Reflection No 6

Photoimpressionism.

One of the many streams

in my art making river.

Dreamscape No 1

This week: snow in our lives.

A strong fog covered the city.
It was freezing. Bruhhh...!

I love this photograph. It says so much,
plenty of freedom and joy:
a coming and going.
who but a real artist would understand
this photo, who?
It has all that I want to capture with my camera.
All all all.
What a world we live!

Windows No 1

From my kitchen window

on an snow night.
Then I watched some Japaneese movies.

Now I see the Fuji mountain.

Does the mind know more than us?

Reflection No 8

Why people do photography?

To freeze the present?

To document reality?

To hold color and shapes  on a single image?

Why do I do what I do?

Because I do.

Abstraction No 5

More on this abstraction serie

Abstract No 4

A childhood memory

Abstraction No 3

Color and shapes.

A whisky shot getting ready for xmas.

At times, I surprise myself.

I love this photo. I took it

with macro 90 mm

and

yes, this is real whisky

in a glass.

What a discovery!

An old magic trick

Today an old memory came to me:
when I was a child, one of my games,
was to take one small piece of  flat ceramic
-the one that people use as kitchen floors-
place some carbon dust on its surface,
add drops of water to the carbon, 
then cover the mix with another small piece of flat ceramic.
Then, the magic trick:
holding both pieces together with the wet carbon sandwiched between them,
twist the two plates and separate the two pieces from each other.
This creates abstract patterns that I still remember with joy.

Could I do such a thing with photography?
I think so.
My abstract photo work attempt
to recreate that childhood feeling.

Test No 2 B

After conversion to black and white

Not bad for a black and white.

What are the obvious limitation to this scanning art?

1. Very shallow DOF
2. Flat images
3. Flowers and more flowers
4. Non dynamic images
5. Mostly design work

Still abstraction is an area to explore.

Test No 2 A

A paint brush
An scanner
1200 dpi

Color image after normal workflow

Test No 1

Yesterday I went out with my camera and tripod.
I was frozen.
So I thought that maybe in winter some indoor work might be useful.
This morning I took a piece of cloth and a piece of tissue paper.
I placed them in my scanner, took an image at 600 and 1200 dpi.
600 dpi is huge. So 600 dpi is the way to go.

This image is a fragment of that image. I like this B & W composition.

When I printed this photo, I liked it. I will explore further using color sets and textures. Probably with 600 dpi scans and regular workflow ending in B&W. Color versus B&W? Impact of these exercises on my regular photography? We will see.

Dakadeka 2010

Today I began editing in Blurb my first photo/poetry book.
It is a pleasure to use the booksmart create the book.
Will it be a good book?
     I do not know.
Will those that see it care?
     Probably not much.
Will I care?
    Absolutely!
That's why we compose.

---------------------------

Also today I deleted hundred of images from my database.
I was not happy with them.
I dislike those where people are present.
I dislike unclean images that remind me of other photo I've seen.
I dislike those that remind me of postcards.
I dislike those that remind me of commercial art.
I dislike any pretentious image I see.

-----------------------------

Yesterday I placed a prime 90 mm/macro glass in my D90.
That is what I plan to use until the 2011 year end.

Oscar Wilde' standard

"A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament. Its beauty comes from the fact that the author is what he is. It has nothing to do with the fact that other people want what they want. Indeed, the moment that an artist takes notice of what other people want, and tries to supply the demand, he ceases to be an artist, and becomes a dull or an amusing craftsman, an honest or dishonest tradesman. He has no further claim to be considered as an artist."  

 The Soul of Man Under Socialism, Oscar Wilde.

I hope to live to this standard.

Sky No 5

Joy of my heart,

Let us walk together

To untie the knot of time.

The burning bush

Do not come any closer,...

 Take off your sandals.

-This place is holy ground....

Sky No 4

At night edge

                      I look into your eyes.

I shout, "I am." 

                       

Sky No 3

Ethereal dance

in the halls of heaven.

Blink...and gone.

Sky No 2

Free I go

among the clouds.

There we meet,

my friend.

Blue sky

Nothing but 

the blue sky to warm the spirit

in this

   the coldest winter.

Ghosts

Shapes and colors

Dance on the water.

I pass them by.

I let my dreams

Dance with them

     Till the end of time.

The undeads

...A wall among the walls, I hear

Their voices

         On the first hour.

There

         We find our refuge.

     -They wait for us.-

Who can call this moment to rest

       Among the dry autumn leaves?

             Who?

...Postorum absurdum,

Absurdum Postorum.

We dance into the waves.
A voice of thunder:
        "Children of the night,
        I call you with my drums.
       One more step to my fire.
       One more step to oneness."

Birth

...I fall in
        You on somber days.
Moonlight memories in the dark,
We give
       Birth to each other.

Arising from the sea

Memories of the future
              -I have.
They creep on me
              -In the middle of the night,
I awake.
             I see them.
                              We are one.

Returning

After a long iatus, I return to digital arts. I stopped because the I did not have the inner drive to do image work anymore. Now this energy is back. The drawing board and the camera are out; the printer is burring in my office. I am returning in an odd way: with a blend of images and poetry. Technique is not important anymore, nor I care about compositional patterns or audience to satisfy. I care about the image itself  and That what She awakens or call to attend to.

I begin with "Splash" and "Cut 69." They seem to be more paintings than photographies.  I love them.


