Album Cover Challenge #123

 One of my favorite challenges over at 365project is the Album Cover Challenge, where you create a "mock" album cover, using randomly generated Band name and Album title.  I (usually) enjoy the opportunity to channel my inner Hipgnosis....   I went through a period of posting my entries here, then it fell by the wayside.  I'm trying to post the old ones, to catch up, as it were.

 Check out the TAG to see all of the associated blog posts.

Here's my entry to Album Cover Challenge #123, way back in late February 2021:

Some Other Larry...

 

I'm quite the fan of Bliss...  

In a motel, baby, like the Holiday Inn (1124b)

 More from the series of photos from around hotels while travelling... Today is more shots from November 2017.  Once again, the post title is from the old Elton John song:  CLICK.

Check out the TAG to see more from the series.

Today is the Holiday Inn Express in Danville, VA.  A one night stay between Pittsburgh and Raleigh (Apex), mid November 2024  

The view from our window,,,

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Hang On!

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Every hotel's hallway is the same, and different...

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Down and Around...

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Push For Ice

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Hallway lighting.  Again, varies a lot from hotel to hotel...

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Still Frozen

 We had a big (for our area) snow storm about 3 weeks ago, followed by 3 weeks of very cold (for our area) temperatures, so we've had very little melting. Which means the local trails have a lot of ice. But it's still nice to get out.

Meanwhile it is supposed to be near 50 for a couple  of days, that should clear everything out.

Better Or Worse

 “I never have taken a picture I’ve intended. They’re always better or worse.”

–  Diane Arbus

Album Cover Challenge #121

 One of my favorite challenges over at 365project is the Album Cover Challenge, where you create a "mock" album cover, using randomly generated Band name and Album title.  I (usually) enjoy the opportunity to channel my inner Hipgnosis....   I went through a period of posting my entries here, then it fell by the wayside.  I'm trying to post the old ones, to catch up, as it were.

 Check out the TAG to see all of the associated blog posts.

Here's my entry to Album Cover Challenge #121, way back in early December 2020:

The explanation:  Album Cover Challenge

Imposter Syndrome?

I was really struck by The Photographic Eye's newsletter this past weekend. He discussed imposter syndrome, spotlighting Sally Mann’s quote “The Fundamental Thing About My Personality Is That I Think I'm An Imposter". And his own observation: “I figured that if I was unsure of myself, that must mean my work was crap”. 

This all hit very close to home for me. Occasionally, I’ll press the shutter and think “that’s it!” When I look at it on a computer screen, I’m almost as happy. Then I post it to a photo site, and it gets (only) a polite response, and I start to doubt. And as time progresses, my doubt grows.

In the article, Alex added “I also started having the 'guts' to show work that wasn't 'perfect'”. In that spirit, I figured I’d post this photo.

Taken in late November ('24) on a walk along the riverfront in Pittsburgh, PA, USA, Where I grew up. When I went out, this is the shot I was thinking of; a chance to contrast the last yellows of autumn against the yellow of one of the “3 Sisters” bridges. I was initially happy with it, even ordered a 9x12” print. That print has sat on our dining room table for about 6 weeks, and each time I look at it, I find some new reason to be disappointed. But I’m coming around to Alex’s last point: “If you're only making photos to please yourself, then it's impossible to be deceitful.” After thinking about the article, I’m going to go ahead and mount/frame the photo and put it on my wall. And even if it isn’t perfect, it makes me happy. Even if it doesn’t get a million likes on a photo site, it still resonates with me. And I need to remember that’s enough.

Does anybody else struggle with imposter syndrome? How do you get the little voices out of your head?

RIP Garth Hudson

 Garth Hudson, Keyboard player for The Band has passed away today (01/21/2024).  Hudson was the last surviving member of the Band.

Another great one gone.  Guess I'm going to have to dig out my DVD of the Last Waltz, one of my favorite concert videos.

Garth Hudson was 87.

Imposter Syndrome

 "The Fundamental Thing About My Personality Is That I Think I'm An Imposter"

-Sally Mann

In a motel, baby, like the Holiday Inn (0824)

 Another in the series of photos in and around hotels while travelling.  Today's post is shots from August 2024.  A few photos, taken from a stay at Hotel Morgan, Morgantown WV...   Once again, the post title is from the old Elton John song:  CLICK.

Check out the TAG to see more from the series.

The facade / front of the hotel

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The view from our window

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Homeless? man...

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Haiku for a cold morning

 I used as auto-generator for this one, but made a tweak.  Sorry if it offends the purists.

Whispers of the cold,

Wind blows through the empty trees,

Inside, warmth beckons.

The photo is an old one, pretty sure it was 2005.  My prompt to the generator was:  The snow has mostly melted, but now the wind is high and the temperature plunges.  time to stay inside

A (Very) Small Bit Of Glory

Here’s a story of one of my photo “successes”: Back in the 2000’s, I dabbled in Microstock, but didn’t have much success, and less enjoyment. I quit submitting in 2009, but didn’t close or delete my accounts. Fast forward a decade, and the company I worked for was upgrading the “image” for all of the branch offices, which included adding industry-related artwork to the common areas. This was all coordinated by the corporate marketing folk, we didn’t have any input. So it was quite a surprise, and a bit of a thrill when I walked into the break room and saw one of my microstock photos on the wall! Printed poster size, about 4’ tall. A very cool moment for me, even though I probably earned $0.25 for the sale. I did have to mention to my boss that it was "my" photo hanging on the wall, I was a very minor celebrity for a couple of minutes...

