Crown of Thorns - I have gone back to 'simple'........

I have gone back to 'simple' in recent years ( that's quite a discussion, just by itself, in this photoshopped world). Here's the photoshop sketch (a very simple image) for this entry:


But first, it's still a very amazing world, here's the 'whatever catches my eye' file for the last month:
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Friday, February 10, 2012 8:07pm PST
Dolphins hitch rides on whales in rare playful display between species
By: Pete Thomas, GrindTV.com
http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/32710/dolphins+hitch+rides+on+whales+in+rare+playful+display+between+species/

So i have ask, why can't humans get along a bit better??
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Traveling Light in a Time of Digital Thievery
By NICOLE PERLROTH
Published: February 10, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO — When Kenneth G. Lieberthal, a China expert at the Brookings Institution, travels to that country, he follows a routine that seems straight from a spy film.
He leaves his cellphone and laptop at home and instead brings “loaner” devices, which he erases before he leaves the United States and wipes clean the minute he returns. In China, he disables Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, never lets his phone out of his sight and, in meetings, not only turns off his phone but also removes the battery, for fear his microphone could be turned on remotely. He connects to the Internet only through an encrypted, password-protected channel, and copies and pastes his password from a USB thumb drive. He never types in a password directly, because, he said, “the Chinese are very good at installing key-logging software on your laptop.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/11/technology/electronic-security-a-worry-in-an-age-of-digital-espionage.html?hpw

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Feb 11, 2012 7:00am
Tsunami Clouds: A Rush of Fog

Fog occurs when the relative humidity reaches near 100 percent, which is achieved by either adding moisture to the air or dropping the temperature of the surrounding air. Fog can be dense or thin, and it can form suddenly and dissipate just as rapidly, making for unique photographic images if your timing is right. Thanks to the people at Panhandle Helicopters in Panama City Beach, Fla., we are able to share some stunning images of “tsunami clouds” rolling over a row of condos on Florida’s coast.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/02/tsunami-clouds-a-rush-of-fog/
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Adventure Journal February 2, 2012
BLOG ROLL
Nate Hoppes
Thursday, February 2, 2012 4:43pm PST
Astonishing discovery of 'supergiant' crustaceans made off New Zealand
By: Pete Thomas, GrindTV.com

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/32622/astonishing+discovery+of+supergiant+crustaceans+made+off+new+zealand/
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Slab City: Living Off the Grid in California's Badlands

Yet another article about this place:
http://news.yahoo.com/slab-city-living-off-grid-californias-badlands-090000272.html
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My View: Are electronic media making us less (or more) literate?
by Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Special to CNN
http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/01/my-view-are-electronic-media-making-us-less-or-more-literate/?hpt=hp_bn1
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Jan 29, 2012 5:31pm

Dolphins Reported Talking Whale in Their Sleep
News has come from France that some captive-born dolphins there have been recorded “talking in their sleep” — and talking in Whale, no less, not Dolphinese.
The scientists involved say this would be the first time that dolphins have been recorded mimicking sounds a significant period of time after hearing them.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2012/01/dolphins-reported-talking-whale-in-their-sleep/
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jim sanborn: topographic projections and implied geometries


http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/18139/jim-sanborn-topographic-projections-and-implied-geometries-series.html

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Five-Minute Museum
( a 'five minute museum' is kinda... an oxymoron?)

Saturday, Jan 28, 2012 9:00 AM PST
Postcards from the dawn of photography
Glimpse 19th-century ghosts through the lenses of pioneering photo artists -- including Lewis Carroll

http://www.salon.com/2012/01/28/postcards_from_the_dawn_of_photography/
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Once Hidden by Forest, Carvings in Land Attest to Amazon’s Lost World
By SIMON ROMERO
Published: January 14, 2012
RIO BRANCO, Brazil — Edmar Araújo still remembers the awe.
As he cleared trees on his family’s land decades ago near Rio Branco, an outpost in the far western reaches of the Brazilian Amazon, a series of deep earthen avenues carved into the soil came into focus.
“These lines were too perfect not to have been made by man,” said Mr. Araújo, a 62-year-old cattleman. “The only explanation I had was that they must have been trenches for the war against the Bolivians.”But these were no foxholes, at least not for any conflict waged here at the dawn of the 20th century. According to stunning archaeological discoveries here in recent years, the earthworks on Mr. Araújo’s land and hundreds like them nearby are much, much older — potentially upending the conventional understanding of the world’s largest tropical rain forest.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/world/americas/land-carvings-attest-to-amazons-lost-world.html?_r=1&hpw
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On to photography & darkroom montage, preceded by a quasi-rant.
I guess it's not quite a rant cause it's not breathing fire, it's just a some uh.. 'challenging discussion of the state of the art'.
And the 'art'?.. is this photography?... or is it all computer generated imagery?... and where do you draw the line?

