February 20, 2014

February 20, 2014

   Click on any photo to bring up in full screen.

   All Photos are mine unless otherwise noted.  

   Very little talk this week, just the photos from last weekends snow here in our part of Maine, and two images taken a few weeks ago. Peter Ralston, a well published and remarkable photographer who has a gallery in Rockport here in Maine says, "There's a story in every photograph that is worth telling." I agree and also believe that the story can be fact of the matter, or a metaphor that begins in the heart, that wonderful vehicle that expresses every emotion we are capable of setting free. 

   I would suggest that you not take my story line for the images on this blog, but that you let your own words flow from the center of yourself in the language of the Spirit's Wind as it is set free to roam without restriction, through all that we are, as receivers of wondrous insights.  

The storm arrives over Penobscot Bay 

with all the drama it can muster -

dark and violent as its passage rushes toward Camden.

Trying hard but not succeeding in covering several clouds

that refuse to surrender their light to the furies. 

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Winter closes its gate to the arrival of Spring,

not yet ready to cede defeat in the face of changing seasons.

When the first green shoots of Spring poke their noses through the snow,

Winter will release its grip on the land and on our lives.

Then, and only then, will the joy of being out in snow covered woods

be replaced by the delight of walking the paths in Spring's new life,

bringing another resurection into our waiting hearts. 

  (The following five photos are a reflection of what I felt and pondered as the movement of the wonder of Winter's beauty met my eyes. The expressed delight of God's creativity is to be found everywhere, and for me is seen in all directions as long as I stop, look, and listen to the Song That Never Ends. )

Let us fall in love again

and carry the colors of sunset and sunrise all over the world.

Let us become a new seeker

and feel the drifting breeze from Heaven's Incense

carried on the evening light to a willing heart.

God's loving regard is crystal clear,

and all are blessed by its joy filled Light.

                             (Influenced by Jalludin Rumi.)

(Sunset photo taken at Schoodic Point, Acadia Park.)

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   For wonder and amazement take a look at this:

           http://www.youtube.com/embed/auSo1MyWf8g?rel=0

                From the BBC and David Attenborough.

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   Some humor, two this week as I only posted a photo here last week - my attempt at atonement for grevious sins - I think ....

  

Until next week,

            Bill Lagerstrom 

February 11, 2014

February 11, 2014

   All photos are mine unless otherwise noted.

   Enlarge photos to full screen by clicking on any image. 

        “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

                                                                           Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

    An echo of the above statement can be heard in the following link. I would like to suggest that you take a few minutes listening in silence before continuing.

   Click here:  https://app.box.com/s/e44b032ab4c2ab7f4d03

   This last weekend I changed something of the way I see the world through my new lens implant and in how I perceive some of the photos I took on Saturday. It is a return to a few places I have been to often in my photographs and a fresh look at what I am doing with them on the computer screen. Digital photography has unlimited potential for creativity that it is sometimes daunting, so I have a tendency to go with what has already worked. 

   This week I offer first a delightful photo of two men, two horses and a sled preparing to go out on Fields Pond to cut ice the way it was done before electricity. This was a big business in the Northeast for many years as ice could be shipped long distances without excessive melt.

    This image works for me and I will continue to put similar photos out as Maine deserves to be somewhat changeless in its daily life. 

   After that there are seven images that are products of something I see in them, and are an experiment in seeing the familiar in a different way. There is always a story or a metaphor in every photograph that is life asking us to be observant as we open our outer and inner eyes. 

Fields Pond is in the background past the trees.

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The morning sun is brazen, pushy,

as it seems to force its way into the day.

The night has no choice in this daily event -

always giving way to the inevitable.

I never knew that God put speed signs up 

to slow down the clouds racing by -

Perhaps this is so we can enjoy more of

the wondrous creations of a new day.

   A tree says:  "A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought, I am life from eternal life. The attempt and the risk that the eternal mother took with me is unique, unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail."

                                                                                      Unknown author 

In that space between awake and sleep,

I dream of trees and let my roots reach out

to entwine themselves in their roots.

