mjh's blog

Florida 2010

From Florida 2010

We took a 12-day trip to Florida in May, flying to Miami and driving 2,250 miles home. Our days and nights in Miami involved decrappifying a house full of photos, knick-knacks, and oddities accumulated over 30+ years. We produced 10 super-sized garbage bags, two carloads for Goodwill, and gifts for two dozen people. (And this was actually the second week-long stab at decrappification.) The moral: We don’t need much of the stuff we have.

Chores ended and vacation began with a few days at the beach along Florida’s Gulf Coast, far-enough from BP’s – and “Drill, Baby, Drill”-fools’ – catastrophe. The high point was kayaking among dolphins just offshore.

From Florida 2010

Our path home took us through Alabama and onto the Elvis Highway from Birmingham through Tupelo, Mississippi, into Memphis for a few days with Merri’s mom. Out of Memphis, it is a straight shot of 1,000 miles home. In fact, after a night in Oklahoma City, when we got back on I-40, the GPS indicated the next turn would be in 540 miles, at the exit to our house.

Luke the dog prospered under the care of our housesitter, as well as with visits from friends and neighbors. Still, he was beside himself on our return, as were we. Now, we are grappling with his phenomenal shedding – more than I’ve ever seen from any dog. It’s good to be home.

Florida 2010 (19 photos)

Previous trip: Guatemala
Next trip: Colorado

The Company She Keeps

This may be all we need to know about Susana Martinez: She is in bed with the devil.

Swiftboat financier gives big to Martinez; Weh loans his campaign another $600K « New Mexico Independent
By Matthew Reichbach 5/28/10 7:52 PM

Bob J. Perry, the Texas developer behind the anti-John Kerry Swift Boat Veterans for “Truth” [mjh: emphasis added] 527 group gave $450,000 to the gubernatorial campaign of Susana Martinez and airline service company owner Allen Weh loaned his campaign another $600,000. Those are the highlights of the most recent campaign finance reports, available now on the Secretary of State’s website.
Perry and his wife’s donation of $450,000 is nearly two-thirds of Martinez’s $720,000 haul in the three-week fundraising period that ran from May 4-25.

Swiftboat financier gives big to Martinez; Weh loans his campaign another $600K « New Mexico Independent

Relentless

A stone sits midstream —
immovable object
parting the waters
that seem to yield to solid.
But soft water works wonders
polishing with relentless caress
rubbing out roughness
erasing edges
transforming the immovable
with the irresistible
turning boulder into a pebble
you turn in your palm
and pocket for a charm. mjh

5/09?

My Favorite Memory of the Bush Administration (photomayo)

[originally published on: May 14, 2006]

(6/14/2003 – photo by MRudd)

My friend, Mike A, owner of the Gold Pan RV Park in Platoro, Colorado, took me fishing in 2003. He was very generous and patient, loaning me gear, showing me a favorite spot, even cleaning the fish I caught on my first attempt (pictured above). When I caught a second fish, I was overcome by the realization that these fish lived in a beautiful place until I ripped them from their home.

The last fish I’ll ever catch:

Fishing with the Sensei:

PS: If you’re wondering about the title of this entry, it is in reference to this quote from — spit on the ground — Duhbya:

“I don’t know, it’s hard to characterize the great moments. They’ve all been busy moments, by the way. I would say the best moment was when I caught a 7½lb largemouth bass on my lake,” George W Bush said. [mjh’s blog — Dumb or Drugged?]

Hiatus (photomayo)

The two or three of you who might notice will probably forgive me – it’s disappointing me that disappoints me. I intended to post something photographic every day in May. I did not reckon with going out of town for 12 days or the fact that my tech editing job would experience a long pause that ended just before I go out of town. Nor the death of my graphics card. (Now, I’m just being dramatic – that’s not really interfering with Photomayo.)

So, I hereby declare this month-long project on hold (as of Mother’s Day). I may trickle a few other entries out in May. I’ll decide later whether Photomayo makes any less sense in junio than it did in mayo. In the meantime, refer to the previous entries, especially Day One, with all its links. There must be some picture of mine you haven’t seen (enough).

