and gray-blue lighting unsuited to my style — yet moments later the sky (seemingly suddenly) took on hues and vibrancy I rarely see beyond the borders of my Arizona deserts. Thus, dear reader, I was presented (and pass on to you) an exquisitely surprising tableau positively awash in optimistic, soothing peace and noble, even regal confidence that heavy darkness always has uplifting illumination light as its defining companion.

Goddess Sunset, #1040-7D

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Details: August 12, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/40 sec; —2 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 135mm

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Seeing 2011 (#127)

2011-08-12T00:50:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a tenuous assist, reminiscent of a dwarfish drawbridge.

Regardless of the scale, I suspect the engineers of these filament fastenings managed the attachment process with far more aplomb than would be possible from their human counterparts on a proportional terrain.

Let's offer a rousing applause, shall we?

Concrete Suspension, #0824

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Details: March 30, 2011; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/125 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#126)

2011-08-10T23:23:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a multi-faceted study of role playing.

All humans are prone to adopting the actor's calling — it is, afterall, a deeply ingrained, even unconscious survival technique. For most the role adopted at home as husband, wife, sibling, roommate, is rather different than the front employed for political battles, turf wars, and wheel greasing in the cubicle farms and restaurants where we toil.

So too do we take on yet other nuanced behaviors seemingly mandated by societal expectations in a myriad of variegated public settings . . . queuing up for movies, enduring entrapment in traffic jams, riding elevators (how vital it is to focus intensely on the indicated progress floor-by-floor!).

Presented then, unexpectedly arranged and discovered in a cavernous warehouse of discarded artifacts, is a splendid diorama of higher ego, guarded mask, and perhaps — just possibly — a glimpse of an authentic Self beneath it all. Small wonder it is challenging to keep it all together.

Defensive Psychosis, #0995-7D

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Details: July 24, 2011; Canon 7D; f/5 @ 1/197 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 100; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#125)

2011-08-09T01:33:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: one of my favorite couples.

The weather that day was on the side of very warm; the obvious affection shared in this image is beyond warm and resides instead deeply within the magical realm of abiding love.

The world needs a bit more of this.

Kevin & Amy Ahern, #0876-7D

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Details: July 23, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/166 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 640; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#124)

2011-08-08T00:24:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a repose caught in early morning sunlight — an inviting oasis to one who's mind has been awash and befogged in swirling and turbulent eddies of late.

Ironically this scene (a spontaneous impulse to experiment with a new wide-angle lens) was captured in a blissfully becalmed period well before atmospherics shifted to the red.

A Gratitude: all things change, including weather systems ensnared within the highly pressurized confines of the cranium.

I was delightfully surprised at how well this composition turned out; the rich details in the fabrics, geometric playfulness and depth, and soothing lighting combined to create an unexpectedly rich tableau of form and function.

Odd how it reminds me of Pee Wee's Playhouse . . .

Study in Red, Gray and Gold, #0921-7D

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Details: July 24, 2011; Canon 7D; f/2.8 @ 1/128 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 500; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 15mm

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Seeing 2011 (#123)

2011-08-06T00:30:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a nostalgic reflection on global air power of yore . . . The sky has no limits, but the ceiling does.

Spotted overhead in an unearthly recycling center in Berkeley, CA.

High Flyer, #0962-7D

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Details: July 24, 2011; Canon 7D; f/5 @ 1/512 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 500; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#122)

2011-07-29T00:47:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: the first entry in quite some time to be added to the collection of images embodied as the Mannequin Series.

A delightful discovery within an amazing revelation: a vast warehouse of utterly dissociated relics donated as discards past their perceived utility.

Pity, that, but to my favor.

Mingling, #0936-7D

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Details: July 24, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/16 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 800; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 14mm

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Seeing 2011 (#121)

2011-07-28T03:19:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a relatively rare submission featuring (highly) selective desaturation; this was done primarily as a practice exercise for certain features in Lightroom. It also served as a major exercise in patience, as my ancient PC can barely handle the strain imposed by the 7D's image sizes (min. 25 MB in RAW format) on the limited video RAM available. New workstation, here we come.

A parallel motive for extensively playing with the color scheme was to play down a bit the otherwise intensely chaotic background to the main performance.

Taken on the grounds of Santa Clara's Kaiser medical complex.

Butterfly Nourishment, #0548-7D

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Details: July 18, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/664 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 1600; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#120)

2011-07-27T02:35:00.001-07:00

(Note: this posting is an update to correct an error from the original text, which incorrectly stated a wingspan of seven feet for ancient dragonflies.)

