Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Seeing 2010 (#156)

For your consideration: an homage to George Harrison, he of the Fab Four and All Things Must Pass,

The Silent Beatle passed on November 29, 2001; as I labored over a proper rendering of this image (for three hours) I put on my only concert DvD, Concert for George.

A tremendously moving tribute, listening to it while watching the obvious affection of the musicians for the man and his music never ceases to make my heart both soar and ache, deeply, for the loss of this too often overlooked artist. Over the past few years I've come to appreciate the spirit of his compositions far more than those of his former band mates.

In remembrance, of his premature exit from our midst.


Peace Glass, #2647

© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: November 28, 2010; Canon 20D; f/8 @ 1/800 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 400; 100mm.

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Friday, November 26, 2010

Seeing 2010 (#155)

For your consideration: a tableau educing elevation, levitation, illumination . . . a macro view of an optimistic perspective.

Often concreteness obscures and limits, rather than defines, possibilities; abstraction, however, can function as an antidote to unconscious (or deliberate) bias.

Thus this offering in the spirit of Thanksgiving: a sweeping suggestion that even in the midst of fragile and uncertain destinations spirits soar and healing arises in the presence of enlightened compassion.



Early Flight (Glass Peace), #2647

© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: November 25, 2010; Canon 20D; f/2.8 @ 1/640 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 400; 100mm.

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Thursday, November 25, 2010

Seeing 2010 (#154)

For you consideration: a minimalist study in contradictions . . . complex, intricate and delicate lines and brilliant color engulfed in a sea of a starkly repetitive, monochromatic stripes ---

One last defiant stand before winter's onslaught.

Taken during a late autumn afternoon walk at lunch, near city hall.



Grate Leaf, #2639

© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: November 24, 2010; Canon 20D; f/8 @ 1/500 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 400; 44mm.

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Sunday, November 21, 2010

Seeing 2010 (#153)

For your consideration: peering over the edge, treading air, a fragile visitor makes an appearance in a wholly unexpected venue.

This composition is awash in the geometry of arcs, parallelism, and repetition, all in support of the jarring contractions: a gossamer subject utterly out of its normal element -- a balloon without elevation afloat in an arid pool.

Vibrant amidst a sea of pastels, this celebratory object commands attention by being awkwardly and strangely misplaced; the concrete setting raises disturbing questions: who put this party favor here, and why? Where are the guests -- yet to arrive, or long gone, having abandoned inadequate accommodations? Is there something to hide from? Is the balloon restrained? Is anyone home? The encroaching shadow suggests ominous developments in a scene of decaying conditions . . .


Pool Party, #2573

© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: November 13, 2010; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/1000 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 100; 100mm.

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Friday, November 19, 2010

Seeing 2010 (#152)

For your consideration: performance without a net, on the streets of Tucson (Grant Road, to be exact) . . . a variation of the nascent Droppings series.

Oddly enough, this high contrast scene caught my eye just after I'd dropped off my broken eyeglasses at a shop for repair.

A rather long, stark white, swirling and twisting stream of paint lay on relatively fresh asphalt in blazing noontime sun; I photographed several segments and composed various compositions -- this tableau reminds me of a minimalist take on Matisse's la Danse.



L'artiste de Trapèze, #2563

© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: November 13, 2010; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/400 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 100; 100mm.

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Seeing 2010 (#151)

For your consideration: peering closely at what passes for cacti epidermis.

Abstract islands of blemishes create their own microcosms, vignettes of surreal creatures populating a canvass of indeterminate scope. In this scene the geometry is complex and elusive: mesas dotting barren plains seen from a satellite's perch? malformed cells under antigen attack? Or perhaps a Jurassic chick floating in a pool of primordial tar . . .

While relishing my acutely, achingly brief time in the Arizona desert last weekend I was yet again struck by the unfathomable diversity and potential interpretations inherent in the essence of every rock and plant which marinated my senses.

This photograph is but one of literally thousands of miniature constructions demanding my eyes' attention; the offering at hand is a minuscule expanse of surface on a large, mature and regal saguaro.



Saguaro Detail (Kafkaesque Embryo), #2518

© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: November 13, 2010; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/800 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 400; 100mm.

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Monday, November 15, 2010

Seeing 2010 (#150)

For your consideration: a portrait of an old friend - a beloved fellow denizen of my ancestral desert haunts.

Last weekend I made a distressingly brief (31 hours) trek to Tucson et ses environs, primarily to attend a rare family birthday gathering for an aunt I'd not seen in more than two decades. During my visit I rebuilt some long-dormant bonds with cousins, and became acquainted with several (younger) relatives never before met.

Initially I did not believe I'd manage to find any time to escape to the small, specific desert locale which I've come to cherish and consider as my own personal Holy Ground. My cousin Gene, who graciously put me up in his home, stayed up talking with me until 3.00 a.m. Saturday; that ought to have precluded the just-past-sunrise Gates Pass sojourn I knew would be my only reasonable window of time to make my pilgrimage. However, my wife sent a late night text message urging me to make the effort. Thus, I set my alarm . . .

