I'm still needing to speak out

     Two things today -- this was meant for a mid-week post, which is a rarity....because it takes discipline and time, neither being abundant in my world.  At least I finally was able to get this photo on the blog.  (By chance I moved it more slowly, and then it made its way from desktop to post.  Persistence required, and luck.  It belongs between the two other photos of her in the last post, but I'm not going to stretch my luck at this time by putting it exactly there. A week in between them is fine). 

    Also, I did find out how to receive comments in this revised system, so that's now fixed as well!  What isn't fixed is how to get every single person out to vote in this very important election. I will never know how anyone feels safe with a mentally ill person being in charge of things, like the nuclear button, or who's OK with those 545 kids at the border having been separated from  parents now lost because records weren't kept (because nobody cared, I assume), but the big thing by now is to VOTE within the next 9 days. Everyone.  Stay healthy as well.  That horrible virus doesn't care whom you vote for either.  

     Here's the letter I received yesterday! Yea!!

The mailboxes across the road from me -- again BRAVO RURAL POSTAL CARRIERS!!

my former driveway, showing the rebound still in effect from a horrendous "tornadic" wind storm 25 years ago.  I send condolences to all those affected by current tornadoes, floods, or fire. There are so many wrenching stories. Our earth needs our attention and creative problem solving, by all of us.

 

 the drive in view two days or so later:

 

Trees are tops!

three more photos while sitting at the pond after reading aloud a couple of chapters from The Secret Garden:

        It fascinates me how the leaves quietly move and rearrange themselves, even in a small pond.  Of course this is what we are hoping for in this election --  which could be setting us up for a healthier democracy if we all pay attention!  (Sorry, I can't help myself from including these current events comments.... Sharing here is one of the few things I can do to support the activists and the clear thinkers who are trying to help people to believe that change is not only possible but it is incredibly necessary.  My thanks for anything you are doing as well!!!)

Counting on the Woods, second post

post #146
       Making a book is such a thrill.  At the same time, the fact that any particular book is published is a kind of miracle.  Bringing all of its parts together makes me think of our Congress -- sometimes there is a total melt down.  Other times too many compromises weaken the impact.  Or money and power and conflicting creative visions have the potential to wreck havoc.  Then there is the selling side -- ever since I worked in a bookstore, I have witnessed that too many times people don't trust their own instincts.  They prefer to buy what somebody else has stamped worthy.  These days the loudest voices seem to determine which books make it on the market.  This is especially hard to see happening in the world of children's books now that librarians, who are trained and very well read in their field, no longer have much sway in the choice and number of books sold. 

       And so, to continue the saga of this formative segment of my life as a photographer....  There I was -- that  spring of 1997 -- trying to bring together 35 or so images for one book.  Last week's post gives the words, and today I want to show a few of the photos, scanned from the slides I originally took, way back when digital was just beginning.  I was using mostly Fuji Velvia 50 ASA slide film.   Back then, digital couldn't replicate that anywhere as well as they might today.  I will remain a Velvia fan forever.

       I am starting with the photo that's from the very first roll of 36 I ever shot with my new tripod and with Velvia film.  There was one clear best shot on that roll, but one was all I needed!  It is in the opening spread of the book, across from to the waterfall/ given for all:

      Of possible interest:  I didn't start with this photo because it was at the beginning of the words but because I wanted to get the waterfall photo done as early in the spring as possible.  After more leaves come out in that area, it becomes darker underneath their canopy.  I knew this because this waterfall is part of our land and we visit it often. 
       I have to admit I was encouraged by this photo.  It helped me believe in the possibility of the work ahead.

       Next is another photo that comes early in the book.  But I took it much later.  It shows the wonderful greens of the Velvia film, and it also shows my neighbor, Kyle, who was not quite ten at the time.  Careful readers of the words might have noticed that there is NO MENTION OF A CHILD.  But my reading of the words made me see a child taking the walk in the woods.  And I thought of Kyle.  He agreed to help me out.  He was comfortable being in the woods himself, and he enjoyed the few times we went out.  Also, he could wear that great jacket every time.  A photographer friend commented on how well the red on the sleeve works in this photo.  This time my admission is that the choice was just luck.  (I don't think this photo will enlarge well on this blog.  Sorry.)
         The words are "One path, a stick for a staff."

