O:9:"MagpieRSS":23:{s:6:"parser";i:0;s:12:"current_item";a:0:{}s:5:"items";a:15:{i:0;a:7:{s:5:"title";s:13:"Held too long";s:4:"link";s:110:"http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/2/17_Held_too_long.html";s:4:"guid";s:36:"16d2be1b-2cc8-4a9c-b876-0fbdc3c46482";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 17 Feb 2011 19:39:31 -0800";s:11:"description";s:1071:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/2/17_Held_too_long_files/20110217_DPP-21nts-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object016_1.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:168px; height:108px;"/></a>I might have gotten <br/>a few more days from them,<br/>I whisper<br/>followed by that unfortunate,<br/>if only . . .<br/>fatal words, those<br/>if only,<br/>implied regret,<br/>doubt,<br/>the incessant,<br/>silent blows <br/>of self-punishment.<br/><br/>trade<br/>if only<br/>for<br/>next time<br/>and suddenly <br/>you are looking forward<br/>instead of back,<br/>the difference<br/>between<br/>hopeful <br/>and<br/>misgiving<br/><br/>besides,<br/>some beauties <br/>some perfections<br/>are even more beautiful,<br/>more perfect<br/>simply because <br/>they are ephemeral,<br/>fleeting,<br/>their lives <br/>sweeter<br/>for their brevity<br/><br/>love these flowers in their moment<br/>then let go<br/><br/><br/>";s:7:"summary";s:1071:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/2/17_Held_too_long_files/20110217_DPP-21nts-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object016_1.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:168px; height:108px;"/></a>I might have gotten <br/>a few more days from them,<br/>I whisper<br/>followed by that unfortunate,<br/>if only . . .<br/>fatal words, those<br/>if only,<br/>implied regret,<br/>doubt,<br/>the incessant,<br/>silent blows <br/>of self-punishment.<br/><br/>trade<br/>if only<br/>for<br/>next time<br/>and suddenly <br/>you are looking forward<br/>instead of back,<br/>the difference<br/>between<br/>hopeful <br/>and<br/>misgiving<br/><br/>besides,<br/>some beauties <br/>some perfections<br/>are even more beautiful,<br/>more perfect<br/>simply because <br/>they are ephemeral,<br/>fleeting,<br/>their lives <br/>sweeter<br/>for their brevity<br/><br/>love these flowers in their moment<br/>then let go<br/><br/><br/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1298000371;}i:1;a:7:{s:5:"title";s:51:"A Fantastically Faboo Folly: The Walker Rock Garden";s:4:"link";s:148:"http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/2/13_A_Fantastically_Faboo_Folly__The_Walker_Rock_Garden.html";s:4:"guid";s:36:"0503cc69-b455-4d6f-a885-f5309f6bd223";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Sun, 13 Feb 2011 23:30:18 -0800";s:11:"description";s:516:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/2/13_A_Fantastically_Faboo_Folly__The_Walker_Rock_Garden_files/2011-02-12_DPP-00s-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object1002.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:182px;"/></a>For sheer audacity and a sense of romance, Don Quixote had nothing on Milton and Florence Walker!<br/>Here?s why:<br/><br/>";s:7:"summary";s:516:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/2/13_A_Fantastically_Faboo_Folly__The_Walker_Rock_Garden_files/2011-02-12_DPP-00s-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object1002.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:182px;"/></a>For sheer audacity and a sense of romance, Don Quixote had nothing on Milton and Florence Walker!<br/>Here?s why:<br/><br/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1297668618;}i:2;a:7:{s:5:"title";s:62:"That Amazing, Big, Red, High Maintenance Glamour Gal Next Door";s:4:"link";s:140:"http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/2/5_That_Big_Red,_High_Maintenance_Gal_Next_Door.html";s:4:"guid";s:36:"b07850bd-94e7-4b9c-9f2b-ed60b77bb6bc";s:7:"pubdate";s:30:"Sat, 5 Feb 2011 00:16:55 -0800";s:11:"description";s:1317:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/2/5_That_Big_Red,_High_Maintenance_Gal_Next_Door_files/20110128_DPP-15b-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object000_3.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:191px;"/></a>I utterly adore living next to this auburn-skinned goddess, despite the fact that she is extremely messy and the fact that she casts an imposing shadow across my sun-hungry garden for some part of each and every day of the year that the sun is willing to shine.<br/>A few days ago, was it groundhog day? I was called from my basement office, pulled from an eyes-glazed-over computer-screen-induced reverie by the staccato sound of a Stihl chainsaw and eager men?s voices. <br/>Someone was next door yelling and someone else was up in her branches, caressing and trimming and crawling all over Big Red. I stumbled outside into the daylight to try to understand what was taking place and as soon as I spied him up there, doing things for her that I never could, I felt my mouth go dry and and those stinging, emerald arrows of envy piercing my soul.<br/>?Ohhh, do be gentle with her . . . ? I whispered under my breath. <br/><br/><br/>";s:7:"summary";s:1317:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/2/5_That_Big_Red,_High_Maintenance_Gal_Next_Door_files/20110128_DPP-15b-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object000_3.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:191px;"/></a>I utterly adore living next to this auburn-skinned goddess, despite the fact that she is extremely messy and the fact that she casts an imposing shadow across my sun-hungry garden for some part of each and every day of the year that the sun is willing to shine.<br/>A few days ago, was it groundhog day? I was called from my basement office, pulled from an eyes-glazed-over computer-screen-induced reverie by the staccato sound of a Stihl chainsaw and eager men?s voices. <br/>Someone was next door yelling and someone else was up in her branches, caressing and trimming and crawling all over Big Red. I stumbled outside into the daylight to try to understand what was taking place and as soon as I spied him up there, doing things for her that I never could, I felt my mouth go dry and and those stinging, emerald arrows of envy piercing my soul.<br/>?Ohhh, do be gentle with her . . . ? I whispered under my breath. <br/><br/><br/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1296893815;}i:3;a:7:{s:5:"title";s:23:"DUDE! The Chard abides.";s:4:"link";s:122:"http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/31_DUDE%21_The_Chard_abides..html";s:4:"guid";s:36:"4fadaaf0-a3d2-4a1a-af41-5c3ff3ca83ca";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:43:55 -0800";s:11:"description";s:1817:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/31_DUDE%21_The_Chard_abides._files/20110131_DPP-49T-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object001_4.