Friday Photography Open Thread - Whatever!

Good evening all.

I’m wondering why we photograph and why we enjoy looking at what others see.

The more obvious reasons to me are that we enjoy sharing something of our experience; and equally, we enjoy being transported to exotic places and moments of light and time. Photography's documentary nature can be decisively revealing and emotive, both joyfully and dishearteningly.

In any case, it has the potential to evoke sensations of all types. It can be personally satisfying, and add colour and form to one's perspective and knowledge. It can even open one's mind to magic ...


Ben Couchi, photographer

Take it from here, and enjoy your weekend.

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snoopydawg's picture

I took mine down and we'll go with yours

We are having our second snowstorm this winter. Yesterday it was 54 degrees here and today started off with 50 and now I have 2 inches of snow in my yard.

This is my view from my backyard. On the other side of the mountain is Snowbasin ski resort. I grew up skiing here and we called it Utah's best kept secret. Then the 2002 Olympics happened and it's now a famous ski resort.

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My friends and I used to hike up in June to what we call the Saddle, just down from the towers and slide down in garbage bags. Had to be careful because when the snow ended there were big rocks. Now I can take the gondola up and hike around for awhile and take it back down or walk. The gondola is open during the summer and there is a great restaurant at the top. Yes you can buy beer there. The dawgs get to ride the gondola and hike around too. Fun times.

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Summer Time

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Free concerts and Beer

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The Mountain

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janis b's picture

@snoopydawg

I didn't realise that you put a post up, sorry.

Those towers (whatever they are) are disorienting, especially in the fog.

I can't see your last image of 'concerts and beer', even though I'd like to.

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janis b's picture

@janis b

It looks quite inviting with a predominance of blue and green.

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snoopydawg's picture

@janis b

When I C & P I left out 2 of them. No problem, we put them up within minutes of each other.
I take it that you didn't focus on purpose? Makes it interesting.
I take pictures to try to capture the beauty around me and to make memories. I see something new every time I walk at the cemetery. Just the difference in lighting makes a difference. Looking at my photos of CA reminds me of the good times and the incredible places I went to. When I went to Bodega Bay I took the back roads and saw incredible things and fun little towns. But many of the places are in the areas where the northern fires were.

Your reasons?

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janis b's picture

@snoopydawg

But I didn't mind that it was out of focus. Somehow it added to the atmosphere of that moment just before dark.

My reasons …

Because I am sometimes arrested by the quality of light and have to stop what I’m doing to explore it. I also like to share some of the fleeting moments that capture my attention. And, I like to explore landscapes and portraits that I will never see outside someone else’s vision of them. It expands my limited horizon.

Basically, I can't help but looking through a lens.

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Wink's picture

often, maybe 3, 4 times
@janis b
a year, but when I do I wish
I had my phone (to take a picture).
Talking about sky light. It is sometimes different than it normally is.
Unearthly.
hey, Joe, check out the sky.
what?
look where the sky meets the ground. Not the horizon, just 40 feet away.
what?
Some see it, some don't. And, maybe it's something that happens every day. I don't notice it very often. But when I do I take a long look. It is something special. Of course I never have mp phone.

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

janis b's picture

@Wink

some of those moments. Ironic, no?

The camera is superfluous at times.

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magiamma's picture

@janis b
That first photo is cosmic. Makes me dizzy. And the second one is surreal. With a bang not a whimper?

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janis b's picture

@magiamma

I'm glad you 'enjoyed' both images. I felt a little dizzy holding my breath for as long as I had to hold the shutter down to record an image. I love Ben Couchi's surrealistic photography.

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magiamma's picture

@snoopydawg
Cotton candy mountain. Can you eat it?

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magiamma's picture

Thanks for posting Janis

Concrete Ship
Concrete Ship.jpg

Poginip Tree
Poginip Tree2.jpg

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janis b's picture

@magiamma

the Pogonit area is.

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snoopydawg's picture

@magiamma

whenever you want. Some day ...

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riverlover's picture

@magiamma Stay out of my personal space!

I trudged down and up my driveway 2X Thursday, IX Friday. I have sore shins now. I had my iPhone and should have taken animal track pix in the snow. Squirrel tracks are easy; they cross the drive to a tree and poof! Gone! The first walking day there were no deer tracks and then they appeared, even in 6" of snow they drag their feet. One is left with a parallel Ski track, too narrow for humans. Occasional cloven tracks within. At 4AM it's still 33F. Snowpack is compressing again.

