Signs of Spring

The snow has been disappearing, the cakes of ice beneath revealed and melting away under the influence of the warming sun.  This general feeling of ’spring’ was given voice a couple of days ago when I got home from work.  Forgotten since the fall, the garden fairies that I had stuck in a deserted flower box were being revealed again.

It was getting quite dark when I took the picture, so I opted for my flash.  Since I was also quite close to the subject and didn’t want to overpower it, I made sure the ISO was down and put the circular polariser on.  I figured that would cut any reflected glare from the ice but still keep things well lit.  It seems to have done the trick!

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Time

Part of the photo-essay on my father I’m calling ‘Glimpses’. I found a box of broken pocket watches. He worked in an industrial setting, where you can’t wear wristwatches or anything that can catch in machinery. Mum assured me these watches were well and truly “broken”, as they had tried to get them fixed years ago.

It makes you wonder why he kept them. But then he grew up in a different world. You didn’t throw anything away, not if you might need it, or parts of it, someday. Even if there was no WAY you’ld ever need it….

I admit I’ve got a touch of the pack-rat in me. Photography gives me an excuse to collect these little things, these glimpses. I call them my “prop’s” and hide them in the studio. What will I do once I’m done with the pictures? Throw them away? Seems a shame, maybe I should just store them…

The fine mechanism of a pocket watch provides an interesting subject, and gives me insight into a man I loved but never really understood.

Doug

 

Heading Home

I like pictures that have a clear message or feeling. This one every Canadian should recognise. I called it “Heading Home”.

 

Oslo monument

Anyway, enough slide scanning. Here is a cool shot I cropped out of a print I took from my Oslo stuff. This was one of my first trips to “Europe” (well, Scandanavia….) and I thought “Wow! A statue of flying frogman!”. I suppose it’s actually called an “installation”, but I’m not that sophisticated.

 

Oslo

Well, from Vienna to Oslo, Norway. Here is a monument I took from a number of angles. This shot I always liked best, perhap’s because of the way the clouds complement the feeling of cold mystery!

 

Viennese ads

After a look at the spiritual side of Vienna, let’s check out the more secular. A row of colourful billboards along a cobblestone street.

 

Monkway

Here is that last door from the hallway. These shots were taken at Kremsmunster monastery in Austria. A very interesting place to take pictures, and ironically learn a lot about the history of science.

 

Door

I keep coming across doors, windows, openings whenever I look through my slides. There is a very metaphorical side to “portals”. Am I trying to go somewhere? Is a door just a door?

 

Fish-eye

Another deep sea secret from the depths of the big tank….