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:143px;"/></a>Thirty one days into the new year. A month, lived, banked, gone. It?s definitely still winter, and yet just minutes before the sun disappeared below the buildings and trees way down there on the southwestern horizon today, I found myself laying on my belly in wet grass, lining up the shot you see above, watching those last sweet rays of golden sunlight literally vibrating within tasty, young Beta vulgaris leaves and stems on this last day of January. <br/>I couldn?t help grinning. I felt like a kid who?d just discovered a lost twenty in his jeans pocket.<br/>What else could I have done within such a small window of time and at so little cost that would have endowed me with so much innocent, seasonal joy? This is just one little example of the magic that having a camera in hand can afford, if you?re willing to look closely, take your cues from the world around you, and play. So what if my elbows and knees are still wet, and so what if one of my neighbors drove past while I was laying there, looking a little apprehensively out her car window at me, face lined with mixed expressions of curiosity and quizzical concern. <br/>It is the last day of January in Seattle, and whether or not the significance of that will be apparent to your observing eyes in the photo above, dude, the chard abides.<br/><br/>And now for the briefest of physics lessons: <a href="http://www.worqx.com/color/complements.htm">Vibrating Colors</a>.<br/><br/><br/>";s:7:"summary";s:1817:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/31_DUDE%21_The_Chard_abides._files/20110131_DPP-49T-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object001_4.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:143px;"/></a>Thirty one days into the new year. A month, lived, banked, gone. It?s definitely still winter, and yet just minutes before the sun disappeared below the buildings and trees way down there on the southwestern horizon today, I found myself laying on my belly in wet grass, lining up the shot you see above, watching those last sweet rays of golden sunlight literally vibrating within tasty, young Beta vulgaris leaves and stems on this last day of January. <br/>I couldn?t help grinning. I felt like a kid who?d just discovered a lost twenty in his jeans pocket.<br/>What else could I have done within such a small window of time and at so little cost that would have endowed me with so much innocent, seasonal joy? This is just one little example of the magic that having a camera in hand can afford, if you?re willing to look closely, take your cues from the world around you, and play. So what if my elbows and knees are still wet, and so what if one of my neighbors drove past while I was laying there, looking a little apprehensively out her car window at me, face lined with mixed expressions of curiosity and quizzical concern. <br/>It is the last day of January in Seattle, and whether or not the significance of that will be apparent to your observing eyes in the photo above, dude, the chard abides.<br/><br/>And now for the briefest of physics lessons: <a href="http://www.worqx.com/color/complements.htm">Vibrating Colors</a>.<br/><br/><br/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1296524635;}i:4;a:7:{s:5:"title";s:59:"Free Seminar This Saturday: Picturing Your Garden in Winter";s:4:"link";s:156:"http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/20_Free_Seminar_This_Saturday__Picturing_Your_Garden_in_Winter.html";s:4:"guid";s:36:"7774ebb1-0341-489c-9190-87b31875dbc8";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 20 Jan 2011 11:06:03 -0800";s:11:"description";s:2761:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/20_Free_Seminar_This_Saturday__Picturing_Your_Garden_in_Winter_files/PicturingYourGardenInWinter-s-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object010_1.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:107px;"/></a>For those of you following the blog from here in the Seattle region, I?m tickled to be able to tell you that I will be presenting a seminar this Saturday morning, January 22 at 10:30am at <a href="http://www.molbaks.com/">Molbaks Garden + Home</a> in Wooodinville, WA. <br/>I?m really excited about this multi-faceted opportunity, and here?s why: <br/>First, from 10:30-11:30, we?ll explore the wide ranging possibilities for garden related photography in this least likely of seasons through an illustrated slide presentation, which I suspect attendees will fine both entertaining and instructional. It will be geared toward point-and-shoot camera owners but include information that should challenge and intrigue all levels of photographers, covering both indoor and outdoor photo opportunities, and even touch on making groovy, garden-related pictures with your flatbed scanner.<br/>Then, following the lecture portion of the presentation, I?m encouraging attendees to head out with their cameras and me, to actually put in practice some of those things they?ve just learned, while they are still fresh in their minds. We?ll spend the next hour or so spreading out, wandering and shooting right there within the nursery grounds, during which time I will gladly share hands-on tips and offer camera and compositional coaching.<br/>So, if you?ve not already committed your Saturday morning to something else, I heartily encourage you to grab your camera (point-and-shoot or SLR), your tripod or monopod (if you?ve got one and promise not to block traffic for their other customers), and come on out to Molbaks in Woodinville. I?m thinking we?re gonna have some fun.<br/>Here?s the info as it reads on the <a href="http://www.molbaks.com/events.html">Molbaks</a> website:<br/>10:30am-11:30am  -  Want to capture the beauty of your winter garden and bring it inside? David will inspire you with his fantastic images and explain how to photograph your winter garden and set up indoor photo sessions, too. Bring your camera (point-and-clicks welcome) for equipment tips.<br/>11:30am-12:30pm - Explore the store with David, and take photos using the tips you?ve learned.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>And here is the means to find your way there:<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>";s:7:"summary";s:2761:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/20_Free_Seminar_This_Saturday__Picturing_Your_Garden_in_Winter_files/PicturingYourGardenInWinter-s-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object010_1.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:107px;"/></a>For those of you following the blog from here in the Seattle region, I?m tickled to be able to tell you that I will be presenting a seminar this Saturday morning, January 22 at 10:30am at <a href="http://www.molbaks.com/">Molbaks Garden + Home</a> in Wooodinville, WA. <br/>I?m really excited about this multi-faceted opportunity, and here?s why: <br/>First, from 10:30-11:30, we?ll explore the wide ranging possibilities for garden related photography in this least likely of seasons through an illustrated slide presentation, which I suspect attendees will fine both entertaining and instructional. It will be geared toward point-and-shoot camera owners but include information that should challenge and intrigue all levels of photographers, covering both indoor and outdoor photo opportunities, and even touch on making groovy, garden-related pictures with your flatbed scanner.