Category: art

Tree Trimmers

 

So, an almost disaster morning turned out to be a winner, better than I hoped or anticipated.

Here I was, MINDING my own business, sitting on the lanai, trying to do something creative with colored felt tip markers, sipping a cup of freshly brewed coffee. Finished meditating. Looking around for a photo. No birds around singing or fishing. No trees blowing in the wind. No flowers in bloom. Just carts spreading poisons and lawn care workers shaving trees. The noise was deafening and the spraying made my eyes tear.

As I got packed up to go inside, a man wearing a Yankee baseball hat, holding a chainsaw (an instrument of destruction unfamiliar to and not allowed in the arsenal of Jewish men) knocked on the screen. In some undecipherable language, he motioned with his hands like he had a camera and said “Photo.” Let’s leave aside how he knew I was a photog, something I will never know and couldn’t ask, but I assumed he meant he wanted me to take his photo.

I grabbed my nearby camera, made sure I had a chip and a battery, and went outside. There were two of them. I separated them, posed them and shot, using my hands and feet and some facial expressions. They bantered, but I didn’t understand a word. After a few shots, I held up 5 fingers and said 5 minutes; they pointed where they were going.

I ran inside to the printer, imported the chip, did some minor processing and printed two 8.5×11 prints. Now, I had to find them.

Without saying something which will have me accused of some racist language, the workers all looked alike, except for their tools. I stopped a few, showed them the pics and asked, using hand signals, where the guys were. Some didn’t answer, probably fearing I was ICE. One pointed down the block and followed me as I continued my search.

I could hear the sound of the trimmer and knew I was on the right track. When they saw me, they turned off their instruments of destruction. One came over to me, looked at the image, smiled and gave me a sweaty half-hug. The other glowed.

Not bad for a street photo inside the Gates of Valencia Reserve, eh?

Passport Renewal

Not that we are going anywhere, but our passports needed renewal because we had run out of blank pages. How do you like that? We had been to so many places that required a stamp, that we didn’t have enough pages if we travelled again.

Sadly, I had to send in the passport to get a new one. I didn’t make a copy of the pages to remind me where I have been. I can remember, but who knows for how long. And, at 76, this is probably my last passport. Perhaps they will return it and I will have to rely on my fading memory.

But the best thing was making the photos, pictured above to use. They provide a list of requirements: size, color, pose, lighting, background, expression, attire. They also provide a crop tool.

To fill out the application on your computer, you need Adobe Acrobat. I downloaded it, gave them a credit card, and got a clean copy so no-one could complain about my handwriting. Today, I will have to cancel my 7 day trial (why doesn’t AARP have a discount for this?).

I used my studio lights and a white backdrop. Printed on my semi-professional printer. Cut on a paper cutter and used an exacto blade on the edges. The final results will be mailed to the Government and copies stored in my portfolio.

This saved me no money, because …. But it did save me a trip to UPS or Staples or a photog. Now, I just have to deal with the anxiety of having my pictures rejected for some technical reason like the wrong size, expression, lighting or clothing.

Diversity

If birds of different feathers can get together, all of us should be able to. I wonder if they even know the difference. Like, when an English Bulldog comes up to an Irish Setter, does he know they each possess opposite character traits. How about these birds. If one tweets, does the other understand? Does the white bird avoid the black bird, because of color?

Tree Near Norton

Walking down the street near the Norton Museum of Art after an art date, I saw this tree glistening in the late afternoon sunlight. After a few minutes, it started to talk to me. Art always talks to me, especially after seeing some masters. https://petapixel.com/2023/10/13/talking-to-trees-photographing-the-expressive-nature-of-trees/

The show featured impressionists, including Cezanne, Soutaine, Degas and Van Gogh. They came from the Pearlman Collection at Princeton, a collection amassed by a guy with taste and imagination and money, although he said not enough. He liked artists who were on a mission to find themselves

I see Chaim Soutaine in my tree.

 

Bromeliad

We lost a bromeliad this year which Sam planted 7 years ago. It just fell over and died. The garden design was perfect, so we just had to replace it. Bromeliads, air plants/grapefruits, produce one flower and then die. Sam put in the original plant. With his green thumb, I hope this one lasts as long and brings as much joy to us and our humble garden.

Basquiat Not By Duckman

In photo school, they teach or try to teach creativity. Look around as you walk. Find natural frames. Examine the landscape. Imagine. Use technical skills. Breathe. Shoot. Move on without chipping.

I do and I did, without their help. I see with my eye without regard to what I think others will see, feel or want to know. I just have a feeling sometimes. Upon return to my studio, I download. Voila.

Now, why did I make this image?