Seeing 2011 (#146)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

Elementary, of course.

Homage to Dante, #1616-7D

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

Tubular, #1156-7D

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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)

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

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

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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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