To Sparkle in Your Eyes — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
Sunset last night did the thing. Mother Nature brought upon us a stunning evening light show. Set ablaze she caught fire to dance about the sky cloud dance floor. Moving and grooving. Glowing and flowing. A panoply of color set a course to smolder pure in a long deep burn. Locked in its gaze I paused to wonder how does such sparkling beauty come to be? Then I remember it is a true gift. And we are best to accept the truest of gifts as the unknowable wonders they are.
Shout out to Jonathan Carr of Weather NJ. Were it not for his text message, “No joke on this sunset,” some 15 minutes before sundown I would have with certainty remained on the couch. Disabused by what I can only describe as a decidedly mediocre New York Yankees ball club. I had been monitoring sky conditions all afternoon, and was aware of the potential. I simply was not up for it. I haven’t been up for much lately. Unwittingly Jon gave me the arm twist I needed. So all credit to him for this one. Without his interjection this photograph would not exist.
Is he posting this shot again? Yes. Think it’s time he finds, you know, a different angle at the very least? Also, yes.
I debated posting this photograph I made back on 25 August. It’s a an angle I have exploited on numerous occasions. And even though no two sunsets are the same, even I am growing worn thin by my lack of originality. (This coming from a notorious creature of habit.) Nevertheless I am rolling with it considering the rut I’m in and the insidious angst I feel. I am going through the motions and so my photos are going through the motions. Something about life imitates art.
Maybe it’s the comfort in familiarity that keeps me going back? Or maybe that’s little more than a double-edged sword. A safety net keeping me from breaking out and trying new things? Maybe it’s the slow churn of a global pandemic coupled with a deteriorating society fueling the angst? Maybe it’s the barrage of hot takes, baseless claims, and toxic passive aggression permeating social media post after social media post? Or maybe it’s the inevitable advance of fall? Or maybe it’s just me?
I’ve written before how this time of year weighs heavy on me—even in the best of times. Shortening days, the death of summer, the advance of the great browning. It all sets me on edge. I struggle to find comfort and solace knowing summer now sits an entire calendar year away. I’ve managed the past nine months or so with a one day at a time approach. Avoiding the pitfalls of thinking too much on an unknowable future. I must work to reclaim that mindset, cliché as it may be.
For anyone else out there struggling, worrying here we go again? Maybe it doesn’t have to be so hard this time? And better yet, maybe we’re far closer to something good than we could ever know? Keep hanging, y’all.
Sunshine in the Dark — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
I seek to channel the beauty found in sunset. I journey in search of the secret which sends the light of day toward darkness with such a flourish it stops the heart. Your breath escapes. Taken your gaze locks with the sky. She sees you seeing. A pastel wonder strewn across the deepening blue sky. It is with serene tenderness the gossamer glows. A smoldering ember eager to greet the night with sublime splendor. Never the same, always there. Together I seek to channel the beauty found in sunset.
Stop the Clocks — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
The calendar claims today as 23 August 2020. I wish it would stop shouting Summer is OVER. What happened to time? March was about 93 days long, and each month since lasts about a week and a half—tops. Shattered is our perception of time. Easy days whiling about hours once spent on beaches and fields find replacements in anxiety, uncertainty, and fraying society. And it is with speed these insidious malfeasants, uninvited as they are, rob us of our time. Stealing our present and hoarding our future.
And yet we soldier on and endure. We bide our time, turn to our strengths and cultivate purpose to prepare for the renaissance. Time will call to order again. The arrow of time, never directionless, will reassert its dominion and the universe will unfold as it should. Build trust. Know faith. Foster humility. Learn to grow. Live to love. Make yourself.
Where Goings — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
Clouds rush by as years Quickened and blurred Life dashes Drift and drift and drift Have I a cloud? A spirit to float on present wind? Nay, I am a tether anchored in past, Chained Worry escapes to future where is hope, Abandoned Tears streak a far off gaze, Chastened Molded in past Weighed in present Promised in future
Reflection Point — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
I made this photograph with my tripod set upon the swim platform of my parents’ pontoon boat. They have kept their boat at Cedar Run Dock Road since September 2015, yet it was not until July 2020 I began shooting on location. A definite miss on my part. Their slip affords a wide view of Cedar Run creek making an ideal spot for mirrored reflections in still water.
This watery mirror has me thinking on my own life. It also affords an opportunity to share some quick reflections about myself with you. So here goes—I:
am 37 years old, and I live alone in Manahawkin, NJ
have lived in New Jersey my entire life
grew up in East Brunswick until uprooting to Manahawkin in summer 1993
earned a B.S. in Business Administration at The College of New Jersey
began making photographs in 2012
work for Johnson & Johnson
have a younger brother and sister still living and rocking in their 20s
Set — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
It is no secret I’m on team Winter Sunset™, but my goodness summer is bringing it this year. 2020 is, well, you know, but at least it’s allowed us big time heat and humidity, comets, and sky fires. Right! Right?Sunset at the salt marsh has delivered big time the past few months; and that’s with me missing several stellar sunsets and thunderstorms. Sunsets come in bunches and summer 2020 stands testament.
A little inside baseball: The color in this photograph is potent. Storm clouds breaking and intense coloration running up the high level mammatus clouds. An ‘X’ pattern sends deep pastel hues in four diagonal directions. Bisected latitudinally, deep green salt marsh cuts across.
When I make my landscapes I begin with seven bracketed exposures, each one stop apart. Running -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3. After migrating to Lightroom I pop the seven brackets into Photomatix to merge them into one image file. Then bang, back into Lightroom. From there edits happen quick—delivering a photograph ready for showtime. Well this little buddy took some wrangling. There was so much color to reign in. After over an hour of jostling I’m satisfied; deep, intense, and smoldering.
Let’s keep this set rolling and catch another one tomorrow?
Peace and Pilings — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
Mark the horizon to find your way. Where two uprights cleave your life in thirds. Pastels flare to set the world anew afore darkness pulls it under. Serenity finds the seeker. Framed in peace and pilings. Draped in sheer joy. Reflecting hope and purpose. The mirrored worlds are yours.