Anyway, here’s the photo, I worked in the electric power controls industry at the time, I submitted a lot of industry related photos to the microstock sites.

This photo was taken from a boat ramp on Lake Springfield, Springfield, IL.  It was early morning, on a very cold morning, and I was passing through on my way to a business meeting (in Decatur, IIRC).  This was just off the interstate, so it was a quick detour.  This was a moderately successful photo for me at microstock...  whish wasn't very successful at all.

An Illusion Of Reality

 "Photography, as we all know, is not real at all.  It is an illusion of reality with which we create our own private world."  

- Arnold Newman

Not Just Eagles

 Some non-eagle photos from last Thursday's Eagle Watching excursion.  Click for larger versions::

Album Cover Challenge #120

One of my favorite challenges over at 365project is the Album Cover Challenge, where you create a "mock" album cover, using randomly generated Band name and Album title.  I (usually) enjoy the opportunity to channel my inner Hipgnosis....   I went through a period of posting my entries here, then it fell by the wayside.  I'm trying to post the old ones, to catch up, as it were.

 Check out the TAG to see all of the associated blog posts.

Here's my entry to Album Cover Challenge #120, way back in early October 2020:

The explanation:  Album Cover Challenge

Eagle Watching 01/06/2025

We took an excursion, Alton-Pere Marquette yesterday, our first eagle watching of the year.  A few not great photos, the light was especially tricky:

In a motel, baby, like the Holiday Inn (0522)

     Another in the series of photos in and around hotels while travelling.  Today is a shot from a trip in early 2022 (05/2024) to Pittsburgh .  Pretty sure this is the Holiday Inn Express, Pittsburgh - Southpointe.  Once again, the post title is from the old Elton John song:  CLICK.

Check out the TAG to see more from the series

Text To Image AI

 I'm not generally a fan of Text to Image AI, but one of the photo sites I frequent is doing a challenge, and I figured why not.  The "game" is to take a couple of prompts, add your twist and plug into an AI Generator.  The prompts were winter, and snow.  My text was: "Winter snow, a large herd of rhinos graze in an Appalachian mountain cove".  Yeah, rhinos.  I figured that would be whimsical, and pretty clearly not reality.

Anyway, here's what the suggested program spit out:

I thought it was pretty amusing, but I'm far from a convert.  Ther were a couple of n0table issues:

1:  Rhino at bottom right is missing a leg

2:  two rhinos have two rears and no front

3: One rhino has a head that doesn't look at all like a rhino

Anyway, a fun diversion, but I won't be retiring my cameras anytime soon.  But it was my only shot to see rhinos in the Appalachians.  

The Cliche

 

"The cliche comes not in what you shoot but in how you shoot it" 

 -   David duChemin

Edit The Stuffing Out Of It - ETSOOI

 One of the challenges at 365project is ETSOOI, to unleash your editing skills.  This is a challenge that I only do sporadically.  But the last round only had 4 entries, so I decided to throw them some support.  So I pulled up a cityscape from November, and played around with it.

Here's the result:

And the unedited, Straight Out Of Camera (SOOC) version:

Album Cover Challenge #119

  On 12/31/24, I posted my entry into the Album Cover Challenge #158.  It got me thinking, then checking...  It had been a rather long time since I had posted an Album Cover entry: 10 entries over 40+ rounds of the contest.  So I'm posting those entries over the next few weeks, filling in the backlog

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 One of my favorite challenges over at 365project,  Check out the TAG to see the associated blog posts.

Here's my entry to Album Cover Challenge #119, way back in late August 2020:

The explanation:  Album Cover Challenge

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

I managed a few shots of a Eurasian Tree Sparrow today. First time I've gotten an almost decent photo of this bird that is native only to northeastern Missouri, west-central Illinois, and southeastern Iowa. I was shooting through our bay window glass, at a pretty sharp angle.

More info on the Eurasian Tree Sparrow, see range graph at bottom:

Range:

The joy of Burst Mode

 With our recent snow, the bird feeders have been overrun with European Starling.  Not my favorite bird (understatement).  But I noticed that they fight a lot.  It was sunny and bright today, so I set my camera to 1/2000th second (f/7.1, ISO=1600) and went for burst mode.  I was able to fire off a dozen or so photos in a few seconds, and then pick the best.

There's no way I would've been able to catch this moment w/o burst. 

In a motel, baby, like the Holiday Inn (1124a)

    Another in the series of photos in and around hotels while travelling.  Today is shots from a trip last fall (11/2024) to Pittsburgh (and other places).  This is the Holiday Inn Express, Pittsburgh - North Shore.  Once again, the post title is from the old Elton John song:  CLICK.

Check out the TAG to see more from the series.

On a drizzly November night

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A couple, walking.  Taken through the window from the breakfast area

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Another drizzly day in Pittsburgh.

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Architectural detail, above the entry

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View of downtown, from our window.

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