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It Should Be Springtime Here by Rob Hanson on 500px

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Blasted cold!

I woke up this morning to single digit temperatures. The wind chill was below 0F.

Now, I know that doesn’t mean much to those from farther up north, but around here in North Carolina, this is rather unusual for this time of year. And it has been relentless.

Although I’m quite done with winter for now, I realize it’s only a matter of a few months before I’m slogging through the heat and humidity of a Carolina summer. Perhaps I’ll try to remember this popsicle in late August, finding some refreshment in the memory.

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Happy belated New Year!

I’m surprised. I haven’t posted anything since December 20th, 2011. It feels good to be pinning one up again.

Part of the reason for my absence from Online World is that in late December we started a decorative painting (faux painting) contract at a house across the river. The client had stringent deadlines that caused us to work pretty much constantly through the holidays. We had only enough spare time to do the Christmas and New Year stuff.

We’ll try not to do that again…

One afternoon while at the client’s house, there were epic cloud formations masking the setting sun. Good thing I had my shooter with me. The scene was made even better when a large pod of dolphins swam right by the house.

That might not be considered unusual, except that this is the Neuse River, which, though technically freshwater in New Bern, is more brackish. (I haven’t personally checked the taste, as the Neuse made the list of top-10 endangered rivers for several years in a row.) On a few occasions you can find dolphins swimming this far upriver, even though the closest access to ocean water is at least 40 miles away.

I take the dolphin as a good sign that the health of the river is improving.

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I’ve always wanted to catch some good sun flares, but it’s not always the easiest thing to do. It seemed I never could get it quite right.

Driven by the influence and tutorial of a master of sun flares, Dave DiCello, I took some extra time on a client shoot to catch this morning scene. If it weren’t for Dave’s support, I likely wouldn’t have posted this at all, but there you have it. Thanks, Dave!

HDR from 11 exposures (give or take) at +/-1EV, f/22, 17mm, ISO 100

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Not long ago, in early December, we were walking Amy, Kelli, and Macy down by the Neuse River near New Bern, NC. It was one of those gray, overcast winter days that reminds me of a different time, perhaps the beginning of time. Looking at a scene like this, I doubt much has changed over the years.

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You can see a larger view of this scene by clicking on the image.

I was definitely going for a more surrealistic look on this, while still retaining all the great details in the scene. Nine exposures +/-1EV merged in Photomatix Pro4, with lots of love from Nik Software Color Efex Pro and DeFine 2.

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For best effect, I recommend viewing this image Large on a White Background

Ma is a Japanese word which can be roughly translated as “gap”, “space”, “pause” or as “the space between two structural parts.” In Japanese, ma suggests interval. It is best described as a consciousness of place, not in the sense of an enclosed three-dimensional entity, but the simultaneous awareness of form and non-form deriving from an intensification of vision.

Ma is the thing that takes place in the imagination of the human who experiences these elements. Therefore ma can be defined as experiential place understood with emphasis on interval.

There is no equivalent single word term for Ma in the English language. Sad, but true.

In composing this, I recalled the extraordinary and controversial work of John Cage with his composition 4’33” wherein the three movements are performed without a single note being played, allowing it to be perceived as the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed

Thirty spokes meet in the hub,
but the empty space between them
is the essence of the wheel.

Pots are formed from clay,
but the empty space between it
is the essence of the pot.

Walls with windows and doors form the house,
but the empty space within it
is the essence of the house.

— Lao Tse “The Uses of Not”