<br/>Then, following the lecture portion of the presentation, I?m encouraging attendees to head out with their cameras and me, to actually put in practice some of those things they?ve just learned, while they are still fresh in their minds. We?ll spend the next hour or so spreading out, wandering and shooting right there within the nursery grounds, during which time I will gladly share hands-on tips and offer camera and compositional coaching.<br/>So, if you?ve not already committed your Saturday morning to something else, I heartily encourage you to grab your camera (point-and-shoot or SLR), your tripod or monopod (if you?ve got one and promise not to block traffic for their other customers), and come on out to Molbaks in Woodinville. I?m thinking we?re gonna have some fun.<br/>Here?s the info as it reads on the <a href="http://www.molbaks.com/events.html">Molbaks</a> website:<br/>10:30am-11:30am  -  Want to capture the beauty of your winter garden and bring it inside? David will inspire you with his fantastic images and explain how to photograph your winter garden and set up indoor photo sessions, too. Bring your camera (point-and-clicks welcome) for equipment tips.<br/>11:30am-12:30pm - Explore the store with David, and take photos using the tips you?ve learned.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>And here is the means to find your way there:<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1295550363;}i:5;a:7:{s:5:"title";s:81:"It really doesn?t take much to make some of us gardeners happy this time of year.";s:4:"link";s:186:"http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/16_It_really_doesn%E2%80%99t_take_much_to_make_some_of_us_gardeners_happy_this_time_of_year..html";s:4:"guid";s:36:"a95a036a-7dc0-4a03-8acd-698583bb8959";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:57:03 -0800";s:11:"description";s:2390:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/16_It_really_doesn%E2%80%99t_take_much_to_make_some_of_us_gardeners_happy_this_time_of_year._files/20110116_DPP-2-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object002_1.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:150px;"/></a>Today, all that was required was a temporary opening in those gray, bleeding rain clouds and a few minutes outdoors, gulping fresh winds and bending earthward in my winter-hunkered vegetable plot.  We?ve had a reasonably cold winter in Seattle this year, with several nights in the mid-teens, and many more below freezing. We?ve also had nearly a week of snowy days thus far, which is quite a few for us in a winter that is yet young. <br/>Despite all that, I can still walk out into my garden and admire the half dozen rows of garlic that are pushing out green shoots and winter roots, dutifully storing up enough energy to kick their alchemical transformation of sunlight into high gear once warmer weather arrives, that more earnest, clove fattening, springtime push. <br/>Yes, it is now mid-January and wealthy man that I am, I can still actually walk out my front door and pick a handful of vibrant colored chard when I want it, or a handful of flat-leaf parsley to flavor a sauce or a soup. I can gather fresh winter savory, or thyme, or rosemary . . . or chives.  And to my great delight, I still have enough of these beautiful beets in the ground that I can probably afford to continue pulling a handful every other week for a good couple of months yet, savoring both their nutritious, ruddy greens and their roasted, then rice-vinegared roots. <br/>Ahh sure, I know, my banker probably wouldn?t be much impressed with riches like these, but you know, each time I can turn off the computer or the TV and walk outside, each time I can gather something I?ve grown this time of year and bring it indoors, to feed myself and those I love, my heart is most assuredly impressed.<br/>We gardeners are simple like that. <br/>And no, I don?t see myself apologizing for existing in such a state anytime soon. Seriously, if lovin? beets is wrong, if growing them brands me with the sign of the ?dork?, why the heck would I want to be right?<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>";s:7:"summary";s:2390:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/16_It_really_doesn%E2%80%99t_take_much_to_make_some_of_us_gardeners_happy_this_time_of_year._files/20110116_DPP-2-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object002_1.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:150px;"/></a>Today, all that was required was a temporary opening in those gray, bleeding rain clouds and a few minutes outdoors, gulping fresh winds and bending earthward in my winter-hunkered vegetable plot.  We?ve had a reasonably cold winter in Seattle this year, with several nights in the mid-teens, and many more below freezing. We?ve also had nearly a week of snowy days thus far, which is quite a few for us in a winter that is yet young. <br/>Despite all that, I can still walk out into my garden and admire the half dozen rows of garlic that are pushing out green shoots and winter roots, dutifully storing up enough energy to kick their alchemical transformation of sunlight into high gear once warmer weather arrives, that more earnest, clove fattening, springtime push. <br/>Yes, it is now mid-January and wealthy man that I am, I can still actually walk out my front door and pick a handful of vibrant colored chard when I want it, or a handful of flat-leaf parsley to flavor a sauce or a soup. I can gather fresh winter savory, or thyme, or rosemary . . . or chives.  And to my great delight, I still have enough of these beautiful beets in the ground that I can probably afford to continue pulling a handful every other week for a good couple of months yet, savoring both their nutritious, ruddy greens and their roasted, then rice-vinegared roots. <br/>Ahh sure, I know, my banker probably wouldn?t be much impressed with riches like these, but you know, each time I can turn off the computer or the TV and walk outside, each time I can gather something I?ve grown this time of year and bring it indoors, to feed myself and those I love, my heart is most assuredly impressed.<br/>We gardeners are simple like that. <br/>And no, I don?t see myself apologizing for existing in such a state anytime soon. Seriously, if lovin? beets is wrong, if growing them brands me with the sign of the ?dork?, why the heck would I want to be right?