And so I went, and sequestered myself for 2 1/2 hours with camera, Emerson's Nature, and a throw rug for sitting meditation on the sanctuary of The Rock. The experience was profoundly healing, and yet at once also unsettling. For in that still, crystal clear air I experienced, at previously unplumbed depths, the principle of Impermanence -- the ceaseless evolution, erosion, transformation and inevitable recreation of all that Is.

It was near this place I spread my grandparents' ashes; it was here where exactly one year and one week before I sought clarity on the decision I faced regarding my mother's tether to her lift support machine; it was here that in years past my cousins, friends and family and I spent countless hazy hours gazing at sunsets and spectacularly starry night skies. During this visit I experienced the discomfort and uncertainty of deeply personal changes afoot, yet again.

Thus it was no surprise, really, that although I drove out with my own agenda -- to relish experiencing the severe beauty and underlying silence of the Sonora Desert -- a far more potent destiny patiently awaited me.

So it was that I came upon the scene of this entry's photograph, where I'd previously taken one of my personal favorite portraits : an shockingly unexpected moment of sudden sadness when I realized that only a year ago this same stoic cactus sentry then so grandly greeted me with the sweeping, open arms of an orchestral conductor, as if commanding its own symphony. Even this -- even this suffers restless change. Impermanence.


Gates Pass Saguaro (Impermanence), #2526

© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: November 13, 2010; Canon 20D; f/8 @ 1/2000 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 400; 100mm.

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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Seeing 2010 (#149)

For your consideration: a portal, entwined with an opaque mystery of what lays beyond.

Yesterday (and into the wee hours of this morning): exhaustingly long, excruciatingly drawn-out. My brain was utterly preoccupied with a dense fog of lurking omens; the energy drain was massive and no window into clarity existed. Plentiful, however, were tendrils of looming juggernauts to be scaled.

One millisecond at a time.


Portent, #2489

© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: November 5, 2010; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/600 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 400; 100mm.

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Monday, November 8, 2010

Seeing 2010 (#148)

For your consideration: a new offering from my new foray into the unpredictable universe of High Dynamic Range (HDR) processing . . .

I had taken my wife Julianna to San Francisco Int'l Airport at 5.00am and so, being a short distance from the sleeping city's center in the predawn hours of a Sunday morning, I decided to embark on a solo nocturnal photo excursion. (Suspicious of myself the night before -- that such a crazy idea might strike me as reasonable -- I packed my tripod and associated gear in the car before going to bed for what was a very brief sleep.)

Odd how things often turn out unexpectedly: my original intent was to revisit and record images of Coit Tower, which I had seen only a few nights before bathed in an usual, bright orange light. Much to my surprise -- and dismay -- on this particular trek the famous landmark was utterly dark: never before have I seen it not illuminated at night. However, the streets were quiet and empty, I had plenty of time on my hands and no particular schedule, so I explored a bit . . . and discovered myself passing Grace Cathedral (which I'd never managed to visit, in all the years I've lived in close proximity to California's most beautiful city).

It would have been hard to find a better time to capture this wonderful structure with my camera's lens: rains had just ceased, leaving the air freshly scrubbed, and given the painfully early hour I enjoyed a view unobstructed by teeming tourists, passing cars, and other nuisances.

While setting up my equipment it I realized this could be an interesting subject for some HDR processing. Consequently I took several series of five exposures each, spanning settings from two f-stops underexposed to two f-stops overexposed. In principle this allows one to record the broadest range of details betwixt deep shadows and bright highlights. (I was doubly challenged by being not only a newbie to this approach but by being also plagued with serious camera focusing problems.)

The real fun began earlier this evening, when I finally sat down and attempted to process the best set of photos from that cold, wet, exhilarating morning shoot. I am still early in the learning stages; the submission below consumed about 3 1/2 hours of fitful tweaking in Photoshop and Photomatix. I'm reasonably pleased with the result; the one major disappointment was a completely unsatisfactory degradation of the image when I attempted to adjust the towers' perspective in PS -- far too much softening of detail ensued.

Thus, this, for your viewing pleasure. I hope you find it pleasing to the eye, to even half the degree that I struggled to derive my preconceived visualization of what I hoped to achieve on that chilly street.



Grace Cathedral, San Francisco (HDR), #2126-2130

© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 24, 2010; Canon 20D; f/4 @ 1/3 sec to 6 secs; —1/3 EV; ISO 200; 17 mm.

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Friday, November 5, 2010

Seeing 2010 (#147)

For your consideration: a (relatively) rare look at the looker behind the lens.

Many things in my world have been jarringly out of kilter of late, with numerous dark doors, unclear passages, and wear-and-tear on my spirit. A warehouse of emotions have been flowing, often unbidden, in powerful eddies frequently attended by sensations of undertow.

The journey to come is somewhat bereft of navigational markers; as the days ahead unfold I shall be drawing deeply on inner resources which have been long hibernating in storage, tools with which to find my way through skewed psychic corridors.

The main reason for this particular composition has everything to do with the minimalist design on the shirt: while echoed in color by the metal door, it is otherwise diametrically opposed in form to the myriad of rectangular lines and sharp angles which predominate the scene.

An example of the power of a small detail to draw disproportionate attention.



Self-Portrait/Storage, #2409

© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: October 28, 2010; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/2 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 200; 100mm.

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