11th December 2009

Things I Learned Today

Learning,Wisconsin

A lonely tree covered in crystals after a frozen fog lifted over Argue Road near New Glarus, Wisconsin on a very frigid morning.

A lonely tree covered in crystals after a frozen fog lifted near New Glarus, Wisconsin on a very frigid morning.

They say you learn something new every day. I suppose that’s true. And some days, if you’re lucky, you might learn more than a thing or two. This is what I learned today:

1. If you leave pots and pans in the sink overnight to soak use a teaspoon of dishwasher detergent mixed with hot water. All my life I used a squirt of dish soap and hot water to soak in the pans overnight. And I usually woke to sub par results. Dishwater detergent, however, produces amazing results. Honestly, it loosens even the worst baked-on goop. I tried it last night and I’m still in awe.

2. Kellogg’s Raisin Bran has more sugar per serving than Cocoa Puffs. A lot more. In fact Raisin Bran has more sugar per serving than most cereals. Raisin Bran has 19 grams of sugar in every bowl and Cocoa Puffs has only 12 grams. No wonder Raisin Bran was my dad’s favorite cereal. And to think of all the dirty looks I got as he gazed condescendingly over his bowl of Raisin Bran at me and my Cocoa Puffs. Peshaw.

3. Yahoo! reportedly offered the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, a whopping $1.4 billion (yes, that’s BILLION with a B)  to buy his company. For what? A web page that is destined to be out of fashion in five years and a bunch of computer servers?!? Are they nuts? And the worst part is that Zuckerberg turned them down. Crazy…like a fox.

4. The first digital camera widely offered to consumers only took 1.4 megapixel images and cost $10,000.

5. The United States spends $15 million a year to seed clouds with chemicals to artificially create rain. Go figure.

6. Remember that cute adorable blond kid who played Andy on the NBC sitcom “Family Ties?” I think he was introduced as the youngest Keaton later in the series to help boost ratings. His name is Brian Bonsall and he doesn’t look a thing like he used to. In fact, I was a little startled when I saw his mug shot today. I’m betting there won’t be a “Family Ties” reunion any time soon.

7. George Eastman, the founder of Eastman Kodak took his own life at the ripe old age of 77 with a single gunshot to his heart. The inventor of roll film and the person many credit with helping to bring photography to the masses left behind a short note. It read, “To my friends, my work is done. Why wait?”

8. By car Spokane is only one hour to the Palouse in eastern Washington, four hours to Seattle, five hours to Glacier National Park, six hours to the San Juan Islands, seven hours to Yellowstone National Park or the Oregon Coast,  and eight hours to Banff National Park in Canada. Perhaps a little longer by TW200. Hmmm.

11th December 2009

News Reading

News

A lonely tree draped in fog outside of Belleville, Wisconsin.

A lonely tree draped in fog outside of Belleville, Wisconsin.

For those of you who have a news reader, such as Google Reader, and regularly follow blogs or news feeds online, you can have a sample of some of the places on the Internet I follow on a daily basis by going here.

This list is by no means an all-inclusive list of all my news feed subscriptions, but it is a nice sampling. Those who are dabbling in the world of photography might find it most useful, but by no means interesting. And for those who don’t care about photography? There are a few nuggets in there for you, too. But I make no warranties, so please don’t blame me if you find it a complete waste of your time.

10th December 2009

Camera Rich, Memory Poor

Gear,Learning

The wonderful patterns and colors of a piece of farm machinery used to rake hay outside of Juda, Wisconsin.

I shot in excess of 80+ images before I captured this shot of a hay rake outside of Juda, Wisconsin.

Diane Arbus, one of the most controversial and influential photographers in American history once said, “It’s important to take bad pictures. It’s the bad ones that have to do with what you’ve never done before. They can make you recognize something you hadn’t seen in a way that will make you recognize it when you see it again.” Wise words from someone who was largely self-taught.

Far too often I see photographers (amateurs and pros alike) using digital cameras with super small memory cards. I call these people “camera rich and memory poor.” They spent all of their money on fancy digital cameras but skimp on the high cost of memory card. In some ways this is understandable. I recently purchased a SanDisk 64GB Extreme Pro CompactFlash card that I swear set me back more than my first dSLR camera. Some of the higher capacity CF and SD cards are sure to cost as much or more than some point-and-shoot cameras, too. But why go through the hassle of purchasing a camera, and or lugging it around, if you aren’t equipped with the most essential accessory every digital photographer needs…memory?

Many of these same photographers make matters even worse; they seldom download their images at all. When it’s time to shoot they become an impromptu photo editor, deleting photographs (née memories) to make room for new ones. What is the purpose of having a camera to capture memories and create beautiful photographs if you never have a chance to look at them large on a computer screen? Do you really think that tiny LCD on the back of your camera is telling you everything? Is it really telling you anything?

When you buy only one small memory card (I personally own dozens), you are limiting yourself when it comes time to shoot. Work your subject. Use different settings. Ask your subjects to change their pose. Shoot from different angles; even angles others might find ridiculous. Take many photographs. Load up that memory card. Take a look at the photograph above. It has appeared in Madison’s Capital Times, Britain’s What Digital Camera magazine, and countless other publications. I took 80+ photographs of that same hay rake outside of Juda, Wisconsin before I captured the best image…and I didn’t even know which was going to be the best image until I got back home and could look at them all blown up on my computer monitor.