For your consideration: a seemingly-annual visitor to the intimate confines of the man-made pond at my semi-secret meditation spot.

Last year I photographed either this returnee or an identical (recent) ancestor in the same general location; the differences this year are the vast leap of crispness and high-ISO shooting capabilities of the 7D which permit faster shutter speeds and smaller apertures, yielding (in theory) sharper images with greater depth-of-field. For macro work especially, these are two vital components.

Acquiring this degree of magnification required remaining precariously perched on a small boulder for long periods while remaining essentially motionless: this flighty creature made repeated reconnaissance sorties in its local airspace, buzzing my vicinity to test the threat level I posed. Wanting a shot like this required sitting as still as possible for much longer than I would have liked, but perseverance has its rewards.

While observing my observer between shots I had the time to gratefully consider my good fortune to have been born in the 20th Century: had this critter's prehistoric kin survived their own journey into Modern Times I would be as deeply entrenched in a safe haven as I could squeeze my pudgy body — this subject's ancestors, have wingspans of up to two-plus feet across.

Dragonfly, #0821-7D

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Details: July 23, 2011; Canon 7D; f/18 @ 1/256 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 500; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#119)

2011-07-25T23:03:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: the miracle of birth taking shape by means of a multitudinous uprising of lilies from their protective husk.

Due to a considerable range of lighting tones I utilized spot metering, emphasizing the brighter areas on the sheath harboring the buds; I did not want to risk grossly overexposing this delicate surface which would've obliterated the fine textural details. Similarly, I left untouched the distant background highlights, as the ill-defined contrast provides the canvas a sense of depth.

Emergence, #0779-7D

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Details: July 21, 2011; Canon 7D; f/9 @ 1/200 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 250; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#118)

2011-07-23T00:05:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: another 7D Shakedown Cruise offering . . . this a simple study of minute detail with moderate ISO and shallow depth employed for direct late afternoon sunlight.

Impermanence, transition, and a bit more than meets the eye: the obvious states of solid and liquid are duly represented, but the essential by-product of evaporation — gaseous matter — must be inferred.

Of most interest to me is the pooled water's magnification of the wood grain, which illustrates two of my favorite notions: that visual evidence is often the weakest (here we have a prime example of distortion), and that if we only pause to look closely remarkable beauty and complexity is awaiting our discovery.

Life for us fallible humans tends to be this way: I can make snap judgments based on illusionary initial impressions, leading to incorrect conclusions, decisions and behavior. Upon reflection, however, clarity and truths can be revealed and, when necessary, atonement proffered and with it a return to grace.

Meltdown, #0643-7D

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Details: July 20, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/330 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 640; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#117)

2011-07-22T02:32:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: a new angle on construction . . . according to at least one source this streaming tapestry is designed to convey an accurate sense how impending additions to the existing architecture are supposed to look.

It appears to me that the budget is stretched thin.

In the parking lot across the street from where I have frequent appointments an interesting array of these oddly wayward demarcations are hoisted to and fro . . . Today I finally had the synchronicity of remembering to bring my camera (along with the wide-angle lens) and the lusciously, intensely angled light of the late afternoon sun. It was effortless to take 44 exposures
over the course of 25 minutes; look for an expanded series on my main photo repository site soon.

No Trespassing / Orange Network, #0735-7D

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Details: July 21, 2011; Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/256 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 125; Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8

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Seeing 2011 (#116)

2011-07-21T03:28:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a purely experimental shot, testing the boundaries of high ISO (1000) resolution combined with high contrast lighting and spot metering.

Frolicking fish, frozen in place by means of both shutter and bronze casting, in their fixed spotlight at a local car wash.

Fountain, #0561-7D

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Details: July 18, 2011; Canon 7D; f/5.6 @ 1/3165 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 1000; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 188mm

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Seeing 2011 (#115)

2011-07-20T17:15:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: another offering from the vaguely defined journey I'm entitling the "7D Shakedown Cruise"; these images are the result of my early trial and error in becoming familiar with the myriad of sophisticated controls featured in my beautiful new camera body.

Early results confirm what I've read and have also suspected: with advanced and greatly enhanced sensor quality and native image rendering come a double-edged sword: photographs emphasizing fine detail are either exquisitely rendered to such delight as to be breathtaking . . . or, if my focus point is off to the slightest degree — well, another, considerably dampened flavor of breath-taking follows. Thus it has come to pass so far that very few of my preliminary shots have been satisfactory . . . and I'm well aware the weak link is on my side of the camera.

