Woodlands & Pomegranate Wine, Plus Image of the Week and a few other Items.

A painting, a picture, a poem or a feeling.  Yes, of course her face is apparent in three different positions in this two and a half second exposure that I made while on a walk through the woodlands of Uwharrie last Sunday.  For this shot I used the old 55mm manual lens. The camera was mounted on the Nathan Sprinkle Fabricated monopod which was planted firmly in the thin top layer of the earth's surface.  If I remember correctly, towards the end of the exposure still looking through the glass, I pulled back on the camera slightly without moving the ground end of the monopod.  The pull back was not intentional or thought about, it was more like a feeling, a natural reaction to her moving towards me up the trail.

2.5 second at F22/ISO 100 

Uwharrie Death Trails last Sunday.  Ms. Arcen, Jeff, Grace(not only a name for a girl, as well it is a thought that could change the world) and I walked out Daniel and back in under two hours and forty five minutes.  There was plenty of climb for such a short hike, over 1,250ft gained.  And, the surface condition in spots was an awful mud clay butter.  Despite such, it was a great few hours in the woodlands.

On the backside of Daniel as we were descending, a large wooly man approached on a small horse, an American Paint.  He was wearing denim overalls under a thick brown corduroy long coat, his thick beard looked like no less than two years of growth.  Meeting and passing the man hollered at us wanting to know if we knew where we were because he wasn't sure where he was.  "Of course, let me show you on my map", I said walking down over the loose gray rocks towards the man and his wide eyed Paint.  The man had his own map almost identical to mine, and when I used it to show him where we were standing, he reached into his coat and removed a hand held GPS unit similar to one I had seen before.  He explained that he was trying to get to The Uwharrie River. I showed him on his map that meant all he and his Paint had to do was continue on up, over and down Daniel across the parking lot at the trail head.  When they crossed the fire road at the entrance to the dirt gravel lot it was a short descent down to the river.  Strange transfer to be position orientating a human(and his horse) in the woodlands who had both a map and a satellite linkup. 

Here are my three hiking partners descending Daniel on the way out. 

The Bogen tripod in use.  This recent Header Image is a thirteen second exposure inside the side lobby of the Hearst Tower, a place Uptoon that rarely gets photographed.  "I just want to make a picture of the eagle, is that okay", I asked the friendly familiar G4 Security agent that has seen me proxy my way into the building since the day it opened.  "Just the eagle, go for it", he responded.  The camera was already on the Bogen, so I picked a spot and opened up the tripod raising the head to eye level.  Most people walking by were conscious of the camera and would try to avoid crossing the shot line. No go ahead, I just want the scene to remain constant, without interruption, I am not even here, I thought to myself and would gesture silently with the wave of a hand as if I was actually getting my feelings across.  From this spot I made three images.  In this one, you can see the apparition of a human walking by undeterred by my camera and tripod. 

13 Seconds at F6.3/ISO 100

Tomorrow morning I will be in Courtroom 1150B of the Mecklenburg County Courthouse to witness the Bond Hearing for Radok's accused killer Antoine D. Young.  The murder happened two weeks ago and I am starting to let go.  Sometimes things happen that are too big to carry and too big to let go simultaneously.  Over time and the continual deep look inward, it is possible to release and surrender to the fact that control over any of this is an illusion at best.  Looking into the criminal background of just one 29 year old male in this town has led me to the discovery of what I already knew simply by paying attention and feeling.  Understanding that there are thousands of these violent criminals lurking around town is a simple task.  Seeing them occasionally, making eye contact and acknowledging the severity of their crime just by what they tacitly exude is real energy.  No separation from that here. 

The Dal Bhat Sanji is not on the menu, but if you ask, they will fix it because it is the chef's original creation~