Yellow Rose © 2010 Bo Mackison
And I’ll send a little humor to you on this Saturday morning, the start of a beautiful weekend. I found this quote while looking for a few words about roses, and just couldn’t pass it by. Especially considering the source…I think she was a wise, inspirational woman, but obviously she was a comedian, too!
I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall. ~~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Colorful Window Display at Crate and Barrel
I love these spring colored banners at this store entrance on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. And all those curves and lines makes me smile at all the energy. I always find so many things to photograph when I visit Chicago!
As far as photography goes, I read dozens of articles a week on photography and such. There is always much that I’d like to share, and so I’m going to start posting a list of links every Wednesday.
Photo Link Day!
- Joe McNally’s article, We Just Can’t Help it! Are we photographers different from regular folks? Here’s a quick quote from the article, but the whole article is worth a read:
“We [photographers] don’t stop seeing things. We try to push reality into a better composition. We keep shooting until we’re satisfied that we captured the story we’re trying to tell.”
- I know it’s a little late in most areas of the country to be photographing snowflakes. Still…it HAS been a crazy winter and March generally has a storm or two saved for many of us, especially in the northern states. Here is an article from EarthSky, in case you want to know the REALLY cool way to photograph snowflakes. It’s either now or wait ’til next December.
- Anyone ready for Baseball’s Spring Training? (Me! Me!) These great photos from DenverPost.com of baseball players in their spring digs sure got me in the mood! (You’ll have to click the link after you click this link–I don’t know why!) Spring Training starts. . . TODAY! (But the Milwaukee Brewers don’t play their first game until tomorrow. Boo hoo!)
“People ask me what I do in the winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” —Roger Hornsby (Roger must have been very single minded – perhaps he would have enjoyed a Polaroid.)
- PhotoCritic talks about a subject that I used to feel guilty about, because I hadn’t done it – yep, backing up photographs! – but I’ve finally gotten my act together. Now I’ve backed up ALL my photos. In two places! Here’s a good article, and a good reminder, on backing up your photos properly.
Lensbaby Macro
Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts. ~ Albert Einstein
I spent a few hours playing with the Lensbaby and its macro attachment. I have a frosted glass inset in my work table, a great purchase I found at Ikea for less than $90 dollars. I clamped a light under the desk, and experimented with lighting directed from underneath objects.
This heart abstract is a part of a glass paperweight that has several concentric heart figures imbedded in it. This is one of the photos from my first experiment session. There will be more, as I enjoyed playing with this idea. It’s a great photo project when I’m not in the mood for an outdoor shoot.
a quiet message
While visiting Shake Rag Alley, I noticed this basket when I peered through the window. There was a bit of a red bow and the turquoise on the table’s edge, so I set up and took a few photographs. It wasn’t until I had the photo up on my computer that I noticed the hand printed message on the edge of the table. It read:
****Without * Risk * Nothing * Will * Change ****
I believe there are few coincidences. So is this a message I needed to read today? Yes, I think it is.
Shake Rag Alley
A soul mate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. ~Richard Bach
in Shake Rag Alley
We visited one of my favorite towns in southwestern Wisconsin this weekend – Mineral Point. As one of the oldest settlements in Wisconsin, this is a town filled with much history, and also with many, many old buildings. The photograph is of one of the original cabins in Mineral Point, built about 1828.
See the little concrete elf peeking out the window? Love that elf!
Mining was big in Mineral Point from 1827 until the 1860s and roughly half the citizen’s had their roots in Cornwall. Lead ore was abundant if you were willing to do the work, and at peak, the town’s miners and furnaces were producing nearly 44,000 pounds of lead every day. The original homes of some of these Cornish miners have been restored at one of Wisconsin’s State Historical Sites, Pendarvis.
And this town even comes with its own bit of trivia. Q: What famous TV game show host was born and buried here? A: Allen Ludden, host of Password in the 1960s and 70s. Remember Allen Ludden on Password? Remember when he and Betty White were married? They were married for nearly 18 years, until his death in 1981.
Ludden ended each show with a password of the day. I loved collecting those words; even as a child I loved to play with words. I wrote the daily passwords in a black and white notebook after every show. He would end the show the same way every day, although the word, of course, was always different.
“And the password of the day is appreciate. So long, see you tomorrow, I hope.”
Beach and Lake Michigan Beyond
The color of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the imagination. ~Ward Elliot Hour
This quotation is so true. When I look out from my window, I mostly see my neighborhood dressed in winter’s white, and rather a worn white it is this far into the season. I find I turn inward and let my imagination soar. I imagine beyond what I can see, and take myself on many pleasant trips as I write.
The hermit doesn’t sleep at night, in love with the blue of the vacant moon. The cool of the breeze that rustles the trees rustles him too. ~ Ching-An
I wonder if the hermit had insomnia. I spend too much of the night listening to the rustling trees. And I love the blue of the moon, too.
Winter Ice Storm
I discovered Ken Libbrecht’s book called Field Guide to Snowflakes, a book, yes, all about snow. There is much going on in this frozen world that we are mostly unaware of, and it’s darn fascinating stuff! The book has photos of snowflakes produced under all sorts of weather conditions, including different temperatures and amounts of humidity. It’s a great book that both pleases the eye and expands your knowledge of the natural world at the same time.
Libbrecht suggests getting a black cloth (though a piece of black paper could easily substitute) and placing it on a surface to catch snowflakes. Then one can study them with a magnifying glass or jeweler’s loupe. (Or maybe a macro lens…hmmm.)
The crystals in the photo, as best as I can identify by reading and comparing, are columns or prisms and were probably formed in temperatures ranging from 18˚F to 27˚F. The geometric shape we think of as the typical snowflake, the thin and flat, six-sided crystal, develops when the weather is a bit warmer – in the 27˚F to 32˚F range – or when it’s colder – from -8˚F to 18˚F. The temps between -5˚F and 10˚F produce the fanciest, most delicate of the hexagonal flakes.
I recently read a BBC article about an early photographer, Wilson A. Bentley. Ten of his pioneering photographs of snowflake crystals – he was the first to photograph snowflakes, and did so over a century ago – were sold in a recent NYC auction. According to the article, Bentley took photographs of snowflakes because he wanted to share their beauty with everyone.
Bentley was quoted as saying, “Every crystal is a masterpiece of design, and no one design is ever repeated. When a snowflake melts, that design is forever lost.” True wabi-sabi, those snowflakes!
Keyhole
It’s a lot easier to be lost than found. It’s the reason we’re always searching, and rarely discovered — so many locks, not enough keys. ~ from Lock and Key by Sarah Dressen
