8:15 am, August 6, 1945

Today's photograph isn't all that remarkable. But the artifact in the photo is. This watch was being worn by a Hiroshima resident on the day the first atomic bomb was dropped. The watch survived the bomb blast but it quit working at the precise time the bomb detonated - 8:15 am. You can find this watch in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum but I can't tell you what happened to the person wearing it.We visited Hiroshima in 2004 on our trip to Japan. Our son, Brian, took us there and I'm glad he did. The day we were there, we were sourrounded by Japanese citizens visiting this historic site and the memorial erected there. You would think that Americans might not be welcome at the bomb site and the museum. But that wasn't the case, largely because the memorial grounds house a peace center that aims to eliminate nuclear weapons. And I'm sure the Japanese are more than eager to welcome us to this cause.

Magical

This is from a few years ago. The original photo is fairly mundane and though I don't like to manipulate a photo too much with Photoshop affects, I'm guilty of doing it here.

The Little Angel - Another View

I have posted this angel before but came across a series of photos I had taken in 2002. So I thought I'd posted a different point of view.

Tucks Sweetheart Candidates

There are traditions and groups in every school that those imbued with those things don't think twice about. One of Watertown High School's traditions is something called the "Tuckabachee Club." It is an honor society for junior and senior girls and in the fall they host a formal dance. As with many high school formals, a "queen" will rule over the proceedings. In the case of the Tucks Club, the person elected is called the "Sweetheart."I was asked to do the informal portrait for the Sweetheart Candidates and here they are - happy and cooperative. It's not a hard photo to take, other than finding the right setting. Here we are in bright shade but I couldn't do much to control the background, but I'm probably the only one who cares about that detail.

Tributaries

When I was studying the leaves of this tree last weekend, I was struck by the fact that the veins look a little like the multitude of channels in a river delta. In fact, just now I did a search for "river delta" and came up with this amazing NASA photo of the Lena River in Russia. What do you think? The veins in the leaf seem a little less random but there are similarities.

Old Fashioned Portrait

This senior portrait was taken a few years ago and by 2010 senior portrait standards, it is dated. But I still think is is a good portrait.We were out at Lake Kampeska near Watertown but the location is irrelevant. What is relevant is the combination of soft lighting, of the bright eyes and of the genuine smile. The hat adds personality and the black and white suggests that the colors she is wearing are less important than her face and eyes. Finally, there is very little Photoshop post-processing in this photo. Those are her real eyes and teeth. That is her real skin. And those are real freckles.By today's standards, this isn't a fashionable portrait. But I still like it.

Jack

I thought I would take a break from leaves, travel and flowers to post a portrait of one of my best friends. A few years ago Jack asked me to take a professional portrait of him. I was bit intimated because I had quite a bit of practice with high school seniors but little experience with more mature males.But what I had going me was a confident subject who was also comfortable with the photographer. Jack was pleased with his portrait and so was I.

Grief

I have 53,319 photos in my primary digital photo library. These are photos I have taken between 2002 and the present. I don't expect you to be impressed with this number - I'm not sure I am. I think many of these photos should be discarded.But, because I run out of things to post here, I am happy I have so many photos because it allows me to "throw a dart" when I'm stymied. Today, I randomly picked photos from May, 2009, and this one jumped out at me. It was taken at the amazing Mirogoj cemetery in Zabreb, Croatia. I wish I could tell you more about this monument but I can't.I can tell you that I like the woman's gentle demeanor and that I also like the great bokeh in the backround. Finally, I like the fact that the background is in color and that the woman seems to be in tones of sepia, which seems appropriate for a stoney figure mourning in a graveyard.

10-10-14 Nature in Black and White

I was back in my neighbor's back yard this past weekend looking for photo opportunities. We probably have plenty for me to photograph in our yard but we didn't have hosta plants with big leaves that were giving up the ghost as these were. I turned this photo to a high contrast black and white photo in part because I have been looking at the photography of Edward Weston. I'm not sure I like this photo but here it is anyway.

Back To Paris

This is the palace at the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, France. In this photo I am showing obedience to the principle of "zones" in a landscape photo: the idea that there is something in the front, something in the middle and something in the back. I guess it makes something that is two dimensional seem more three dimensional.

There Are No Answers Here

I remember reading an essay in a college literature class that was written by a poet who was concerned that the so called "new" science would take the mystery out of the universe by coldly explaining everything in scientific detail. Today, when I was looking at these yellow leaves, I wondered for a moment why some leaves are red in the fall and others, like these, are yellow.I imagined that science could give me an answer and I almost did a Google search. But then I realized that I am better off just wondering what the answer is because for me wonder lies in the mysterious realm between ignorance and truth. Though I do respect science and embrace its truths, I am also occasionally comfortable with my imaginings.So if you know the scientific reason for different fall colors, good for you. But don't tell me - at least today. I am quite content to wonder. . . .

Ready To Retire

These leaves have done their work for the relatively short summer season in South Dakota. The fall colors of these leaves are not very glamorous. But at this stage in their lives, they have an amazing amount of character with the many shades of green, yellow and brown.Soon they will fall to the ground and be raked up. But before then, they will grace the little lilac tree in our neighbor's back yard with the kind of quiet beauty that is often ignored.