Vision

I just came back upon Don Giannatti’s “Project 52” web site.  I had seen the site several months ago, but it slipped from my memory.  I have been a member of the flickr group for a long time, but, I can’t remember the last time I actually visited the group page.  On this site, there is a weekly photography assignment. The assignments for this year start on February 1.  So, I looked at the 2012 assignments.

The first assignment is to create a Vision Statement.  This is basically a statement describing why it is that I take pictures.  As described on the web site, “Tell us with a single paragraph what you want to be able to do with your images. Tell us what you do without telling us you are a photographer. Accompany that message with a single image taken around your home.”

To me, the reason I enjoy photography is it differs from other modes of expression, and there is something that is transcendently stimulating when I see a really great image I have taken. In 2012, my Aperture Library has over 7700 images.  Every once in a while, as the image would come up on the screen, there was a moment of awe.  Kind of, “Oh boy.  That is good!”

It is becoming easier to take technically perfect images – those with proper exposure, composition, lighting, whatever.  I can look at those and think, “That’s a good image.”  But there is the added, intangible element that is included in an image that is really great.  I take photographs because I enjoy that feeling of producing a picture that is really great.

Now, what kind of image around the house can I make that illustrates that?

Dickens on the Strand – Steampunks

2012 Dickens on the Strand

Steampunk is an alternative world conceptually akin to Jules Vern.  Lots of gadgets and alternative technologies.  A few years ago, steampunk costumes were scarce at Dickens on the Strand, but over the past couple of years, they have really caught on.  Now, it seems like there were probably more steampunk themed costumes than any of the others.

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Lots of leather and strange accessories adorn these costumes.

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This couple was dressed all up.  Too bad they didn’t have anything for the child.

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This guy was demonstrating his own flying machine.

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And, sometimes, steampunk and pirates co-mingled.

 

Dickens on the Strand – Pirates

2012 Dickens on the Strand

Another favorite theme for costumes was Pirates.  You might think that at a Dickens Christmas festival there would be people dressed as Scrooge or ghosts of Christmas past, present, future, or Jacob Marley.  But by far and away, the character most used was Captain Jack Sparrow.  But, lots of people dressed in various ways in pirate costumes

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Dickens on the Strand – People

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There were all kinds of interesting costumes taking essentially three themes.  Some were just dressed in Victorian clothes.

2012 Dickens on the Strand

I am not sure how many of the costumes were “vintage” and how many were made for the event.  Galveston does have several shops that specialize in these kinds of clothes.  But, lots of people wore these things.

2012 Dickens on the Strand

There were also lots of street performers and stage performers.  They had several stages, and they all seemed to have magicians and jugglers performing when we were there.  There were also people just performing in the street. This is a girl who just sat in the middle of the street playing her violin.

2012 Dickens on the Strand

 

 

Dickens on the Strand

2012 Dickens on the Strand

Last Saturday was “Dickens on the Strand.” It’s a Christmas festival in Galveston where people dress up in Victorian clothes, and everyone pretends they are in Victorian London. Lots of people and lots of fun.

2012 Dickens on the Strand

It used to be that if you can in costume, you got in free.  I don’t know if it is still that way or not, but most people were dressed up.

2012 Dickens on the Strand

Everyone lines the street, and in the middle of the afternoon, they have “The Queen’s Parade.”  I am not sure how one gets chosen to be in the parade, but they march up Mechanic and down The Strand.

 

Wedding – Reception

After the ceremony, all the guests were made to go out into the foyer while the formal portraits were taken and the chairs removed.  There were refreshments and a calypso band.  Once the ballroom was ready, everyone was ushered back in.  The first event on the agenda was the toasts.  I don’t remember what the best man said, but it got a reaction from the others.

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The bride did not want pictures of the guests at their tables for dinner, and that was fine with us.  There were too many guests, the lighting was terrible, and we got to rest just a little.  After dinner, they started the dances.  The bride and groom danced, then the groom and his mother.  The bride’s father was deceased.  So, she decided to do four dances, one with each of her brothers.  Her brothers came from Puerto Rico.  So, it  was a special occasion for them.  Cindy said that this meant a lot to the bride.  So, we concentrated on getting really good pictures of these dances.  Again, the lights were down really low.  So, focusing was a serious problem.  Even at that, this is a picture of the bride dancing with one of her brothers.

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The rest of the evening was spent dancing and visiting, and we got some nice pictures of the rest of the reception.

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Wedding – Ceremony

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The wedding was in the ballroom of the convention center.  It was obviously not the easiest place to decorate.  The wedding planner did an outstanding job with what she had to work with. The ceremony was held in the center area, and tables and chairs for dinner and the reception were set off to the sides.  After the ceremony, the chairs in the center were quickly removed to form a dance floor for the reception.

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Sometimes you capture a moment.  This was in the middle of the ceremony.  I am not sure of the precise context as it happened so fast.  But, the preacher looked up to the heavens, and I snapped the picture. This made for a unique image for their wedding folio.

These pictures look pretty good because they could not find anyone who could turn the lights down.  Although it was far from bright sunlight, there was really good, diffuse inside light and that helped us a great deal.

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The Skull Fetish of Motorcyclists

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There is an obvious fetish in the motorcycle community. Although skulls are the most common expression of this fetish, it goes a little wider than just simply skulls.

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Skulls are painted onto motorcycle parts, and they are incorporated into parts that are cast.

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They can be rather straight forward depictions, or more stylized.

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They are universal in the culture.

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But, I believe the skull is just a convenient icon for a broader involvement.

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The skull fetish is really an expression of a wider fetish with the morbid.

 

Lone Star Rally – The Event

SONY DSCWe went to the Lone Star Rally on Saturday. There were probably 200,000 motorcycles there. We got there about noon and stayed until about 3:30.  The motorcycles are parked two and three deep all along Strand and Mechanic Streets.

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There is barely enough room in the middle of the street for a line of motorcycles to ride in.  There is a constant parade of motorcycles all day long. SONY DSC

There is lots of food and entertainment and a competition for the best custom cycle.