This particular entry is presented simply as a small cozy patch of terra firma which struck me as sublimely pretty, an easily overlooked oasis amidst the frenzy of silicon valley. Perhaps it will serve as a reminder to take a deep breath, look around yourself, and discover your own local treasure hidden in plain sight.

Flower and Bud, #0584-7D

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Details: July 19, 2011; Canon 7D; f/7 @ 1/100 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 800; Canon EF 100mm Macro f/2.8 USM

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Seeing 2011 (#114)

2011-07-19T01:41:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: an intimate portrait of an species which figured large in my childhood . . .

I had an aunt, one Mrs. Marguerite Tonyan née Vick, who being tiny in stature was universally addressed as "Dot." My aunt Dot had an iron will, quick wit, suffered fools but little and could be both deeply compassionate and blindingly stubborn — and was the sanest person in our entire neurotic family tree.

She also had a love of ladybugs, and decorative examples could be found perched in various places in her home (mostly on the refrigerator, or "ice box" as our family still called that appliance). Thus when I think of ladybugs nostalgically warm memories of aunt Dot make quiet visits.

Ladybugs also evoke a rather different set of childhood scenes: annual trips up to Kitt Peak National Observatory, home of the planet's largest gathering of astronomical telescopes and related instruments. My grandparents would take me up there for a day outing each spring, and the entire mountain was seemingly blanketed with ladybugs.

I photographed this entry's submission earlier today, on the grounds of Kaiser Hospital in Santa Clara, CA. Moments before I'd emerged from a stint in a massive, loud, enclosed MRI chamber. I'd brought the new 7D along for a continuation of my camera "shake down cruise", expecting to spy some flower shots amid the ample landscaping. Much to my delight, I had a face-to-face with this tiny creature. The transition from the blaring energy of the magnetic procedure to the silent yet fierce sentry here was just what the doctor ordered.

Even so, once I got a full-sized view of the resulting image I recorded I was immediately grateful this subject is smaller than I am . . .

Ladybug, #0529-7D

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Details: July 18, 2011; Canon 7D; f/7 @ 1/2049 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 1250; Canon EF 100mm Macro f/2.8 USM

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Seeing 2011 (#113)

2011-07-18T03:08:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a cadre of glowing blades lingering (and loitering) . . . leaning into the day's last rays of sunlight.

Photographed during a casual stroll through a downtown neighborhood, another early shakedown cruise and familiarity exercise for me and the 7D. Although I had my 100mm macro along for the trek, in the end I relied exclusively on the long telephoto for its extended reach, perspective compression, and superior image stabilization, each a key element in this composition. Most impressive to me, however — the fine quality of sharpness retained at ISO 800, a triumphant performance here simply beyond the capabilities of my now semi-retired 20D.

Red Leaf Trio, #0492

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Details: July 17, 2011; Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/1600 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 800; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 221mm

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Seeing 2011 (#112)

2011-07-15T02:04:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: a goose gazing heavenward, straining to see — who knows? (I was too focused on this amiable avian to take note.)

After seven days' sequester in the increasingly small quarters of my condo, laid low by lumbar afflictions, I finally managed an excursion outdoors. The destination of choice was easily arrived at: the nearby Edith Morley Park, beloved (by me at least) due it its relatively unpopulated, clean and simply yet lusciously landscaped grounds. A primary meditation spot of mine, and seasonal aerodrome for several annual squadrons of geese.

This day's visit featured three personal goals: to test my back's healing progress via brief strolls hither and yon (more the former than latter), a thirty-minute meditation sitting, and (most anticipated of all) my first semi-genuine outing with my new Canon 7D body.

I was armed with three lenses: the Tokina 11-16mm, Canon 100mm Macro and the Canon 70-300mm L. It was far too breezy for any hope of easy Macro work, and I was not in a mood of envisioning wide-angled perspectives (a possibly ironic consequence of my health incarceration) . . . so it was up to the long telephoto to carry enlightenment to the new body.

This was very much a maiden voyage of the 7D; from the first shot taken last week it has been clear to me that this device is a quantum leap in quality and sophistication over my 20D workhorse of the last seven years. It is equally obvious to me that in some crucial ways it's going to require some time to understand and then master the vastly enhanced capabilities; think "making the leap from a go-cart to a Lamborghini". Well, perhaps not that great of a jump, but the comparison has some seed of accuracy.

Consequently, of the 95 images I took, maybe 5 - 7 are worthy of eventual processing and publishing. Two things are already apparent: I need to better understand the quite advanced focusing system, and the layout of the body's controls which are just different enough . . .

