Journal /

This photo is a bit eerie in a way. A walkway that looks like your walking into a black whole. To capture this picture in this way I had to spot meeter on the branches so it would underexpose the dark things, and it sure did! It was indeed intentional, because I liked how it appeared.

When I look at the photo now im not sure if this represents calm serenity. But it all depends on who’s looking at it.

I pass by this place a lot per month. And whenever I see this place wether in the daytime or at night it always catches my attention. I don’t know if it’s my desire for pre-modernism going back to the 70-80′s with it’s font styling and painted-on-the-wall sign or what actually. This is it. The store is the sign, all in one. You pass by it and it’s right on the road.

What adds the character to this photo is the park bench, and the numerous newspaper stands. It almost reminds me of some shots by Dorothea Lange.

I’m trying to keep myself from shooting things that people will easily recognize as modern or post-American living. But that they represent a time that was past. Historical if you might say with a photojournalistic touch. I love photographing things other than modern creations; even though modern creations are cool, there is something about the success of the “old stuff”, as Paul Rand would say.

Now this was exciting, it was actually my first time doing some long-exposure shots here in Orlando, FL. It wa a task to get these sence you pretty much have to walk inthe street to get to this side of the overpass. It’s not made for a sidewalk, but on the opposite side is a sidewalk bit there is a fence about 8′ feet tall. I’m glad thy didn’t donut in both sides.

When got to the other side I felt like I could touch the big semi trucks, it was to cool, cars swooshing by over 80mph, it was amazig. When I was finally set up I had my ISO set at 100, and the shutter speed at 30 seconds.

As I was on the non-people side of the road I was hoping an officer didn’t come by and have me relocate my camera. But it sure was nice. I have color at mh finger tips, but j want to miss colour for a while as I appreciate more and more black and white.

The photographers like Robert Frank, Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams only had black and white. And I could just imagine them taking a picture of a red fire truck knowing that there photos would never produce the vibrant colour ad seen in real life. So I want to feel the same way, because there photos were awsome! So try it out, as one photographer put it; “in photos the colour can be distracting, that’s why black and white photos seem surreal for they require more attention to the subject rather than the distracting colours.”

Author Unknown / January 10, 2002 / DigitalSurvivors

Please design and build me a house. I am not quite sure of what I need, so you should use your discretion. My house should have somewhere between two and forty-five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that the bedrooms can be easily added or deleted. When you bring the blueprints to me, I will make the final decision of what I want. Also, bring me the cost breakdown for each configuration so that I can arbitrarily pick one.

Keep in mind that the house I ultimately choose must cost less than the one I am currently living in. Make sure, however, that you correct all the deficiencies that exist in my current house (the floor of my kitchen vibrates when I walk across it, and the walls don’t have nearly enough insulation in them).

As you design, also keep in mind that I want to keep yearly maintenance costs as low as possible. This should mean the incorporation of extra-cost features like aluminum, vinyl, or composite siding. (If you choose not to specify aluminum, be prepared to explain your decision in detail.)

Please take care that modern design practices and the latest materials are used in construction of the house, as I want it to be a showplace for the most up-to-date ideas and methods. Be alerted, however, that kitchen should be designed to accommodate, among other things, my 1952 Gibson refrigerator.

To insure that you are building the correct house for our entire family, make certain that you contact each of our children, and also our in-laws. My mother-in-law will have very strong feelings about how the house should be designed, since she visits us at least once a year.

Make sure that you weigh all of these options carefully and come to the right decision. I, however, retain the right to overrule any choices that you make.

Please don’t bother me with small details right now. Your job is to develop the overall plans for the house: Get the big picture. At this time, for example, it is not appropriate to be choosing the color of the carpet. However, keep in mind that my wife likes blue.

Also, do not worry at this time about acquiring the resources to build the house itself. Your first priority is to develop detailed plans and specifications. Once I approve these plans, however, I would expect the house to be under roof within 48 hours.

While you are designing this house specifically for me, keep in mind that sooner or later I will have to sell it to someone else. It therefore should have appeal to a wide variety of potential buyers.

Please make sure before you finalize the plans that there is a consensus of the population in my area that they like the features this house has. I advise you to run up and look at my neighbor’s house that he constructed last year. We like it a great deal. It has many features that we would also like in our new home, particularly the 75-foot swimming pool. With careful engineering, I believe that you can design this into our new house without impacting the final cost.

Please prepare a complete set of blueprints. It is not necessary at this time to do the real design, since they will be used only for construction bids. Be advised, however, that you will be held accountable for any increase of construction costs as a result of later design changes.

You must be thrilled to be working on as an interesting project as this! =) To be able to use the latest techniques and materials and to be given such freedom in your designs is something that can’t happen very often. ;-)

Contact me as soon as possible with your complete ideas and plans. =)

PS: My wife has just told me that she disagrees with many of the instructions I’ve given you in this letter. As architect, it is your responsibility to resolve these differences. I have tried in the past and have been unable to accomplish this. If you can’t handle this responsibility, I will have to find another architect. Take care! =)

PPS: Perhaps what I need is not a house at all, but a travel trailer. Please advise me as soon as possible if this is the case.

I would see this view occasionally when I would leave work, and I just wanted to have a picture of it at night. So I went to Walmart, purchsed a $25.00 tripod for my Fujinon S2 Pro, and went on my way. When I got there it was amazing! I parked my car at a parking spot and walked up to the overpass and shot. It was almost overwhelming with all the big buildings around, plus being on top of one of th busiest highways in Florida, Interstate 4.

It almost felt like a Batman scene. Dark ay night, but in the buildings lights were still on so they were just lit up. The shutter was open for 30 seconds, which is always needed for night shots as these. It was set to 100 ISO so that the images wouldn’t have that long exposure grain, and indeed it came out really sharp with hardly any grain, plus it’s black and white so grain is almost unnoticed.

This cloud is actually the same cloud that’s taken on the lake sunset in a previous post. It was huge! Large storm clouds, though it didn’t rain. But it was beautiful. I have started to take an interest in clouds because of the amazing pictures of Ansel Adams. The clouds in his pictures look amazing! I think in this picture I was crossing an intersection. Lately I have been keeping my camera with me at all times since I never know when there will be another picture with a story.

This picture almost has a harsh edgy appeal. Deep contrast, sharp edges, and deep grungy tones. It can appear nice and calm to some but for some reason it looks a bit scary especially to someone from Texas where it’s clouds like these that make those dangerous storms. I’ll keep on the look out for nice pretty clouds, a little less harsh.