Photo of the Month – A Return to Film

Hi Folks:  According to Wikipedia, it was 120 years ago (1892) that George Eastman first began supplying Thomas Edison and William Dickson with 35mm film for their movie projectors.  Film was around before that, of course, but in a variety of sizes and feeding systems; 35mm film became a standard in 1909, and in 1934 the 35mm film cassette for still photography was introduced.

So, in honour of 120 years a group of us met on a rainy afternoon in November at Ross Bay Cemetery to celebrate a (temporary?) return to film and to the days of B&W.  Some had never shot film before, for some it took a while to remember how to work a film-advance lever, and for others film is still in daily use.  For the most part there was no autofocus, no LCD screens (“you have to look through the little viewfinder there”), and no ‘instant’ results.  Those who had film cameras brought them, and those who didn’t were welcome to bring some film and borrow a camera from someone else.  I brought six cameras (five 35mm and one double lens reflex) and loaned out three.  For those who just can’t get into film, they were welcome to bring their digital cameras and there wasn’t a bucket of tar nor a bag of feathers anywhere about.  More on that in a bit.  Overall it was a lot of fun.  Continue Reading →

Why Use HDR?

Hi Folks:

I was at an informal gathering of photographers recently where we were sharing and discussing our work.  I displayed a sunset image that I had made (this one)

Seeing the Light

Continue Reading →

He Says, She Says… The Masks We Wear

Hello, Dear Reader:

Well, today is Hallowe’en, in this part of the world at least.  For children and adults alike it’s an opportunity to dress up in costume, to put on a mask and to go out ‘trick or treating’.  It can be fun or frightening, or maybe a little of both.  We decorate our houses and our schools and our businesses in ways that either venerate or mock those departed, ghosts, witches and the like, and it gives us an opportunity to participate – individually and en masse – in our own ‘inversion’ rituals‘.  That covers one day of the year, but what about the other 364?  What about the masks we show ourselves and each other throughout the rest of the year?

For this week’s ‘He Says, She Says…‘ post we discuss “The Masks We Wear“.

Hugs,
M&M

Follow these links to read what He Says/She Says: Marcia’s View / Mike’s View

Marcia’s Meanderings – Sunbeams & Sand Paintings

Hello Dear Ones!

Have you ever seen the newspaper comic “Hi & Lois“? The baby of the family, Trixie, ‘thinks’ thought balloons visible to the reader. The baby lets you know how very much she adores sunbeams: the magic of them, the marvel of them, the elusiveness of them …

I got thinking of Trixie and sunbeams the other day. On my way to work I pass through a delightful path bordered on both sides with cedar bushes. The sun was rising blazingly in the east and streaming through the cedars, imprinting light onto the paved walkway before me. I actually stopped to admire the patterns portrayed so erratically, so spontaneously. Incredible artwork. Yet as I stood there mesmerized by the awesomeness of the impressions, the patterns changed: subtly, but they changed and shifted like a slow-moving kaleidoscope. It was breathtaking to watch!

Due to time constraints, I was unable to stay and observe anything further, yet as I headed to catch my bus I had an AHA moment – the play of light through cedar and the resulting beauty could be glimpsed briefly – only briefly, before there was change. The light was elusive; the pattern, impermanent. Continue Reading →

He Says, She Says… Intrinsic or Extrinsic?

Hello, Dear Reader:

How do we measure the true value of something – is it intrinsic or extrinsic?  According to Wikipedia:

Intrinsic value is an ethical and philosophic property. It is the ethical or philosophic value that an object has “in itself” or “for its own sake”, as an intrinsic property. An object with intrinsic value may be regarded as an end or end-in-itself.

Extrinsic value is the idea that something has value only because of outside factors. It is an end to a means.  Work is, by many, considered to have extrinsic value. We work because we need money in order to survive.

With that in mind we thought we’d take on ‘value’ as the subject of this week’s ‘He Says, She Says…‘ post.

Hugs,
M&M

Follow these links to read what He Says/She Says: Marcia’s View / Mike’s View

Poetry Corner – One Breath Per Line

Hello Dear Ones!

An dear e-friend and great micropoet through Twitter: Tina Nguyen has recently inspired several of us to get into a more extended style of Haiku – known as Gogyohka:

Gogyohka is a new form of Japanese short poetry, founded and pioneered by Japanese poet Enta Kusakabe. Gogyohka is pronounced go-gee-yoh-kuh (the “g”s are hard as in “good”), and literally translated means “five line poem”. Gogyohka is five lines of free verse on any subject matter. There is no set syllable pattern, however the poem should be short and succinct. The goal is to compellingly capture an idea, observation, feeling, memory, or experience in just a few words.

