Round Robin: Lights, Camera, Inaction!

For the Round Robin Photo Challenge Lights! Camera, Action! I gave three choices on how to fulfill the topic. Considering that nobody else has signed up to do this Challenge so far, let's see whether I can cover all three ways myself!

1. "These are the classic words directors used to start filming a scene, with the lights lighting, the camera rolling and the actors acting! But it occurred to me the other day that the combination of lights, camera and action can be something else entirely. Think of the way the lights of moving cars can streak colors in a photo with a long exposure, or the excitement of lightning captured by a camera as it crosses the sky. Falling meteors, still lights photographed by a camera in motion - all of these combinations and more can lead to some interesting effects!"

This shot of the neighborhood Christmas house is from December 2012. I didn't use it last year, and nothing I've photographed this year illustrates what I meant so effectively.


2. Alternatively, you may prefer to make a little foray into the motion picture business yourself! Most digital camera and camera phones now have video capabilities, and you can put together simple short movies with all sorts of software and smartphone apps these days, such as Majisto, iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, and social media quickies such as Vine and Capture. Google+ will even make little almost-movies automatically from a series of related photos, although these can only be viewed on Google+ itself.

I'll add a little video later, but for now here is one of those Google motion things, if I can make it work!

 #AutoAwesomeMotion
The little train at Trail Dust Town!
 

3. Third option - I was only going for two options, but what the heck! - is to photograph (or find archived photos you already took) of people making movies or tv shows. If you filmed the filming, so much the better. If you filmed the filming of lights in action, then you're a triple threat!


Back in 1992 I was on the Universal lot as Scott Bakula and Max Wright (of ALF and Misfits of Science) shot a scene for Quantum Leap. This is my favorite shot from that day:

 

It's even an action shot!

Linking List

As of Saturday, December  28th at 3 PM

Karen - Posted!

Outpost Mavarin

http://outmavarin.blogspot.com

Carly - Posted!

Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Karen

Round Robin: Pretty Colorful Paper

For this week's Round Robin Challenge: Pretty Paper, I asked to see any kind of pretty paper, such as stationery, art prints, children's drawings, and so on. The original inspiration was holiday wrapping paper, and of course I have several examples of that:

 Gift bags at Target

Epiphany gift boxes for Mexican kids - 

Father Smith's Rotary Shoebox Project

Let me explain that second one. "Fr. Smith’s 15th Annual Pantano Rotary Shoebox Project is underway bringing joy to children in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. These children live in makeshift houses on hillsides around Nogales. Many of these households have no one employed. This is a THREE-NATION effort for 600-800 or more filled shoeboxes – infants through 12 years and 500 blankets. Warm mittens, caps, toys, etc can fill the wrapped shoe box with top lid NOT attached to the bottom (border inspection). Blankets may be new or used and if used must be dry cleaned (leave cleaning tag attached). Shoeboxes need to be returned to the Parish Office no later than Sunday, December 15. Blankets need to rolled like a bedroll and tied with twine or ribbon. More information in back of church." The boxes shown were in Father Smith's office as of a week ago.

Really, though, wrapping paper isn't usually too exciting. How about this, then?

Yes, it's old and ragged and torn, and even the frame is junky-looking. But there's a certain beauty in the very idea of it, this page of sheet music that could be more than a century old. Or not.

No? Then let's go with these:

These are drawings, paintings and prints by an artist friend of mine, Bob Bennett. They were available for sale at St. Michael's recent Advent International Bazaar. His art is cheerful, colorful, whimsical, wonky and highly creative. As paper goes, this is much prettier than the stuff you wrap presents in!

Karen

Check out all the Robins' entries this week!

Linking List
as of Saturday, December 14th, 2013
2:36 AM MST

Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin

Freda
Day One
http://fredamans.blogspot.ca

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Round Robin: Someone Else's Family

For the Round Robin Challenge: Family, I asked to see pictures of family, or pictures of something that represents the concept of family. I knew it was going to be a tough one for me to do; John does not allow me to take pictures of him, much less post them. The only family in reach is my dad, and I post lots of pictures of him already!

