Seeing 2009 (#84)

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

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

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

Abstract in Blue and Yellow, #5037

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

(click image for larger version)

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

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Seeing 2009 (#83)

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

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

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

Jerry Lighting A Cigar At Serenity Point, #4922

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

(click image for larger version)

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

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Seeing 2009 (#82)

It's been a long week.

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

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

Untitled, #4521

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

(click image for larger version)

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

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Seeingn 2009 (#81)

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

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

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

* * *

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

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

(click image for larger version)

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

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Untitled , #4775

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

(click image for larger version)

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

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Seeing 2009 (#80)

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

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

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

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

* * *

Lucca House Façade (Ode to Picasso), #5412

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

(click image for larger version)

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

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Pompeii, #5491

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

(click image for larger version)

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

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Seeing 2009 (#79)

Tonight's offering: a desert landscape of sorts, from a modernist perspective, offering contrasts between the notions of permanence and the ephemeral.

Some reflection reveals a symmetry between the monolithic façade, composed of a rigid, set and impersonal mosaic, echoed by the tiled pattern of ancestral frond stumps which forms the palm's trunk and provides it flexibility.

This image carries an elegant sense of movement: the palm rises skyward, seeming to burst as an organic firework display against a vault of ethereal wisps of clouds, which in turn appear to be rising from the glass and steel horizon, as steam might from a cool surface.

Palm, #7542

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: November 11, 2006; Canon 20D; f/7.1 @ 1/160 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 200; 18mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#78)

After a spending a few days under the weather, a pair of delayed offerings in this post. 

The first, a scene from Chez Murriqeuz, the residence of my brother and his wife.  Heavy on form and perspective, this image carries a significant personal emotional tone for me:  the case has passed down from my father to my brother, and the instrument within sings sweet memories from my childhood of my dad's gentle serenades, and now produces amazing new chords from the wisdom of my beloved brother's artistry.

The second submission is a continuation of my fascination with Platonic form and shadow.  An asymmetric balance is produced from the interplay and apposition of physical objects and their abstracted projections; the otherwise supportive rope ominously hints at a noose, suggesting an inherent duality of potentials.  An alternative title could be A Short Trip, as the wall's proximity will make for an abrupt stop to the swing.

A Case Study in Musical Geometry, #7130

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: April 30, 2006; Canon 20D; f/4.5 @ 1/15 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 800; 34mm.

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Untitled, #4149

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: July 31, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/400 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 200; 40mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#77)

Today's submission, for your consideration: a trio ponders a vast horizon, each perhaps a prisoner of their own gray thoughts. There may be a grim faith that beyond the impenetrable storm shines a bright future.

This composition echoes separations. The fence enforces a barrier between Man and Nature; the geometry of fence combined with the spacing of the observers suggests distances and barriers between ostensibly intimate relatives; the empty bench reinforces this loneliness, and hints at the situation at the end of a plank . . .

Sunset State Beach, #4752

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: September 19, 2009; Canon 20D; f/10 @ 1/500 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 200; 22mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#76)

Yes, it's very late. Artistic license, if you must. I'll certainly be tired today, suffering for my art.

A scene at Sunset State Beach, evoking perhaps a touch of Nevil Shute.

On The Beach, #4708

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: September 19, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/400 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 100; 25mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#75)

Tomorrow: a camping trip on the coast. Will have camera, tripod, and some reading material in tow. No postings likely until Sunday night, at the earliest.

Tonight's submission: one of my favorite subjects. A reviewer of one of the images in posting #74 suggested an alternative title for Hilo 1920 Theatre: "Impermanence." A superb notion, and similarly applicable here of course, as this representative leaf is well into its transition from summer greenery to its ultimate destiny . . . and is pointing the way with an ironic élan.

Leaf, #2234

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: February 24, 2009; Canon 20D; f/10 @ 1/250 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 200; 85mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#74)

Two images. Two locales. Two eras. Night and day.

* * *


Untitled, #2581

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: March 21, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 2 secs; -1 EV; ISO 400; 30mm.

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Hilo 1920 Theatre, #8316

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: August 30 , 2007; Canon 20D; f/14 @ 1/320 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 200; 26mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#73)

Two offerings. These demonstrate sharply contrasting uses of extreme lighting conditions, shadows, and simplicity of form as a means of producing abstracts. Ironically the vision in bright, natural light is that of sterility, while the scene of heavy darkness conveys an organic warmth.

* * *

Abstract Shades, #4674

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: September 15, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/400 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 100; 48mm.

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The Incubation of Hope, #4552

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

(click image for larger version)

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

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Seeing 2009 (#72)

(My apologies: an inadvertent keystroke may have caused subscribers to receive an erroneous post earlier.)

Two offerings, both from the wonderful visit my wife and I made to Cambria, last weekend.

The first was taken whilst I had perhaps a bit too much idle time on my hands - I was waiting outside while my beloved was scouring a store for trinkets and baubles - the texture and color of the side of a building, freshly painted, caught my eye. A key factor was the sharp patterns and shadows created by a brilliant sun hanging nearly directly overhead, contrasted with the splash of white.

The second image was taken in late afternoon at nearby Moonstone Beach. Acutely-angled sunlight is used to reveal complex and subtle contours in the sand, as well as to create nicely pronounced shadows. The scene reminds me of an arriving visitor from an alien world, creating shock waves in the wake of its impending landing.

* * *

Abstract Green and White, #4552

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: September 5, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/400 sec; -1 1/3 EV; ISO 100; 52mm.

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Cambrian Visitor, #4621

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: September 5, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/160 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 200; 55mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#71)

This image was taken near sunset, during a stroll on Cambria's Moonstone Beach.

