I found it impossible to post yesterday. I spent most of the day running around frantically trying to gather last-minute paperwork to send to the insurance company. I finally sent a twenty-three page fax. This makes a total of seventy-three pages of documentation I have sent. I’ll have more information for interested readers at the end of the post.

Thanks to Alison Raynor for sending me a couple of beautiful images of Sunrise at Mt. Beppo in Queensland not far from where she lives in Toogoolawah. The images were only 800 pixels, so I didn’t have much to work with, but they are so pretty that I could not resist them. I was also grateful to have someone else’s work to show, as I have no time to dig through my own to put together a decent post.

This one had some electrical wires in it that I had to remove. It’s a lovely, peaceful scene:

The lighting is unusual, but it has a very natural feel.

I could not resist turning it into a watercolour. It has just the right composition and tonal qualities for a painting:

I particularly like the contrast and the way that the rays of light on the right are accentuated.

This shot is a real beauty. All I had to do with it was pump up the vibrance and contrast and adjust the colours just a bit to make it look good on the black background:

As with the other shot, the lighting lends a wonderful naturalness to the scene.

And, of course, I had to fiddle with this one also. Again, the watercolour filter in Photoshop gave the effect that I wanted.  Not all images look good when faked as art. These two worked very nicely:

The arty effect on this one is more obvious if you click to enlarge it.

In case you’re wondering about Mt. Beppo, here is a Google Earth image of where it is:

You can click to enlarge and put in the coordinates of it or just put “mt beppo queensland australia” in the Google Earth search box.

Thanks Ali, for providing me with two very nice images to amuse our readers and myself. Thanks also for your call last night putting me onto the best air fares to get to Brisbane.

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Tomorrow, we fly to Brisbane in the morning. Our friend Val Jerram will meet us and take us to her house in Gympie. I hope that Eunie does okay on the trip. We have to make a stopover for a couple of hours in Townsville.

Eunie has appointments for tests beginning on September 3.  She will have an MRI and some other kind of scan – I think an MRI involving a contrast dye. She then has appointments on the 6th and 7th with two other doctors. At last the ball is rolling.

I’ve mentioned several times the lovely apartment that we have stayed in since we have been in Brisbane. I want to acknowledge and extend our deepest gratitude to our dear friends of many years in Madang, Mike and Di Cassell for putting out the welcome mat for the very pleasant and convenient accommodation provided to us as a gift of love.

We have always had a deep sense of family with our closest friends in Madang. Never have I felt it more and never have we needed it more.  There is nothing like being in deep need to find out who your real friends are.

Today was a good day, because we would be very alone without our friends and two of our best are here with us in a time of need. Yesterday I worked a bit in the afternoon and later in the evening with Karen Simmons, who has a very nice Olympus SP590UZ camera, but wanted to learn how to do some things a little more exciting than snapshots. I was only too happy to oblige.

We started out on the balcony with lessons about shutter speed and aperture, probably the two most important fundamentals one needs to understand about a camera. It’s not rocket science, but they are things which casual shooters are probably not thinking about.

After a while, Karen was understanding it all, but getting restless. We started on the fancy options of her camera. One is a highly tricked-out panorama mode which actually builds the shot inside the camera so that you don’t have to fiddle with it in Photoshop. You just download the finished image onto your computer:That’s a very respectable image of the Cairns Marina from the balcony of the apartment. So far, so good. We’re into the advanced shots already.

Of course, we had to go down into the streets in the evening for the really fun shots, such as this UFO candidate which is actually the blurred lights of a passing car. Once Karen started to use the shutter speed priority setting on the camera to select a very slow shutter and she learned to brace the camera securely, she was able to take shots such as this until the novelty began to wear off:

It doesn’t take long. One thing leads to another.

There is a big festival on in Cairns now. On the Esplinade was a big tent sporting some action. It was good for Karen to have a go a what I would consider nearly impossible shots:

Though just about every condition for a decent shot is missing here, she still managed to grab a decent image of some Torres Straits Islanders performing a traditional dance.

