With this week's brutal edition of the DUzy Awards done... some new pix

[JeffR]

From yesterday:

[F.Gordon]

1. Awesome photos ya' got here

I'd say more but at this time of night I usually am either totally incoherent or I start typing shit .... acting like I actually know what the fuck I'm talking about.

Awesome photos. Yea, that's it. Awesome. Say no more.
:hi:

[Blue_In_AK]

2. These are wonderful, JeffR

I especially like the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth one. The self-portrait rocks.

[ConsAreLiars]

3. Thanks for the DUzies, and great photos.

You have a great eye and the skill it needs to share it.

On the third one, I found it especially compelling but the brightness of the overhead light was distracting. If you are inclined to play with it, try replacing the 100 watt bulb with a 25 watt variant.

(Also #4, and ...)

(edit because my keyboard is out to get me)

[F.Gordon]

4. Hey! Long time 'no see'

I was just 'thinking' about you the other day. I've got to hit the pillows but I have a couple of "stories" you might like to read. Hopefully next week.

Hope you and your family are well... happy.. all that "good" stuff..

nite'
:hi:

[ConsAreLiars]

8. I've been pretty low energy for a while so haven't done much photo-wise.

Still enjoying the forum and reading it daily, but my posting is limited to an occasional comment and a rare OP on GD, plus a few games of poke-a-dope there.

Family is all well. Younger son dropped into town this weekend, sadly for a wake for good friend from HS who fate seemed to hate. SO has moved to CA to help the older kid (now a father) and his wife raise the grandkid while he finishes the PhD stuff. Lucy the Gentle Pit Bull is mapping as much of Oakland as SO can walk and knows the hours when to leading SO to the pet food store will find it open and she will be greeted with treats and admiration, and still stuns strangers when they are told her age.

Looking forward to some stories. Your photos are always enlightening.

[F.Gordon]

9. I miss your posts here

Glad to hear all is well given all the twists and turns that "Life" seems to be throwing at you right now. Very sorry to hear about the friend who is now gone. This was a friend of your son that lives in Colorado?

I've learned so much from you (and many others here). Thanks for the kind words about my photos. Hope you find the time to stop by more frequently. Playing poke-a-dope can be fun for awhile but it eventually gets tiresome and even a little depressing (for me it does).

Tare care. Oh, and how old is Lucy?

[ConsAreLiars]

13. I'll get back in a bit more, in time.

Yes, it was the Boulder shopping cart wrangler whose friend died. He has developed a close network of true friends, she among them, outcasts as seen from the world of shopping-for-gratification or power-for-fun-and-profit. But the kind of people who care and who matter. He also has a deep love of Ma Nature, especially as manifested in the plant world. He hated school, dropped out, but learned everything possible about the herbal uses, native lore, common and Latin names and taxonomy of the native plants of the Northwest and many more. (Later got a GED to spend a couple years of college level studies on the same.) His photos (portraits), I think, show this:

Main page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/50722509@N00/
Easier to view slideshow: http://www.flickr.com/photos/50722509@N00/show/

(Unfortunately the laptop where he stored the pix died shortly after he started the gallery.)

Here's a pic from the post performance cast party following a middle school performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. He played Puck, fittingly.



And regarding Lucy, she is 10 years old. Diagnosed via X-Ray with severe osteoarthritis at around 4 when she cried out when trying to get up one morning. Not uncommon among street pups whose early diet was poor. Vet said regular shots (can you say Pharmaceuticals-forever?). Second opinion naturopathic vet said natural RAW foods (frozen meat and stuff mix) and distilled water plus a couple of herbal supplements. Filtered water was substituted, but although she gets a bit slowed down in cold weather she still is very energetic and trim. She got a bit chunkier for a short while, but got soon back into the kind of shape shown in the following pic. But mostly I think it has to do with the way she carries herself - tail high, confident, interested, friendly and energetic, and all that.

[F.Gordon]

14. We're 'hi-jacking' JeffR's thread

... though I don't think he'll complain much cause' it keeps his great photos up yonder kicked.

The flower portraits are wonderful. I took a bunch of wildflower snaps last year round' Colorado but didn't manage to take anything as nice as those. Bummer that all the other photos were lost. I don’t envy the yute’ of today. What they have to go through to find their individuality - those that even want to find it. Seems like most don’t. Sounds like the Boulder shopping cart wrangler has found a good place in life.

Glad to hear that Lucy is doing well. I hear ya’ on the whole vet-pharma thing. It can be obscenely expensive. Didn’t realize that there were good alternative medicines/treatments.

Thanks for the updates. Really appreciate it. Don’t be a Stranger in this Photo Group Strange Land. You need to get out ‘with camera’ more this year.

:hi:

[ConsAreLiars]

15. Another kick for JeffR's great photos.

How can anyone be so talented? Great insights when posting, doing the DUzies as a public service and creating wonderful photos, plus, I suspect, doing good works in many other arenas.

I've also tried wildflower photos and only a very, very few turned out even adequate. A lot of photography has to do with one's connection to the subject, plus the technical skill needed to share that intimacy. Early on I gave him a few tips regarding composition and using the background to provide context. He has clearly gone beyond the "this is a whatever" type of snapshot. I am blessed to have two kids who have taken the best of the two extremes of the 60's revolution to new levels, the other being a very high-powered LGBT activist, and both very humanitarian and anti-fascist to the core, and they are best friends.

I do 99% of my photos when camping or hiking (no weekend hikes for some years now). Photography is a way to be in the moment, and camping rather than city life has always been a setting where I want to "be there." Still, as your sig suggests, I have learned to see and treasure what I see every day, but never carry a camera, so ... nothing but memories I cannot share. But thanks for the push, I'll scan in a few pix from last year's camping trip and post them in a few days.

[F.Gordon]

16. JeffR? He's also a talented musician, writer, and historian

I want to be just like him when I grow up. (Seriously JeffR.. I truly do.. I envy you)

You really nailed when you said; "A lot of photography has to do with one's connection to the subject, plus the technical skill needed to share that intimacy." One of my 'Show and Tells' I want to post some day deals directly with your statement.

You sound very very blessed. We never had children but we are 'honorary' Aunt/Uncle and Grandpa/Grandma to several young. We have the freedom to "corrupt" them into seeing the world differently without the guilt that a parent might have on whether or not they are doing the right thing.

I can't tell ya' how many times I have not pressed the shutter and just dug the light... the image... the experience. With digital it's certainly easy enough to fire off a few hundred snaps. The hard part is, like you said, connecting with your subject.

Look forward to seeing some photos from ya'.
:hi:

[NV Whino]

5. Those are DUzys, JeffR

[Callalily]

6. All clearly winners,

but if I'd have to pick a favorite - picture 2.

[JeffR]

7. Thanks all!

:)

[Eurobabe]

10. Someone is posting rumors about you Jeff

are you outsourcing the DUzys? I wouldn't blame you, that's alot of work every week. You'da best! :grouphug:

Nice photos too...

[pipoman]

11. Great

love the movement of the walker in tunnel shot. I can feel the chill of the skating rink, and the self portrait sort of gives me a touch of vertigo if I stare at it for a minute. Well done!

[Maestro]

12. All good subjects

but I like the first one the best. The lines of the street and houses with the blurred motion of the cyclist appeals to me.