Mom (photomayo)

My Mom hated having pictures taken of her. Despite that, she gave cameras to people who would inevitably train them on her from time to time.

I don’t believe in an immortal soul – when you’re dead, you’re dead. (If I’m wrong, I owe you a coke.) Still, I marvel at the immortality in photographs. Yes, she lives in my memory, her voice in my head and, sometimes, coming out of my mouth, but here she is caught once so lively.

A remembrance on the 25th anniversary of her death.

My Mom 12 photos

photomayo a month-long project

Panoramas (photomayo)

Panoramas are made by combining two or more images. Some cameras include this function, but it may be best to take a series of pictures, then use software to stitch the images together. I use Windows Live Photo Gallery. (Select two or more photos – all the ones you intend to stitch. Right-click over the first photo and choose Create Panoramic Photo, which is also an option under the Make menu item.)

I’ve read that is essential to use a tripod for a panorama, but I never do. I shoot, turn my body slightly (without moving my feet), shoot again, and repeat. I pick out areas to overlap, so that 20%-30% of the right-hand portion of the current frame will also be 20%-30% of the left-hand portion of the next frame, and so forth.

Panoramas are great for landscapes. Some distortion in the image is common, in my experience.

Most people will crop the resulting stitched panorama to eliminate the jagged black edge, which is created as the software compensates for the photographer’s inability to hold steady, which, in turn, is why you are advised to use a tripod. However, I like the black, jagged edges and the record of my movement from frame to frame. Sometimes those edges enhance the image, I think.

photomayo a month-long project

Digiscopy (photomayo)

Digiscopy or digiscoping involves combining a camera with a (tele)scope for far-reaching zoom close-ups. The best shots probably involve a mechanism for mounting the camera to the scope. (Or one of Zeiss’ awesome but expensive photoscopes – not a product placement.) I just hold the camera up to the scope eyepiece and jiggle, twist, and zoom in or out until I think I see an image on the LCD, then shoot. As a result, these are my very best digiscope shots. Still, I’m intrigued by the possibility. (And would accept a nice scope as a gift.) I’m sure someone would prefer to crop these photos, but I actually like the shape of the scope. (No doubt, there is a Photoshop mask to “make you photos appear as if digiscoped.”)

The owl photo was taken by holding the camera up to one part of a pair of binoculars. Very difficult. Ironically, this shot isn’t any closer than my normal zoom would get. Whereas, that eagle shot above is much closer than my zoom could get.

photomayo a month-long project

Bokeh and DOF (photomayo)

Bokeh is the English spelling of a Japanese word. I pronounce it ‘bowkay.’ Most simply, bokeh refers to the blurring of areas of a photograph. Bokeh is a natural bi-product of depth-of-field, that aspect of photography that is so very different from vision.

As you move your eyes around the world, everything is always in focus. (For the sake of argument, ignore glasses, exhaustion, alcohol, and coffee.) But cameras have variable depth-of-field (DOF), in which objects some distance from the lens are in focus, but objects closer or farther – outside the DOF – are not in focus / are blurred. That depth – the distance from the lens – can be shallow (more of the foreground/background is likely to be blurred) or deep (more of the scene is likely to be in sharp focus).

Recognizing that all of the settings on a camera are interdependent, aperture – the size of the lens opening — controls depth-of-field. Simply put, with automatic settings, a bright scene is likely to be in focus nearer and farther. As the scene gets darker, automatic settings *may* increase the aperture (open the lens for more light), which reduces the depth-of-field. (The camera *may* instead slow the shutter to give more time for light to enter the lens or adjust the light sensitivity (ISO) of the sensor/chip.) 

You can assert some control over DOF if your camera has Aperture Priority (A or AP on the controls), but your camera probably won’t have DOF preview, so remember the camera and the eye don’t see exactly the same scene.

Scene settings for Portrait (a head-and-shoulders icon) often reduce the DOF because someone thinks portraits look cooler if everything else is blurry.

Be aware that the macro (close-up) setting (usually a flower icon) has a very shallow depth-of-field. Further, a zoom lens affects DOF, dependent in part on your distance from the subject, as well as the distance between the subject and the background. All of the shots in this entry are zooms. (I think it’s a coincidence that all have yellow and most are flowers.)