<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1295222223;}i:6;a:7:{s:5:"title";s:57:" The view from my nighttime porch at this late hour . . .";s:4:"link";s:147:"http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/11_The_view_from_my_nighttime_porch_at_this_hour._._..html";s:4:"guid";s:36:"3341ab07-7b4e-416f-a45f-1ae5bcf09c4d";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:10:06 -0800";s:11:"description";s:1665:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/11_The_view_from_my_nighttime_porch_at_this_hour._._._files/20110111_DPP-snow3-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object004_1.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:183px;"/></a>If I would have allowed it, my camera would have most certainly made very different decisions about how this picture should look and feel. Overall, it would have made the image much lighter and it would have included more color. Silly camera, it has no sense whatsoever of mystery or magic, no imagination. The picture it would have recorded would not have felt at all like the truth. Instead, this picture is dark and monochromatic because that is what it actually looks like to my eyes when I walk outside tonight, and far more true to how the world feels emotionally to my soul as I peer enchantedly into the nearly silent storm. But getting there meant forcing the camera?s hand and telling it little lies.<br/>I made my picture muted and shadowy because it just seems to me that a photograph of a beautiful snowstorm at night should actually look and feel cold and dark, that it should resemble the nighttime it represents, asking you to peer deeply into it rather than just glance hurriedly and be on your way.<br/>It is the poet?s task to create mood as well as story, to inform tone and tenor, shaping those journeys he invites others to travel with him, regardless of whether they will find them easily ?likeable? . . . or especially ?pretty?.<br/><br/><br/><br/>";s:7:"summary";s:1665:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/11_The_view_from_my_nighttime_porch_at_this_hour._._._files/20110111_DPP-snow3-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object004_1.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:183px;"/></a>If I would have allowed it, my camera would have most certainly made very different decisions about how this picture should look and feel. Overall, it would have made the image much lighter and it would have included more color. Silly camera, it has no sense whatsoever of mystery or magic, no imagination. The picture it would have recorded would not have felt at all like the truth. Instead, this picture is dark and monochromatic because that is what it actually looks like to my eyes when I walk outside tonight, and far more true to how the world feels emotionally to my soul as I peer enchantedly into the nearly silent storm. But getting there meant forcing the camera?s hand and telling it little lies.<br/>I made my picture muted and shadowy because it just seems to me that a photograph of a beautiful snowstorm at night should actually look and feel cold and dark, that it should resemble the nighttime it represents, asking you to peer deeply into it rather than just glance hurriedly and be on your way.<br/>It is the poet?s task to create mood as well as story, to inform tone and tenor, shaping those journeys he invites others to travel with him, regardless of whether they will find them easily ?likeable? . . . or especially ?pretty?.<br/><br/><br/><br/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1294812606;}i:7;a:7:{s:5:"title";s:28:"When it Seems Out of Control";s:4:"link";s:98:"http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/9_by.html";s:4:"guid";s:36:"d38fc8b6-86d8-448e-82e0-458ff67617e9";s:7:"pubdate";s:30:"Sun, 9 Jan 2011 16:49:36 -0800";s:11:"description";s:1752:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/9_by_files/20110107_DPP-16b2-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object011_1.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:135px;"/></a>Some days feel like one, long, painful,    n e v e r e n d i n g  battle . . .<br/>against ensuing chaos, <br/>against falling down <br/>or sliding backwards, <br/>against having precious opportunities <br/>s<br/>   l<br/>      i<br/>         p <br/>                                           continually <br/>through my fingers <br/>and into<br/>           . . . decay. <br/><br/>I cannot be the only one.<br/><br/>Some days, <br/>some much more than others,<br/>listening to the news does not help.<br/>Like yesterday. Tucson . . .<br/><br/>Actions birth reactions, yes,<br/> but<br/>if energy is never really lost<br/>then where,<br/>when it all seems to be falling apart<br/> does that energy and order I was counting on, <br/>building plans upon,<br/>go?<br/><br/>Is it merely transforming into something less seemingly useful to me? <br/>Less convenient?<br/>Less neat?<br/>Is it really just a matter<br/>of my perception?<br/><br/>Sometimes,<br/>when I manage to calm my fearful self,<br/>when I use my focus and breath to<br/>quiet the screaming monkeys,<br/>I find<br/>(this has happened again and again),<br/>bits and pieces of what I had truly thought<br/>lost.<br/>When I look from a whispered quiet,<br/>with my opened heart,<br/>as well as my eyes,<br/>I find there is still much magic<br/>much beauty.<br/>It?s just not where I thought I had left it,<br/>. . . last seen it.<br/><br/><br/><br/>";s:7:"summary";s:1752:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/9_by_files/20110107_DPP-16b2-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object011_1.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:135px;"/></a>Some days feel like one, long, painful,    n e v e r e n d i n g  battle . . .<br/>against ensuing chaos, <br/>against falling down <br/>or sliding backwards, <br/>against having precious opportunities <br/>s<br/>   l<br/>      i<br/>         p <br/>                                           continually <br/>through my fingers <br/>and into<br/>           . . . decay. <br/><br/>I cannot be the only one.<br/><br/>Some days, <br/>some much more than others,<br/>listening to the news does not help.<br/>Like yesterday. Tucson . . .<br/><br/>Actions birth reactions, yes,<br/> but<br/>if energy is never really lost<br/>then where,<br/>when it all seems to be falling apart<br/> does that energy and order I was counting on, <br/>building plans upon,<br/>go?<br/><br/>Is it merely transforming into something less seemingly useful to me? <br/>Less convenient?<br/>Less neat?<br/>Is it really just a matter<br/>of my perception?<br/><br/>Sometimes,<br/>when I manage to calm my fearful self,<br/>when I use my focus and breath to<br/>quiet the screaming monkeys,<br/>I find<br/>(this has happened again and again),<br/>bits and pieces of what I had truly thought<br/>lost.<br/>When I look from a whispered quiet,<br/>with my opened heart,<br/>as well as my eyes,<br/>I find there is still much magic<br/>much beauty.<br/>It?s just not where I thought I had left it,<br/>. . . last seen it.