OK, I'LL JUST SIT ....

Need I say anything about the above photo (titled "OK, I'll Just Sit...")? There were pelicans galore on Stearns Wharf that day. And folk were snapping pictures like crazy. It's going to be in my July 24th exhibit. This one below from that same day won't be in the exhibit, and is titled "Psst, I've Got Your Back ..."




Click here to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog. And for posts previous to those below, please see listing in the right-hand sidebar. (Clicking on the bottom post listed will list even older posts, and so on.)

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****

STILL FEELING WET BEHIND THE EARS ....

Welcome to the third post for this new blog dedicated only to my photos and comments thereon. Blogger has made a lot of changes since I last started a blog and my old brains are getting addled. (Why oh why do folk fix things when they ain't broke? :-D) But I'm hoping to be able eventually to get all the "boiler plate" info below into the sidebar. Could easily do that in older blogger versions. But their html coding is now almost unrecognizable (to this old lady, at least) so I haven't yet figured out where to insert my own stuff! And all those widgets and gadgets gumming up the works!

Enough grouching ... the photo above is untitled and another of those I'll be showing in my July 24th exhibit in the retirement community in which I live. It was was taken on the second floor landing by our elevator. I've been exploring abstract photos more and more, and I added that white border only for display here. Though without the border was also really OK. I only like the border slightly more as the white edge does make it look like a snapshot. Which, of course, it is. :-) The photo actually, IMHO, looks best on a totally white page.

Here's the uncropped (original) version:



I knew when I took it I was only interested in the rain and shapes on that wet plastic chair. But did not know exactly what portion I'd wind up leaving in a picture until I got to trying different ways of cropping it. Which is why I didn't take a closer shot. I wanted to leave plenty of room to fool around in. This was actually a "toss off" picture, as I heard the elevator arriving and one can wait quite a while for it. Or I'd have taken another one or two shots from different angles. In this case, I lucked out with a "toss off." In fact, "toss off" shots can sometimes be better than those I stand and fuss over before taking them. Could just be accident, but could also be intuition (not over-thinking the shot). :-)

Click here to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog. And for posts previous to those below, please see listing in the right-hand sidebar. (Clicking on the bottom post listed will list even older posts, and so on.)

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****

END OF THE ROMANCE

Welcome to the second post for this new blog dedicated to my photos and comments thereon (i.e. no poems/dream work or endless self-analysis :-D). I may also sometimes post both the orignal and edited versions of photos, with my rationale for the changes. Or whatever else occurs to me to share about a picture. There will also be gradual fiddling with the sidebar contents as I go along. Blogger has made a lot of changes since I last started a blog and my old brains are getting addled. Why oh why do folk fix things when they ain't broke? :-D

The photo above titled "End of the Romance" is one I'll be showing in a July 24th exhibit, here in the retirement community in which I live. I took it in the front office of our adminstration building. We have many wonderful gardens on the grounds and a number of folk who make arrangements of flowers from them. This particular shot puts me in mind of the Japanese idea of "wabi sabi" -- an aesthetic of beauty that recognizes nothing is permanent, nothing is perfect, and nothing is complete, which brings a sort of gentle accepting sadness to things.

Click here to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog. And for posts previous to those below, please see listing in the right-hand sidebar. (Clicking on the bottom post listed will list even older posts, and so on.)

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****

Opening Day

Welcome to opening day of "Opening to the Light." I'll probably be posting a photo a day to this blog. In the beginning, maybe those from my up-coming photo exhibit (July 24th, here in the retirement community I live in). I'm also thinking I may sometimes post both the orignal and edited versions, with my rationale for the changes. Or whatever else occurs to me to share about a photo.

There will also be gradual fiddling with the sidebar contents as I go along. Blogger has made a lot of changes since I last started a blog and my old brains are getting addled. Why oh why do folk fix things when they ain't broke? :-D

The above photo probably won't be in the exhibit, but it seems appropriate for the title of this blog. It's one of my earliest taken with an old Gateway camera. Back in the days (only about two years ago, but it seems like forever) when I could easily take 100 pix a day. Of course, the vast majority of those got deleted. Now, I do much more culling by eye before deciding to take shots. Also, my knees no longer permit the hours-long photo walks I was taking back then.

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INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND

I was slated as a child to be a visual artist of some kind; trying to draw long before I could print my first wobbly block letters. I can clearly recall that urge to get down on the page something that totally captivated my eye and resonated somewhere deep inside me. In my teens that got shunted largely into poetry, but I never totally deserted the visual arts. Still doing the occasional sketch, painting, or collage.

In early 2008 I moved from my life-long home in New York city to a retirement community in South Central California. By early 2009 I was producing the community's monthly newsletter and being a photographer came with the position. I'd never taken any pictures before and photography was definitely not love at first sight. In fact, I was intensely embarrassed by the results for quite a while. Then somewhere along the way I got hooked. And although I still have less sense of myself as a photographer, say, than as a poet, I've grown to have a passion for "writing with light."

TECHNICAL ASPECTS

I realize my greatest weakness is still with the technical aspects of digital photography. I've read through my camera's manual at least twice. But I find it not so much hard to understand, as hard to apply what I've read. When some wonderful sight is urging me to dig my camera out of my purse in a hurry, the last thing I really want to do then is fuss with camera settings. So I always just let it auto-focus and deal with the consequences "post-production." Yeah, I know. I should -- and will someday -- take a photo walk just to try out various settings. If there weren't so many things one can do with a photo once it's on the computer, I'd probably have done this long since. Though one might also think that the many "great shots" I miss because of poor lighting would have also urged me to "get technical" a lot sooner. And only partly in my defense, my camera is not a really good one. E.g., it tends not to do well with indoor shots, under any of the auto-settings, under any lighting conditions. And focus, overall, tends to be somewhat chancey. However, I do think it'd do somewhat better even with the glitches if I'd get on the "tech wagon." Sigh. I'm the same way with computer tech stuff. Only learn it if I absolutely must.