      
      Did anyone try imagining what "Two birds, daybreak's words" would look like??  I had to stay flexible on this one.  Then, because that spring was so cool and wet, I ended up resorting to making a bird blind (from an old sheet) so I could shoot photos with my tripod from inside my bedroom!  As I often say, bless mourning doves for being so calm together.  And I am thankful as always for the black walnut tree just outside the window.  Admission: this was not at all the photo I envisioned to start with, but now I love, love, love it.

 
     There were many birds who seemed to want to be in the book.  It turns out this is a worm-eating warbler, and it is very rare to see one on her nest, which is on the ground, under a root.  I showed the title page in the previous blog, where she ended up, thanks to the designer, Jennifer Browne, in New York at DK INK. 

          I want to end this second post about Counting on the Woods with a snapshot I took at a program I did at our local library about the making of the book.  This is Kyle with his mother, Kathy, and with the photo of him that is on the cover's inside flap.  He was busy watching the hummingbirds on our deck when I took it.
          Kyle would have been 26 this month had he not died a month after graduating from high school.  His was a remarkable spirit.  I think of him often and again I thank him.

     More next week about what I learned from this one project.  In the meantime, here are a few random words of advice I seem to have been attached to this week:
       Support your local indie bookstore!  Look for the good stuff and trust your instincts!  Believe in the possibility of good art to change lives and to reach our souls!  Tell your own stories!  Be persistant and be brave!

using photos from where I live to illustrate a nationwide book

post #145
         Finally it is back to the effort from a few posts ago to share what I do, what is my work, what is this being a photographer all about.... What I am writing about now is an important piece of the puzzle.
         I was fortunate to start out being a photographer with a major project.  It didn't seem like work at first, but it really was.  I had received an advance AND I was training myself at the same time. 
          First, George Ella Lyon's editor, Richard W. Jackson, agreed to look at some of my slides, to see if my work would be a match for the words she had written.  Soon I heard that I was taken on as the photo-illustrator for that book -- with a three month deadline.  
       
       The book's title is Counting on the Woods.  The book is literally grounded in a sense of place, by words and by images.  I had a lot of my material nearby -- the woods, a willing neighbor, our streams and nearby grape vines.  The Canada geese, the killdeer eggs, and the newly hatching red-winged blackbirds all lived close by, in the next county to the west. I just had to find them.
       An illustrator takes the words given to her and does what she can, relying on her own creative impulses and inspiration.  I could have used other places and other ideas, but I was able, in this case, to use a place I love and where I happen to live.  This combination certainly made for an intense experience, to say nothing about everything I had to learn about photography in order to pull it off.  Whew!  It did help that 1997 turned out to have a wet, cool spring which meant growing things lasted longer than usual.  This gave me more of a chance to find what I needed, one photo at a time, during a three month period that I will never forget.  
       I have written quite a bit about this experience over time, but today I will start with the author's words. JUST LIKE I STARTED.  And what I would suggest is that you, the reader, take these words and look into your own imagination to see what images could be used to illustrate them:


to the waterfall
given for all

One path, a stick for a staff.

Two birds, daybreak's words.

Three bugs in the moss rug.

Four worms, how the earth turns.

Five nests

   where new ones rest.

Six tracks.

Who's coming back?

Seven stones,
    the little creek's home.

Eight flowers
    fed on dirt and showers.

Nine vines,
    earth to sky they climb.

Ten trees
    whose innumerable leaves

clean the air
     for everything
        that breathes.



        What follows are a few of the pages, and the cover, but the other photos will wait until next time.  Ha!  I just know some of you would cheat ("who has time for speculation??", you ask) and not give your own vision of what could be a chance to bloom.   

title page

Three bugs in the moss rug

Eight flowers, fed on dirt and showers

last pages, with me on my back on the forest floor, my elbows in tripod position....

the cover, front and half of the back

         
      I promise to continue this saga next Sunday.  If you are so inclined, you might just find a copy of the book in your local library.  Have a great week, everyone!

What, there is life after the election??

post #111
      It hasn't even been six days since the election, yet it feels like an extremely long week.  First was the task of breathing again, after imagining all the ways Americans could have been derailed.  Then there was regular life and a workshop and worrying about family and friends impacted by Hurricane Sandy.  I confess to being shocked by how many sheltered Republican big-wigs thought they had the race sewn up.  Do we all see only what we want to see?

      I am delighted that there are now 20 women in the US Senate.  But we need more.  Twenty is only 20% of the Senate; our nation is of course closer to 50/50 in numbers of males and females.  Thank you, Emily's List!

      I am amazed how dedicated some people had to be to vote.  Hours in line.  Voting by lantern.  Worrying about photo i.d.'s.  Thanks to each of you for your commitment to democracy.