This is my favourite of Karen’s shots for the night. Simply placing the camera on a flat surface for bracing allowed this beautiful low shutter speed image, as long as the girl didn’t move:

Fortunately, she was sitting quite still.

This is another real beauty. The lighting and composition here is very pleasing. Karen was amazed at the shots she was getting with just a little understanding and practice:

She managed to catch the single swimmer playing with the water gushing from the fountain.

Karen wanted to shoot the fountain close up to catch the water spray. I told her that I didn’t think it would be possible with the amount of light available. I was both right and wrong. There was not enough light to freeze the drops, but what she wanted was the impression of the flowing streams:

After fiddling with the camera for a while, she got exactly what she wanted. Frankly, I would not have thought to do this, but it is an excellent image technically and the composition is very interesting.

One thing that people who fancy themselves as good photographers sometimes lose is the crazy spontaneity that sometimes produces a very amusing image. Here is a beautiful example of what I’m talking about.

Again, I would never have thought to try this shot. It’s nearly impossible to get the timing right.

Fortunately for me and you, Karen didn’t know that. My advice is don’t learn too  much. You’ll start thinking like a geek.

Good on ya, Karen.

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Tonight we see an oncologist for the first time concerning Eunie’s condition. I can never remember feeling more anxiety in my life. It is the first time that we may have a chance to catch a glimpse of the future. If you know my wife, you very likely already love her. She is simply that kind of person. If you are a thinker, think good vibes in her direction. If you’re a prayer, pray for a merciful verdict this evening.

Regular readers will know that there is a lot going on in our lives that is not easy to deal with. At the end of this post, I’ll give the latest news concerning Eunie’s health situation. In the meantime, it’s important to focus on positive thoughts and action. For me, aside from dealing with the immediate situation, I need to use the spare moments that I can find to keep Madang – Ples Bilong Mi  what it has come to be. A diversion and source of amusement and freshness for myself and our readers.

A friend, Sue Fletcher, suggested that I might have a look at the photographic work of her granddaughter, Lindsey Butler. What a pleasant suggestion that turned out to be! I am very much interested in the work of young photographers. Many tend to be less interested in the technology and more focused on the imagery. To me, this is the very essence of photography. It is the image which speaks.

I asked Lindsey Butler to send to me a selection of photographs which she felt most defined style. I’m not going to comment on them. Lindsay has done an excellent job of doing so.

So, without further chatter from me, let’s have a look at a Fresh Face in photography.

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I was taking a road trip through Brady, Texas and passed a beautiful railroad track in the middle of the country. It was drizzling, about to rain and I didn’t want my camera to get wet so I was in a hurry and set the camera on the track. When I looked through the lens I saw my dog, so I set my self-timer and walked up to him. Never thought I would have captured such a neat image!

This is part of a barbed wire fence in San Angelo, Texas. If you have ever been to Texas, you should know how much barbed wire exists in this state. It really captured a pretty West Texas day. And being a West Texan made this photo special to me. I love the rust, and the open fields behind. I felt it really captured the freedom and openness of West Texas.

A little girl playing in her playhouse. I love this picture because it portrays the innocence of children. Today people forget to stop and appreciate life, everything moves so fast. I want to capture life as a piece of art, something you can treasure for years.

The fourth is one of my very favorites. I feel like I am more talented at capturing beautiful moments in life, and less at posing people into awkward positions. She is two-years-old and children are impossible to keep still at that age, so I just asked them to play and I would see what I could get. I was so happy to get the chance to photograph these two and the love and happiness they share. She is such a beautiful little girl!

The fifth one, is also a favorite. Babies are so full of joy and smiles really are contagious. Every time I look at this picture I smile. Babies can sometimes be a challenge to photograph when they are awake because they jump and move so quickly. I think the trick is to catch them when they are happy and learn a couple of tricks to make them giggle. Luckily I have always had a way with babies and this one in particular is my niece!

