Seeing 2009 (#66)

Late afternoon at a birthday party for a close friend's 18-yr old daughter.

This gent makes transportation difficult for those too far behind on their auto payments.

Scott, #4436

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

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Details: August 30, 2009; Canon 20D; f/10 @ 1/1000 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 400; 55mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#65)

Tis been extraordinarily hot locally the past two days. A sweat-bathed siesta this afternoon, and finding cool relief in the wee hours has left me wide awake too late even for my nocturnal activities. Thus . . .

This offering, then, in honor of my beloved friend Nino and his wife Pam; even at this moment (as I create this entry) they are likely quite close to settling down onto a runway in Europe having departed SFO around 9.30pm last night.

The setting: on the roof of Casa Milà. A suggestion of the entry into consciousness, combined with slices of the blues map my emotional landscape lately.

Barcelona Blues, #4638

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

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Details: June 25, 2007; Canon G2; f/7.1 @ 1/640 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 50; 16.8mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#64)

Not much to say of late.

Wandering around an old realm of mine - Gates Pass - a pointed archetype revealed itself. Approach with caution.

Prickly Heart (Desert Romance), #8522

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

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Details: December 5 2007; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/250 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 100; 42mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#63)

For my birthday this year I gave myself the gift of my first professional-grade tripod . . . rather remarkable as I've been passionate about this genre since c. 1974, when I first stepped into a darkroom and witnessed the magic of a developing print.

I greatly enjoy night photography, and this is a significantly altered version of one of the first shots I took using the new tripod on birthday night. The locale is in front of a local community center.

Trinity (Apparitions), #2255

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

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Details: February 24, 2009; Canon 20D; f/16 @ 2.5 sec; -1 1/3 EV; ISO 400; 85mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#62)

This offering was taken during an anniversary weekend spent in Half Moon Bay. My beautiful wife and I were out on a bike ride; the day was gorgeous, the exercise strenuous, and the great ape stoic and rigid.

Many thoughts came to mind as I composed this image, most along the lines of Fortress America, the nation's recent history of heavy-handedness (at least, in the minds of many), and what the future may bring.

Two alternative titles may vie for final assignment: Pax Americana, or King Kong Contemplating Old Glory. Thoughts anyone?

Gorilla and Flag, #7383

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

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Details: September 23, 2006; Canon 20D; f/16 @ 1/400 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 400; 39mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#61)

Mars was the Roman god of War; Mars the planet has the Solar System's largest known canyon, the highest known mountain which is a monstrous volcano three times Mt. Everest's height, and the largest dust storms of any of our Sun's captured orbs. Having an atmosphere consisting of 95% carbon dioxide and barely 1% of Earth's pressure, combined with temperatures ranging from highs of 68°F to -220°F, this is not a particularly hospitable home.

Rust, rendered as a Martian sandstorm, or perhaps an inhospitable state of mind - where all vision is obscured by a curtain of red.

Terra Incognito (Distress Signals), #3701

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

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Details: November 15, 2008; Canon 20D; f/5.6 @ 1/250 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 100; 47mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#60)

San Francisco, Father's Day weekend. During a walk through Chinatown.

I rarely impose objects in front of main subjects, but here I offer an exception. I like the books' forms mimicking the apex of the skyscraper. Even more, I appreciate the suggestion that reading can lead to scaling new heights.

Transamerica Books, #3701

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

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Details: June 20, 2008; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/250 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 800; 53mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#59)

Arlington National Cemetery.

The Remembered, #3091

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

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Details: May 28, 2008; Canon 20D; f/13 @ 1/500 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 400; 73mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#58)

An illustration of two images in one. In the left half, highly structured geometry - rectangles and spheres - with sharply defined texture. In the right half, a coarse echo of the rectangles, rougher surfaces, and a complete degeneration of the dark spheres into an irregular mass. Perhaps a before-and-after image of an odd entropy . . .

Door and Brick, #3021

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

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Details: May 28, 2008; Canon 20D; f/16 @ 1/500 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 400; 70mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#57)

A late afternoon scene in the town of Columbia, California. At least one "rule" of composition is broken here, in those corners. We all know what is said about rules, however.

The low angle of the sun against the corrugation, combined with a subtly inverse symmetry between the lamps yields a nice abstraction.

Wall, Columbia, #1603

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

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Details: November 15, 2008; Canon 20D; f/5.6 @ 1/500 sec; -1/3 EV; ISO 100; 35mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#56)

A stoic, stony-faced observer. It saw me first. I moved on; it remained steadfast and silent at its post.

