Humbling

I was at a local estate sale recently, something you'll find me doing most Thursday and Friday mornings. I was looking for a deal, to add to my camera or photo collection or really any kind of deal. I had found a very nice lot of photographs from the late 1800's when I saw a black frame out of the corner of my eye. One of the things I look for are frames in good condition that I can use. I did a double-take on the image in the frame. It was one of my photographs.

Some of my photography is available at a couple of local shops, plus the occasional local art festivals. The asking price was $5.00 so I bought it, figuring that I could put the print back into circulation and at the worst, get a decent frame out of it.

So I brought the picture home and proceeded to dismantle it. The image was one of my "Reconstructions," that had obviously been purchased as a print without frame. The buyer, or gift giver had thoughtfully put it in a plain black frame with a black pre-cut mat. The photo was a longer horizontal, and the mat was 11 x 14, so something had to give. What gave was a brutal (ouch!) crop on the print to make it fit the mat, with about five inches lopped off the right side, including my signature.

Now I'm sure most artists think of the work they produce as valuable merchandise, destined to grow more valuable as time passes. But the raw truth is that most folks don't always see it that way, especially photographs. I believe they purchase art because something about it resonates with them. I stewed for a bit, thinking "how could you do this to a piece of art?" And obviously the answer was in this case, it wasn't art, it was just a photograph. And I'm not Ansel.

Original: The 3rd of July, 2010, Huntington Beach, Bay Village, OH

Vision

I think we all take a lot of things for granted, health-wise. I’ll be the first to say I’ve been lucky so far. And as a photographer, any eye problem I take seriously.

I have had small “floaters” in my eyes at times. Annoying, but they went away after a bit. So a couple of weekends ago, while driving, I saw some bright flashes in the outer corner of my left eye. Over the next half day my vision became cloudy with dark floaters and a smoky haze, I called my local eye doctor. He saw me on Monday and quickly set up an appointment with a specialist for Tuesday morning. Turns out that I had a detached and torn retina. The darkness I was seeing was from a blood vessel that had burst when the tear occurred. In photo terms, my CCD went bad.

Photo by Sue SchaeferThe Dr. gave me my options, one of them being laser surgery, which seemed the least invasive. He said “good choice” and I asked when it would take place. He said, “now.” So off we went to another room. There was a lot of whirring, clicking and extremely bright flashes as he worked with his hand-held laser. I joked to the Doc that I should take a photo of this. His reply surprised me, “fine with me.” So I handed my iPhone to the nurse and she stepped back and made a photo.

I am thankful to Dr. David G. Miller for the repair, and give credit to Sue Schaefer for taking the photo for me.

At the follow-up appointment a week later I was told everything looked good, but hard to tell since my eye was still so cloudy. It’s kind of like having a grey sunglass lens over my left eye with the wrong prescription, with some floating blobs. I’m told it may take up to two months to clear.

Focusing a camera is a challenge (thank you auto-focus), as is focusing in on detail on a computer screen, but I can still work. I’m told this is  a “getting older” thing. And that had I waited, it could have been a lot worse.

So if you have any sudden change in vision, don’t mess around, see a professional.

Seeing the elephant ('s foot)

So I was walking along and I saw an elephant's foot. It made me laugh.

It seems that being a photographer is both a curse and a blessing. Sometimes you see and think about things you don't want to see or think about.

Let's say you're at a party and your significant partner is really having a good time. They sidle up along side and say something like, "nice party, huh?" And you respond, "great, but the lighting in this corner really sucks. You'd think they could put in a little track lighting to accent this area."

You realize your error but it's too late, still thinking "nice low ceiling, a bounce flash would cover most of it and maybe just a little unit tucked low in the back for a little rim light."

So if you think photographers have shifty eyes, they do. They are watching the light, or for a composition to come together, or a visual pun (see Elliott Erwitt, one of my favorites).

We can't help ourselves, as lame as the puns may be.

Oh, yeah. Opportunity for awesome.

Chagrin Valley Athletic Club. Nikon P7700. On assignment.