Angles! Angles! Angles! When I am taking pictures I always try to think outside the box and get in places I know I will get a good view. I will lay on the ground, stand on a car, or be two or three inches from a clients face. I think that is how you get good photographs. Otherwise, anyone could be a photographer. The trick is having an eye for it.

The last one I attached is of a father and son. While I mainly try to take more natural pictures I think it is important as a photographer to be able to get any type of picture. Again, I try to think outside of the box and get different kinds of posing ideas rather than the kind you took in school for the yearbook. Photographs should capture the person’s soul, personality, and character.

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Well, that was certainly refreshing. Good for you, Lindsey. I’m glad that Sue suggested that I have a look at your work. I’m very happy to show your lovely images to our readers.

On to the news – there isn’t any. We are awaiting here in Cairns, meetings with two oncologists. We will have no real direction until sometime next week. The waiting game is on.

Stay tuned.

If the land described in L. Frank Baum‘s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz had an Artist Emeritus that person would have to be someone like Lindsay Smith of  Rocky, in Central Queensland, Australia.

Lindsay’s middle name should be Whimsy. If you look carefully at his seemingly scrawly pieces, you’re missing the point.  Pedantic examination of his work makes as much sense as studying the tiny dots of paint in a pointillist masterpiece. You have to stand back and put it all together.

To illustrate, I give you what I’m titling Guntabag Elder  based on a photo which appeared here in A Curious Collection:

It’s a marvelous feeling to have a talented artist derive from your own work magic which you never discovered for yourself.

Here’s a Facebook Profile shot of Lindsay:

It’s not so much in the sense of “Oz” being a colloquialism for Australia that I make the literary analogy. Lindsay is quintessentially Aussie, no doubt. It shows always in his work. There’s continuous tension between subtle sophistication and coarse outback imagery. Polish and saddle sores. Big Smoke lounges and dunnies. All this, coming from a native Kiwi (New Zealander), only nuances the palette of his deceptively simple art.

Did I mention whimsy? Here’s Lindsay’s view of himself:

I like the “metahat” the hat of hat, the recursive hat. He is his shadow.

Lindsay has a very interesting “Statement”, along with many other beautiful images at ARTslant, which you can peruse at your pleasure.

Most of Lindsay’s work is sketches on photo-derived backgrounds. I haven’t figured out his techniques yet, but when I do, you can be sure that I’m going to try to give him a little competition:

The sketching, however, hmmm . . .   I’m never going to be able to conjure that kind of magic. Look at that butterfly. It’s ethereal.

Here’s another example of an obvious photo background. I think that is Magic Passage  down there from an image which I got while taking photos for Sir Peter Barter in his helicopter:

I wish we had pelicans here. They are one of my favourite birds. Sadly, I seldom get to see them. God was in very good humour when he designed the pelican.

I don’t know if this it a real Sheila or the Sheila of Aussie slang, but she is pretty nonetheless and Lindsay has proved it:

In fact, Lindsay has a finely calibrated eye for women. In the gallery below you will see some very tasteful nude studies. If you don’t want to see them, then don’t click on the thumbnails. This is art, folks. It’s not soft porn.

Lindsay gave me this bit of bio:

Lindsay Smith – sketched from childhood. Took formal drawing & painting classes recently & found that I had ‘the knack.’ Was a teacher in Nuigini in 1975/6. Also taught in NZ, Australia & Singapore. Interests include family, playing piano, Taijiquan & travel.

Succinct, I’d say.

And, since Lindsay has found the time to capture my craggy old puss with his deft strokes and I never get tired of looking at myself, here’s one he did of me and a “Mystery Friend”. Some of you will recognise her instantly:

I just love to tease.

Since I need to see myself one more time, here is Lindsay’s interpretation, one of many, by the way, of my web persona derived from a picture taken by Eunie nearly twenty years ago:

It’s such a pleasure to bring this to you.

Lindsay, live long and prosper.