But I did have a few family-related encounters in the last month. First off, there was the All Souls Procession in Tucson on Sunday, November 3rd. Most of the people who take part in this annual local tradition do so on honor of dead family members. They often carry a photo of the deceased as they walk through the streets of downtown Tucson.

 

After the procession passed by me, a family set up to sell ice cream to passersby:

Here is a little film I made of that night. Note it doesn't play on mobile devices for some reason.

The other encounter with a family was last Saturday, November 23rd. It was a rainy, cold, blustery day. I took my dad for a drive, and stopped briefly at Agua Caliente Park, a place I've photographed before. I got Dad to walk around for about five minutes, at the end of which he was complaining his hands were cold. As we returned to the car, I spotted a woman in a bridal gown, and her family!

Agua Caliente Park is a beautiful place for a wedding, but not on a day like this! Note the bridal gown under a dark jacket.

 As we left, the bridal party was gamely carrying folding chairs from their cars to set up for the ceremony. "I bet you were hoping for better weather than this!" I called out to the father of the bride (or whoever).

"Sure was," he said ruefully.

Now let's see the other Robins' family photos!

Linking List
as of Saturday, 12/`/13, 1:18 AM

Freda - Posted!
Day One
http://fredamans.blogspot.ca

Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Karen

Round Robin: True Colors of Autumn - in Southern Arizona?

As I was saying this morning, for the Round Robin Challenge: All Natural Colors, I asked to see photos of natural materials, presented with colors as close to what our eyes see as possible. I was so exhausted after a very long day that I didn't post an entry last night at all, and this morning's entry was a rush job. But this afternoon I took my Dad for a 90-minute drive down to the Nature Conservancy's Ramsey Canyon Preserve. I freely admit that half the point of the trip was to photograph autumn leaves in their natural colors!

Ramsey Canyon is southeast of Tucson near Sierra Vista, Arizona. It's on private land owned by the Nature Conservancy, at the end of a narrow paved road. You have to go through the gift shop and pay a $6 fee to hike the trail...

...but there is no charge for sitting on a bench behind the gift shop, watching the bird feeders and drinking in the beauty and the cooler mountain air.

 

I hadn't been there in about a quarter of a century, despite it being one of the top 15 birding spots in the entire country. Today I wasn't really focused on seeing their 15+ species of hummingbirds, their Elegant Trogans, their Chihuahua Leopard frogs or black bears. I didn't even bring binoculars. That's okay, because this isn't the season for most of the birds that frequent the canyon. The only one I even saw was a single wild turkey outside the preserve itself.

 

The photography was a little tricky. The late afternoon sun shone through the trees, making the scene either too dark or too light. Almost everything here has been edited on my computer to brighten colors and reduce glare.

Still, I think these are pretty close to what I saw!

Autumn leaves are few and far between in Tucson. We don't have the climate or the native species for it. I'm pretty sure even the oak tree species in Arizona don't change color. But when I Googled Autumn leaves Southern Arizona, I found pretty much what I expected to see. Driving into the mountains takes me to a cooler, more colorful climate! We're past the prime fall leaf season by at least two weeks, but I think the drive was worth it - even if my dad was bored and asking to leave about a minute after we arrived.

Please scroll down for my other RR entry of the day, and then check out the other Robins' entries!

Linking List
as of Saturday, November 16th, 7:27 MST

Freda - Posted!
Day One
http://fredamans.blogspot.ca

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Karen - two entries posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin


Karen

Round Robin: Truly Natural (or not)

For the Round Robin Challenge: All Natural Colors, I asked to see colors that are as true to life as we can get them, photographing something made of natural materials and left its natural color. I'm very late in posting this and due at my dad's in five minutes, but here's a quick stab and this. I'll add the text tonight!

