Month: August 2018

Magazine Street

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On my way. To someplace else. Actually, I was sort of circling around. Going home from a casual meeting with writer Sharon Cathcart at the Hotel Montelone’s Carousel Bar. She is in town for a writer’s meeting. We’d talked back and forth via comments here and on her blog. We decided to meet. We chatted and had a good time even though she was exhausted from getting up way too early for a cross-country flight. She writes a lot about New Orleans things. She says she feels at home here. Home is where your heart is, they say. Please see some of her work at http://sharonecathcart.wordpress.com Anyway. I made a few pictures at the bar. I made a few pictures in the French Quarters. I made a few pictures in the CBD. I made a few pictures Uptown. I just kept making pictures. I made more pictures. Even more pictures. I went too far. I even passed my home. No worries. A right. A left. Another right. Another left. A one way street. A pothole. A …

Been in the Storm

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We are a wet place. Even with all of our rainfall, summer dries us out a bit. I’d call this a kind of levee. Normally, the water level is about equal on both sides. Look at this picture. It’s not even close. Even the side wall is starting to dry out. With our daily rain, which is normal for this time of year, it’s really not enough. The ground is still dry. And, cracking. In our humid conditions, I always say what falls down must rise up. After a rain storm, the air gets very moist and sticky. The water that fell from the sky is being evaporated back into the sky. So that we can have another rainfall. Oh well. That’s what living in southeastern Louisiana is about. That, and heat. Speaking of heat, no matter which weather service you choose, it seems that they all agree that we have passed through our hottest part of the year. Some say we won’t be reaching 90 degrees for at least the next 15 days. Of …

That’s Alright

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I saw this place on the way to the second line. I’ve seen it before. It just never quite looked so dramatic. And, I never stooped to make a picture. Even for a few minutes. This time I did. I photographed it at about 4pm in what was pretty bright sun. Not a great time. I decided right then and there that it would be the template for something else. This is what I did. Basically, I made a mess. I tinkered. I played. I went forward. I back tracked. I think that I turned a broken place into something spooky. I’m also thinking that without those fleur de lis on the fence this picture might not stand on its own. I probably should go back at around dusk. Or, at least when there are heavy storm clouds blowing around. The problem with the dusk idea is that the neighborhood scares me a little bit. It’s one thing to be there when there are hundreds of people having a good time at a second line. …

Valley of Silent Men

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Day two. The Valley of the Silent Men second line in Central City. New Orleans. I thought I would publish a few more pictures of the day. A good day. A happy day. And proof of a hot day. At least one picture, where my buddy’s wife is wiping his face with a towel. Of all the pictures, I like the top one best. It’s a little subtle, but to me it’s one of those pictures that says a whole lot. From a technical standpoint I almost didn’t select it. The man in the foreground looked like he was buried in shadow. But, deep details in shadow is where digital capture just shines. I opened his face, and the man standing behind him, just fine. Should they be lighter? No. They are backlighted. So now you know what it’s like to stand in the heat, with the entire second line snaking around in front of me after making its first two left hand turns. I will say that this picture was lucky. You know, photographer’s …

The Second Line Season Begins

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The first one. The first second line of the 2018 – 2019 season. Seems like just about everyone came out. I saw folks that I haven’t seen in almost a year. I saw old friends. I made a couple of new ones. It was loud. There were great smells from vendors who were barbecuing. It was colorful. And, man oh man, it was hot. But, it was all good. The Valley of the Silent Men took to the streets almost on time. New Orleans time. The second  line turned left, then left again  and finally made its way to Claiborne. A lot of us were dropping out by that time. You know how I said it was hot? It was really hot. A friend of mine gave up when he felt a little woozy.  I think that he’s finally growing up. Heh! He’d have kept walking — as I would — a year ago. When I got home I was able to wring my clothes out. Everything was soaked. Even my socks. I suppose that we’ll …

4:25 PM, August 25, 2018

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If you’ve followed Storyteller for any length of time, you know what I think. Senator John McCain embodied the words, honor, integrity and service. While I didn’t always agree with his positions,  I always respected him. I always thought that he cared about my country. Now, he’s gone. Last night I spent a long time thinking about what those words mean. What they really mean. You should too. Especially when it comes to modern politics. Politics in 2018. We have an opportunity to get back to those words. For those of you who read Storyteller in The United States, vote in November. Rest in Peace. Senator John McCain August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018

Going Down, Down, Down

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Going, down, down, down. Working in a coal mine. I don’t work in a coal mine. It’s just that on some days it feels that way. I shouldn’t complain. Making pictures and arguing with technology isn’t dirty work. Anyway, Here I am doing my job. Sorta. I couldn’t figure a way to keep myself out of the picture and still make the picture I saw, so I just left myself in. It’s kind of like power lines on a city street. If you can’t find a clean angle than just leave them alone. Make them a part of the scene. There’s been a lot of big news this week. I like the news about finding a tribe in Brazil that have never seen modern man. Apparently, the government is actually doing the right thing by leaving them alone to just live their ancient lives. You thought I was going to talk about something else didn’t you? Ha! I have one thing to say about that. MAGA. My Attorney Got Arrested.

The Season Begins

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A new season. Sometimes it isn’t about the seasons in nature. In New Orleans we have other seasons. Mardi Gras. Festival season. And, of course, second line season. It starts this Sunday with The Valley of Silent Men. We take a two-week break and then it’s on for 47 weeks. The only breaks come with Christmas, Jazzfest and Mardi Gras. There may be some off weeks because the city has raised the parade permits by almost double. Some social and benevolent societies can’t afford that. Anyway. This wasn’t the planned picture for today. The image I had in mind and processed turned out to be too small. That’s right, the image was too small. I could have posted something really new. But, I thought I was getting a little too esoteric and didn’t want to go back to something like yesterday’s post. So. I thought about my near and far future. Forty seven Sundays. I intend to photograph them all. That is, if my back and hip will let me. We’ll see. I went with …

Another Look

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I lost it. I found it. Remember the life-preserver picture that I posted a few weeks ago? This is the much tighter version of it. I didn’t select it then because there is no context. You have no idea what you are looking at. Since you’ve seen that one, it doesn’t really matter about the context for this one. That is, assuming you saw the first one. Heh, heh, heh. This time I went full monty. I did about everything I could do in post production. I wanted to remove about all the subject’s context. You can barely tell that the main subject is leaves. I also made it look like it is glowing from below. I wish I could say that was my intent. Instead, it’s by-product of all my tinkering. The twisting of knobs. The sliding of sliders. To my credit, once I saw it, I made every effort to enhance it. I went for art, rather than a document. There are a lot of versions of this image. Remember, I save as …

Color

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Pure color. We had a late night storm. Everything is clean. Glistening. Sparkling. Because the rain fell at night, most of what fell down has already been drawn back up, meaning lighter humidity in the morning than usual. Because it started raining at about 11pm, there were no late dog walks. You know. No rain shall fall on a dog’s head. Not around here. That explains why I’m up early today. I’m sure you understand. Good dogs mean really full dogs. Once we got that done, we walked. A long, long way. I wasn’t dripping when I got home. Sure, I needed a change. It wasn’t terrible. My t-shirt wasn’t glued to my body. That’s good. dancing around while trying to take off a soaked t-shirt is no fun. Anyway. I almost walked by this picture. The sunlight bounced off the tail light and caught my attention. That did it. I worked the scene a little and made a looser version of the image you see. I cropped it in post production, not to get …