      Closer to home, here is a photo of our voting place -- with an unexpected addition.  I had no idea such a rig was on the ridge.  The owners were inside waiting in line, as we had just done, to vote.

   During election day, I took a walk in the woods, wanting to see the world clearly before the start of the next four years -- a remembrance, of sorts, of why we care about who are our leaders.

 

a scar, on a beech tree.

an experiment with the iPhone....of our creek

the season for seeds -- our future

 
      I have to mention that although Kentucky was a guarantee for Romney, there were four counties (out of 120) who went to Obama.  Ours was the only one to do so in the eastern part of the state.  A proud tradition.
      I did hear that at 11:15 pm Tuesday evening, at Morehead State University, there was an eruption across the campus of cheers and hoorays.  Go students!! 
       So, until next week.  I'd hope that everyone was happy about something on election day, despite all the compromises that are part of the process.

just a walk on the west side

post #108
     This cardinal photo goes with the two others I shared last week.  Every parent can relate:

     

    But what I had planned for tonight is to share some photos from a recent walk on the west side -- of our place.  This weekend is actually the peak of color for our area, but since I am away from home, this is what I have to offer:

 from where I started, looking back at the neighbor's truck headed to the house

   

the tractor path through what used to be Faye's garden, on the north side of our place, on the way to the west side

goldenrod and Queen Anne's lace

looking to the east from the ridge on the west side, along the Ashland Oil Pipeline that they keep clear

our fire trail along the west side, along the western edge of our property

ground work....

the neighbor's fence line and field

and horse

Our wood piles are drying while waiting to be picked up.

more wood piles on the trail

in the forest -- looks like a creamy omelet to me!

maple leaves, showing off

  
       Have you heard me say before that it takes work to make a place look as good as our does?  Kudos to my husband who does all the keeping up with the land we have and love.
    
       Next week, I promise flicker photos even if I am still researching the meaning of their actions!!

still wet, still May, still me

post #35
     I finally realized that all my recent thinking about what images speak for Appalachia is so interesting to me that I could start a weekly feature: one photo each week -- chosen from ones already shown on this blog or ones already taken or ones to be taken in the future.  Along with the story that is part of the photo.

                                                             

So, here goes!  THIS IS APPALACHIA NOW:

I've chosen this photo to go first because it happens only in Appalachia.  Almost 500 mountaintops gone.  Water sources -- streams, wells -- damaged.  Communities disrupted.  All for profit for a few.  All leading to a price for electricity that does not reflect its true cost.  The story to remember: WE ALL LIVE DOWNSTREAM.  We are all affected by this travesty.

       Next, a few more photos from my recent gathering of the Kentucky Women's Photography Network.   This one by Libby shows the lay of the land, near Frankfort, KY, and how the rich carpet of blue-eyed Marys surrounded us.

This is my close-up of the blue-eyed Marys.  Our timing was spectacular, or was it their timing that was awesome.....

For the record, this is the Kentucky River on the edge of Dobree's land.  It can be no surprise to note that their road and fields are sometimes flooded!

Meanwhile, back on the ridge, this is how the trees work together to show off every shade of spring green.

    

redwoods and babies

post #16

            Time for me to lighten up in this new year.  I do want to reach out to that inner sassy that I wrote about in post #1.   And chances are I am showing the love of my place by sharing what I take photos of when I am away from home. 

            So, first, let’s start with the very old.  Some redwood trees!  Which are also very tall.  Very humbling.  Very magical.  I think of all the travelers who have admired them over thousands of years.  (How could ANYONE say that if you have seen one you have seen them all.  Maybe instead that's what these trees think about the travelers….)   I remember ferns from earlier visits, but this trip I learned about clover (everywhere!) and redwood needles which look so ordinary.  Did the size of the trees keep me from noticing such details the last time??  Or are my eyes better after doing more photography?  We will never know.

            It is true, however, that for me such photos are more a record than anything else.  It is simply a sharing of where I was privileged to be.  It's what I saw that was beautiful and stirring.  But I am grateful for photography giving me a way to experience where I am with greater intensity. 
 

note: clover ground cover

looking for the tallest, not knowing which one it was

redwood branches

         

       

      




    Let's go now to the very new -- I share this photo of daddy shoes next to his daughter's shoes, along with the news that the grandson has not yet arrived, even though I have saved this spot on the blog for him before I return to Kentucky tomorrow.  So, what can I say, except that having a baby arrive on someone else's schedule is "no small feet...."