I have some FB friends who photograph scenery and have good eyes for the great shot. In their 60s or 70s. A late gift.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Socialprogressive's picture

The Brown Pelicans are in breeding colors right now so I went to La Jolla Cove last Sunday morning where they like to hang out.

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When I offer to wash your back in the shower, all you have to say is yes or no.
Not all this "who are you, and how did you get in here?" nonsense.

magiamma's picture

@Socialprogressive
And you got some great shots. We have some here but not brown ones. Now I want to check on them.

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Socialprogressive's picture

@magiamma @magiamma
I really like these guys when they're in their breeding colors.

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When I offer to wash your back in the shower, all you have to say is yes or no.
Not all this "who are you, and how did you get in here?" nonsense.

janis b's picture

@Socialprogressive

That last photo is mind-boggling. I love how you've captured the unique food-receptacle that the Pelican possesses.

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Socialprogressive's picture

@janis b
The mouth on the last one reminds me of a garbage pail. Someone else I showed the photo to said it looked like the Pelican was laughing.

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When I offer to wash your back in the shower, all you have to say is yes or no.
Not all this "who are you, and how did you get in here?" nonsense.

janis b's picture

@Socialprogressive

They're definitely survivors.

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snoopydawg's picture

@Socialprogressive

Great shots of them. If I had the money for I'd buy them. Good job.

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Socialprogressive's picture

@snoopydawg

If you'd like, pick a favorite, send me a PM with your address and I'll send you a print.

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When I offer to wash your back in the shower, all you have to say is yes or no.
Not all this "who are you, and how did you get in here?" nonsense.

Bollox Ref's picture

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Thanks for posting Janis.

Is that an exploding pineapple in the first shot?

(Edited)

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

janis b's picture

@Bollox Ref

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magiamma's picture

faster and faster...

I love the beauty I see, it keeps me sane, but I cannot help but notice the incremental changes that are creeping up on us. Everywhere I look things are changing.

Oil giants Shell and BP are planning for global temperatures to rise as much as 5°C by the middle of the century. The level is more than double the upper limit committed to by most countries in the world under the Paris Climate Agreement, which both companies publicly support.”
I believe a temperature increase of 5C and more will occur much, much sooner than mid-century. This is clearly an extinction event for most if not all complex life on planet earth.

Kevin Hester: https://kevinhester.live/2018/01/09/oil-giants-admit-to-a-5c-temperature...

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janis b's picture

@magiamma

and what continues to be lost.

I love the beauty I see, it keeps me sane, but I cannot help but notice the incremental changes that are creeping up on us.

Your link to the communication of Kevin Hester to the Green Party of NZ is arresting ...

Our youth are lied to from birth. Let’s not be the last generation, at the edge of extinction, lying to the youth.
It is only a matter of time before the living will envy the dead. Let’s start the grieving process while the situation is still relatively stable.

I still have some trust that our new government will have some positive effect on the environment, but it's all so tentative.

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orlbucfan's picture

@magiamma 5 degrees C = 41 deg F. Thank all the gawds, I will be long dead. Wonderful thread (SOP)! Smile Rec'd!!

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Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

Daenerys's picture

Not many photos from me again. We got to go out to the park by the lake yesterday but didn't see much of anything; the birds are a bit less active when it warms up, it seems. But on our way back to town we did see this grumpy looking owl:

(I didn't watermark this one being it's kind of out of focus.) Can't wait for spring and all the other songbirds to come back. I miss my orioles, warblers, tree swallows and bluebirds.

I found out a couple days ago they're going to be putting a Costco in part of one of the parks where I got to see birds (where I saw an owl back in November). On one hand yay, once it's built we won't have to go all the way to the twin cities to go to Costco! But on the other hand, there's an abandoned Walmart building like literally on the other side of the road from this park that's been sitting empty for several years now, they couldn't buy that and build it there instead?! GRRRR. God I fucking hate they mayor of the city; he's been mayor for like at least 11 years now. Several times this week I've found myself thinking of a saying I saw a long time ago: "Politicians, like diapers, should be changed often, and for the same reasons." /rant.

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This shit is bananas.

janis b's picture

@Daenerys

So can not being conservative in a good way. Sorry about the lack of consideration all around.

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My first proper guitar. I got it in 2000. I did the handprint with glow-in-the-dark silkscreen ink, so it changes with the lighting...

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janis b's picture

@BORG_US_BORG

That's quite an electric looking photo, thanks.

[video:https://youtu.be/9Ej3BdMpgZw]

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