Sunday, November 30, 2008

Mack: Encountering the Third World

Thanks to Mac for letting me post this to my Blog. 

My two cents: Christmas is way to force fed to us as a society.    I hate to hear

Christmas music and see Christmas stuff next to Halloween stuff in late September

And early October every year. A pumpkin and Santa Clause sitting next to a Witch…

Makes Me SICK.

 

Encountering The Third World

 

The week of Thanksgiving was one of horror, with televised images of terrorism, horror, panic, murder, and blood.  And that was just the first few days of Christmas shopping in America. 

 

Like The Religion of Peace-That-May-Not-be-Named, America is beginning to mark its holy days with body counts: one employee trampled to death (though not eaten) by shoppers in a big-box store in Long Island, New York, two dead by gunfire in a toy store in Palm Desert, California, and miscellaneous robberies in parking lots during the start of this festive season.

 

When the Long Island police closed the big-box store briefly to establish a crime scene for investigation, the murderers were angered that their shopping was interrupted.  After a few hours the Arkansas-based chain, in their compassion for an employee murdered while on the job, reopened the store because, after all, this is The Christmas Season.

 

Perhaps a foreign newspaper will write something like this about us:  The really frightening thing is that America, populated by such backward, irresponsible inhabitants, is a nuclear nation.  Spain, France, England, Japan, and China have in turn tried to colonize America, but with little residual effect.  Americans remain a simple people, easily amused by gifts of shiny but worthless trifles.  They delight in adorning themselves as perpetual children; even among the elderly grown-up clothing is as little known as thrift and self-restraint.  If such child-like primitives cannot be trusted not to kill each other over made-in-China baubles, how much danger might they be to civilized nations?  One fears that the nuclear trigger is in reach of a text-messaging forty-something Yank wearing head-phones, sneakers, knee-pants, and a tee-shirt bearing the iconic message of America in the 21st century: "Whasssssssssssssssss-Upppppppppppppppp?"

 

President Bush has offered help to India because of the latest mass murders committed by what some are pleased to call youths, but perhaps India could help us first because of murders committed by Christmas shoppers.  We point a patronizing finger at other dysfunctional cultures only at the risk of having an equally disapproving finger pointed back at our own.

 

Every year one reads how commercialized Christmas has become, but Christmas has not become commercialized at all: we have.  And commercialization is fine in its place; the buying and selling of goods mean jobs and prosperity.  Commerce is good, up until the point where shopping becomes not simply foolishness, like the silly woman who camps out in front of a store for days before a sale, but an act of terrorism.

 

We can do better.

 

-30-

 




Picture 446 crop


Picture 446 crop, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

This was taken in its original form on my first trip to St Louis. I did a crop of the photo getting rid of the building that was located in the bottom of the photo, just leaving the reflection of the courthouse and a few other buildings. Here is a link to the original photo titled "Random Artistic Shots..."

Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 100

I found this on a website called Shamboni.

http://www.shamboni.com/pictures/06242008154717Exalted.jpg

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DSC09980: Butterfly on Leaf


DSC09980: Butterfly on Leaf, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

This was another photo taken at the St Louis Zoo on Tuesday with my family visiting from Texas. I was using my Minolta 35-105mm lens during this trip as it is a good walk-around lens. I think that the "negative space" to the left really lets you center in on the butterfly set apart by landing on the very green leaves.

Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Saturday, November 29, 2008

DSC09513: Night Sky 1.2


DSC09513: Night Sky 1.2, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

You can see a little star trail in this photo. It was really cold this night being about 29 degrees at the time of this photo. I love the thin layer of clouds that can be seen in thsi photo.

Exposure: 96 sec (96)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 200

DSC09508: Night Sky 1.1


DSC09508: Night Sky 1.1, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

I focused the camera on Orion's Belt and then did a long timed exposure. It was about 29 degrees during the photo and i was ready to go back into the house. I love the clouds that can be seen in this photo.

Exposure: 72 sec (72)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Thursday, November 27, 2008

DSC09842: Hawk


DSC09842: Hawk, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

We were walking into the St Louis Zoo on Tuesday when we looked up in a tree that was near the front of the sliding doors. We saw this hawk. He was about 10 feet above us and just sitting on the limb. He was not really scared of us so i got out my camera and started taking some great photos of him.

I could not believe that he was in the middle of the city, although, the zoo is located in Forest Park. I wondered if he had escaped from a zoo exhibit or something like that.

I had my Minolta 35-105mm lens on the camera and just shot away. I wanted to change to my 70-300mm lens but was scared that he might take flight. He flew away after about 7-8 photos.

Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 100 mm
ISO Speed: 200

DSC00042: Portrait


DSC00042: Portrait, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

This is a photo of my mother. I took it today using my 70-300mm lens as a portrait lens. I noticed during several photos that it has very nice Bokeh even at Telephoto ranges using a shallow Depth Of Field. This is an area that i am trying to get into using my camera. Please let me know what you think of this photo.

Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Hot Oil!

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone.
From RMStringer

Fried Turkey

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone.
From RMStringer

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

DSC09965: Butterfly in Light...

When i was walking through the Butterfly Dome i was looking for a shot that would WOW me. This was just such a photograph.I think that this photo is one of the best photos that i have taken.

The lighting was just perfect on the butterfly with nice Bokeh, Framing, and position. I love how the light falls on his partially open wings and you can see just a hint of blue. Also how the light is shining through the top of his wing. The Depth Of Field is very nice with the green leaf very focused and the butterfly looking very ethereal

Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 200.

DSC00024: Arch Views 1.14


DSC00024: Arch Views 1.14, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

I was trying a bit of a different approach to taking a photo of The Arch. The structure if so massive and hard to get in one photograph. I love the perspective on this photo as it is not centered and has the negative space to the right of the object. The sky was flat in this photo with only a bright spot of sun reflecting off the bottom portion of the Arch.


Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/13
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

DSC00011: Views From Arch 1.7


DSC00011: Views From Arch 1.7, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

On the East Side of The Arch looking out over the Mississippi River to the Eads Bridge. Notice the big shadow on the Arch on the water? I think that it is really a neat photo.

Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200

The Arch!

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone.
From RMStringer

Monday, November 24, 2008

KWMU 90.7 Photo oF The Week.

I got photo of the week again!!

http://publicbroadcasting.net/kwmu/arts.artsmain is the link.

DSC09755: Blue Bird...

Red Legged Honeycreeper is what he is called.

Not really sure why he was sitting in the Butterfly Dome at the zoo. He has a brilliant color to him and he was just sitting in a clump of trees in the center of the dome. I love the DOF and Bokeh that this photo has.

Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 230 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Not really sure why he was sitting in the Butterfly Dome at the zoo. He has a brilliant color to him and he was just sitting in a clump of trees in the center of the dome. I love the DOF and Bokeh that this photo has.

Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 230 mm
ISO Speed: 400


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DSC09734: Food, Yumm!!


DSC09734: Food, Yumm!!, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Placed all around the Butterfly Dome are dishes like this for the Butterflies and Moths to eat. They place fruit and other foods that the bugs will eat. These two were sitting in the dish taking on some neutriant and after i took this photo, they flew away.

The depth of field was very nice and the Quantaray has a very good Bokeh to it. I love to shoot nature macros using this lens.

Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 135 mm
ISO Speed: 400

DSC09652: Butter and Bread!!


DSC09652: Butter and Bread!!, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

I saw this piece of art in the museum on Saturday and it reminded me of Atlantis! It is a butter and bread server from some artist in Iraq back in the 1950s. Very wild looking stuff. I love how the light bounces and reflects all around the display case.

Exposure: 0.167 sec (1/6)
Aperture: f/10
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Sunday, November 23, 2008

DSC09741: Mothman Bokeh 1.1


DSC09741: Mothman Bokeh 1.1, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Same Great moth, same great lens! Wonderful DOF and Bokeh. This is just another angle.

Exposure: 0.025 sec (1/40)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 210 mm
ISO Speed: 400

DSC09729: On a Tree


DSC09729: On a Tree, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

I took this on my first pass using the Minolta 35-105mm lens. It does not have as good as Bokeh as my 70-300mm lens.

Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 400

I learned a lot today shoot most of the photos in Manual Mode. I guess that i really never used this mode that much.

I was in a museum today shooting photos of art in cases and displays. I could not use flash(did sometimes) so i had to take all photos by adjusting the f/stop. I really never looked at the Light Meter" either.

Well today i did! I wondered how to get the photos to look as much like they did to my eyes so i started to adjust the apateur/f/stop so that the meter would read Zero(0). Not + or -, just dead zero. I was amazed! I started to get photos that i liked a bunch and how they looked like in the display cases.

It worked very well! I love shooting with the A200 anytime that i can and it is IMO, a very well built camera with lots of nice features and options with a great selection of lenses that most others don't have.

If you have never tried this, do it and you will learn lots from an exercise like this.

Have Happy Shooting!!



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gleeheartsmilexowink

Saturday, November 22, 2008

DSC09744: Mothman Bokeh 1.2


DSC09744: Mothman Bokeh 1.2, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

As i was out and about St Louis today, me and a friend went to the zoo. I wanted to go to the Butterfly Dome to show him but to also do some photography. We walked out of the cold to the warmth of the dome and i found this dude.

