365 Year In Review

As we close out 2018, I’m finishing up my 4^th year at the 365project web site.  The concept is to post 1 photo per day over the course of a year.  And while I pushed hard for that goal for the first 2 years, I’ve been a lot more relaxed over the past 2 years.  Mainly, I’ve tried to lean towards quality rather than quantity.   It is a nice community, and a convenient place to publish my images

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For 2018, I posted 221 images to my main album, barely managing 60% of the days.  Adding in my additional albums raised me to 342 total pictures posted.

How about the “quality” standpoint?  Well, 75 of those images received their “Popular” designation.  That’s almost 22% of images posted, I believe that’s significantly improved over previous years.  And 13 images received the more selective “Trending” tag!  I don’t think I have more than a couple of those over the past few years.  Maybe the site has relaxed the (unpublished) criteria; but I’d rather believe I’ve had a good year!

Also, 5 of my all time most popular images are from this year, which is twice what one would expect from a randomly distributed sample.

So, here’s my “all time” top 10, hopefully to whet your appetite for my pending “Good Crop” post…

1) Lost In My Mind – 24^th February 2018.  Nikon D3200.  Popular / Trending

2) Old Chain Of Rocks Bridge – 31^st March, 2015.  Nikon P340.  Popular

3) Wavey – 20^th October, 2018.  Nikon D3200.  Trending

4) On Target – 1^st February, 2018.  iPhone 7.  Popular / Trending

5) Road To Nowhere – 11^th June, 2015.  Nikon P340.  Popular

6) Starin’ At The Sky – 6^th November 2015.  iPhone 5.  Popular

7) Indiana Covered Bridge Country – 4^th July 2016. iPhone 5.  Popular

8) Missouri River – 21^st April, 2018.  iPhone 7.  Popular / Trending

9) Love Gets You Twisted – 23^rd June, 2016.  Nikon P340.  Popular

10) Summer Clouds – 24^th June, 2018.  iPhone 8. Popular / Trending

Fujifilm?

So, after 6 years with my Nikon D3200, I have a new camera!  And it represents a seismic shift!  After 35 years using Nikon cameras, I now own a Fujifilm T-X3.  And after 44 years of using SLR/DSLR, I've gone mirrorless!

It took a lot for me to get past decades of brand loyalty, but I made the jump.  A couple of drivers in my decision:  Talking with "Fujifilm Photographer" Karen Hutton after her session at Creve Coer Camera's Photopalooza,  Talking to the Fujifilm rep aad a couple of Fujifilm users at the same event, and a healthy amount of on-line research over a few weeks. (like here, here, here, here)

Yesterday was my first photo excursion, and I'm pretty happy.  A nice outing at Ellis Island, West Alton, MO.  I tried to take a variety of images, just getting a fell for the camera.  First impressions are very positive.  Maybe I'll look at the manual next!

... But I'm Badly Bent

Another lunch time excursion from last week,  This is taken at the confluence of Pomme Creek and the Meramec River, about 2 miles upstream from where the Meramec dumps into the Mississippi River.

I imagine the tree has been battered and almost swept away during flooding.

The title is from the bluegrass song, "I Ain't Broke, but I'm badly bent"

Arnold City Park

Just down the street from my office is Arnold City Park.  It is a modest little park, but does have a lake, and a few ball fields.  I went for a lunch time wander last week, and found the images below.  Sort of a wetlands kind of thing...

Watershed Nature Center - 20181222

Wow, I've been pretty absent from here lately, I see that it has been over 3 weeks since my last post.  I'll blame the impending Holidays, the short days, busy at work...  blah blah blah.  Just excuses.

I managed an excursion to Watershed Nature Center this morning, with the Grandson and Son-In-Law.  Here's some photos, click for larger versions.

Quiet Morning

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Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Good For The Goose

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Album Review - Ozark Mountain Daredevils - Men From Earth

Artist:  Ozark Mountain Daredevils 

Album:  Men From Earth

Released:  1976

I discovered Ozark Mountain Daredevils via "If You Wanna Get To Heaven", the #25 hit from their 1st album (in mid 1974).  I'm not sure exactly when I picked up that album, but I think it was mid 1976.  An album that didn't immediately grab me (beyond the hit), but which steadily gained traction with me.  Sometime later, I got a cassette version of their second album (It'll Shine When It Shines, featuring the #3 hit from 1975, Jackie Blue). That album quickly caught my fancy.  Sometime in the early CD days I picked up a "Best Of"  CD, which included 3 from Don't Look Down.  Sometime later yet, I added a CD of "Don't Look Down", their 5th release.

Which brings us to now.  I've been thinking about filling out my collection with the albums I was missing (from their original run of A&M records).  Namely The Car Over The Lake, and Men From Earth.  And (possibly) the live album.   I was in Pittsburgh over Thanksgiving, and ended up on a record store excursion with my son.  We hit 3 different stores, each of which had a distinct (and different) mood.  This one came from Attic Records, in Millvale.  This place had a HUGE selection of used vinyl, CD's an 45's.  A little tight on space, but that's because every available spot was filled with music!  

Anyway, what's the scoop on this record?  Well, it is pretty solid, and has lots of the old-home funky that characterizes the first 2 albums.  There is a little "slickness:" that creep in to a couple of songs, though.  Especially on side two.  Worst example would be the song "It's How You Think" which could easily be Firefall, with electric piano, and flute or synth-horns or both)...  That and the sax at the end of Arroyo.  Nothing against Firefall, but when I think of Ozark Mtn Daredevils, I'm thinking harmonica and banjo...  But the rest of the album is really solid.

The album opens with Fly Away Home, which is pretty much the definitive Ozark Mountain Daredevils sound.  Great stuff, which moves into more great stuff, You Know Like I Know which was released as a single, and made it to #74.  It's a a perfect example of OMD in "pretty" mode (like Colorado song. As is Waterwheel...   Red Plum is a good example of the funky-weird OMD....

All in all, this is a very solid album.  Not quite as good as the first two, but quite good.  I'll give it a 7.0/10

As for obscurity?  I'll cay moderately high.  They didn't have many hits, they were always a little to "niche" for mainstream.  But a band I really like a lot.

Here's the back cover and inner sleeve:

Inner Sleeve

Barged

I've taken a couple of lunch time walks recently over at Cliff Cave Park.  Even on cold grey late November days, it's a pretty cool spot to take a break from work.  One interesting thing about this park, there seem to be a lot of barges "parked" along the Mississippi River.  These two images were taken two days, and about 0.5 miles apart.