Stories

LEGO IDEAS
— Read on ideas.lego.com/projects/90e4c7d0-59b0-4c9d-a0ad-76aac05cdd43

Kathy Smith, 30, from Corwen, Wales managed to get her pack of pets to sit still in the living room for the family portrait after days of failed attempts.
— Read on www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-7750833/Woman-revealed-took-DAYS-17-cats-dogs-pose-picture.html

You JUST HAVE TO CLICK ON THE LINK to see the image.

You can own the best of the best of the best camera equipment to get your images but in the end it is who you are, what your goals are, how determined you are, how creative you are, when it comes to create the perfect shot.

I do not know what this person owns, and it is not important. I have to give her many thumbs up for pulling this off. I know for sure that I never could. I mean I have a Jack Russel, and two cats in house and never, ever could I get them to sit together for more than one tenth of a second even with snacks.

Over the last two years, photographer Pedro Oliveira has worked on a photo essay celebrating an underappreciated demographic, and the results are timeless.

— Read on fstoppers.com/originals/mature-beauty-photographer-celebrates-beauty-and-strength-women-over-50-430937

Most people I know today that I can photograph face to face are like me. OLD.  I have always loved photographing senior citizens, all my life, but have to admit that too often I look at photographs that have attempted to smooth them out, make them look younger, instead of reveling in the beauty that years of living and wisdom have altered how they look.

I have a friend who I saw recently at a photography show. He is active, strong, doing things that most people only dream of doing and yet he made an interesting comment to me. It was a comment that struck home as it does for many well aged, experienced people. He said for the first time in a long time he made eye contact with his full length mirror. He had said to himself “When did this happened?” He was referring to the lines in his face, marks on his skin, etc.

Pedro Oliveura has really captured the essence of aging in a very beautful way. While the images in this article show only women in all their wonderful glory, you can find more images by clickiing on the links that will take you to his galleries which have some incredible images of venerable men.

I really like this article.  This discusses photographing this beauty and stepping away from image processors to change what aging truly represents.

If you have concerns where the world is going and why then this is a must listen to opinion video.

www.youtube.com/watch

Pretty incredible and if you are into astro photography and have a lot of expendable income you can study the solar system in all its glory.

Good video.

www.youtube.com/watch

youtu.be/NL_vaT76C28

Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels. I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her.

I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn’t be afraid. As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn’t want her to know that I hadn’t been walked today. Sometimes the overworked shelter keepers get too busy and I didn’t want her to think poorly of them.

As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn’t feel sad about my past. I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone’s life.

She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me. I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her. Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship. A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well.

Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms.

I would promise to keep her safe.

I would promise to always be by her side.

I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes.

I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor. So many more are out there who haven’t walked the corridors. So many more to be saved. At least I could save one.

I rescued a human today.”

Facebook entry was made by Terri Weissenberg and republished on my blog.

Nothing should stop you from trying

At the age of 76 there are a lot of things I have come to love in my life, some things more than others. But if I was to pick just two, in order of what I love most, it would be my life partner, my wife, and second would be all aspects of photography and videography, or simply creative imaging.

In the same vein there are also a lot of things I have come to have great disdain for at this time of my life. But again, if I was to pick just two, not necessarily in any order as they are both pretty equal, one would be Donald Trump and family, and the other is chronic pain – everywhere.

So what does this have to do with anything? Actually quite a bit. Over the last 10 years or so I have been making great strides in learning to live with a minimum of photographic gear. At first the reasons for this was simply wanting to lighten the load that I was carrying into the field every time I went out to create images.

I have gone from weighty dSLR gear which at times could add up to a big backpack or shoulder bag with a load that could go anywhere from 15 pounds to 30 pounds, not including a tripod, to mirrorless cameras together with a variety of small lenses either in the Panasonic, Olympus and in the end Fuji. The mirrorless systems reduced the weight load to half of what I had been carrying.

My last “system” was the Fuji X pro 2 and three small prime lenses. The whole kit weighed about 7 pounds not including the camera bag. Finally I was a minimalist. But sadly while I loved my little Fuji outfit, it was not to be my forever gear.

Everyone I know and those I do not know all face creative challenges and many people overcome those challenges to become highly impactive image makers.

My personal challenge is chronic back pain and leg/feet pain which was brought on from getting spinal surgery to my lower back. It was failed surgery I did have a painful bad back prior to that surgery, and the surgery while many tried to dissuade me I went ahead. I suffered a great many problems because of the surgery such as kidney failure, peripheral neuropathy, and clots. I survived, but was left with a level of chronic pain that has stayed with me right up to this writing. And yes, I have tried just about every method of pain management to offset the pain, none of which has been successful.

Okay! Enough of all that. It really leads up to where I am at today.

No matter what it takes and what anyone has to endure being able to create images, art, your story, it is paramount to do just that.

Because of that and because I am forced to become even more minimal with to gear I have chosen another Fuji and it is called the X100f. It is a fixed lens camera, using the same sensor and modes of operation as my previous larger Fuji x pro 2. It was really a hard decision, but after going back and looking at a great many images I had shot with the X pro 2, it became obvious that most were produced at a focal length of 23mm 2.0 which is 35mm on a cropped APS-C sensor. The Fuji X100f has a very sharp 23mm 2.0 lens. The camera is incredibly light, small, and built like a tank.

In conjunction with the X100f I also have my iPhone Xr, and a very neat little device, the DJI Osmo Pocket gimbal camera. It fits in something as small as a shirt pocket and can take incredible 4k video, stills, panoramas, and so much more. It ways less than my phone even though it contains a 3 axis gimbal.

So now I can get out and about with one heck of a lot less weight to haul around while letting me get the images I so much want to create.

I still have challenges such as walking and bending, but with less gear to deal with I can get passed all that, and if you have challenges you too should figure out ways to overcome them if you can.

Good luck and good health.