He looks like he just crawled out of his cocoon as his wings are all messed up and wet looking. I love his colors, the red is very bright and it dramatically stands out against the blurry background.

I was using my Minolta 35-105mm lens as i was going from butterfly to moth and i was not getting the results that i wanted with that lens. I got out my Quantaray 70-300mm lens and this is what i got! I got an amazing Depth of Field, great Bokeh, and vibrant colors, just what i always get using that lens for Macro Photography.

Exposure: 0.025 sec (1/40)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 230 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Friday, November 21, 2008

DSC09463: Cross Macro


DSC09463: Cross Macro, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Another example at about 10'' from the object. A Silver Cross. Very selective Depth Of Field and good Bokeh.

Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 200

DSC09474: Watch


DSC09474: Watch, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

I used my 70-300mm lens to make this Macro photo. It has a 1:2 macro reproduction capability. This is another example of Selective Depth Of Field with good Bokeh in the photo as well. I used the back flash for this photo.

Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

DSC02497: Sun Through Palm


DSC02497: Sun Through Palm, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Taken with my DSC-H1 Sony Cybershot. It is a 5.1Megapixel Camera. This was taken on vacation at the Outer Banks North Carolina.

Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 6 mm
ISO Speed: 64

DSC06350: Prairie Dog


DSC06350, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

They have a neat little town at the St Louis Zoo. We had bunches of them in Colorado around where we lived.

I love the sun on the little guy in the front and the out of focus one in the back with a nice Bokeh effect going on.

Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 230 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

East Sky

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone.
From RMStringer

DSC07261: Two Flags


DSC07261: Two Flags, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

I took this while in Texas. We were at a good Mexican food restaurant and it had the flags out flying in the hot Texas sun. I love the sky and the clouds that are in the photo.

Exposure: 1/4000 sec
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 80 mm
ISO Speed: 400

DSC09245: Graffitti 1.1


DSC09245: Graffitti 1.1, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Taken on The Eads Bridge near the Metro Link Station on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River.

DSC09249: Graffitti 1.0


DSC09249: Graffitti 1.0, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Taken on The Eads Bridge near the Metro Link Station on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River.

Friday, November 14, 2008

DSC09440: Craft Alliance Series 1.3

A very close up photo of the glass balls...

It has some great Bokeh going on in this photo as well among other things. You can also see the reflections of the lights in the building.

Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Flash: Flash fired

My Camera Stuff.

For those of you that would like to know what i shoot with, well, here my stuff is.

Sony a200
Sony Alpha 200
Lenses:
Quantaray
Quantaray 70-300 mm DI f4-5.6
Minolta:
Minolta 35-105
Kit Lens:
SAL-1870

Sony H1
DSC-H1

LGVX 8600
LGVX 8600



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Alton Illinois 1.19


Alton Illinois 1.19, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Taken on the Missouri side of the river near the Clark Bridge. The image is very sharp and clear. I used the Quantaray 70-300mm lens for this photo. I love the reflection of the lights in the water. You can see where the water is flowing...

Exposure: 10 sec (10)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 160 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Sunset...

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone.
From RMStringer

DSC08800: Upside Down Welding


DSC08800: Upside Down Welding, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Because of the size of the beam that he was welding on, he had to hold his MIG welding wand upside down to complete his task.

Exposure: 0.04 sec (1/25)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Monday, November 10, 2008

Asphyxiation


Asphyxiation , originally uploaded by A Head Higher Photography.

This photo was on a group that i am an Admin for and i talked to the photographer and asked him to let me post this. It is a tasteless photo but i love it!!!

Used by permission of A Head Higher Photography

Uploaded by A Head Higher Photography on 7 Nov 08, 4.36PM CST. to the St Louis DSLR Group.

DSC09407: Street Music...


DSC09407: Street Music..., originally uploaded by RMStringer.

While i was out shooting stuff on Saturday on The Loop, i saw this street musician playing. He was leaning on a vacant building so he would not get anyone mad at him.I walked over and dropped some money to him and them get my camera ready.

He was way cool about letting me photograph him and even posed for a few shots. His music sounded good and it was too bad that i did not have time to stay longer to listen to him...

The reflections in the glass are very cool of the passing cars and trucks and of the other side of Delmar BLVD.

Exposure: 0.05 sec (1/20)
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Sunday, November 09, 2008

DSC09428: Craft Alliance Series 1.14

Another photo taken at The Craft Alliance located on Delmar BLVD "The Loop" In St Louis, Mo.

Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 200

An Intimate Celestial Bond

If you want to Purchase any of my music(s), Please go to https://djrenigade.bandcamp.com/ 1st Track For The New Year! #DownTempo #RenigadeCi...