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Author Topic: Prisoner's Last Hurrah...  (Read 3375 times)

Patricia Sheley

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Prisoner's Last Hurrah...
« on: October 20, 2010, 11:16:49 am »

Shooting after astronomical twilight at sea the the last few weeks got me thinking about the possiblities close to home...this old gal is shedding the last of her summer wardrobe, so enjoyed some long exposures with her....


« Last Edit: October 20, 2010, 12:09:58 pm by Patricia Sheley »
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francois

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Re: Prisoner's Last Hurrah...
« Reply #1 on: October 20, 2010, 11:35:02 am »

I love it, it's a superb image.
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Francois

Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: Prisoner's Last Hurrah...
« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2010, 11:48:59 am »

Very nice, almost abstract, moody, dark rendering of a familiar subject.

Kirk Gittings

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Re: Prisoner's Last Hurrah...
« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2010, 11:52:31 am »

Love it, but I don't get the title?
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Kirk Gittings

Patricia Sheley

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Re: Prisoner's Last Hurrah...
« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2010, 12:16:25 pm »

Love it, but I don't get the title?
...you will...it's so obvious you don't see it for awhile...like a piece of a fine bracelet fallen on a tapestry...almost disappears...until you know it's there... I thought I had composed to exclude it, and actually softly in low opacity cloned it out for another use, but having done so realized I liked it there ...my punishment for having hung it there many years ago....
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Lonnie Utah

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Re: Prisoner's Last Hurrah...
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2010, 12:44:07 pm »

^^ Got it. 
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Patricia Sheley

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Re: Prisoner's Last Hurrah...
« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2010, 12:49:12 pm »

Thank you for taking the time to look at the old girl's portrait...she is well over 100 years and we lost several of her life mates in severe storms this past spring...one  with a feral hive of honey bees that was living in robust good health a good twenty feet off the ground in a cavity a good 15 feet deep...for eleven years

A question if  I might...I just printed this at 11 x 17 for my life mate (44 years married,with the fate sealed 7 years earlier) for our anniverary and birthdays this week...both Scorpios...As I sit here with the print I am finding myself really happy that I did not catch and compose out of the picture the chain hanging from the horizontal branch. I had worked to avoid several similar areas in set up but just did not see this until working with the file...

I jumped to clone it softly away, but couldn't get comfortable without it. It is a large , heavy chain but delicate in this framing...My initial intention in working the Astronomical twilight was to "tunnel" from foreground low up into the history of the tree along the new trunk that had formed after the hurricane of 38 to the A twilight above. That chain for me almost pulls back to the surface of a semi abstract tapestry...in spite of the original attempt to circle around, up and in with the lower branch left tempting you into the unknown...

For you , if you had discovered that chain...where would your thinking have gone with it...For me , it's there  and staying, as an integral part of the flow even if subliminally if not discovered...
but would really value your thoughts on this.... Thanks,   Pat

« Last Edit: October 21, 2010, 12:51:41 pm by Patricia Sheley »
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Ifocus4u

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Re: Prisoner's Last Hurrah...
« Reply #7 on: October 21, 2010, 01:12:04 pm »

Its a wonderful shot.  If only these old beauties could talk and share their storys.
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John R

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Re: Prisoner's Last Hurrah...
« Reply #8 on: October 21, 2010, 10:47:46 pm »

It is wonderful shot. It has both mystery and a kind of metaphorical meaning about age, life and roots. But you must feel real close to the image, as I did not notice the chain at all. It appears you find it has psychological import for you. So be it. I cannot relate to it in the same way, although I sense what I described earlier. If you look up "Freeman Patterson" the great Canandian photographer who has written many books, he often speaks about how some of his images reflect what he has done and how they are metaphors for his life and work. He explains the signicance of how he came to realize this, almost always, much later, sometimes years later, as the image rises from the subconscious to the concious level. Interesting photo, as are your thoughts on this.