This composition presents mysteries to me: what is the source of that dramatic groove ripping through the sand? What caused the subtle circles? Even the foot: for some time I mistook it for a canine print . . .

For me the scene evokes a contemplation on our origins: an unusually formed imprint from an ambiguous species; the stone seems to move through its sandy milieu, cutting a wake in its path much as does our tiny rock Earth as it perpetually swims against the solar wind; the vector which bisects the canvass (origin unclear even when I took this photograph) hints at upward trends - progress, perhaps. (We can hold out hope.)

Cambria (Beach Evolution), #4603

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: September 5, 2009; Canon 20D; f/9 @ 1/160 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 100; 49mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#70)

Last weekend I had the immense, joyous pleasure of taking a mini-vacation with my wife. It was a very sweet time which be both enjoyed a great deal.

She suggested we visit Hearst Castle, as she'd never seen it. I, on the other hand, toured it with my parents in 1975; the estate's grandeur and scale left quite an impression on me so Julianna's notion was an easy sell!

Thanks to California's budget crisis I happened to have had a forced day off on Friday, so we set out around noon and began our journey with a leisurely drive south down coastal Highway 1, with simply perfect weather conditions to bless our journey. We enjoyed a fine lunch at a stop in Big Sur, and managed to arrive at our final destination, a B&B in Cambria, a bit after 6pm. After checking in and relaxing a bit we ambled a few blocks down the street for what was a sumptuous dinner (at Linn's . . . excellent!).

We took in Hearst Castle at 11.00 a.m. on Saturday, then spent the afternoon enjoying the shops in Cambria, playing cribbage, taking a nap and visiting a beach before another superb dining experience (this time at Robin's).

Much later in the evening, after my love fell asleep, I set out with camera, tripod and remote-control gear for Moonstone Beach, a drive of about, oh, five minutes or so. The temperature was just cool enough to keep me alert; overhead the full moon shone incredibly bright through the clear night air. My goal was to take some lengthy time exposures of surf crashing against the rocks and bluffs below a vantage point I reconnoitered during our late afternoon beach walk.

As it turned out my equipment proved defiant and difficult: despite considerable, determined and persistent effort I could not solve a problem with my remote control timing device, which ultimately prevented me from producing exposure times of up to 20 minutes, as I'd planned to do. Under spectacular conditions of simply exquisite weather and gorgeous lighting, I struggled with the interplay of technology frustrations and the sheer enjoyment of being utterly alone above a splendid ocean scene. In the end I came away with seven significantly underexposed images (compared to what I'd planned for, at least), and the consolation of knowing that the Pacific Ocean is not likely to evaporate any time soon . . . thus I'll have future opportunities to capture more such images with properly working equipment.

Even so, I've managed to coax a surprisingly acceptable result from one of the last photographs I recorded, a 2 minute, 51 second exposure taken at 1:26 a.m., which I present for your enjoyment and consideration:

Pacific Coast by Full Moon, Cambria, California, #4668

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: September 6, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 171 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 200; 33mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#69)

Julianna and I are escaping the valley (doubtless, along with the rest of the hoards) for the Labor Day weekend, celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary a few weeks in advance.

The plan is to drive down the Pacific coast to Cambria, near San Simeon and Hearst's Castle. She's never been; I once visited long long ago, c. 1975. Very much looking forward to it.

Since it will be a few days before I can post after this, two entries to tide over any visitors. Both were originally color images, converted to BW, however the shield was essentially a monochromatic scene as the surface was gray paint.

The gathering of palms, with their light-hearted visitor, evokes for me an odd sort of convention, entities huddled together to discuss how to contend with gathering clouds. I felt the scene to be at once ominous and strangely humorous ("which one of these things doesn't belong . . ?")

Untitled, #7042

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: March 25, 2006; Canon 20D; f/13 @ 1/400 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 100; 18mm.

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The second offering suggests a number of contradictory statements about privacy, security and safety: what is being protected? Who's the protector? Is the shield simply voyeuristic? Is someone hiding behind the shield?

Peep Hole, #4261

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: August 21, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/320 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 100; 42mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#68)

Jamestown, California. An odd discovery.

The scene was a closed storefront on an overcast summer afternoon. The combination of flat, dull lighting, a large swath of concrete and a building painted a monochromatic, slightly weathered off-white yielded a tableau where only these two objects presented any significant color. Ah, and what a surprising plumage the boot does display!

The pole, in an earlier century, might have served as a horse tie; I was left wondering if the boot had escaped its intended mooring. Certainly dressed up as it was, one could sense that boot was made for walking . . .

The composition is relatively straight forward here. Ironically the pole's nearly uniform color deprives it of a sense of depth and weight; it seems to float in the image whereas the boot, designed to be on the move, seems the more fixed in place, huddling against the bench.

Das Boot, #4344

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: August 22, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/100 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 400; 44mm.

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Seeing 2009 (#67)

This submission consists of several spaces of subtle symmetries and repetitions of form; the seemingly static scene carries considerable motion as well:

The marching "S" within the door leads the eyes upward from left to right, even as the beveled frame plummets downward . . . the twin orbs of light bulb and lantern cast oversize shadows diving towards the ground, paced by the electrical conduit. All the while the cord snakes its way out of the frame.

What lies within? Perhaps a beast is poised to emerge? The subject of a future post . . .

Abstract, #4421

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

(click image for larger version)

Details: August 30, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/500 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 400; 72mm.

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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.

(click image for larger version)

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.

(click image for larger version)

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.

(click image for larger version)

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.

(click image for larger version)

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.

(click image for larger version)

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.

(click image for larger version)

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.

(click image for larger version)

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.

(click image for larger version)

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.

(click image for larger version)

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.

(click image for larger version)

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.

(click image for larger version)

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.

(click image for larger version)

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.

(click image for larger version)

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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