Then sleep brings the welcome connection

to everything that is waiting for morning, to be seen again.

On clear mornings the sun arrives at the cloud factory,

anxious and ready to receive the days finery

which will adorn the sky, as we, looking up,

marvel that such beauty is sent to feed our heart and soul.

A story of symmetry laid down straight and true. 

Every story has a picture that reveals ........

The lamp post said,

"I rise to the heavens straight and true!"

The tree replied,

"Good for you."

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Some humor:

   "Do you agree George, that Immanuel Kant stood for the middle ground between rationalism and empiricism? Or do you take the side that all knowledge comes from experience and not reason?"

(Passing time during a slow period at work.)

   Until next week, 

      Bill Lagerstrom

February 3, 2014

February 3, 2014

   Photos can be viewed full frame by clicking on any image.

   All photos are mine unless otherwise noted.

      After two weeks I can report that I have new eyes. The surgery to replace the lens and correct the astigmatism in my left eye has been wonderfully successful. I have new sight, 20/20 for everything beyond 5-6 feet and drugstore reading glasses for reading and computer viewing. All the glasses prescribed over the years are now to be donated to an organization that I believe uses the frames to help those who can't afford glasses to have a pair or two. 

   I have what is called a Toric Interocular Lens implant which as a treatment for astigmatism became available only in 2011, so there are no regrets about not having this done sooner. Enjoyment of clarity of sight begins today, this hour, this moment and it is a delight to have crisp vision. My first visit to the local supermarket, a huge place, was startling as the vegatable and fruit displays are lit with greater intensity than the rest of the store to highlight the colors of the produce. I got a little dizzy with the intensity of the view with this new implanted lens. 

    Also the clarity of the computer screen is equally amazing. It's almost as if I was practicing my photography with a blind man's cane. This is not to say I could not see just that I always had a somewhat difused view of the world. My old friend and mentor Tad Mosel used to say that he hardly used his glasses as the world looked better without them. I agreed with him as I could not see things with perfect clarity and learned to deal with that in the creative and work dealings I spent most of my life around. 

   What a joy! I now have the  opportunity to improve on my creativity through photography in a new way that promises to shift some of my viewpoint around photos in a slightly different direction. This involves some change in technique and that is good as it is the nature of the ever changing world of digital photography. There are always new things to learn along with old ways of doing this work that can be improved. In so many ways I am awed by the world we live in and what is available to learn from.

    The first image is difused and those that follow can be an example of my new vision.

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   Here is a photo taken on Saturday that is difused yet still a good impression of the day at a Nordic ski center in Waterville, Maine. I have been moving somewhat in the direction of impressionism for awhile now and will continue to develop this side of my creative seeing in the future.

   Best seen full screen - click on the image to bring it up -

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The storm that caused limited visibility is passing through

and the heavens that are always there

show their face to those who look up

with new eyes.

Winter scene in Acadia.

   My plans are to spend one day a week in Acadia to see and photograph all that I love there with a different perspective and some new techniques that presented themselves this last week. The image above is an example of small changes that are gratifying for me - perhaps not obvious in general yet I know they are there. 

The Nordic Center in Waterville, Maine

Walking the dog under the grandeur of Maine scenery

Young Beech trees do not lose their leaves in Winter

as they offer color to enjoy while waiting for Spring to explode.

Taken outside the front door I go out of every day.

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I reworked this photo with my new eyes to test the doctor's work. 

I am pleased.

Taken last Summer at a garden in Southern Maine.

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Two views of dangerous ways to live ......

No matter where we are in the world,

a box to seclude ourself in is ever available.

Hidden in seclusion, some sit in dark corners

and pick at the wounds that may never see

the healing light of day.

   Living on the edge over the Androscoggin River in Brunswick Maine these ice fishing enthusiasts are in danger as the temperature is around forty degrees and the river is moving beneath their shacks. Why do they put their huts so close to each other when so much space is available? Well, perhaps it is the herd instinct, or is it the beer and not wanting to drink alone. Both Photos taken on Sunday.

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Some Humor:

   Until next week,

    

        Peace,  Bill Lagerstrom