Blue Collar Sage

some who appear brilliant make foolish moves

( Alexander McQueen, 40 years old forever )

my hero L.T. *   once said of sages,

“they run beyond convention…

They listen to the soundless

And look at the formless,

They are not constrained by society

And not bound by its customs.”

Not every beatnik is a sage,

but there are sages among them,

someday you may be there too.

~paul

* Lao-Tzu

Mind Strumming

It has been a busy three months. Paul made a pilgrimage to Amerika and returned to the UK with a boodle of images. I have been to South Carolina, Mexico, and four trips to rural Missouri. Fitting, I think, that on my last little excursion I was checking on sunrise/sunset times and they were both 7:09. Yes, Winter is behind us and this post represents a bit of mental Spring cleaning. So much for the rambling preamble; here are a selection of observations/activities from the last few months.

• No car – sold my vehicle, bought a replacement and sold it – for now I am done owning a car
• Moved from Apple’s abandoned Aperture to Adobe’s addictive drug Lightroom for photo processing and cataloging
• Playing with Photomatix HDR and realize I know next-to-nothing about colour theory (my earlier photojournalism career was 90% B&W) and learning about colour is the “teach the old dog new tricks” conjure for this year
• Read a lot, and between sub-par thrillers and mysteries, I have hit on a few reads I think are worth sharing…

Cold, Cold, Too Cold

Round Spring in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways is a great place for snapshots… But it reminds me why I am not a “scenic/nature” photographer. First, you have to really work hard to create a picture that is not just another postcard snap. Second, you have to be up early (above is 7am with the temperture about -2 celsius) and dress appropriately (I had no gloves – d’oh). Third, you have to haul a lot of gear- tripods, flash, filters, etc. I love the idea but I have to work my strength — stick with human scenery.
~John