Obviously there was a reason you decided to pull out your camera and take that photograph in the first place. Something caught your eye or something noteworthy was about to take place. Something in that part of your brain must have clicked on and said “this will make a good photo.” Perhaps it was the same part of your brain that tells you a magazine ad looks nice, or a shirt in the store looks really cool, or a piece of art would look really great hanging on the wall. If you only take one photograph, and if you have limited space on your memory card, you are only hampering yourself and your ability to capture quality images.

Remember…one of the benefits of owning a digital camera, regardless of its quality or type, is its ability to capture images without the cost and hassle of developing film. Take advantage of that feature! And with the Christmas season now upon us, many of you will be out looking for a new camera. If you are, please do yourself a favor. Get the biggest memory card your budget will allow. You can thank me later.

9th December 2009

What Other People Said

Learning

Snow blows across a country road in rural Dane County, Wisconsin.

Snow blows across a country road in rural Dane County, Wisconsin.

I collect words of wisdom like squirrels collect acorns.  They are little nuggets of wisdom.  I hoard them, save them, and then whip them out from time-to-time to swirl around in my mind not unlike a wine connoisseur does with a taste of Bordeaux in their mouth before swallowing.  Their value, it would seem, is not necessarily in what the words say, but rather what they don’t say.  More to the point, I think about them and wonder what their author was thinking when they penned them.

Here is a list of quotes I have scattered around my desk now.  Some were collected recently; others were collected years ago.  All of them are seen on a regular basis and make me think about their true meaning.  Some are much easier to decipher than others.  All of them, however, are important to me at the moment…until they are replaced with a new crop of quotes later.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” –Albert Einstein

“I have always admired my own work, because I do it so well.” –Julius Shulman

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” –Marcel Proust

“The best zoom lens is your legs.” –Ernst Haas

“A photograph is neither taken nor seized by force. It offers itself up. It is the photo that takes you.” –Henri Cartier-Bresson

“Creativity without strategy is called art. Creativity with strategy is called advertising. Creativity with strategy and principles is design.” –Jef I. Richards

“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” –Ansel Adams

“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” –Henri Cartier-Bresson

“Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow.” –Imogen Cunningham

“I always thought a good photo was like a good joke. If you have to explain it, it just isn’t that good.” –Anonymous

“Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs.” –Ansel Adams

“The camera always points both ways. In expressing your subject it also expresses you.” –Freeman Patterson

“Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work.” –Chuck Close

“Never underestimate the power of a good story.” –Canal Plus

“Once photography enters your bloodstream, it is like a disease.” –Anonymous

9th December 2009

I Love Words, But Not All

Flickr,Learning,Photography,Wisconsin

I captured this image on the west side of Madison, Wisconsin near Elver Park in the midst of a blinding snow storm.

I captured this image on the west side of Madison, Wisconsin near Elver Park in the midst of a blinding snow storm.

I’m a bit of logophile.

What is a logophile, you ask? You might think it is a person who has a strong affinity for logos.  If that’s what you guessed then you would be wrong.

A logophile is a lover of words.  But just because I love words doesn’t mean I am gifted with the English language or a good speller…because I am neither.  Sure, I can admit I enjoy learning new words.  And I suppose it is one of the reasons why Balderdash is my new favorite game.

On Sunday nights for many months now, a group of friends and I have frequented a local pub to share a few laughs and play a board game or two. Balderdash is only one of many board games we play.  It is, however, quickly becoming a favorite.  It is a classic bluffing game.  The game cards have these insanely difficult (but real) words.  Every player makes up phony definition as one player takes his or her turn writing down the correct definition.  All of the answers are read out loud, along with the correct answer, and everyone picks the answer they think is real.  Players score points for guessing the correct definition…and also for duping other players.  The only thing more bizarre than the words (e.g. fleer, runnel, zyzzyva, pontage, etc.) are the fake definitions people take great care to write.

For example, someone recently described the word giraffiti as “vandalism spray-painted up high.”  Someone else tried to convince everyone that the word reintarnation was the definition for “coming back to life as a hillbilly.” And still another person thought the word pyrosis was a “sister who likes to burn things.”  I may enjoy learning new words, but everyone enjoys dreaming up fake definitions.

In this digital age of high tech video games, Blu-ray discs, high-speed Internet, and high-definition TV, one might think low tech board games are a bit analog and pass’e.  That couldn’t be further from the truth.  In fact, it is have proven to be quite fun sitting around a table with friends laughing, sharing a drink or two, and playing a board game.  It reminds me of what it was like before electronics and the boob tube dictated the schedule of our lives.

Goethe once said, “When ideas fail, words come in very handy.”  But if you think about it, words can also fail.  I especially hate those annoying little words that sound so horrible they drive you nuts.  They are so descriptive, so guttural, and in many ways so unintentionally obscene, you cringe every time you hear them.