<br/><br/><br/><br/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1294620576;}i:8;a:7:{s:5:"title";s:45:"Now Playing over at Gardening Gone Wild . . .";s:4:"link";s:141:"http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/2_Now_Playing_over_at_Gardening_Gone_Wild_._._..html";s:4:"guid";s:36:"ab633354-121f-4a59-92a2-0608ecbc2fb6";s:7:"pubdate";s:30:"Sun, 2 Jan 2011 09:58:17 -0800";s:11:"description";s:2206:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/2_Now_Playing_over_at_Gardening_Gone_Wild_._._._files/20101027pl-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object001_5.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:185px;"/></a>This makes the second time I?ve been invited to guest judge a photo contest for those fine folks over at <a href="http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/?p=15262#more-15262">Gardening Gone Wild</a>, (the first one was in <a href="http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/?p=7067">August, 2009</a>), and if that first one was any indication of how this one will develop, I assure you, we are all in for some pretty innovative and amazing photography submissions.<br/>The theme for this month?s ?Picture This Photo Contest?, as you likely have deduced from the ?poster? image (above), is ?Macro in a Mason Jar?, a method/topic many of you here will already be well aware of from our previous forays into the realm here on this blog last year.<br/><a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2009/11/9_Macro_in_a_Mason_Jar.html#comment_1E9B39C8_0124_1000_89D5_B629D342D0C8">Macro in a Mason Jar</a><br/><a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2009/11/11_More_from_the_bottom_of_the_jar_._._..html">More from the bottom of the jar . . .</a><br/><a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2009/11/30_Mason_Jar_Master_Class.html">Mason Jar Master Class</a><br/><br/>So, if any of you are of a mind to enter a prestigious photo contest and add your bragging rights and winner?s badge to your own blog, or if you just want to lurk and watch what others come up with, be sure to head on over to the <a href="http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/?p=15262#more-15262">Gardening Gone Wild</a> website and show them/us all what you?ve got. You?ll have until midnight on January 24 to round up the jar of your dreams  and make some macro magic. <br/>I do hope you?ll join in the fun . . .<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>";s:7:"summary";s:2206:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2011/1/2_Now_Playing_over_at_Gardening_Gone_Wild_._._._files/20101027pl-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object001_5.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:185px;"/></a>This makes the second time I?ve been invited to guest judge a photo contest for those fine folks over at <a href="http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/?p=15262#more-15262">Gardening Gone Wild</a>, (the first one was in <a href="http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/?p=7067">August, 2009</a>), and if that first one was any indication of how this one will develop, I assure you, we are all in for some pretty innovative and amazing photography submissions.<br/>The theme for this month?s ?Picture This Photo Contest?, as you likely have deduced from the ?poster? image (above), is ?Macro in a Mason Jar?, a method/topic many of you here will already be well aware of from our previous forays into the realm here on this blog last year.<br/><a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2009/11/9_Macro_in_a_Mason_Jar.html#comment_1E9B39C8_0124_1000_89D5_B629D342D0C8">Macro in a Mason Jar</a><br/><a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2009/11/11_More_from_the_bottom_of_the_jar_._._..html">More from the bottom of the jar . . .</a><br/><a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2009/11/30_Mason_Jar_Master_Class.html">Mason Jar Master Class</a><br/><br/>So, if any of you are of a mind to enter a prestigious photo contest and add your bragging rights and winner?s badge to your own blog, or if you just want to lurk and watch what others come up with, be sure to head on over to the <a href="http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/?p=15262#more-15262">Gardening Gone Wild</a> website and show them/us all what you?ve got. You?ll have until midnight on January 24 to round up the jar of your dreams  and make some macro magic. <br/>I do hope you?ll join in the fun . . .<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1293991097;}i:9;a:7:{s:5:"title";s:25:"New Math for the New Year";s:4:"link";s:123:"http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/31_New_Math_for_the_New_Year.html";s:4:"guid";s:36:"0387d08d-26be-444d-96ac-9f01ce1867da";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Fri, 31 Dec 2010 16:14:45 -0800";s:11:"description";s:1017:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/31_New_Math_for_the_New_Year_files/20101219_DPP-7b2-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object000_4.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:152px; height:107px;"/></a>. . . Wallowing in her lovesickness, Marge determined to become the new, most irresistible data point on the professor?s hunky radar screen.<br/><br/>. . . Since this most recent alien abduction, Marvin had begun seeing his math assignments in an entirely new light.<br/><br/>. . .  Knowing Professor Schmink was a sucker for extra credit problems incorporating his all time favorite number, Mildred pulled out all the stops; one desperate, last ditch effort to rescue her abysmal GPA.<br/><br/>. . . ?No Leroy!? Pamela cried out, ?Not square pie! Pi squared!?  Obviously, Leroy was very hungry.<br/><br/>. . .<br/><br/>. . .<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>";s:7:"summary";s:1017:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/31_New_Math_for_the_New_Year_files/20101219_DPP-7b2-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object000_4.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:152px; height:107px;"/></a>. . . Wallowing in her lovesickness, Marge determined to become the new, most irresistible data point on the professor?s hunky radar screen.<br/><br/>. . . Since this most recent alien abduction, Marvin had begun seeing his math assignments in an entirely new light.<br/><br/>. . .  Knowing Professor Schmink was a sucker for extra credit problems incorporating his all time favorite number, Mildred pulled out all the stops; one desperate, last ditch effort to rescue her abysmal GPA.<br/><br/>. . . ?No Leroy!? Pamela cried out, ?Not square pie! Pi squared!?  Obviously, Leroy was very hungry.<br/><br/>. . .<br/><br/>. . .