Noname Creek ~ Addendum

Poppi as she may appear to passing fruit rats, racoons, and possum.

Poppi at Night

We may well live in a universe of parallel worlds. Addendum worlds, so to speak. Parallel worlds do exist right next to us, just beyond range of our senses at this moment. The invisible life existing right on top of our skin as well as inside our bodies confirms these possibilities. Our worlds are interlocking.

Thusly, this feline portrait cannot exist in a world of its own. 

Any Photoshop-born vision is easily accessible by millions, if not billions, of eyes each day. This image will make its debut on the viewing stages of at least hundreds of human beings. Each viewing will give it a new life and extend its possibilities. 

The very appearance of Addendum Vision represents only a minor shift in the bandwidth of human vision. Yet, photo-technology dramatically extends our sensations and our imaginations; it presents us with views of otherwise invisible worlds. Addendum Vision allows us to witness Poppi, the huntress, in this way. 

Parallel worlds may be colliding these days. So how do we measure realities outside of the hologram?

~ ~ ~

Noname Creek

It's almost year's end and I still have file cases full of photographic negatives and transparencies to edit. This morning I finally awoke to discover my desk and desktop were also buried in photo cds. Then there are all the electronic files in my former workroom.

This photo management project has not been an easy nut to crack. I've been avoiding the job for 50 years. The problem? I only seem to understand creative naming and filing. And I'm lazy. So, who knows where specific pictures are located and what are they named?

Poppi Popsalotaus

I have long recognized file management as a major life problem without a hint or hope for resolution. Until today...  Today I decided to think differently about this problem and any need of a firm hand to control. 

This problem has now been renamed Noname Creek, a tributary of the Photographic River. And I have decided to jump into the creek only to recreate and then only where most convenient and when it feels best. Solution attained.

I love my cat like Egyptian Pharaohs loved the feline protectors of their souls.

~ ~ ~

Left Coast of Florida

The Gulf of Mexico is a shallow, warm and placid sea that draws millions of Yankee tourists and retirees to Southwest Florida. The tourist industry counts on warm winters and placid waters. Tourists from all over the world imagine they will soak up the sun on sand white beaches when they make their Florida reservations. 

Left Coast of Florida

But perception is not always reality. This month the weather is cool enough (near freezing at night) to send residents into their bottom drawers for long sleeved shirts and sweaters. Only shivering tourists run around in short pants and shirts these days.

Still Yankee tourists laugh at annual residents for our thin blood and December sweaters. But I've spent a lifetime shivering in Minnesota's cold and I contend that Florida summers are a real test for true grit. If you can make it through hurricanes and heat and humidity for a few Florida summers, you will keep your sweaters handy and you will be welcomed by the rest of us wearing long pants in December.

~ ~ ~

Green Leaves

Some times we see things too clearly. We see the colors and the forms, the shadows and the light. And seeing all these things without discriminating can be too much.

That's what my little Kodak does: it sees too much. The light meter averages the fall of light into the picture frame. It makes average scenes non-spectacular.

The averaging meter turned the original of this shot into something pretty, but unremarkable. The shot lacked color saturation. Since color played a big role in attracting me to the original shot, the photo results should speak loudly to color.

Photoshop to the rescue. A few PS tricks allowed me to show full color saturation in the leaves and the flowers. I was also able to to separate the foreground leaves from the background flowers by softening the flowers. The results? Something much closer to the scene that attracted me in the first place.

~ ~ ~

Florida Java Script

Am trying, at the moment, to recall the circumstances surrounding this collage, made in 2002. Many facts get lost in creation, get absorbed into the stuff of self and become inseparable from the long line of doings since then.

Florida Java Script

Now, I can't even recall which version of Photoshop I was working with at the time. I recall seemingly endless hours of revising nautical charts, staring into a CRT monitor until the rounded eye of the photographer flattened like a pancake. Color and form got the nod on a 2-dimensional surface when the positions of buoys changed and new channels widened. 

Somehow I came across a few historic views of Florida orange groves, nostalgic in their early postcard colors and rustic, groomed landscape. Colors and forms acquire magical possibilities in Photoshop-driven minds. Photo realities explode. Experimentation becomes not only fun, but renewing. Breaking rules of nautical geometries became an elixir for my tired eyes and overlays of formerly segregated materials brought me a curious sense of satisfaction.

So how did Florida orange groves become united with java script in this collage? Perhaps the answer is as simple as proximity; the two materials happened to cross my desk with my interests. But I won't worry about the how, although the how does peak some curiosities. 

I  just like the results.

~ ~ ~

Lido Tower: Form and Structure

Lido Tower Stairs

Early morning light at the old Lido diving tower, Lido Beach, Sarasota, Florida. The perfect setting in which to realize the relationship between light and form.

Lido Tower Heights

The lifeguard, a photo student, was about to go on duty. We took a few minutes to examine the Lido Tower structure.

Legs At Rest

Just three examples of why I love black and white photography.