Another image with subtle symmetries: the lips are echoed by the pipe's braces; the hair's arc is similarly reflected, inversely, by the transversing red tube; the hair's pattern is reinforced by the brick; a pair of bolts mimic those wild eyes . . . even the lighting reflects repetition. As is often the case, there is more here than meets the eye.

Sentinel, San Francisco Alley, #3746

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: June 21, 2009; Canon 20D; f/5.6 @ 1/500 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 400; 55mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#55)

I've been blessed to visit Washington, D.C., several times -- most often in the off-season when few tourists were present to compete for space in the multitude of wonderful museums. Twice I went along as a companion for my wife; on both of those trips she had week-long daytime work commitments while I happened to be between jobs. Consequently I had entire days to wander around at will, and relished the vast variety of photographic subjects.

Certainly every object of note in that city has served its turn in front of untold numbers of camera lenses. The challenge then - as is my favorite approach in any case - is to divine fresh or unusual perspectives.

Washington Monument, #3173

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

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Details: May 29, 2008; Canon 20D; f/10 @ 1/200 sec; -1/3 EV; ISO 100; 17mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#54)

Washington, D.C., the Hishhorn Museum.

For an instant, a perpetual conversation . . . the scope of which is confined in a small space. Perhaps for small minds.

Talking Heads (A Secret Among Friends), #2963

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: May 27, 2008; Canon 20D; f/16 @ 1/60 sec; -1 EV; ISO 400; 53mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#53)

Due to my fingers having their own ideas of which keys ought to have been pressed at an inopportune moment, those of you on my email list received what amounted to be a "null and void" blog entry two days ago . . . it was supposed to be this one, but I put said digits on "time out", thus the delay.

On to the image.

The vantage point of this photograph is the pull-out at the north end of the Golden Gate bridge. I'd not been there in quite a long time, and this - a statue of a sailor (and his duffel bag) - were new to me. A surprising number of sightseers milling about for dawn on a January weekday made creating this solitary perspective in the rapidly changing light a real challenge.

There exists subtle bits of ying/yang here: the protective, warming light of the beacon is no longer necessary - and thus has been turned off - as the sun takes over. The shapes of the duffel bag and the beacon's enclosure nicely echo one another; ironic that the brilliant, blinding light of our star is inferred, blocked as it is by a dark form, whist the absence of glow from the lamp is on transparent display.

For another image, taken just nine minutes earlier (and, by contrast, illustrative of the swiftly changing light), click here.

Shore Leave (Sunrise, San Francisco), #8625

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

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Details: January 16, 2008; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/250 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 200; 47mm.
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Seeing 2009 (#52)

Where fences exist, hints of a zoos and prisons arise . . .

What is happening here? Perhaps a clutch of alien creatures, related to some distant brethren from the Beatles' Yellow Submarine, yearning for freedom? Yet the door's concrete encasement suggests an entry into a fortified interior rather than release.

The composition is one of complex symmetries: the door's trapezoidal geometry is repeatedly echoed in miniature by the cage; the large ovoid forms are propagated within the concrete wall. All lines lead to the door, which although is rigidly anchored may offer an opening to a larger world; by contrast the abstract form takes on the essence of floating balloons . . . ironically stripped of the freedom to move by the metal lattice. The two major spaces of this image present an intuitive contradiction: the dark space speaks to unknown possibilities, while the bright quadrant exhibits captivity.

Blue Door, #2956

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

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Details: May 2, 2009; Canon 20D; f/5.6 @ 1/60 sec; -1 EV; ISO 800; 41mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#51)

Late afternoon, outside of Kingman, Arizona.

There is a Loner within me, one that when encountering open spaces such as this wants to trek off into the distance (it would risk a cliché to include "by horseback" except that I'd first need to learn how to ride), find a remote, secluded bit of territory never-before-visited by humans, and camp out for a long period. Doing what? Reading, taking siestas, meditating and relishing the incredible starry nights of the high desert.

I doubt many such virginal places exist any longer, and I inevitably feel a tinge of sadness when I consider that reality. The presence of a fence piercing and dividing such an otherwise boundless scene drives home the reality. I wonder though: is the barbed wire intended to preserve what is left, or to keep the mountains from somehow seeking their own escape?

Fenced Mountain Frontier, Arizona, #7619

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: January 6, 2007; Canon 20D; f/16 @ 1/400 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 400; 44mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#50)

Taken during an early morning stroll in search of coffee, near my office. The sky was an amazingly rich blue.

(The thumbnail does not seem to be rendering quite as it should here . . .)

Untitled, #4135

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: July 31, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/1000 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 200; 55mm.

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