 

Scarecrow on a  pole at St. Michael's.

 

 Wind chimes and olive trees.

Dusky leaves in a planter.

I must confess that I forgot exactly what I had asked for in this Challenge by the time I took these pictures. But I made up for it later today. Scroll up for my second entry of all-natural color - this time for reals!  Then check out the other Robins' entries:

Linking List
as of Saturday, November 16th, noon MST

Freda - Posted!
Day One
http://fredamans.blogspot.ca

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Karen - (will post more later today)
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin

Karen

Round Robin: The Way We Listened

For the Round Robin Challenge: Old Tech, New Tech, I asked to see pictures that showed a contrast between old and new technologies for doing the same thing. I don't know about you, but I'm old enough to remember a fairly long progression of ways to listen to music. My first recordings were mostly 45 RPM kid's records, mostly on the Peter Pan, Disneyland and Little Golden labels, but I distinctly remember one or two 78 RPM records in the mix. When I was a little older, the family record player had four speeds, and I used them all - on the same record! It was the last of my kiddie records, The Poky Little Puppy. Meant to be a 45 RPM single, it told the story of a puppy who "just pokes along and he looks at the breeze." Played at 78 RPM, the puppy was much livelier. At 33 1/3 RPM, he really poked along, and at 16 2/3 RPM - yes, there was such a speed! - he turned into a slow-moving oinker. Unfortunately, I don't have the record any more, or I'd show it to you here.

About the same time I was putting the Puppy through his paces, I was buying my first two LPs: More of the Monkees and The Monkees Headquarters.  Soon after that came my first Beatles album, Revolver, chosen because it cost a dollar less than Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band from my brother's record club. Some time after that I bought my first two "adult" 45s: Hair by the Cowsills and Dizzy by Tommy Roe. About five years after that, as I started working on collecting all the Beatles LPs, my brother was very proud of his 8-track tape collection. I'm happy to say I never went down that route!

Me at Rockarama circa 1982

When I was managing a used record store in the early 1980s, I was delighted to take home a 78 RPM single of Little Richard singing Long Tall Sally. The stereo we had at the time must have been one of the last ones that still played that venerable speed. At the time we used to drive from Columbus, Ohio to other major cities in the midwest to sell used records, imports, posters, buttons, etc. at record shows. On the way we listened to music - on cassette tape, of course! Eventually we had to close down Rockarama and I went to work at someone else's record store. I stuck around long enough to sell a few copies of mostly classical albums in a revolutionary new music format: Compact Discs!

I doubt that I still have that Little Richard 78. The vast majority of our LPs are inaccessible in crates in our storage room, and we don't have a turntable set up anyway. But we do have a few stacks of "to be gotten rid off--probably" LPs in our front room.

John left almost our entire cassette collection outside a year and a half ago, where it promptly got rained on in a huge storm. The few cassettes I still have are mostly either audio books or Doctor Who related, such as this novelty single cassette:

And we still have some treasured 45s.

And less-treasured 45s:

I still buy the occasional CD, but only Doctor Who-related ones. Here's my latest purchase:

Mostly, I listed to music on my iPhone, or occasionally my iPad. I don't even know where my iPod is any more. My Halloween music last night was courtesy of Pandora. Two years ago I played a CD on a boombox.

Still, there are some things that remain the same, more or less. The 1963 Beatles may sound better through an iPhone on a dock than on a mono HiFi, but it's still great music. Ditto the 1969 Beatles. And I still love to listen to them!

Now let's see what other old and new tech our Robins have come up with!

Linking List
as of Saturday, November 2nd, 2013
12:34 AM MST

Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin

Ellen - Posted!
Ellen's Phlog
http://ellensphlog.blogspot.com/

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Karen

Lonely Ghost

You know I'm a sucker for Halloween. Every year I decorate the little alcove in front of our house, come up with a costume (sometimes new, sometimes a rerun), put together treat bags full of candy and toys, and sit out there for three hours or longer, waiting for kids (and sometimes adults) to come along. Some years we've had as many as a hundred or so.