One thing about all the new digital imagery, I guess you can do most anything when you drag your film into 'digital-land'. I've seen plenty of that, in all the photo magazines. Ya know what? I am not interested.
My question would be... can you do anything cool ( no, not 'cool', excuse me - that's a really lame description that can be applied to most anything - how about 'arresting, interesting, thought provoking'?) w/ OUT all this digital stuff??
I suspect many people would feel like they were fighting w/ one arm tied behind their back, or like maybe they had brought a knife to a gun fight. Personally, i like the limitations. Amid all this digital stuff, 'simple' is ... refreshingly honest, for both viewer and creator.

It's not like this kind of reversion is a new thing. In late 1967 the Rolling Stones released 'Their Satanic Majesties Request', which was a bit psychedelic, and definitely not their style. Psychedelia was taking over, and i guess they just had to take it for a spin. The album was panned. They noticed.
In December 1968 they released 'Beggars Banquet'.... one of their best, most enduring collections. Alot of acoustic guitar, very blues based. They definitely went back to their roots, and have stayed there.
So i guess i am in good company on this one.

As for the 'image du jour'?..... sometimes I shoot negatives that would make you laugh, they are so thin, w/ so much clear film base (black!), they are soooo far from proper/correct exposures. Though I did architectural photography for 10 years ( '81 - '91) and metered everything scrupulously, once i gave that up, i tossed my light meter in the trash - I was never much for following directions anyway......

( Warren Zevon: "One day i came to a fork in the road, folks, i just couldn't do what i was told"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtkJU8_GlPQ )

This one was done w/ negs like that. They work for me, that's all i care about.
This also works well for my montage - if there were shadow detail in both negs, when i blend them together, those details would overlap confusingly. With no shadow detail? ..the black just all blends together, no 'interference'.
And on this one, the blending/dodging between the top and bottom is VERY tight - ya gotta do it 'just right', or it doesn't work.

The chair ('throne') was shot in one of the very well preserved/restored ships at the SF Maritime Museum, not far from Fisherman's Wharf, in SF. Shot at a 30th or 15th of a second - aperture?...wiiiiide open!.
The Joshua Tree with the stormy sky was shot at Red Rock Canyon, just east of 'Vegas, Xmas 2008.
There's no shadow detail in that neg either, which makes it easier to blend the two together with no shadow detail getting in the way. Don't know how or why this one came together, it has something to do w/ major darkness, and there being some light somewhere, a silver lining perhaps?

Is it light that makes us appreciate the darkness?.... or is it the other way 'round (darkness makes us appreciate light?...)

As usual, larger images:
www.bobbennettphoto.net/BeachBlog_2012/CrownofThorns/index.html

Vehicle - photomontage

Here's the photoshop sketch of this entry's montage:


But first, the 'whatever catches my eye' file.

Is 2012 the year to hang up the phone?
Maybe you know the phrase(!): "Get off the (bleepin') phone!"
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/07/opinion/greene-cell-phone-driving/index.html?hpt=hp_c1


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A peaceful interlude at the Mojave National Preserve
Situated between Interstates 15 and 40, the preserve boasts solitude, Joshua tree forests, snow-dusted peaks and desert horizons, and it may be our best-kept secret.
http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-mojave-20120108,0,5481768.story

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Slab City, a trailer park utopia, thrives in remote desert
Refugees from society and the recession gather at a former Marine base near the Salton Sea. Residents, like Half-Pint and Moth, make their own rules, give talent shows and hold religious services.
By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
December 18, 2011 Reporting from Slab City, Calif.

Penny Puckett came to Slab City and fell in love.

After four years of "bumming around and hopping freight trains," the 25-year-old from Kansas City arrived at this hardscrabble section of the Imperial Valley desert and immediately embraced its sense of liberation from society's rules and norms.

What others might view as desolation and deprivation, Puckett saw as a way to reduce life to its essence: water, food and shelter (plus Internet and cellular phone service).

"Slab City people have a great need to live with just the bare necessities and are happy about it," she said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-slab-city-20111218,0,6359146.story


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Photobooth shop offers tintype, Polaroid shots
'our lives are increasingly lived in the digital realm. "People feel the loss of that tangible object...."