It’s always a pleasure to feature the photography of friends who take their art seriously. I don’t mean seriously as in “pedantic”, but seriously as in “I find meaning and pleasure in this.” Geeky photographers bore me. One can get so wrapped up with the gear and the technicalities that the objective of the art is missed. It’s not about the cameras or the f-stops or whether you use this or that method. It’s not even about whether it is judged by somone that it is a “good photograph” or something less. It’s about the shared experience between the photographer and the viewer. If no emotional connection is made, then, as far as I am concerned, it’s just another snapshot no matter how technically perfect it may be. On the other hand, many so-called “snapshots” turn out to be very powerful images. It’s all about the moment and the intuition which drives the photographer’s finger on the button.

Much of my work is snapshots. I send them along to you, if I find them amusing. Ron’s contribution today, however, is art. Let’s let Ron tell about it in his own words:

One of my hopes for from my trip to Moosonee was to photograph a nice sunrise over the Moose River at the time of the summer solstice. I think you will agree that this hope fell beyond that of simply nice to well within the realm of quite spectacular.

The attached sunrise photos were taken between 4:54 and 5:18 AM from the water taxi dock at Moosonee on the Moose River. Up until shortly after sunrise (5:06 AM) there was no breeze and the river looked like a sheet of glass. There seemed to be a correlation between the sunrise and the immediate breeze. I’ve not found what this phenomenon might be called, but no doubt it is related to sun’s warming influence. It was quite pronounced to say the least. By the way, I took 101 photographs from when I arrived at the river’s edge at 4:50 AM and 5:18 AM when the show was over.

I should mention that the Moose River empties into James Bay about 20 kilometres to the north-east from Moosonee (see the Google Earth Image).

Here is one of my favourites:The symmetry here is simply beautiful with the near-perfect reflection of the sky on the water. It also includes a very important compositional rule, “angled lines”.

Here is a real beauty just before the sun peeks over the horizon:Here is another nice compositional feature “converging lines”. The boards and the shape of the dock direct your attention beautifully to the focal point of the sunrise.

This one is even better:

Now the sun is up and all of the foreground elements take you right to it. I like the subtle differences in the colour treatment also. As Ron mentions, you can see that the wind has some up. The rough water surface give a completely different mood to the image.

Here the horizon mid-split seems to break a compositional rule, but it works beautifully:It’s hard to argue about rules when the proof is in the pudding. This is very nice work, indeed.

You know, I love the warm colours of the shots above, but for sheer beauty and a keen eye for the image, I’d put this shot in the National Geographic league:Breathtaking, eh? Ron, you are welcome here any time. Thanks for giving me and our readers some genuine eye-candy today.

Here’s the Google Earth image which Ron mentioned:

Speaking of images from space, I can’t leave without showing you this just in from the fabulously expensive NASA probe which has just beamed back it’s first images of the surface of Planet X. Hold onto your hats, folks. This is weirdsville:

The astonishingly craggy, wrinkled surface has planetologists scratching their heads. One was heard to mumble, “What the . . .” as the image unwrapped itself on the screen while sweaty, glowing faces gathered around.

Another exclaimed, as a little foam dribbled from the corner of his mouth, “It . . . it looks like . . . like an old man’s foot!”

Go figure.

I’ve barely had time for a night’s sleep here in Nandi, Fiji since I arrived. So, I’m going to give my crazy friend Ali Raynor a guest shoot today. It would not be possible for me to think of anything funnier than this, let alone write it, so I’m going to give you Ali’s email to me along with some images which will either look very familiar to you or will blow you mind, according to where you live. – Enjoy!

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Hey Jan,

Look out . . . I’m back!

I am slowly sifting through the thousands of pictures I took in PNG. (No G11 quality here, but I like to imagine that I have some interesting mementos.) I thought you would probably be one of the few people who might appreciate the attached. They are something you no doubt see on a daily basis, but not something you are not likely to see on a PNG postcard.

