Daily Jim pic 26

Al Denelsbeck1 Comment

crumpled base of Devil's Tower, Wyoming by James L. Kramer
And so we reveal the mystery of two days back, or at least it should be pretty obvious by now (and might have even been obvious then.) This is Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, definitely one of the more curious geological formations in the US, and a major part of the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Now you can finally place that little musical bar that I provided as a hint.

There are radical differences between the geologists’ and the Native Amercians’ explanation for how this structure came to be, and I’ll let you look those up on your own, because I’m not buying either of them. I’m pretty sure this was built by enslaved Moai over at Nazca and transported here by ley lines.

The jumble of broken columns at the base is impressive enough, and indicates to me that this would be a bad place to be standing during a freeze when ice expands in the cracks, and the trees lend some sense of scale, but Jim provided a better one.

rock climbers among basalt columns, Devil;s Tower Wyoming by James L. Kramer
Credit to Jim for even spotting them, but look closely for the splotches of color in shadow just inside the outer edge. That’s a pair of rock climbers.

By the way, the top photo was taken only 12 minutes after the bottom photo – I’m not sure if the sun has just set right then, or if it went behind a cloud.

Daily Jim pic 25

Al Denelsbeck1 Comment

black-tailed prairie dog taking oath on invisible bible by James L. Kramer
Jim didn’t tell me whether this black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) was telling him to keep the noise down, or specifying how tall one had to be to get on the ride, or drying its nails, or doing the Macarena. It might just be gay.

Om my god, I’m in so much trouble now for perpetuating stereotypes about prairie dogs, aren’t I?

Sunday slide 33

Al Denelsbeck

emerald tree boa Corallus caninus portrait, captive shot
This is an emerald tree boa (Corallus caninus) – or at least, it was when this was taken back in 2005. In 2009, herpetologists suggested that there was a separate species from a different geographic area, so this one might have changed taxon then when I wasn’t there to witness it.

I would certainly like to be getting such pics in “the wild,” but as yet I have not traveled to South America, despite the excessive funds that nature photography brings in. Instead, this was photographed at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. Emerald tree boas have virtually no other position that they can be found in, but I just liked the textures of the skin. Those pits!

Your opinion please

Al Denelsbeck1 Comment

I know, that’s a pretty funny thing to ask on a blog that gets no comments whatsoever, but I have an active fantasy life…

Anyway, here are two versions of a view from the beach trip back in May:

sunset and gazebo on inlet, North Topsail Beach NC

sunset and gazebo on inlet, North Topsail Beach NC
So, not a huge difference between them, but a noticeable one. Both were taken at the same focal length (17mm,) but for the second one I crouched a bit to use the railing of the deck as a more distinctive element. The first, by the way, was taken at eye level, and I’m not that tall – the wide-angle lens makes it seem higher than it was.

So, which do you like better? Go ahead and take a moment to consider before I introduce my own thoughts.

”’

”’

Here’s what I’ve been seeing myself. I like the first for the reflection of the sunset in the water, and more emphasis on the sky and the sunbeams. But the gazebo roof blends into the horizon, and the railed walkway itself seems too distant, as if we’re up on a ladder. In the second, the gazebo becomes more of its own element, and the railing is more dynamic and adds depth, but at the expense of the sunset – it no longer seems to be the focus of attention.

Had you seen either by itself, you might never have cared about how it could be different, but with the ability to compare, you can see how two slightly different positions can result in significant changes in the result, and of course have a hard time deciding on which is best. Or at least I do. Now I wish I’d split the difference for a third frame.

And yes, this was a blatant attempt to maintain that I’m still here and Jim’s pics haven’t taken over the blog. I just don’t have enough time to write much, still, but I’m working on it. A couple of lengthier posts are coming soon*

* You know, for my badly-mangled definition of “soon”…

Daily Jim pic 23

Al Denelsbeck

black-tailed prairie dog Cynomys ludovicianus sneering at James L. Kramer
We’ve left Montana now and have traveled to Wyoming, in a touristy area. You can tell that last bit from the reaction of the locals, in this case a black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) showing its typical response to photographers. Or at least, photographers that aren’t offering Cheetos.

Guess what?