JMR
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Patricia Sheley

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Re: Prisoner's Last Hurrah...
« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2010, 08:53:05 pm »

Thank you John for your sharing the wholeness of your personal thought...true my history, always with an eye for possible escape does much in undercurrent to plait and knot and cause to dwell upon that spot...heedless of pain I so arrogantly placed with that chain...the defensive purgatory it seemed I'd dwell for eternity with such ease even now causes my thought s to lose their sense...age and distance partial recompense. That subconscious always seeking light , I fully nod to and understand Patterson , our pasts and twitches seeping everywhere....Thanks again John...you've shaped a place for thought , an easy gaze...P.
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Patricia Sheley

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Re: Prisoner's Last Hurrah...
« Reply #10 on: October 23, 2010, 08:14:07 am »

...after a night of conscious and subconscious discussion, largely taking place without my unconscious intrusion, I rose in the dark as I have been doing all htis month. But this morning is different that at any time in my life...this simple little metaphorical image has done me in...I say that with joy...I walk this morning freed in a way I have never been in my life...I had spent this month on the water, ashore only a few hours in several weeks...I had assigned myself night shooting and foul weather shooting and had come prepared to do so. I charted the twilights for the trip and dressed for the cold and wet, and dressed the camera as well. With no heat the issue of condensation was a non issue. I spent wonderful hours early and late shooting, only to brief sessions ashore...I played with the challenges of shooting anchored and at sea and just played like a child...final two days a northeaster and never left the deck...stood and soaked up every minute of it ...as if it might be my last

Returning home it took two days for my land balance to return...floors kept rolling , table tops floated, walls wandered...it was great...Then I saw this old maple, I'd lived beside her many of my years and she warned me that she was about to shed her garments for winter...there was a light painting assignment I had glanced at and said this would be fun using what I had been enjoying this month...Long exposures, but the LED kept washing out the color I thought I had been after...grabbed a few gels and a piece of ripstop fabric and worked that way...from two ladders I kept trying to mimic the position of the rising moon as I described her folds and pathways and journey up and through her history into the astronomical twilight...when the moon rose too high and became too bright I stopped...I picked the image I liked and posted it...done one would think.... within hours it had become garish to me ..I was totally pissed at myself for not having taken a different route...


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Patricia Sheley

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Re: Prisoner's Last Hurrah...
« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2010, 08:28:14 am »

Continued from above...I went back to the image and began studying the journey through the maple the night  before but this time working through the image in Black and white...then WHAT!!/? How could I have missed that chain? So I did a soft clone to not quite remove it but to make it less obvious...withinin hours I could not stand the empty place there where the chain had been, so returned the image to it's truth...and then the watershed began...

It has nothing to do with me not being done with this image yet...it is everything about it is not done with me...it has taken me into questions about that chain, my life history , the layers and years of thinking I had come to grips with the losses of my family at the hands of the man who called himself father and husband...this image has taken me through a door I never stepped through and in the fog of this morning realized I have entered before I die  and it is joyous to be here...I am crying like a baby and I just want to thank the many of you who have in quiet conversation been part of where I find myself at this moment...seemed like such a simple thing...a chain or no chain, a vision, a view , informed by what...how long ago and how many layers of paint and repairs and scourings since...the sum and vision of the history in today's light... I promise to step away , but thankyou...P
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John R

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Re: Prisoner's Last Hurrah...
« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2010, 04:54:09 pm »

May you enjoy your new found sense of life and continue to express yourself with your obvious love for photography as a means to express yourself. And may I say, while I don't always grasp your poetic writing, it is very nice to read.

JMR
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Patricia Sheley

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Re: Prisoner's Last Hurrah...
« Reply #13 on: November 10, 2010, 11:18:12 am »

This is the color shot that I mentioned referring to the light painting assignment...was interesting to see how it was read in the color version...yet it was the ongoing self questioning and self exposure of the subconscious that was the real treasure for me...not sure why he referred to me as a beginner as I have been shooting through pinholes since I was nine, some 56 years ago...but love to see as a beginner/child in spite of being a common woman/old/ancient...

http://www.tmelive.com/Features/Assignments/2010/November/08/ASG-1108.html
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