Nancy Davis Kho, Special to The Chronicle - Wednesday, January 4, 2012
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/03/DD9H1MDGD1.DTL#ixzz1idaZ3FBL
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The AFP has put together a collection of their most fascinating photos of 2011. From Occupy Wall Street to cuddly critters at the zoo, here are a selection of their choices for pictures of the year.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/g/a/2011/12/29/pictures_year_2011.DTL&object=

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Errol Morris: 'We've forgotten that photographs are connected to the physical world' - video
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2011/dec/26/errol-morris-photography-video

Polaroid ain't dead yet! Check out this 'instant digital camera:
http://store.polaroid.com/product/9/356223/Z340/_/Instant_Digital_Camera

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polaroid_Corporation

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Lost world uncovered on ocean floor:
http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/01/03/lost-world-uncovered-on-ocean-floor?videoId=227837121&videoChannel=74

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Sunday Dialogue: Reading Books in the Digital Age
Readers discuss the choices to be made in the digital age: buy books online or at the local bookstore? Read e-books or paper books?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/opinion/sunday-dialogue-reading-books-in-the-digital-age.html?_r=1

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In 1925, America’s first motel, the Motel Inn, opened in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Today we look at the ubiquitous motel architecture, from Niagara Falls to Las Vegas to the Gold Coast of Australia.
http://todayspictures.slate.com/20111212/
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Onward, to some montage! Here's the final darkroom print:


This strange vehicle was shot at Bodie, in Ca., a ghost town that has been very well preserved, is very visited and photographed. Didn't know what to do w/ this frame, for many years.... finally connected it up w/ a suitably arresting sky... and a very simple frame of a traffic sign, in the middle of nowhere ( 'what traffic is there to be directed in this totally vacant space?').

Looking at this negative, one could easily say 'why would anyone want to take this picture?', this is sooo painfully dull.
I got my own peculiar reasons for taking many negatives, i can't even define what they are, i just know i see something, some trigger in my mind goes off, and i am reaching for the camera.
Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) said: "First idea, best idea". I usually run with that one.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Beefheart)

Potential title for this one?
"Drivers wanted - must be experienced".... (but maybe that's not just experienced in the usual way... but, uh.... experienced in a Jimi Hendrix kinda way:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX0XVEmwlfs)

(Rather than trying to be funny or clever, I just left the title at 'Vehicle'.)

Technically, this is very simple - there's the vehicle at the bottom, a menacing sky at the top, and the traffic sign somewhere in the middle distance. There is, however, a trick to burning in the traffic sign - look at the neg, the sky is not white ( which would make it easy to burn in). This was taken w/ a simple Yashica D med. format camera, since I am too cheap to find a glass screw on yellow filter - I am always shooting outdoors, the yellow filter makes skies much less 'blown out to white' since yellow is the opposite of blue on the color wheel, it makes blues dark - I tape a small piece of yellow gel inside the camera, behind the lense. But that doesn't allow me to remove it for a few frames, that's OK, I shoot away anyway.
How do i burn in that traffic sign smoothly/evenly? Well, along time ago, in the mid '80's when i was first starting to get into montage, i studied the work of other 'special effects' photographers, and came up w/ this simple saying: "There are no rabbits" as in rabbits that can magically get pulled out of a hat. What photogs had to do before photoshop was use many other tricks.
'There are no rabbits'...but if you think about it, a path to a finish can be found.
Hipgnosis was a British graphic design collaborative I tuned into - they did many striking album covers. Remember 33rpm 12" diameter LP? What a great venue for art! Way better than the lousy 5x5" for a CD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipgnosis

So what I did to burn in the sign seamlessly was to hold back the area in the sky where the sign was, maybe by 25% of the exposure time, softly, smoothly. So when I burn in the sign?... I don't just confine the burn to just the sign, it continues into the sky, compliments it, and... voila! it ends up being seamless, what i held back in the sky, was filled in by the tone in the sky beyond the sign.

OK, let's get to the obvious question 'what the hell does this mean?/what's going on here?'.
I have no answers, in fact i think the image asks a question, and leaves it open, and I like it that way - here's a totally unique vehicle set aside, unused, & confronted w/ a common traffic direction sign. What is the relationship between the two?
You decide. I can't... or won't, as the case may be.
Perhaps the driver of this unique machine was unable to follow the traffic directions, and just parked and walked away.
Or perhaps the driver was unwilling to take directions, he or she is thinking "If I'm driving a vehicle like this, do you think i need any directions of instructions?!?"
The lightest area in the image, just about dead center, is the perfect 'deep distance' - does this mean it's a destination of sorts?.... or is it the place the vehicle has fled?....
It's all enigmatic, and better left that way.

Larger images, a bit more talk, at:
www.bobbennettphoto.net/BeachBlog_2012/Vehicle/index.html