Monday, January 27, 2014

 In this part of Florida, overcast days are rare, and when they do occur, the overcast doesn't necessarily last throughout.  Yesterday was one of those, and in the late afternoon, the cloud cover broke up and patches of open sky appeared.   But, what is memorable happened after this photograph was made.  I was driving west on the two lane road that would take me to the interstate.  Suddenly I saw two suns, each of the same brightness, and on the same horizontal plane.  I almost drove off the road.  As I don't use an iphone, nor carry a digital point-and-shoot, there was no reason to stop and make a record of it.  After a few moments, the 'false' sun began to fade and become a prismatic display of rainbow colors.  And, just a bit later, it was gone for good.  Reading up on line about "two suns", there were many photographs of the phenomenon, but other than to observe that they are a function of refracted light in certain clouds, little is understood about their genesis.  And, apparently, the horizontal version is extremely rare.  I was really lucky, though I can't prove it!  LOL!!



Thursday, January 23, 2014

Serious composers are sometimes amused and surprised when theorists offer analyses of their music.  The creative process is essentially intuitive albeit informed by a great deal of prior study and experience.  So, when reading an essay by another about something they've written, they may be fascinated by what details and relationships are uncovered and explained.  For me, making photographs is intuitive, but not ignorant of all I've absorbed about composition, exposure, perspective, rules of odds and thirds, etc, and years of experience that help me to try to dismiss the cliched and trite.  The images below subscribe to my preference for interesting objects as they relate to something else, in this case to the flow of ocean water as it surged in and crept out. 





 



Tuesday, January 21, 2014

This photograph may seem to be an odd departure from the style of most of my images, but it really isn't.  It's just design of a more abstract nature.  The fallen trees at Big Talbot Island SP are the victims of erosion, but they have legions of their fellows still standing.  And, in late afternoon, the cast shadows of both fallen and standing trees are everywhere on the sand at low tide.  The gnarly mess on the ground is a kind of clay that is pocked with little depressions of unknown origin to me. 
The footprints, however, are mine.



Friday, January 17, 2014

Big Talbot Island SP is a sometime mecca for photographers.   As weather and storms lash at the sandy soil, trees closest to the beach are undermined and topple onto it.  The forest is being eroded in this way so that it's rare to ever see things as they were a month or two ago.   But, on yesterday's visit, I photographed the ocean as well as some of the debris on shore.  The tide was out, and this little island was revealed at its lowest ebb.  After an hour and a half or so, it was submerged again as the tide came creeping back. The second photograph is of a piece of fallen tree that was just to the right of the little island. 






Wednesday, January 15, 2014

I am having trouble finding subjects that interest me away from the ocean.  I've burned film in the backyard, and made some images nearby, but I'm not finding as much as I'd hoped to.  As most trees here do not lose their leaves, and are clustered together more like a jungle than a forest, they haven't offered much. Fog would help, but it's more rare than I expected. So, back to the beach I went yesterday, and returned with this photograph of the Jacksonville fishing pier that is the only structure that extends into the ocean for miles.  There are far away jetties, but none close to me.  The other photograph is of shore birds who, curiously, stayed close by while I was there.  I don't know if this guy expected a treat, but his comfort with me was very nice to experience.