Al Denelsbeck

Talk about timing. Tomorrow, Saturday August 12th, is National Miss An Astronomical Event Because of Shitty Conditions Again Day. Yes indeed, it’s the day (or rather the night) where you plan on trying to see something cool going on above our heads, but can’t because the clouds (that have been gone for weeks) rolled back in, or it’s a freaking full moon that puts out too much glare to see faint objects, and so on.

In a stunning turn of coincidence, tomorrow is also the peak night of the Perseids meteor shower, so you have a perfect opportunity to celebrate this holiday. Make your plans to be out late for hours Saturday night, someplace with a nice view of the sky far from city lights, and who knows? Maybe you’ll be lucky enough to get rained out. You might be skeptical that things can turn out this way, but I can tell you from experience, this has happened to me more often than not. It is, in fact, statistically proven to bring in rain during droughts, and even if clear skies and a lack of moonlight seem destined to ruin the holiday, meteor showers are virtually guaranteed to perform dismally the more prepared you are for a show. What makes it even better is how many photos from other photographers you will see afterward that utterly missed out on the holiday, and got great shots because of it. It’s shameless, I know, but feel free to gloat a little when it happens.

If, by some miraculous chance, you miss out on this holiday yourself, there’s always the total solar eclipse coming up on the 21st where you’ll have another opportunity to observe this holiday (and nothing else.) So don’t feel bad if you get a fantastic show tomorrow – there will be other events to miss.

This post is effectively illustrated with no illustrating image.

Daily Jim pic 22

Al Denelsbeck1 Comment

thunderhead over or beyond distant peaks in Montana, by James L. Kramer
The things that I get up to…

So, knowing roughly where Jim was when he took this shot, I pulled up Google Earth and started poking around to see if I could determine just how far those peaks were. And in the process, realized that I had found the precise location of nearly all of the preceding Montana pics. Yes, even the swing set – mostly because it’s not far removed from the other, easier-to-spot subjects.

The peaks were easy to determine, taking a beginning cue from the light angle – they’re to the northeast, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) away. Judging from the shadows, I’m going to assume the storm is that far too, which will give you a faint idea how far away some clouds can be seen – just, not too well since he shot this at 20mm focal length, which is wide-angle and makes things look further away than they are in reality; the thunderhead itself looked much bigger and closer to Jim, and it’s likely you could see such a tall cloud at least twice as far away as this, perhaps much more.

In examining the photo, I realized that it looked like pre-sunset colors on the clouds too, and checked the time stamp to confirm. It said 22:00 hours, which was slightly confusing until I realized Jim’s camera would be set to Central and not Mountain time; translated, this meant 9:00 PM, and sunset that day and location was 9:26. Okay then.

Daily Jim pic 21

Al Denelsbeck

weathered swing set in monochrome by James L. Kramer
Today’s image, compared against yesterday’s, is a good example of how to approach the same subject in different ways, and a damn strong fartistic composition to boot. Good contrast, good depth, and a great diagonal element to the framing. Switching to monochrome eliminated the upbeat aspect of the blue sky and enhanced the textures, and there’s even the long grass to express the disuse of the area, as if those cracked edge panels wasn’t evidence enough. Nicely done!

Daily Jim pic 20

Al Denelsbeck

desolate swing set in Montana by James L. Kramer
Whether it’s accurate or not, Jim managed to provide a distinct impression of the area that he visited in Montana with virtually all of the photos he sent along (the flowers notwithstanding.) Despite the sky conditions, you can almost hear the creak of the chains as the swings drifted lazily in the breeze. And since I have other pics of that imposing edifice in the background, I’m reasonably certain that it is, or was, an outhouse, which is a level of unexpected convenience. It seems necessary, though – I imagine it’s only a five-mile hike to the nearest house…

This is a fun aspect of photography though, and one that I tell my students all the time: what you show in the frame (and what you don’t) creates the mood or setting, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be accurate. It may only be one narrow perspective or angle that shows the empty hills – and really, there’s just one hill – but since that’s all the viewer sees they tend to interpret it as representative; everything looks like that. You can easily manipulate the impression, with just a little selectivity when framing.

The counter aspect is that, once you’re aware of this, you start automatically seeing images with a thought towards it, and wonder what’s purposefully been left out. Now I imagine a busy highway behind Jim, the wake of the passing diesel trucks buffeting him as he carefully framed the image before he crossed the road to go to the Waffle House there for lunch. And now you have that impression…

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