August 2, 2009, Ann decided to take her granddaughters to see the Dancing Horses on Hwy 50, west of Lake Geneva, WI. Quite a unique and entertaining afternoon — most especially for the young girls who already ride and now dream of “being” what they saw there. (click on image for larger view – Slide show of additional images)
Back in June Ann’s nephew, Mike McDonald, played in the Wisconsin State Amateur Golf Tournament. Mike also plays on the Marquette University Golf Team. At the State Tournament his dad, Bob, caddied for him. A fine father/son moment caught. (click image for larger view – Slide show of additional tournament images)
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Traveling through the last few weeks with thoughts mostly of Ann and her upcoming birthday; which occurred on August 17th. It all began with a trip up the coast to Sheboygan, WI to introduce Jim Proue and David White. I’d thought it would be fun to have them sing and play at Ann’s little surprise family birthday celebration. They’d never played together yet hit the mark right from the get-go.
(click image for larger view – Slide show with more images from this get together)
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The night before the party we went to hear Tracy Chapman at the Pabst Theartre. Without doubt – the most incredible concert I’ve ever attended. Ms. Chapman (and her band) performed flawlessly; and actually “better than” the original studio recordings. (click image for larger view – Slide Show of a few “intermission” images)
Of course it took a few phone calls to invite the family; a bit tidying up, arranging for food and errands with Erin’s help; and then – the party sort of just happened. (click image for larger view – Slide show of additional party images)
The day after the party Ann did her annual Irish Fest. Below we see one of Ann’s customers — not showing off his hair cut — but rather performing a fine Irish kick. (click image for larger view – Slide show of additional Irish Fest images)
Then it was getting ready for a four day road trip to the beautiful Mississippi River hills and valleys in Northwestern Illinois, Eastern Iowa and Southwestern Wisconsin. (click image for larger view – Slide show of additional river trip images)
“As photographers we sell emotion not emulsion. The tools are immaterial, the resulting piece is all important.” — Jeff Adams
In principle I agree — yet fine tools do make getting to the result a tad easier. Today I began a 15 day trial of Silver Efex Pro for use with Lightroom. It is quite a fine tool; if you’re interested in processing digital color files to black and white effect. Its built-in presets for tone-color, various filtration effects and simulation of (various types of) film grain appear first rate. This image of Sophia at the Children’s Museum (last week) was processed to Acros 100 with slight Selenium Toning and subtle ‘rectangular’ edge burn. Very quick and easy to compare effects. If you’re familiar with the Lightroom GUI (graphic user interface) you’ll find the Silver Efex GUI very intuitive.
In the end every craftsperson (and artist) appreciates fine tools; yet will find a way to express themselves with the tools at hand.
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Duncan moved on out of this life Wednesday evening.
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Mary Kelly stopped by to show me
that 10 years after receiving a print from me as a birthday gift
she decided to frame it.
I was most impressed with my multi-color inking on my chop
Last Sunday (father’s day), before a lovely brunch, Sophia presented me with
an abstract expression titled “fireworks” (from her fever series)
after which Ann and I headed for her son Josh’s farm
where Cadence and Cassidy rode around the barrels and Clyde chewed on T-bone’s ear
(slide show of additional images from the farm)
Mary Kelly called and said we needed a birthday celebration invitation; and in a few weeks we had this delightful album invitation off the press and in the mail. Then of course we celebrated with Mary.
(click image for larger view – or go to the slide show for more images)
“At the root of creativity is an impulse to understand, to make sense of random and often unrelated details. For me, photography provides an intersection of time, space, light, and emotional stance. One needs to be still enough, observant enough, and aware enough to recognize the life of the materials, to be able to ‘hear through the eyes.’ “ — Paul Caponigro
Last evening
as Colin Hay
drew music from his guitar strings
formed dramas with his lyrics
the stage lights also
drew beautifully
the form of a fan’s face
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Last Thursday I went to hear Buckwheat Zydeco at Turner Hall; in an attempt to warm up a bit; and also get in synch with our friends in NOLA. Didn’t quite work out. As a huge Clifton Chenier fan I’ve been watching Buckwheat for the past decades; hoping he may pickup where Clifton left off.
Alas, not yet. Buckwheat never seemed to hit the groove at Turner Hall. Although a fair number in the audience got to their feet, created their own heat and found their own groove.
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unable to find it
where did the time go?
often killing it
thoughtlessly
stalking answers
to questions sans reason
killing and eating
time
will tell
or fly
really?
perhaps if I’d saved some
or spent less
if you have a minute
share it well
The above poem floated around in my mind for a long time. Last week I began to look at and move the words around on the screen; while also contemplating images that may accompany them. On Saturday I received a call from my friend Doug. He informed me that he was in Thiensville, my home town, attending a funeral for a former student; Rick Borkin, 42 years old, a volunteer firefighter in Thiensville for 16 years, died during a training exercise 12/8/08. Firefighters from all the surrounding cities and towns attended. The appropriate photograph appeared from my attending this solemn event.
Click here for a slide show of additional images
(clicking on images below will bring up larger view)