This year we got 14.

I'm bummed out.

We had old comics this year, in addition to the candy and toys, cast-offs from John's collection of cheap reading copies of relatively worthless titles. I had a graveyard theme going this year, and I was a Ghost Bride. My not-terribly-successful makeup was the end result of buying Halloween makeup from three different stores. I bought a $9 shirt today to go with the skirt that's now too big for me. I was up until 3:30 AM last night, bagging candy and putting up the decor inside and outside the alcove.

And 14 people collected their comics and toys and candy, while the Assembly of God church across the street blared out raffle numbers at its competing "Fall Festival."

Phooey.

The Ghost Bride mostly waited in vain.

"Raise your arms!" John ordered during the traditional 

end-of-Halloween-night photo shoot.

End of the night. The makeup was much the worse for wear, 

especially after eating dinner perched on a stool outside.

Karen

Round Robin: Ooh! Spooky!

For Round Robin Challenge: Spooky Effects, I asked for photos that show "something scary, odd or ethereal," using any sort of special effects - special staging, lighting, photo editing or anything else to achieve the spooky. I figured that we'd be less than two weeks out from Halloween by now, and we'd have both the interest and photographic opportunities for this!

Two weeks ago, I took my Dad to Old Tucson Studios, in Avra Valley on the other side of Gates Pass from the city of Tucson itself. Built in 1938 for the movie Arizona starring William Holden and Jean Arthur, it's sort of a combination of shooting location and theme park. Stars from John Wayne to Steve Martin have films movies there. The High Chaparral was principally filmed at Old Tucson, along with lots of other tv episode and even bank commercials. I've visited Old Tucson at least half a dozen times since we got here in 1986, but not often in recent years since an arson fire gutted a large chunk of it. But they've managed to rebuild and keep the place going, and I'm very glad of that!

For the past 23 years, Old Tucson has had a second life after dark at this time of year. Nightfall is promoted as "one real haunted town!" I've never yet made it down there for Nightfall, but even in the daytime there were traces of the spooky effects to come:

The best in the window is one of those "eyes that follow you" FX, like the busts at the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. The skeleton is, well, a skeleton. But having witnessed a shootout at the end of Old Tucson's daytime programming, I couldn't help making a connection between the seated skeleton and the loser of the gunfight, gallantly helped onto a chair. A little photo editing, and presto!

Speaking of Disneyland, though, I actually have more spooky material to work with from my Disneyland trip back in May than from the October Old Tucson visit. After all, the Haunted Mansion is one of my very favorite attractions!

The famous "Hitchhiking Ghosts" are very hard to photograph, but I managed to boost the image a bit for an interesting effect!

At Old Tucson there was a stage show in the Grand Saloon, with a middle-aged chanteuse wrangling three singing and dancing ingenues. There's the chanteuse, but who is that behind her?

Why, it's the Bride from the Haunted Mansion!

 Aww, what the heck. One more. Below is the old courthouse in Tombstone, Arizona, the site of more than one hanging. If any place ought to be haunted, this seems like a good candidate. Or maybe the camera was picking up flares from the sun overhead. Yeah, that's it.

Or maybe there are ghosts there after all!

 Now let's see the other Robins' Spooky Effects!

Linking List
as of Saturday, October 19th, 2013
1:23 AM MST

Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Ellen - Posted!
Ellen's Phlog
http://ellensphlog.blogspot.com/

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com


Karen

Round Robin Challenge: The Pumpkin Hunter

For the Round Robin Photo Challenge: Fun Foods, I was thinking about showing you the fun I've had recently taking my dad to restaurants that serve something a bit out of the ordinary. I may still do that - but first, I want to return to the subject of my annual obsession. For me, the months around October are all about the pumpkin. It's my absolute Achilles' heel this time of year. I'm working to lose weight, but then I see it: the sign at the register or the sign on the table:

Maybe the sign is for pumpkin cookies, pumpkin ice cream, or pumpkin smoothies. It hardly matters. It could be Pumpkin Anything, almost. I almost certainly want it. This is why it's only almost:

Fortunately for me, I hate coffee, even if it's a pumpkin-infused latte or frappuccino. (But did you know that Starbuck's will do a hot pumpkin drink without the coffee? It's called a pumpkin steamer. They'll also mix the pumpkin with hot chocolate!)