<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1293840885;}i:10;a:7:{s:5:"title";s:39:"GARDENERS DREAM DIFFERENT: LE RVE DEUX";s:4:"link";s:139:"http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/28_GARDENERS_DREAM_DIFFERENT__R%C3%89VE_DEUX.html";s:4:"guid";s:36:"09c81ce0-de74-4984-9de8-b7fa9c9e34c1";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Tue, 28 Dec 2010 12:54:41 -0800";s:11:"description";s:1818:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/28_GARDENERS_DREAM_DIFFERENT__R%C3%89VE_DEUX_files/20101227_DPP-14-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object000_5.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:213px; height:107px;"/></a>Though it is deeply and inarguably grey outdoors, and very wet, I have been finding at least some respite in these last, darkish days of December each time I gaze across my plant-crowded dining room and out the picture window. For here, in muted shades of glow and tint, a veritable jungle of overwintering plants can be observed whispering secrets between themselves and exhaling delicious, oxygen-rich air.<br/>Taken all together in one living, breathing, indoor/outdoor visual panorama, they form a lush collage that feeds and soothes, that caresses the imagination like a dream: Meyer Lemon, Elephant Ears, Abyssinian Banana, Dracaena, Rubber Plant, Lemon Verbena, Asparagus Fern, Ficus, the Laurel hedge, beyond . . . and others.<br/>I find myself making excuses to walk past this room several times each rainy day.<br/>Outside, the first of the Sarcococca are just beginning to think about blooming and adding their fragrant magic to the damp winter air while the earliest of the hellebores are beginning to push out new growth, as well. Soon enough there will be scents of Witch Hazel mingling with them, and then, Daphne . . . but these wonders will only appear when it is time. And it is not yet time.<br/>Until then, my eyes will continue to wander through the textured layers of my dining room jungle.<br/>Tell me, what sorts of treats are you offering your plant-hungry self this time of year? Care to share a picture? <br/>";s:7:"summary";s:1818:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/28_GARDENERS_DREAM_DIFFERENT__R%C3%89VE_DEUX_files/20101227_DPP-14-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object000_5.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:213px; height:107px;"/></a>Though it is deeply and inarguably grey outdoors, and very wet, I have been finding at least some respite in these last, darkish days of December each time I gaze across my plant-crowded dining room and out the picture window. For here, in muted shades of glow and tint, a veritable jungle of overwintering plants can be observed whispering secrets between themselves and exhaling delicious, oxygen-rich air.<br/>Taken all together in one living, breathing, indoor/outdoor visual panorama, they form a lush collage that feeds and soothes, that caresses the imagination like a dream: Meyer Lemon, Elephant Ears, Abyssinian Banana, Dracaena, Rubber Plant, Lemon Verbena, Asparagus Fern, Ficus, the Laurel hedge, beyond . . . and others.<br/>I find myself making excuses to walk past this room several times each rainy day.<br/>Outside, the first of the Sarcococca are just beginning to think about blooming and adding their fragrant magic to the damp winter air while the earliest of the hellebores are beginning to push out new growth, as well. Soon enough there will be scents of Witch Hazel mingling with them, and then, Daphne . . . but these wonders will only appear when it is time. And it is not yet time.<br/>Until then, my eyes will continue to wander through the textured layers of my dining room jungle.<br/>Tell me, what sorts of treats are you offering your plant-hungry self this time of year? Care to share a picture? <br/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1293569681;}i:11;a:7:{s:5:"title";s:37:"Mr. Perry gets his holiday groove on.";s:4:"link";s:138:"http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/24_Today%E2%80%99s_Blue_Plate_Special_is_Pi.html";s:4:"guid";s:36:"b9eb9c79-9b2a-4f9a-8442-3030ad0a1f62";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Fri, 24 Dec 2010 23:37:33 -0800";s:11:"description";s:1023:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/24_Today%E2%80%99s_Blue_Plate_Special_is_Pi_files/20101224_DPP-23t-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object003_2.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:176px; height:107px;"/></a>May the magic of the season dance playfully across the pages of your imagination, whatever your traditions. <br/>And where they exist, may your heartaches, your unfinished grudges, your perceived slights and those pesky little, ever-present fears grow sleepy for a while, and then tuck themselves away for a long winter?s nap.<br/>Blessings to each of you, my friends.  And immense gratitude . . . for all the magic you embody, for all the wonders you add to the world I?ve been so fortunate to be a part of this past year.<br/>May we find ways to experience many more wonders and adventures together in this coming year.<br/><br/><br/><br/>";s:7:"summary";s:1023:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/24_Today%E2%80%99s_Blue_Plate_Special_is_Pi_files/20101224_DPP-23t-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object003_2.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:176px; height:107px;"/></a>May the magic of the season dance playfully across the pages of your imagination, whatever your traditions. <br/>And where they exist, may your heartaches, your unfinished grudges, your perceived slights and those pesky little, ever-present fears grow sleepy for a while, and then tuck themselves away for a long winter?s nap.<br/>Blessings to each of you, my friends.  And immense gratitude . . . for all the magic you embody, for all the wonders you add to the world I?ve been so fortunate to be a part of this past year.<br/>May we find ways to experience many more wonders and adventures together in this coming year.<br/><br/><br/><br/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1293262653;}i:12;a:7:{s:5:"title";s:25:"GARDENERS DREAM DIFFERENT";s:4:"link";s:123:"http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/19_GARDENERS_DREAM_DIFFERENT.html";s:4:"guid";s:36:"d1a5232d-8aec-4a82-ab62-20637a21365d";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Sun, 19 Dec 2010 09:27:58 -0800";s:11:"description";s:382:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/19_GARDENERS_DREAM_DIFFERENT_files/20091224_DPP-16t-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object001_6.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:197px;"/></a><br/><br/><br/>";s:7:"summary";s:382:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/19_GARDENERS_DREAM_DIFFERENT_files/20091224_DPP-16t-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object001_6.