My camera: a Samsung SL30 "Beauty Shot" ISO 1600, 2.5" intelligent LCD, ISO 1600, 10.2 megapixels. Though some earlier photos were taken with an old Gateway which in some ways, took better pictures.

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****

HAIGA SUBMISSIONS FOR TINY WORDS

Below are two haiga for consideration for publication in tiny words online. Both the photos and the monoku are by me, Patricia Kelly, email: triplicity3@hotmail.com (Please note that I can remove my name and date from the photos if accepted and you so require.)

INTRODUCTION, BACKGROUND, & TECH ASPECTS

PHOTOS APPEAR ON SUBSEQUENT POSTS ...

INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND

I was slated as a child to be a visual artist of some kind; trying to draw long before I could print my first wobbly block letters. I can clearly recall that urge to get down on the page something that totally captivated my eye and resonated somewhere deep inside me. In my teens that got shunted largely into poetry, but I never totally deserted the visual arts. Still doing the occasional sketch, painting, or collage.

In early 2008 I moved from my life-long home in New York city to a retirement community in South Central California. By early 2009 I was producing the community's monthly newsletter and being a photographer came with the position. I'd never taken any pictures before and photography was definitely not love at first sight. In fact, I was intensely embarrassed by the results for quite a while. Then somewhere along the way I got hooked. And although I still have less sense of myself as a photographer, say, than as a poet, I've grown to have a passion for "writing with light."

TECHNICAL ASPECTS

Note of 11-14-15: I'm back to my sold Samsung SL30 "Beauty Shot" ISO 1600, 2.5" intelligent LCD, ISO 1600, 10.2 megapixels (see MY CAMERA below). The new NIKKON mentioned in the next below paragraph is in what I'm afraid is a terminal coma. (The lens froze in the open position -- even though it's retracted against the body of the camera -- and won't turn back on. I've been looking in to what the problem might be and have found no effective solution yet.)

Note of 8-15-15: I am now using another camera, a new one I just treated myself to despite the complaints from my credit card that I should not. It's a NIKKON Coolpix S6900, 16 mp, touch screen (which is about to drive me nuts getting used to!), an adjustable angle 3" view screen, and an attached camera stand. I think, however, for all the frustration involved in adjusting to its ways, I'm going to be quite happy I stretched the limits of my budget to get it. However, most of the pix I post here will still largely be from my Samsung, as I have over 10,000 taken with it and continue to work on them.

Note of 1-30-14: The colors and even some details of these photos are not always as I edited them to be. There have always been occasional minor discrepancies among various programs in which I view/work on my photos, and even in how pix appear when printed online or by my printer. But the biggest problems sometimes show up here when viewing pix posted to this blog. Differences that I find frustrating because they misrepresent my careful and time consuming work on a photo. Sometimes making the photo look sloppy (though I hasten to admit many might look that way to some folk anyway, given my often quirky editing style :-D). I have researched other blog hosts and may try out a post or two on one, but don't hold out much hope for the kind of consistency I seek. For instance, I recently had to get a second browser in which to work on blog posts at all due to a conflict between Microsoft/I.E. and Google/Blogger. If these computer folk don't care to get their programs to play and work well together, I'm sure they aren't overly concerned with color discrepancies.

I realize my greatest weakness is still with the technical aspects of digital photography. I've read through my camera's manual at least twice. But I find it not so much hard to understand, as hard to apply what I've read. When some wonderful sight is urging me to dig my camera out of my purse in a hurry, the last thing I really want to do then is fuss with camera settings. So I always just let it auto-focus and deal with the consequences "post-production." Yeah, I know. I should -- and will someday -- take a photo walk just to try out various settings. If there weren't so many things one can do with a photo once it's on the computer, I'd probably have done this long since. Though one might also think that the many "great shots" I miss because of poor lighting would have also urged me to "get technical" a lot sooner. And only partly in my defense, my camera is not a really good one. E.g., it tends not to do well with indoor shots, under any of the auto-settings, under any lighting conditions. And focus, overall, tends to be somewhat chancey. However, I do think it'd do somewhat better even with the glitches if I'd get on the "tech wagon." Sigh. I'm the same way with computer tech stuff. Only learn it if I absolutely must.

EDITING PROGRAMS

As of May 2013: Photoshop Elements 11, Microsoft Picture Manager (new version), and Paint (new version). Prior to that really old versions of: a small freebie Adobe program, Lexmark printer editor, Microsoft Picture Manager, and Paint.

MY CAMERA

Note of 11-1-15: See TECHNICAL ASPECTS above; I'm back to my old Samsung as the NIKKON mentioned in the next below paragraph is comatose, and it may be terminal.

New camera as of 8-15-15: NIKKON Coolpix S6900, 16 mp. However, the vast majority of photos I post here were taken with a Samsung SL30 "Beauty Shot" ISO 1600, 2.5" intelligent LCD, ISO 1600, 10.2 megapixels that I have mixed feelings about. However, a considerable number of earlier photos were taken with an old Gateway which in some ways took better pictures. I have also occasionally used a friend's camera, and try to remember to mention it when a photo I post here was taken with that one or the Gateway. Also in February of 2014 I was given a surprise gift of a FUJIFILM JX520 Wide Angle lens, 14 megapixel refurbished camera. Every so often I take it out and try working with it again, but haven't yet found its wide angle capacity more than a nuisance.