And I have no interest in ever trying beer...

 ...even if it's a seasonal Harvest Pumpkin beer.

That leaves many, many other pumpkin foods to try, if I look diligently for them Over the years I've had pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin-cranberry bread, several kinds each of pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin pie, pumpkin yogurt (Greek and regular), pumpkin or pumpkin-cranberry muffins...

pumpkin tarts, and I'm sure I'm forgetting several other delicious variations.  I go looking for the stuff, stopping in at Starbuck's, which I seldom visit otherwise, and prowling the aisles at Safeway or Alberson's or Trader Joe's. I think half the fun is in the hunt for new Pumpkin Anythings to try.

But you know, I'm trying to re-lose some weight here after being derailed by a knee injury last December. I shouldn't be having pumpkin anything. The maker of a particular brand of pie totally has my number:

It says right on the box: "We know you want this pie." Yes. Yes, I do. But last night I settled for this instead:

I want so much to like this. It should be like butternut squash or something, right? But I even added cinnamon, and I still failed to finish a small portion. And tonight I gave the tea another chance:

You know what? It just doesn't cut it. Pumpkin I don't have to feel guilty about is seldom pumpkin worth ingesting. Darn it!  I'd much rather have another taste of this:

I photographed - and ate! - that one in 2009. My pumpkin obsession - and pumpkin photography - goes back to at least 2005.

Karen

Now let's check out the other Robins' fun foods!

Linking List
as of October 5th, 2013, 12:34 AM MST

Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Freda - Posted!
Day One
http://fredamans.blogspot.ca

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

A Prisoner of Conscience

Today I drove my Dad up Mount Lemmon. There was an Octoberfest at Ski Valley at the top, but when Dad saw the $5 parking fee he declined to attend at all. So we made a brief detour to Marshall Gulch beyond Summerhaven, and then drove back down.

On the way down, we turned in at the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Area, but the gate was closed perhaps a hundred yards in. There was a fire in the area in July, and apparently it is not yet safe for visitors to return. The prison camp ruins are still accessible, but we didn't stop for that. I have previously taken pictures, though.

As we turned toward Tucson, I tried to tell my dad about Gordon Hirabayashi, a college student who committed civil disobedience in response to racist policies (curfews, interment camps and a required loyalty oath) applied to Japanese Americans during World War II. From what I've read, he actually asked to have his sentence for breaking curfew extended so that he could serve his sentence at the Federal Honor Camp on Mount Lemmon, where conscientious objectors, deserters, and illegal immigrants were put to work building Mount Lemmon Highway. The government refused to pay Hirabayashi's way to Tucson, so he hitchhiked here and showed up at the camp. Even then, they didn;t have the proper paperwork to incarcerate him. They sent him back down the mountain, where he took in dinner and a movie before returning when they were ready for him. Hirabayashi later argued his case before the Supreme Court and lost. It wasn't until the Reagan era that the government finally admitted wrongdoing in the wartime anti-Japanese hysteria and apologized. Hirabayashi became a sociology professor, and attended the renaming of the prison camp ruins in his honor in 1999. He died in early 2012.

Great story, but my dad wasn't listening, partly because he has a cold and his ears are stopped up, so he was extra-deaf today. But after I dropped him off at his place and drove away, I was pleased to hear Gordon's story retold on the local radio show Arizona Spotlight late this afternoon. They were supposed to post something about it online, but they haven't yet done so.



Karen