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:143px; height:197px;"/></a><br/><br/><br/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1292779678;}i:13;a:7:{s:5:"title";s:89:"Some things are their own color. Others may best be described by invoking something else.";s:4:"link";s:187:"http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/16_Some_things_are_their_own_color._Others_may_best_be_described_by_invoking_something_else..html";s:4:"guid";s:36:"5a3219e3-3955-41fb-a38c-5e52a82aa54b";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 16 Dec 2010 11:33:27 -0800";s:11:"description";s:1060:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/16_Some_things_are_their_own_color._Others_may_best_be_described_by_invoking_something_else._files/20101208_Portland_456lf-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object000_6.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:170px; height:107px;"/></a>I didn?t make up these rules. <br/>But I can?t help noticing them.<br/>Or enjoying them.<br/>Some things are simply unique unto themselves. <br/>(See persimmon, above.)<br/>Others, while being no less beautiful or valuable     . . . or delicious,<br/>are really very much like something else.<br/>Or at least some aspect of something else.<br/>Like color.<br/>I find I?ve been photographing adjectives lately. <br/>Oblique adjectives.<br/>Yes . . .<br/>Obviously, these adjectives are intimately tied to the nouns that are pictured,<br/>but they are not the nouns themselves.<br/>Can you see the difference?<br/><br/><br/>";s:7:"summary";s:1060:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/16_Some_things_are_their_own_color._Others_may_best_be_described_by_invoking_something_else._files/20101208_Portland_456lf-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object000_6.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:170px; height:107px;"/></a>I didn?t make up these rules. <br/>But I can?t help noticing them.<br/>Or enjoying them.<br/>Some things are simply unique unto themselves. <br/>(See persimmon, above.)<br/>Others, while being no less beautiful or valuable     . . . or delicious,<br/>are really very much like something else.<br/>Or at least some aspect of something else.<br/>Like color.<br/>I find I?ve been photographing adjectives lately. <br/>Oblique adjectives.<br/>Yes . . .<br/>Obviously, these adjectives are intimately tied to the nouns that are pictured,<br/>but they are not the nouns themselves.<br/>Can you see the difference?<br/><br/><br/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1292528007;}i:14;a:7:{s:5:"title";s:16:"Trading up . . .";s:4:"link";s:139:"http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/7_Why_you_should_always_shoot_more_than_one..html";s:4:"guid";s:36:"bc53dd55-167c-44a6-89b9-c373692bf9e9";s:7:"pubdate";s:30:"Tue, 7 Dec 2010 12:44:13 -0800";s:11:"description";s:5644:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/7_Why_you_should_always_shoot_more_than_one._files/20101202_-25b-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object1015.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:172px; height:107px;"/></a>More than a dozen years of hard use. Literally broken in half on a magazine cover shoot in LA when the bond holding the tripod head onto an eight-hundred dollar carbon fiber tripod simply failed, utterly and without warning, sending my fairly new, image-stabilized Canon EF 70-200 f2.8L and the camera body it was attached to into a six foot free-fall followed by a sudden CRASH as it smashed into the tiled concrete floor below. <br/>Everything was going wrong that day, but I wasn?t about to let the gremlins win by imploding into the pile of defeated goo that I felt like, so instead I immediately grabbed another body, slapped on a different, somewhat less ideal lens for the shot I was shooting and kept right on shooting, trying like hell not to let anyone see how shaken I was. Especially not those two little boys, who were struggling enough as it was.<br/>The shot worked out, the cover looked great, no thanks to Gitzo I might add, and somehow those amazing techs at Canon Professional Services put my poor, broken lens back together so that it looked and worked like it was brand new. That was more than ten years ago. It had been back to them twice since then, each time restored to like new operation after some little functional malady stole some of its impeccable sharpness and image recording thunder.  I really loved that lens.<br/>But I finally traded it in last week. Brought home the new generation of Canon glass and engineering in its place. Sharper yet. Vastly improved gyro-stabilizer and better optics for the world of digital imagery as opposed to those film shoots of yester-decade. Did I mention that it?s closer focusing, too.<br/>They?re rebuilding another of my ?L? lenses at the Canon Pro Services repair shop this week, my image stabilized EF 24-105 f4L. No major problems. Not like being broken in half, or like the new shutter assembly they just put into my EOS1DsMark III camera body after I started noticing this weird, shutter-bounce banding on many of my images shot at a 640th of a second and faster. The Canon techs sent that body back to me yesterday, cleaned, lubed, shutter assembly replaced and tested. Like new. Fully ready for hundreds of new trials and adventures. <br/>Yee Haw.<br/>Circling back round to that 24-105, it just had some grit that got in under the focusing ring mechanism somehow during a really busy stretch shooting on farms and ranches this fall. It had apparently already worked itself out  . . . or been ground to dust by the focus gearing over a few days of hard use, but the memory of it worried me, and kept me wondering if further problems might eventually arise if I didn?t get it taken care of. So I kept a watchful eye on the images shot through it from the time it first started making that little grinding sound, onward and as soon as things quieted down, assignment-wise, I packaged it up and sent it to the best camera doctors I know of, figuring it was time for a top-to-bottom lube and tune exam.  I love that lens too. Which means that I wanna treat it right and sure don?t want it to go breaking down in the middle of a shoot. That?s just crazy-making, and I?ll do whatever I can to avoid it.<br/>Meantime, I?m working with my new friend, trying to come to an intimate understanding its personality and nuances, wanting to intuit just how and where it is different from its predecessor, so that I can make the most of its technological improvements and make ever better pictures. Crazy idea, huhhh?<br/>Every camera and every different lens has a personality . . .  