These guys came up to me at a POM 2nd hand clothes market and asked very politely if I would take their photo, which of course I agreed to do. I got them together and told them that I would “snap” on the count of three. They nodded and posed normally, but on three, the following is what happened!
You can imagine my surprise followed by my gales of laughter, when the guy on the left gave me this “right royal red gob full” and followed up with “Welcome to PNG”

His mate was pretty taken back at first, (as you can see in the picture) but when he saw my laughter and reaction, he got over his embarrassment and decided to get in on the act “Numba 1 Buai Man” was really amazed by my complete amusement and he started to laugh hysterically as well. He was so happy that I thought he was “COOL” rather than rude (as he may or may not have initially intended to be????) He was also happy that I asked for another picture. We parted laughing and pointing (at each other) and it was quite a lovely moment. Laughter is such a leveler.
In all my travels through PNG , I have tried in vain to capture a good shot of someone with a really fantastic (bad) “buai mouth” and even tho my chosen subjects have had no idea that I am secretly interested in their outstanding GOB, rather than their “beautiful face” (ha ha ), I have always found them to be totally self-conscious of the way their mouth looks, and will always shut their traps tight as soon as they agree to have a picture. Very frustrating indeed! So this little episode was a real blast for me!

How’s their shock value? How’s the humour? How’s the reality? I loved these guys!

Am I boring you yet? Tell me to stop!

PS  – Bad news about the fire, but well done with photos by your Lois Lane . . . they are quite spectacular!

Laters…
Love Ali

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Well, I can’t compete with that. However, I can show you what Eunie is up to:

Eunie is in the middle – look for the platinum blonde hair. One thing which encouraged me was that women made up a very significant proportion of the attendees.

Sounds boring, but it’s not. I’ve been sitting here all morning listening in. These folks are discussing some amazingly complex and interesting issues.

There have also been a few good laughs.

I’ll have more about it later.

I get tired of everything here being centered on me.   Of course, me  is a very important concept and the me  things need to be kept at the forefront and proper attention should be given to me.  However, much as I am devoted to the promotion of me,  I still sometimes get bored with me.  That’s why I sometimes like to feature interesting people who are not me.

Today she, who, by the way, is not me,  is a nice young mom of three kids who loves her family, photography, traveling, horses (has two), playing guitar and speaking Spanish. Before she became a photographer about six years ago, she was a Dental Hygienist.  She has a photography studio in her home on nine acres twenty miles south of Kansas City. She told me that one of the coolest things that she has photographed was open heart surgery (twice) at an incredible children’s hospital KC. I have photographed corneal implant surgery from a safe distance, but I’ll forgo getting up-close and personal with a throbbing heart.

Each of these images has been merited in the Professional Photographers Association International Print Competition. I’m going to let Muffet tell you about them in her own words.

Fire Warrior  – Was taken down the street from my house. I went out to feed the horses one night and it looked like the whole skyline was on fire. I grabbed my camera and tripod and got this shot.

Rough Exterior  – taken in a small town in Tuscany.  I named it Rough Exterior because maybe this man is a lot sweeter than he looks in this image. : ) *

Soul Mates  – An example of my portrait work.  Taken at my place in my 150 year old barn.

Siena Rain  – Taken in Siena during a photography workshop -  the assignment was to capture motion.  This image is very special to me because I was just starting photography and a world famous photographer leading the workshop told me that he wished that he had captured this image.  It did a lot for my confidence as a photographer.
Cheyenne Autumn  – My place and my horses : ) It had been stormy – I went out on my deck and the clouds broke shining light down on the horses.  I grabbed my camera and whistled to them to get them to look up. I later took out my electric fence and used a Nik filter to change the green grass and leaves to the oranges to match the horses better.
Silent Sentinel  – Taken in Montepulciano. One of my favorite places to visit. This cathedral is in the movie  Under the Tuscan Sun.
Holding on to Hope:  Taken on a missions trip to Honduras. The summer after I took this image my daughter spent more time there and was able to find this little boys family and give them a copy of this image.
* An interesting note here is the amazing resemblance between this shot by Muffet and my shot taken in Tuscany in The Rule of Thirds:

All this proves is that many photographers are looking for the same compositional factors.

Give ten photographers a scene and you will get ten visual essays about what is in it. Some may be radically different, but some will be nearly identical.