Blue Fier

The palm trees look like they are standing guard, watching over the train station below. This is where the trains pull up to the San Clemente station, only steps away from the surf. The tracks carrying the Surfliner trains to San Diego expand from 2 lanes to 4 lanes of trains then back to 2 one-way tracks in order to let the other trains pass them by. It is very dangerous as trains arrive and leave, barely slowing down while the beachgoers run between the tracks. I hope they all remember to heed the sign and take a look before crossing, but I was enjoying looking up.

I enjoy finding images that make you come back and “read” the photo again. In other words, it keeps your interest by asking you, the viewer, to work a little bit harder to figure out what the image is all about. I have passed by this green wall of plants many times before. Finally, a few days ago I took the time to shoot it before it is gone or changed in some way. Photographs often make the invisible visible. It is a scenario I have not seen before, a palm tree growing through a green wall of plants. The palm trees sharp leaves are almost hidden against the rounded leaves of the wall.

  I am out in my vegetable garden every day. It is amazing how much food you can grow on a small plot of land. You always want to plant enough for the birds, various insects, squirrels, humans, and other surprises. You just never know what’s going to land in your garden. Certain insects can devour a plant very quickly. Grasshoppers chew fresh green leaves down to nothing in no time. This ‘hopper took time out from his (could be a she) busy schedule to land on my fence. I raced around to get my camera, put the old manual macro lens on, and hope I get back and s/he is still there. I felt like Stieglitz and his “Steerage” shot. With luck, I got a few images before s/he flew away looking for new territories to digest.

I like the adventure of traveling. The new stimulus is good for your brain. With rare exceptions I always have a camera attached to my right hand. I’ll concentrate on details and interesting juxtapositions. Some shots act like warm ups. Just to get the creative juices flowing I’ll start shooting. I like the challenge of creating on the spot and coming up with an interesting way of seeing our world. One window in this large western ware and boot store exterior had cowboys on horses riding in a posse. Someone soaped or painted the window glass white. Then etched the artwork by scraping away the white soap or paint. To simplify the composition I cropped out a poster taped to the window. I left in the window frame, bricks, and exterior tile as key elements to help viewers understand and place the image in its real world context. Then I saw the reflection of cars and thought about putting the two together, old and new horsepower.

Wandering around with my infrared-converted digital camera, I came upon this tree with a very large open canopy. The trunks went dark against the green leaves and flattened the space. I was excited when I realized the dark almost black trunks looked like a river and its tributaries, or arteries going from large to small, and then I saw the roots up in the sky. I’m sure other symbols will appear. To have multiple meanings occur within an image is for me like finding gold. If I saw these three, others will see them and more.

I collect things that I like and will eventually use them in an image. I have several hour glasses. The one used today is filled with iron filings and having its debut. It gives a different look than sand. The light colored sand can be difficult to stand out. The black iron filings make it easier to see. The symbolism of time running out is obvious. Follow your intuition and shoot beyond when you planned to stop. I am always grateful when something else shows up in the image that I did not plan for and often it is the last shot taken.

 Whenever I am on a trail or I have reached a resting spot or a summit, I naturally look around. I often look at the ground I am standing on. This image was taken in Monument Valley a few months ago. It is rare to find so many footprints relatively intact. The soil was loose, grainy, and originally red sandstone. There is a lot of information in the image. If you are really good, you would recognize the shoemaker by the indentations the sole of the shoe leaves. I’ve often wondered what it would take to have my name embossed on the sole of a shoe with my web address. It would be interesting to see if that kind of advertising would work.          

When I see two, I think twins. It’s coming close to Easter and with my chickens one of them lays green eggs and the other brown. No artificial coloring added. Eliot’s two trees gracing a sliver of green on a hill became two x two on a straw ground. Some how just two eggs looked better in a double double composition. No two eggs are alike. I’m an identical twin. We came from one egg. We are similar and different.

The pattern of Eliot’s surfboards made me think of Hawaii and then ukeleles. I know the owner of a local music store who let me play in his shop today. I was thinking of a close up of several instruments. That changed when I saw the keyboard bend into a smile with all those ukeleles dancing overhead, I had my shot. Lots of patterns and repeating shapes,and in my mind, waves lapping at your feet, and off shore trade winds spraying you with salty water.

A few miles east of where I live is the busiest  general aviation airport in the nation. Looking up I’ve always wanted to capture all the planes taking off  in a day. This is one hour’s worth.  Some planes repeat, as they were students doing “touch and goes.” To go along with Eliot’s mind-altering skylight, I stripped the color from the planes, playing off of the form of his skylight, and of course leaving a blue sky.