#marvelous photography skills edward

[graythursday]

photos on riddler's thumb drive

[fraiserabbit]

“Don’t you have a date in a couple hours, Thomas?” Gordon casually commented behind his newspaper.

Thomas jumped from the couch, running into the bedroom and yelling, “What?! Wait, really?”

“Saw it on your wall.” Gordon yelled back, then said to himself, “Honestly, what’s the point of putting up sticky notes if you don’t even look at them?”

Thomas’ eyes were drawn to the green sticky note on the wall beside his bed. Alright, alright, I’ve got enough time to get ready and meet Bertie. They were going to a rather fancy place, so Thomas rummaged through the wardrobe for his best threads. At this rate, I might have to borrow Gordon’s. He laughed to himself. Finally finding a decent dark green suit, Thomas quickly began changing into it. No time for anything else, just have to get dressed.

“Alright, what other plans do I have…” Thomas muttered aloud, squinting at his wall. “A picnic with James…well, I almost forgot about that one!” Buttoning up his shirt, Thomas’ eyes wandered over to the photo booth strip in the middle. He remembered that day fondly. James’ face was as red as his engine! What I wouldn’t give to see that again. Afterwards Thomas insisted James and Percy write their numbers on the strip, to “commemorate the occasion and their friendship.” And of course, James’ writing took up half the damn space.

Thomas glanced up at the necklace hanging in the corner as he adjusted his sleeves. A simple matching necklace. The golden moon that fit into it belonged to James; whenever they met up, they’d slot the necklaces together as a little greeting. Following the string, Thomas’ eyes set upon the friendship bracelet Percy had made for him. “All three of our colours!” he had said, as he handed it to Thomas. Man, I love those guys. Thomas looked around for a belt in his dresser drawers.

“Hey, Thomas, have you seen—” Henry halted in the doorway. “Oh! Getting dressed up, I see.”

Thomas nodded, as he had to concentrate to buckle his pants. Henry looked over at Thomas’ wall, and pointed to the photo of him and Edward with a big smile. Thomas rolled his eyes in amusement at Henry’s excitement. Finally having put a shirt and pants on, he put his hands on his hips and stood back to admire the photo with Henry. “It is a good photo though, eh?”

“Well, of course it is! Because Charlie took it. Nice fancy camera and all.” Henry crossed his arms, nodding in approval. “He sure made us look good.”

“Yeah, Charlie even made Gordon and James arguing look good!” Thomas flicked his eyes over to it.

A voice boomed from behind the two men, “Of course I look good!” Gordon placed his hands on both their shoulders, joining in on the wall admiring. “Look how positively radiant I look! Who knew the sheds could give such nice natural light? I am practically glowing!”

“Alright calm down, Your Radiance.” Thomas murmured, and Henry laughed. Henry nudged Thomas with his elbow, nodding toward the photo of Emily. “Where’d Charlie take that one?”

“Oh, actually, I did!” Thomas puffed out his chest in pride. “He gave me his camera for a while, so I took the opportunity to play photographer. Emily and I were walking around some nice hills while we were on break, so…”

“Well, I’ll commend your photography skill; she looks absolutely marvelous in front of that sunset!”

“Careful now, Henry, she’s taken.” Gordon remarked, snickering.

“Oh, shut up! C’mon, Thomas has to get ready and we’re distracting him.” Henry pushed Gordon out of the room and shut the door.

Thomas shook his head, amused at his housemates. He picked up the suit jacket laid on the bed. Putting it on, he looked at his wall once more. His eyes lingered over the partially burnt papers he’d taped up with much persuasion from the other two—“Memories are meant to be seen, not locked up in a box under your bed.” Turns out they were right; it was nice to look at some of the things his father did. And apparently, sketching Thomas as a child on a whim on some graph paper was one of those things. Oh, how Thomas wished he had a complete photo of his father! Luckily, Annie and Clarabel had plenty in their family albums—but it’d be nice to have one hanging on his wall.

Straightening his suit, Thomas breathed a deep sigh and opened the door. He would’ve loved to meet Bertie. “I’ll be home by 11, dad.” He smiled, giving a small wave to his father’s portrait. “Fine, 10:30 it is.”

[potatonewstoday]

Capture the beauty of a potato: 'Potato photographer of the Year' competition kicks off

Capture the beauty of a potato: ‘Potato photographer of the Year’ competition kicks off

While you’re stuck at home in this period of lockdown, why not flex your creative muscles and see how you can artistically capture the beauty of a potato? Whether you’re drawn to the simplicity of a King Edward, the gentle curves of a Yukon Gold or the marvels of the Maris Piper, here is a chance to show off your photography skills!

The Potato photographer of the Year competition is put on by…

[thedailychalkboard]

Through A Different Lens

I absolutely love the work of the American artist Edward Hopper. The austere and pensive look to his paintings somehow appeals to me. It's not the often felt despair that some  may describe in his work, but more the feeling that something is happening beneath the surface. There's a feeling of hope and pending action that makes his work so intriguing to me. This image is one I took a few years back while visiting San Francisco. It's a simple view out a downtown hotel window where I happened to be staying. It reminded me of a  Hopper painting so I turned it into one by exchanging the photographic lens for the digitally enhanced manipulation as viewed through the lens of a paintbrush. I'm not interested  so much in sharing digital photography techniques in this article as I am in encouraging you to begin or continue viewing life through a different lens.