In any event, all things are as they are supposed to be: being acutely mindful of my back's still iffy status I forced myself to stroll especially slowly and deliberately while peering for some new photographic material yet to be mined after my many frequent explorations of the park. The unexpected benefit of my snail's pace wanderings was that I was able to make an unusually close approach to a large gaggle of geese without unduly disturbing them.

Thus geese was the main course on the photographic menu. This turned out to be an excellent development, since a primary focus for my outing was to try some experiments with the 7D's performance in the rarified end of the ISO exposure range: 1000 and above. The delicacy and complexity of my fowls' feathers were perfect subjects — much would be revealed in results of comparing shots of ISO 250 vs. 100 and 1250.

Only preliminary results are in, but the future looks very fine indeed. Perhaps this is the message my day's favorite subject envisions as well.

Seeking Swan, #0293

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Details: July 14, 2011; Canon 7D; f/6.4 @ 1/664 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 250; Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 300mm

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Seeing 2011 (#111)

2011-07-14T04:13:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: this image has been aged 3 years in my photographic inventory; I seriously doubt the insect is still perched on this appealing snippet of early morning sunlight.

What surprised me when I turned my attention to processing this photograph was the discovery that I used my 17-85mm zoom (as opposed to my macro) . . . since it would four months later before I purchased the latter as a birthday gift to myself. At the time the zoom was the premier lens in my collection (a wonderful birthday present from my wonderful wife Julianna); over the three years since I've added the aforementioned 100mm macro, a 70-300mm and an 11-16mm to my lens kit. The lens used here did a fine job . . .

I have relatively little practice photographing insects; in terms of sharpness and magnification my current body of work in this theme doesn't stand up to many, many images I've seen taken by those who clearly have made a well-honed specialty of the genre. I deeply admire such work, for I realize the incredible technical skills required, to say nothing of the limitless patience and trained eye required to pull it all together.

Even so, I'm pleased with this offering for the mood it sets: a sense of tranquil warmth seems to exude from the atmosphere, and to whatever extent critters of this sort have awareness I should think this entity is enjoying the moment.

Hopper, #1138

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Details: October 16, 2008; Canon 20D; f/7.1 @ 1/160 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 200; Canon EF-S f/4-5.6 IS 17-85mm @ 85mm

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Seeing 2011 (#110)

2011-07-13T03:19:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: one from the archives (of sorts) . . .

I am in constant awe of how simple, universally recognizable forms (such as the gushing of fountains) may at first glance appear to be mundane in their basic makeup . . . yet upon closer inspection reveal themselves to be infinitely, beautifully varied in their fundamental structure — and singular manifestations of the notion of Impermanence.

Thus, for 1/5000 of a second this water entity held a particular arrangement of bubbles and air, a façade of instantaneous moment and duration — only to be supplanted by a different and never exactly reproducible form in the next instant.

Without cessation every specific moment arises a new creation, which in turn immediately gives way to yet another unique permutation of itself.

Viewing reality this way brings hope, for no matter the circumstances at hand things will always change — this too shall pass.

Pillar (Old Man), #9698

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Details: July 11, 2010; Canon 20D; f/4.5 @ 1/5000 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 200; Canon EF f/2.8 100mm Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#109)

2011-07-10T03:16:00.001-07:00

For your consideration: a rather different stage of a rose's development compared to a youthful kin featured in a recent blog entry.

Rose Star, #2744

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Detail July 4 , 2011; Canon 20D; f/4.5 @ 1/200 sec; —1 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF f/2.8 100mm Macro USM

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Seeing 2011 (#108)

2011-07-09T00:23:00.000-07:00

For your consideration: a rose grandly conducting a symphony of similarly coiffed sepals off-camera.

I've been fascinated and awed for quite a long time now by the gorgeous effects arising from direct sunlight pouring through leaves, petals and other elegant canvasses wrought by nature. Thus this image, captured in the last waning moments before sunset.

It was a real challenge to get this photograph. Not only was this particular rose nestled rather deeply into a veritable bush of its brethren, but I also needed to lean down and then somehow crane the camera angle up slightly in order to gain the correct angle. Standing in a particularly awkward position posed trouble in holding the camera still enough to avoid blurring the image . . . maintaining the desired point of focus and judging the exposure were additional taxing factors to manage — especially since the light conditions were rapidly deteriorating as the sun dove towards the horizon.

I am pleased with the final result; the shape of sepal topped by the array of luscious petals reminds me of a praying mantis showing off its over-the-top hat at the Ascot races.

Rose Head, #2731

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Detail July 4 , 2011; Canon 20D; f/8 @ 1/100 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 400; Canon EF f/2.8 100mm Macro USM

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