So, without further ado, and in no particular order, please allow me to shift gears so I can list my least favorite words:

1.  Moist

Can you think of a more powerful five-letter word in the English language?  I have hated this word for years.  Two different TV shows recently popularized everyone’s dislike for this word when they each had lead characters express how much they hated this word.  Those shows included How I Met Your Mother and Dead Like Me.  My old friends will tell you, however, that my dislike for the word moist dates back long, long before either of these shows were on the air. I really don’t like the word moist.

2.  Slacks

I can’t explain exactly why I don’t like this word.  Maybe it is because it sounds so old and outdated.  You don’t often find someone younger than 30 wearing slacks, but I do know plenty of men older than 50 who do.  Just the sound of the word is funny…and I don’t mean funny-like-a-clown funny.

3.  Panty (or Pantie)

Oddly, I don’t have a problem with the word panties.  However, I understand we often use the word incorrectly.  According to Webster’s Dictionary, panties is supposed to be used strictly as a plural reference to panty.  In other words, if a woman wears undershorts, she is wearing a panty…not panites.  If you buy two pairs of undershorts, you just purchased two panties.  I’m beginning to believe the word evolved because others had a problem with a panty, too.

4.  Irregardless

For starters, irregardless is not really a word at all…not a commonly accepted one at least.  Irregardless is nothing more than a foul-sounding amalgamation.  I hate to say this, but I don’t like hearing people use it because it makes them sound so dumb.  It is considered nonstandard because it contains two negative elements (ir- and -less).  Go ahead and say irrespective, irrelevant, or irreparable instead, but please do not say irregardless.

5.  Fuchsia

One might think it would be odd for a photographer to have a beef with the word fuchsia, especially when we as photographers often learn to love all colors.  However, my disdain for fuchsia goes well beyond my feelings for what the color looks like.  That said, let’s be honest.  Fuchsia all by itself isn’t exactly the most appealing color (and I’m being kind).

The color gets its name from a genus of flower, which is largely native in Central and South America.  Can you guess the name of that flower?  Yup…fuchsia.

6.  Smegma

Forgive me if I don’t define this word in great detail.  If you never heard it, or if you question your own understanding of this word, look it up yourself.  And no matter what definition you find, I won’t like the word.  The definition only makes it that much worse.  Now excuse me while I throw up.

7.  Tincture

Tincture is an alcoholic solution extracted from leaves or plants. Iodine, for example, is a tincture.  I just hate how it sounds.  Luckily I don’t hear it every day.  And I’m pretty sure they could have made a better word than tincture.

8.  Teat

My dislike for this word stems solely from a disagreement I had with my biology teacher many years ago.  At home on the dairy farm we always “dipped tits” with iodine when we were done milking the cows (yes, I know…iodine is a tincture).  Dipping their tits with iodine prevented cows from getting an infection.  No one ever told me to dip teats.  And our use of the word tits was not derogatory.  But to a high school biology teacher who never saw a cow up close, let alone spend any time on a farm, I can understand why he might think I was being a smart ass when I innocently discussed “dipping tits” in class one day.  Today the word teat still sounds stupid.

9.  Plethora

Plethora is a two-bit word some hack must have popularized back in the late 1980s or early 1990s on some TV show.  Today it is one of those words people use ad nauseum because their vocabulary suffers from the lack many other fancy words.

10.  Ask

I don’t really detest the word ask, but I do hate it when people mispronounce it. ‘Nuff said.

What words do you hate?

8th December 2009

My Daily Dose

News

Flames eat through the side of a house outside of Belleville, Wisconsin.

Flames eat through the side of a house outside of Belleville, Wisconsin.

It’s about time I did something with my blog.  While I have been biding time waiting to embark on my voyage I have been avoiding my responsibilities here (like I have grown accustomed to doing in other aspects of my life).  Unfortunately for you I now figured it was a good time to begin the circadian habit of posting something new each day.  And so it begins.

But what do I write?  One would think I considered this before going through the time and expense of launching a blog in the first place.  And I did.  The problem is that I never really came up with a firm plan.  It might be easy to talk about photography every day, but most of my friends and family would find that about as interesting as as listening to an assistant principal read the morning announcements.  Besides, there are a thousand and one photography blogs out the Internet, and all of them would probably do a better job of teaching you than I could.  I never had any formal training in photography and I am largely self-taught.  Besides, I’m not so sure I want to reveal all of my secrets anyhow.  It’s not like I want the competition.  From time-to-time I will share some of my secrets; just not every day.

I also hope to begin a habit of posting a new photograph every day once I prove to myself I can update this blog every day.  For several years photography was the one aspect of my life I could always count on, but it seems in 2009 I have regressed.  I still find photography wonderfully therapeutic, but my mind has been elsewhere.  That too must change.  And once I begin sharing a new photograph with you every day, I plan to show off some video at least once a week.  Until then, I need to take this one step at a time.

Yes, my initial plans for this blog have changed.  Obviously I intended to write about my trips and travels, but those haven’t started yet.  They will soon.  And when they do I hope I can share interesting stories I have along the way.  I won’t make any guarantees they will be interesting, or even noteworthy, but I do commit myself to writing something every day.