Gogyohka is a fun and easy form, making poetry writing accessible to everyone, including children. Yet it is challenging as a method of practice for self-reflection, contemplation, and distilling one’s thoughts. Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – Totally, Poetically Sound

Hello Dear Ones!

Recently I read a wonderfully crazy poem  – a love poem – beautifully crafted and very unique. WoW! I’ve seen poems with weird rhyming patterns, but this one has to take the first prize on the bizarre scale. (This great poem is inset at the end of this post for your enjoyment and perusal.)

With a verbal reading of any poem, the sound of it is essential to add impact, flavour, and mood, plus it enhances the writer’s intent. Most often odd yet rhyming patterns are found in children’s poetry, such as that written by the famous Dr. Seuss. Born Theodor Seuss Geisel, Dr. Seuss used specific rhyming techniques to get the sounds he was seeking: such styles as anapestic, amphibractic, or trochaic tetrameter. These fancy terms certainly required that I research their definition and effect (not to mention their pronunciation!). Here’s the simple and fun version from Wikipedia: Continue Reading →

He Says, She Says…

Hello, Dear Reader!

If this is your first visit to our ‘He Says, She Says…‘ posts and pages, then briefly what we do is pick a topic each week and write about it individually.  Neither of us reads what the other has written until we’re both finished with what we have to say.  Sometimes we agree, sometimes we don’t, and sometimes we go off in completely different directions.  All of that is encouraged in our home!  For us the start of this idea goes back a number of years, but we’ll leave that for another time.

Our topic today is ‘Transformation‘.  The idea for this comes from a section of a TV show a few months back that was talking about the monarch butterfly migration.  A great book on this is Sue Halpern’s ‘Four Wings and a Prayer: Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly.’  In eastern North America every fall, these tiny winged insects fly hundreds or thousands of kilometres to live in several different areas in northern Mexico.  They overwinter there and begin heading north in the spring, laying eggs and then passing on, so that the butterflies that return to eastern Canada for example are several generations removed from the ones that began their flight south the previous year.  Still, somehow those great-grandchildren all begin to turn south in the fall and head to the same locations as their ancestors.  A hero’s journey indeed.

There is perhaps a more incredible journey before this, however, as egg hatches out to become larva (caterpillar), and caterpillar transforms into butterfly.  The same process happens with those caterpillars that become moths.  Spinning itself into a chrysalis (or cocoon), the caterpillar literally liquefies itself, breaking down into base components before reassembling itself into an entirely new form.  Dormant structures such as wings are created, and parts like the caterpillar’s extensive digestive system are given up to different purposes.

As humans we don’t undergo any such physical transformations in our lives, but many of us do undergo intense spiritual transformations that are no less remarkable.  This is what we wanted to talk about today.

Have a great week!

Hugs,
M&M

Follow these links to read what He Says/She Says: Marcia’s View / Mike’s View

Poetry Corner – Micropoetry

Happy Spring Dear Ones!

At least it is newly Spring here in Canada – especially here on the southern tip of our beautiful Vancouver Island.

May I suggest that you read my post from Monday: Marcia’s Meanderings – Thank you, Twitter! It’s brief and gives you a bit of an introduction to this post today.

Micropoetry is a new term for me, even as versed (pun intended!) in poetic styles as I am. Being relatively new to Twitter, I recognized the standard hashtag (#) defined in Wikipedia as: “Short messages on services such as Twitter or identi.ca (that) may be tagged by including one or more hashtags: words or phrases prefixed with a hash symbol (#).” The use of this hashtag is to connect with people of like minds. If you want to share micropoetry with others you add the phrase #micropoetry into your tweet (your Twitter message) and others can see your poem. Similarly for #haiku or other short poetry styles. This works also for finding people interested in non-poetry subjects such as #hugs or #spring or #photography.

The following are some of the haiku and micropoems I have written recently:

The body slumbers ~ in moonlight spirit dances ~ sips on tears of joy. #haiku

Tulips bloom/ Two lips arch/ Smiles blossom. (in honour of Spring) #micropoetry

Welcoming smiles/ crack the landscape/ of a happy face. #micropoetry

Powdered sugar snow/Dusts the lawn/Sweetening the day. #micropoetry

On the bus a child/Knows her A B Cs song/ Sings to me sweetly. #haiku Continue Reading →