And Now for Something Completely Different...well sort of.

The "iconic" Yosemite Valley view photographed from the Tunnel View off of California State Route 41.

A propane truck with chains on it's tires nears Badger Pass on California State Route 41 while traveling over black ice.

Wawona Tunnel just west of the Tunnel View along California State Route 41.

Okay, so this not really "something completely different." But it does following on my post from a few days ago regarding a recent trip to Yosemite National Park.

As a photographer, I was attempting to stay away from the "normal" iconic views of Yosemite. And as part of that self-challenge, in addition to my earlier photos, I captured these images with my iPhone using the Hipstamactic app.

Overcoming the Parallax Error...Sort of.

I've been having a lot of fun with the Hipstamatic application for my iPhone. While attempting to overcome the parallax error inherent with the application (or simply going with what you get) I couldn't help but think how these photos have represented my life at times. In no particular order mind you.

Even while playing the King of Hearts (or was that the Joker?) life is a bit askew. And I guess I've come to realize that if my life was orderly, peaceful and totally in focus...how boring it would be.

So I'll continue to look at my life with my own personal parallax error, guesstimating what's in the viewfinder, peeking over the top trying to align the view, looking for the best light and always waiting for the decisive moment!

Season of Change

Hipstamactic with John S lens and Ina's 1969 film shot with the iPhone

Today is the Winter Solstice, we're as far away from the Sun as we can be. It's the shortest day of the year, at least here in the Northern Hemisphere. It's also a time for change as we head to longer, warmer days.

So it's only natural to make a photo (again) in a new way, using what ever means available to me to continue to stretch, to grow and change, breaking free of old, tired and stodgy means of communicating visual.

Happy Solstice!

What's Black and White and Rarely Read?

 

Like armored sentinels, these news boxes are a painful reminder of the suicidal downward spiral of newspapers. The downsizing vortex within the industry not only cleared the newsroom floor of our most valuable resource...people, but also the very essence of what we do. To tell stories. Real stories about real people and how the world around them affects all of us. It's disheartening to watch a once vibrant and creative bastion of journalism reduced to press release mentality.

We have our moments. We still produce brilliant stories, photos and pages. But somethings missing. Maybe the spirit, the vitality of what we do. We'd like to blame someone or something as we stand in a group huddled together turning in circles, pointing our fingers and looking for a likely culprit. And it comes back to us. We're the ones. No one ever said it'd be easy. It's easy to give up, easy to point fingers. But there are still great stories to be told and great people to tell them. There's still a place that will collect those stories and display them in a great way. We can't be tired, We can't give up.

Just like the story of gun collections when they melt down the offending weapons are produce something meaningful from them. Perhaps we should melt down the news boxes.

After all...it'd be a great story.