Experiment by taking several photos from the same position while changing settings and by moving closer or farther and repeating your play. Move left and right, as well, because that may change the distance between the subject and objects in the background.

photomayo a month-long project

Cinco de Marco (photomayo)

[originally published on: May 6, 2007]

When I walk the dog to the park, I usually take my camera. If I don’t, I’m sure to see the roadrunner or hawk. In fact, on Saturday, I did first hear, then see two hawks, though my photos were disappointing. (Last week I saw three flying together.)

As we rounded a corner close to home, I saw this hummingbird hovering just above a claret cup cactus. Imagine me standing in the middle of the street, stopping the dog in his tracks as I juggle leash and camera, frantic that I will miss this great shot, trying not to think of the cars that frequently roar around each corner blindly. Fortunately for me, this was one patient hummingbird. mjh

photomayo a month-long project

Other Photographers (photomayo)

I’ve developed a thing for photographers. If that strikes you as narcissistic, wait until I cover self-portraits and reflections. One reason I photograph photographers is I don’t want to take the pictures other people are taking – that’s my very narrow competitive streak and also why I don’t join photography groups or outings. Another reason is I’m shy and uncomfortable photographing people, except surreptitiously. Actually, as I look these over, I realize most are not surreptitious but straight on portraits of a knowing subject. In that case, perhaps it is the difference between a duel and shooting someone who is unarmed.

A couple of these are photos of famous, professional photographers: Jeremy Stein and Bob LeBlanc, with his son, Robert. One more and I’ll have to declare this a subset of my category. (Oh, but I also have a photo of Susan Weeks, a fabulous watercolorist who uses photos. I’m going to slip that one into the collection.)

photographers (20 photos)

photomayo a month-long project

Life Glows (photomayo)

This photo was an epiphany for me. Suddenly, I realized that flowers (and leaves) are translucent, not opaque. Further, I discovered the backside of flowers. In particular, this is a chocolate flower (also called green eyes). Those red veins are not visible on the face of the flower, only behind.

It doesn’t take much experience to discover that the best light of the day comes early and late. I watch for that intense light pushing through living things, setting them aglow. Light moves all day long. I feel honored to witness, let alone capture, a spotlight moment, such as these.

photomayo a month-long project

The Catalyst (photomayo)

Merri Rudd changes my perspective. (That should always be present tense.) Merri will crawl on her belly for a photo, whether to get to mountain gorillas or through the wildflowers. Mer pulled me home and, then, out into Nature, my favorite subject. Although I’m more comfortable photographing things other than people, I do have many favorite photos of Merri. Here are just a few:

NB: My first photography teacher was my Droog, Dr. John W. Merck, who said, “take lots of pictures but show only your best.” John was the first I knew to take a “Merck-shot”: a dramatic close-up portrait that extends beyond the frame. Here’s a link to a fine picture of John by one of his students.

Mer see the whole album

photomayo a month-long project

Photomayo

April’s theme gives way to May’s: from poetry to photography. My goal for my birth month is to post a photo (or group) here every day – some old, some new.

Here is my most frequently seen photo on Flickr:

Photographed on my kitchen floor, this big, brown spider has been viewed 2,366 times on Flickr since 12/1/2007. I really don’t know why. I have other pictures on Flickr of bugs (114) and spiders (14). Since 2000, I’ve tagged 712 pictures as bugs, of which 57 are tagged spiders in my Windows Live Photo Gallery. My off-line digital photo collection consists of just under 35,000 photos since 2000 (8,000 of which are not yet tagged – the oldest photos in the gallery). Over the next month, I’ll spare you most of the 35,000, but hope to find one you will enjoy. Let me know what you think.

My photos appear in the following places:

• www.mjhinton.com/photos – a single landing page to all others
• www.edgewiseblog.com/mjh/category/photos/ – this photoblog
• www.flickr.com/photos/mjhinton – my best, a few at a time (by tags)
• picasaweb.google.com/photosbymjh – albums

photomayo a month-long project