-------

Suddenly I found myself composing a book of images and poetry. 24 images for a book called, "Dakadeka 2010." Is it the start of a series? I do not know, only morrow knows.

Cut 69

....A good hour

                  Breaks

The chant of the sea.

                  Awake.

Splash

I return to you
On a Friday evening.
After walking the sandy paths
That lead to nowhere.
I carry not flowers in my hands
Nor have I a silent moon
Telling her stories.
   -Those that only you and I hear.
I carry the brother sun
On my shoulders.
   -We share a common ground of
     Pain and happy tears.
I return to you
Full of colors.
Tonight we dance.
Our eyes be full of light and sound.

Dance

Memories all around:

Falling trees of

forgotten valleys.

Turbid water

enveloped with sand.

The call of the birds.

Gone.

Returning

Away and long time gone.
A flower falls in the river.
Nobody sees it.
A bird turns its head.
Look at you
and flies away.

Simplicity No 1

When time comes
and greets us with her icy fingers,
we  know that the presence of truth
Woman or man:
Memories hidden
under the tall grasses.

Balk No 3

Spring came hard
on the wet ground of my yard.
Our garden is dressed on flowers.
A prayer to the sun.
A song among the shadows.
Birds sing this morning.

Trunk No 1

Within a simple trunk
I find you star.
Within waves and lines
I see you.
Let me take you home
to share with my love one.

Reflection No 7

Spring.
Falling drops from a vessel
full of shinning hours.
Who knows the number of stars
that arrived on the first evening
or the cadence lost behind
curtains of the house?
Spring is a dance of time
with pines and cypresses
that only you and I know.

Balk No 2

Too much or too little.
Too many or too few.
Nobody knows, my friend;
But the late evening of a wet April
when the birds sing no more.
A dark place indeed, my friend.

Just a lamp

I entered the room.
I sat.
I saw the lamp.
Yellow and oranges.
Darkness and light.
Just a lamp.
Laying low calls me.
I am.

Spring No 1A

Spring is here.
It sneaked on me
as the sun does
every morning.
What will the lazy
hour bring to us?
Only God knows.

Reflection No 6

A walking dream, I am.
I carry no boulders
on my shoulders
but the shadows of
a rising sun.

Clouds No 3

The joy of raising our eyes
and seeing the clouds!
Clouds, clouds, clouds,
the sky dressed on white!
Oh clouds of my heart,
lift me high toward you.
Then I am happy.

Reflection No 5

Gone, Pollock, Gone.
Not among my favorite,
however you came.
I accept you.
You dripped your vanes
in my river bank.
Welcome to my world.
Welcome.

Fire No 1

"....The Angel of the LORD

appeared to him in

flames of fire..."

Rock No 3

Beauty in any place,

we find; then,

we open up

and the moon

reaches underneath

the blankets.

Spring runs wild

on streets of salt.

Abstraction No 2

I listen to the radio. They play Bossa Nova.

An abstract photo jumps out of nowhere.

Nothing much to say

but texture and the discovery of

shadows and highlights

inmersed in color.

Do they have the shape of love?
Do they?

Cloud No 2.

What a day!
Exhausting. We are preparing to move
to our new house.
So much work and so little time.
Still I took the D90 lady around.
Here is my find for the day.
It turned out to be a B&W.
A little gift from the heaven
to touch my heart.

Rock No 2

I dance among the four elements.
Is there any more joy than
an evening dance when our love
await us?
Is there any more joy
of art for art's sake,
without pretention
nor wanting a reward?

Reflection No 4

Water and joy at mid day.
Lightings and shadows reaching

deep into our souls.

What would it be?
What sounds will come
to sleep in our shores?
A broken pause steps
into our fingers
to feed our dreams.
Then, a crack and the merlin
leaves the hidden cave.

Reflection No 3

More reflection from the lake.

Is not amazing what is possible?
A style to master.
A photo without intellectual meaning,
A photo full of happiness and joy.
Dancing color inmersed in patterns.
What else do we want?
All is given.

Reflections No 2

I did it. Today I took some pictures with an HDR approach.
Why? Would this help my work flow?
It looks that it eliminates S/H
while adding more pixels to work with.
Minimun impact on the vision.
No mayor effect on work flow.
Just another tool on hand
to show the sacred beauty that surround us.
Here is my first intent.
-Not bad for a forest reflecting on
the lake near my house.
Not bad at all.

Cloud No 1

Is this my first cloud?
No, not all.
It is the first cloud on a series
for a cloud portfolio.

Rock No 1

Rock formations.
The holy trinity.
Truth, Goodness, Beauty.

HDR

Oh man, HDR,
something that I do not do...
but I think I should...
a road to nowhere...
where am I going?
How to do HDR
and keep to the
natural vision?
That is the question?

So this must be
also explored.

Wall No 1

A fence wall found just outside the University of Greensboro.
Vertical structures held by the square.
Verticals and squares sustaining each others.
Surprised.

Please me the way my photos evolve.
I am a child playing on a field full of images. 
The joy of colors and shapes,
the happiness of the visions around me,
what else could I ask?
What else?
A bliss.

Board No 5

A theme for the day: Boarding.
A square composition.
Found patterns in nature.

Board No 4

A shape held by another shape.
What a joy of pattern found
in the sleepy woods!

Light and colors

While listening to Leonard Cohen,
I found Claude Monet among my photos.
He said, "here I am, my friend.
Let me not be forgotten.
Time is alive."