Through the Clouds








I have had my heads in the clouds, at least photoetically (is that a word?). I took most of these pictures from the plane on my way home from Lake Charles, the other one on the road to Seward from my Dad's truck. I am not sure what it is that draws me to the clouds, perhaps a sense of voyeurism, the ability to see the world from a birds view, perhaps a sense of being closer to my human perception of God, or simply a sense of wonder and awe, I find myself lost in the aerial landscape, the way the world above folds and turns, the way it mimics the ground below, a sense of being part of a alternate world, I am not sure. If you look close you will see spots near the top of the cloud pictures (not the airplane dirty window spots) but discoloration that remains on all of the photos.

I was sweating bullets when I started to download the photos that somehow I had damaged the optics of my Nikon. Yesterday I took my camera to Wolfe and they were able to clean my camera with a controlled puff of air, seems somehow I had managed to get detritus on the internal mirror, now it works perfectly. I was worried I would have to send my camera back to Nikon for a 4-8 week cleaning and I would be without my camera during the holidays. I will have to do this as part of routine maintenance and care, but at least I can wait until after the holidays.

The thought of not having my camera for a couple of months makes me crazy, I know now why most professional photographers have multiple camera bodies. When its time, I have my heart set on a Nikon D90, but for now I will use my Olympus Stylus point and shoot as my back up camera. The danger of going to the camera shoppe is that you find all sort of things that you want. I have added two new "must haves" to my list, a set of lens adapters, filters, magnifiers, fish eyes, macros,polarizing, and camera tubes these are generic--but might extend the use of my existing lenses and a camera/laptop backpack. I found a professional lab for camera proofs and recieved my first order from them on metallic paper, a set of thank-you cards that I designed for my book. They look damn cool beans, I am going to make a few calendars next month, one for my family, one of hazardous waste sites, and one of black and white stills, and perhaps one of flowers/wildflowers. We will see, and yes Sherri expect a calendar for Christmas.