RAPUNZEL! RAPUNZEL!

"Rapunzel! Rapnuzel!" was taken the same day as the abstract I posted yesterday. I haven't lived in Santa Barbara County long enough yet to be accustomed to the architecture. I'm always finding something intriguing to look at. Curving adobe walls and "battlements," terra cotta tile roofing, elegant rod iron gates and railings, etc. -- all still draw my appreciative gaze. This pic is color manipulated and the focus changed a bit. I was shooting into the bright sun, however, so the original is also rather stark in its contrasts.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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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”)****

CHANNELING

"Channeling" is brand new and the result of something I'm enjoying doing more and more: heavy computer manipulation. About the only thing left here of the original pic is the shapes and lines. It's rare that I actually take a photo with "malice of forethought" aimed at producing an abstract and/or oddly colored pic. I usually move into tighter and tighter cropping and color experimentation only when my original literal vision for the picture is not manifesting in any way. Once in a great while I'll see something on a photo walk that cries out to me for an abstract treatment. But this is rare.

In this instance, I did get the initial literal shot I was hoping for, but it was just not interesting. However, I was still drawn to the curves and lines. Just as as when I was a kid and I'd see something (e.g., a plant, a bird, a fish, a boat) whose lines and shapes made my fingers itch to try to draw it.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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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”)****

96 DEGREES IN THE SUN

I was told the day before yesterday that the temperature here in Goleta was 96. Well, you could never had told that from my rooms or the grounds of our community. It was a warm day, but not hot at all. One of the many blessings living so near the ocean. However, that afternoon I did go on a ride into Santa Barbara and while taking this photo and others out in the bright sun I felt those 96 degrees. Therefore the title to this pic.

Overall, this is another photo I am hesitant about. But I think I'm drawn to it due to my recent reading of some Goth culture literature. Which stands in contrast to the title I chose. Though I suppose, except for Vampires, that night living even for Goth characters is a matter of choice. :-)

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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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”)****

TUBULAR!

"Tubular!" was in my July exhibit. It was also in an only four photo exhibit back in May of this year. I've never been happy with the title but it's been "Tubular!" for so long it's just stuck. My problem with the title is I don't how many folk recall that '80s surfer expression meaning "excellent" or "cool." Ah well, not all titles can be tubular nor need they be. I think it's my poetic leanings that get me so invested in just the right title for a pic. (And if you buy that, there's a bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you cheap! :-D)

Think it's time I note here how it's becoming a mixed bag working with my photos. As I've said here before, editing old pix that I've never been comfortable with is great fun. But something else has also been happening. When I look at older photos that I've long been happy with, I'm finding things I think need "cleaning up" or cropping out. And I'm astounded I didn't notice them before. I've occasionally had this experience with old poems, but not at all with the same frequency. Anyway, I do hope this expanding critiquing eye is a good thing and that I'm not going overboard. An experience I've also had a little bit when writing poems. I.e., editing so thoroughly that I lose the sense of the piece. What this may all actually come down to is my difficulty giving up on that spark that drew me to some creative effort to begin with. Even when it's clearly telling me it's not viable.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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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”)****

CROSSING PATHS

"Crossing Paths" is another of my favorite subjects to take pix of around here, as may be obvious from my posts here so far. I used this one once on a design for a temporary business card for a man while he was waiting for a totally different professional version from a printer. Long story, but he ultimately decided he did not want a card at all. Folk around here change their minds more frequently than New York weather. Note I say "New York;" the weather around here in SoCentral CA isn't all that changeable. :-D I hasten to add that's not a complaint.

As I look at this pic today it moves me rather differently than back when I first took it, not quite a year ago. Back then I was just pleased with the geometry and, as always, with the shadows. But today the empty stairs, the temporariness of the crossing paths are uppermost. Yes, a "wabi sabi" feeling rises -- that is, the eastern aesthetic that reminds us that nothing lasts, nothing's perfect, and nothing's complete.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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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”)****

CONCEPTION

"Conception" is another really old photo. It almost made the cut for my July 24th exhibit, only nosed out by newer "abstract" pix. Leaving it out felt as if I were betraying an old friend. It was one of several that really opened me to experimenting with the possibilities of photography. BTW, the first post I made to this blog was a full shot of this same bloom, see the post Opening Day.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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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”)****

OCTOPODAL ROCK STAR

...and now for something totally silly, "Octopodal Rock Star." I was working in my masses of "needs editing" pix and getting rather weirded out by the intense concentration and the many different sorts of memories being raised by the variety of photos. Usually before I get to the point of the sort of intense editing as on the above, I give up on a pic and delete it. But my giddy fingers just kept clicking and experimenting like an octopus on autopilot. :-D Unfortunately, I was able to "reclaim" many of the pix I worked on last night. (Though maybe once viewed in the calmer light of day I won't feel the same about all of them.) I say "unfortunately" because I'd really like to ease the load of images on my computer. Ah well, it was a productive and, as with the above pic, also fun way to spend an evening.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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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”)****