We are living in amazingly exciting times when it comes to visual communications. Those of us who are photographers, videographers, graphic artists and printers are  like kids in a candy store as we marvel at all the bright shiny new products, programs gadgets and software being created to help us translate the vision in our minds to a visual medium that can be shared with the world. Every week something new is announced to make our lives more creatively meaningful to a world eager to share in our excitement.  We are truly in a new renaissance age for the visual communicator.

This is both wonderful and terrifying at the same time. Computer compositing has resulted in the creation of images of things that never happened and people who never existed or are yet to exist. Yes, they're  aggressively working on that solution as well. Who hasn't heard of "AI" or Artificial Intelligence and the coming robots and computers that will put millions of people out of work who don't possess the education and skill set to work within a new "AI" economy?  "Coding is the key" we're told. "learn to code or you will disappear into oblivion like your job inevitably will".

The picture painted is one of either a utopian society where people will not have to work but will become entitled to wages and benefits simply for being born, or one of disenfranchised and marginalized citizens who will not be able to support themselves due to improper education and training. History has demonstrated that most likely the truth lay somewhere in the middle. This is if things continue to progress as they have for the past several years. The jury is still out on that one and it always will be. No one can accurately predict the future. There's too many variables in play at any given time for that to happen with any accuracy or accountability.   So what does this have to do with the visual communicator and the recreational, educational and economic well being of said individuals who didn't listen to their parents, or college counselors and chose to become creatives instead of computer programmers? In any social or economic upheaval there exists ample opportunity to improvise, adapt and overcome whatever difficulties or obstacles that stand in the way of the person determined to utilize the talents they've been blessed with. The stereotypical view of the starving artist is just that. As with most stereotypes there's an element of truth and historic example of in the many artists who have failed to become a success while alive. But that's a stereotype that can be applied to any esoteric or unconventional profession. There will always be those who succeed, those who fail, and those who use their failures to pivot into new opportunities either by recognizing them when the become available or by creating them. I mean, after all, they don't call us "creatives" for nothing.

It's a big world out there. Some may say it's shrinking. I say that's a good thing because through the new innovations in communication we have made the whole world accessible to people, like me, who can sit in their home office and communicate with others in a socially connected globally aware and diverse community . We do live in amazingly exciting times. As creatives and entrepreneurs many of us have perfected our resiliency right along with the skills required of us to perform efficiently and excel at our craft and artistic endeavors.   In my opinion what we need to do as creatives living in a global society, in order to prepare for the impending changes that are taking place, is to take personal stock of what we have to offer others. We should consider what we offer that has value and can be exchanged for those things we determine have value in our life. Take stock of your existing skills, background,education, interests and passion. What do you need to do in order to shore up the areas where you are weak or to develop other areas you may not have even explored yet? What do you really want to do that will make a difference and ultimately make you and others happy? This is the equation that must balance on both sides if you will truly be satisfied in whatever you do and where ever you find yourself in life.

Regardless of what happens, or where you end up and what you end up doing, the most precious commodity you have to offer anyone is your time. You must value your time above all else in life and remind others of how valuable their time is to both themselves and to you. I can sense the rising tidal wave of descent from those who may take issue with this thought. "It's family, my integrity, my beliefs, my friends" you're thinking. I won't take issue or deny that one bit. I truly believe you are correct. Before completely dismissing the thought though I ask you to just consider that without time to devote to these precious and personally meaningful things they simply will not exist.

Still not convinced? Then ask yourself this; "What do I give, in exchange to my employer, customers, or clients, so I can continue to get a paycheck to pay my bills and do the things I really want to spend my...uh time...doing?" Certainly this involves your skills and expertise but what did or does it currently cost you to obtain and maintain those skills and that expertise you possess? We don't traditionally discuss a college degree in terms of how much it cost. Instead say it "cost us two, four, eight, even ten years of our life! It really does depend on what lens you look through as to how you see things.  

I am a strong advocate of looking at life through the lens of what we do and how we choose to spend our time in terms of what we have and can offer to others. Our lens can be as bright and shiny and virtually new in the box and unused as we wish. Or it can be as nicked up, scraped and dented, showing wear and tear of much use over the years, as a good tool used for good is. It really doesn't matter how many great tools you may own. If you don't often pull them out of the box and use them as intended they  are simply a wasted investment. The choice of how we use the lens we view the world through is ultimately ours to make.

- MDD

  ©2018 Michael D. Davis   All Rights Reserved Michael D. Davis is a communicator by vocation, a mentor by avocation and a social media maven by choice. His work can be found on popular channels on the web and on his blog at http://thedailychalkboard.tumblr.com/   Michael welcomes your comments and invites you to join him. Just Google #michaelddavis or #thedailychalkboard to find him and request to connect.