a kind of voice, if you will, like a piano or a guitar might. Or a clarinet. Heck, even computer keyboards seem to have personalities, and no two that I?ve ever used feel quite the same. Now, honestly, I couldn?t tell you just how that might look or feel with a musical instrument, cuz that?s not really my language, but any musician of any standing that I know will be very particular about the innate personality of any given instrument he or she is playing. Since no two are the exactly the same, some just seem to blend with one?s own musical sensibilities better than others. Lenses are like that too. And where I had become atuned to the personality of my previous 70-200 over perhaps many tens of thousands of images and more than a decade of assignments under every sort of circumstance, I can tell right off the bat that this one sees and records things a bit differently. It?s subtle, but it?s there. Still, so far, this new lens and I are pretty much in grinning agreement on how things should look and work. The images do seem sharper but also maybe just a bit more contrasty. And there?s definitely less chromatic aberration and less linear distortion, and it seems when looking at the images in high magnification, noticeably better edge sharpness. All those are good things. But they are also different, which means that at times they could make this lens seem more of a stickler and a bit less forgiving than my old lens. <br/>I?m sure I?ll understand much better in time, but for now I?m delighted to take my chances.<br/>For now, we play. We learn about one another. <br/>And we wait for the littler brother lens to find its way safely back home from the doc. It?s that time of year.<br/><br/><br/>";s:7:"summary";s:5644:"<a href="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Entries/2010/12/7_Why_you_should_always_shoot_more_than_one._files/20101202_-25b-filtered_1.jpg"><img src="http://web.me.com/davidperryphoto1/GardenBlog/A_Photographers_Garden_Blog/Media/object1015.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:172px; height:107px;"/></a>More than a dozen years of hard use. Literally broken in half on a magazine cover shoot in LA when the bond holding the tripod head onto an eight-hundred dollar carbon fiber tripod simply failed, utterly and without warning, sending my fairly new, image-stabilized Canon EF 70-200 f2.8L and the camera body it was attached to into a six foot free-fall followed by a sudden CRASH as it smashed into the tiled concrete floor below. <br/>Everything was going wrong that day, but I wasn?t about to let the gremlins win by imploding into the pile of defeated goo that I felt like, so instead I immediately grabbed another body, slapped on a different, somewhat less ideal lens for the shot I was shooting and kept right on shooting, trying like hell not to let anyone see how shaken I was. Especially not those two little boys, who were struggling enough as it was.<br/>The shot worked out, the cover looked great, no thanks to Gitzo I might add, and somehow those amazing techs at Canon Professional Services put my poor, broken lens back together so that it looked and worked like it was brand new. That was more than ten years ago. It had been back to them twice since then, each time restored to like new operation after some little functional malady stole some of its impeccable sharpness and image recording thunder.  I really loved that lens.<br/>But I finally traded it in last week. Brought home the new generation of Canon glass and engineering in its place. Sharper yet. Vastly improved gyro-stabilizer and better optics for the world of digital imagery as opposed to those film shoots of yester-decade. Did I mention that it?s closer focusing, too.<br/>They?re rebuilding another of my ?L? lenses at the Canon Pro Services repair shop this week, my image stabilized EF 24-105 f4L. No major problems. Not like being broken in half, or like the new shutter assembly they just put into my EOS1DsMark III camera body after I started noticing this weird, shutter-bounce banding on many of my images shot at a 640th of a second and faster. The Canon techs sent that body back to me yesterday, cleaned, lubed, shutter assembly replaced and tested. Like new. Fully ready for hundreds of new trials and adventures. <br/>Yee Haw.<br/>Circling back round to that 24-105, it just had some grit that got in under the focusing ring mechanism somehow during a really busy stretch shooting on farms and ranches this fall. It had apparently already worked itself out  . . . or been ground to dust by the focus gearing over a few days of hard use, but the memory of it worried me, and kept me wondering if further problems might eventually arise if I didn?t get it taken care of. So I kept a watchful eye on the images shot through it from the time it first started making that little grinding sound, onward and as soon as things quieted down, assignment-wise, I packaged it up and sent it to the best camera doctors I know of, figuring it was time for a top-to-bottom lube and tune exam.  I love that lens too. Which means that I wanna treat it right and sure don?t want it to go breaking down in the middle of a shoot. That?s just crazy-making, and I?ll do whatever I can to avoid it.<br/>Meantime, I?m working with my new friend, trying to come to an intimate understanding its personality and nuances, wanting to intuit just how and where it is different from its predecessor, so that I can make the most of its technological improvements and make ever better pictures. Crazy idea, huhhh?<br/>Every camera and every different lens has a personality . . .  a kind of voice, if you will, like a piano or a guitar might. Or a clarinet. Heck, even computer keyboards seem to have personalities, and no two that I?ve ever used feel quite the same. Now, honestly, I couldn?t tell you just how that might look or feel with a musical instrument, cuz that?s not really my language, but any musician of any standing that I know will be very particular about the innate personality of any given instrument he or she is playing. Since no two are the exactly the same, some just seem to blend with one?s own musical sensibilities better than others. Lenses are like that too. And where I had become atuned to the personality of my previous 70-200 over perhaps many tens of thousands of images and more than a decade of assignments under every sort of circumstance, I can tell right off the bat that this one sees and records things a bit differently. It?s subtle, but it?s there. Still, so far, this new lens and I are pretty much in grinning agreement on how things should look and work. The images do seem sharper but also maybe just a bit more contrasty. And there?s definitely less chromatic aberration and less linear distortion, and it seems when looking at the images in high magnification, noticeably better edge sharpness. All those are good things. But they are also different, which means that at times they could make this lens seem more of a stickler and a bit less forgiving than my old lens. <br/>I?m sure I?ll understand much better in time, but for now I?m delighted to take my chances.<br/>For now, we play. We learn about one another. <br/>And we wait for the littler brother lens to find its way safely back home from the doc. It?s that time of year.<br/><br/><br/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1291754653;}}s:7:"channel";a:5:{s:5:"title";s:25:"DAVID  PERRY
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