Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: RSL on March 21, 2018, 03:11:27 pm
-
Plays. Don't even ask what this one is all about. I just shoot 'em.
-
That one really needed the color for full effect.
I guess it's time to cross Retirement Communities off my list of things to explore. :D
Great catch, Russ.
-
That one really needed the color for full effect.
I guess it's time to cross Retirement Communities off my list of things to explore. :D
Great catch, Russ.
The big debate, of course, is whether, if you still can play with all your marbles, you should live on your own or opt, instead, to jump into the communal lifestyle.
Too much conviviality can become very wearying... once a missfit (possibly verging on the misanthropic), it's hard to break the habit and seek truth in group therapy; I think the Internet provides all the clashings one may need!
Of course, once the decisions are removed from the person, all bets are necessarily off... I wonder if Ms Coke would be allowed to accompany me, or on the other hand, would such an application be misunderstood?
I think you may be wise to edit your explorarions list accordingly, just as you suggested you might do.
;-)
Rob
-
In this particular retirement community, Rob, you're perfectly free to hide out and not socialize, and that's what some do. There are, of course, a lot of group activities if you want to participate. We live in our own home, which I've supplied with a studio -- 17 x 22 Epson printer, top-of-the-line mat cutter, dry-mounting press, etc. Our house is on the river and reasonably isolated from the others around it.
I participate in things that turn me on. Shooting plays is one of those things. A week from today I'll do another portrait shoot for the officers of one of the community's organizations. I also "teach photography," which means mostly that I talk about things worth shooting (mainly people and the way they interact with their environment), and recommend that my audience become familiar with the photographic classics. I steer away from equipment and how to operate it, since, as HCB pointed out, unless you're unusually stupid everything you need to know is in the book that comes with the camera.
Down the line, of course, is assisted living, which is what you're talking about. Fortunately there's a place not far from here where you live in your own home but have access to meals, in or out, cleaning services, etc., etc. Even a pretty nice pub. That may be the next step.
My exploration list is a lot shorter than it used to be, but a long way from empty. Studio's a bit messy at the moment, but there's work in progress.
-
The stuff envy is made of. I know, I was there, saw it. Russ is my idol ;)
-
Wow. That's a great workspace!
-
If that's messy I'm not sure I can even find a word for my office.
On a side note I stopped matting my pictures, I just glue them on a foam board and put them like that on the wall. I can always replace them and it makes it much less painful if something happens to them.
-
Never had a work place looked like that. As with my current one, it's ever been a total mess, with only myself knowing under which thing is hidden something else.
I have concluded that it's all a reflection of the mind: some have order and for others, order is terrifyingly unnatural! Even here, in the apartment, my wife refused to step into the office when she was doing the rest of the place. Quite right too: move anything and all the little signposts would have been lost...
The worst thing, really, is writing: I make notes on a pad beside the computer and 'phone, and a day later I can't read whatever notes I've written. I'd swear that spiders come in through the ventilator during the night and walk all over my best calligraphy!
;-)
-
I understand about the writing, Rob. Mine gets worse and worse as I get older and older. Of course it always was crappy anyway, which is one reason I learned touch-typing early on. I guess that just made it worse, but at least I could read what I typed. If you look at that picture (http://www.russ-lewis.com/asia/images/More%20Paddy/Pictures/_9199541443.jpg)of me at my desk in Can Tho, Vietnam, you'll see my portable next to me. I carried that little machine all over the world.
I'll tell you a secret: I actually moved stuff off the work surfaces before I made that shot. The computer table and the desk were really messy, but you can't see that very well in the picture.
-
I looked at the photo, laughed, and nearly spit my drink across the room.
-
I looked at the photo, laughed, and nearly spit my drink across the room.
Why? His office doesn't look that bad, does it? ;-)
-
I understand about the writing, Rob. Mine gets worse and worse as I get older and older. Of course it always was crappy anyway, which is one reason I learned touch-typing early on. I guess that just made it worse, but at least I could read what I typed. If you look at that picture (http://www.russ-lewis.com/asia/images/More%20Paddy/Pictures/_9199541443.jpg)of me at my desk in Can Tho, Vietnam, you'll see my portable next to me. I carried that little machine all over the world.
I'll tell you a secret: I actually moved stuff off the work surfaces before I made that shot. The computer table and the desk were really messy, but you can't see that very well in the picture.
I also believe that computer use will seriously impact the use of handwritten communication. We lose that which we do not use, and if the loss starts in school...
Rob
-
It's already impacted it, Rob. Here in the US, grade schools pretty much have stopped teaching cursive script. Most of my grandkids can't read cursive. It's an atrocity! (Of course they wouldn't be able to read my cursive even if they'd learned cursive. I often can't read it myself.)
-
Studio's a bit messy at the moment, but there's work in progress.
Lord have mercy, you show us that photo of your studio and tell us it's MESSY :o?
-
Why? His office doesn't look that bad, does it? ;-)
I was referring to the first picture Yes, Russ's lightroom is impressive.
-
Well, when I'm in the midst of matting or framing it's a lot messier. As I confessed to Rob, I did move some stuff off the tables for the shot.
And Armand, in the slots under the table to the left you can see some un-matted pictures. I re-use mats frequently. But I never "glue" a print to the foamboard. I use linen hanging tape for the small stuff. When I get up to prints for 16 x 20 or larger frames I always dry-mount. It's the best way to keep 'em flat. Purists will complain about dry-mounting, but Ansel did it, and I consider that to be permission.
Here's the studio from the other end of the room. This time I didn't raise the shutter speed to grab more outside, so I didn't have to pop a flash off the ceiling either.
-
Well, Russ, one thing is clear: it's a beautiful home!
Rob
-
Yes it is, Rob. And my wonderful wife designed it. She has an office at the other end of the house that's identical to mine. I'll hate reaching the point where we have to move on.
-
It's gorgeous, Russ.
I just may have to post a photo of my "studio," so you can see what a working one looks like. :D
-
My work space is the opposite of Russ's. I'll have to post a few pics. I'm in the process of setting up a matting/framing area. I've got the same drypress--a Bienfang/SEAL 220 Commercial.
-
It's gorgeous, Russ.
I just may have to post a photo of my "studio," so you can see what a working one looks like. :D
It's a working one, Eric. Those pictures you see on the wall in the first picture were in a show Sunday before last. I printed, matted and framed 'em during that week. The place was a mess for a while.
Yeah. Maybe we should start a studio thread. See. Bob's already into that. Just think of all the arguments we can get into.
-
My work space is the opposite of Russ's. I'll have to post a few pics. I'm in the process of setting up a matting/framing area. I've got the same drypress--a Bienfang/SEAL 220 Commercial.
My workspace looks like a 10 year old has had free run of it. Oh wait, that's me!
-
I am most impressed Russ with the studio, your workmanship and organizational abilities. I can't say more, except I sure wish I had the wherewithal to do something half as good.
JR
-
Hi John,
Believe it or not it doesn't take that much wherewithal. I've been collecting this stuff for a couple decades.
There's a lot of distortion in these pictures because I used a 16 mm lens. In the first picture, the huge-looking wooden surface in front is a matboard case a friend, who was a marvelous woodworker made for me years ago. You can see its actual dimensions in the second picture, and you can see the hinges that'll let the top flip up. Those two pictures give you a rough idea of dimensions. The matboard case holds full 32" x 40" sheets.
The table the mat cutter is on is a simple four-legged kitchen table I found in a second hand store. On top of that is half a discarded hollow-core door. On top of that is half a sheet of 3/4" plywood to give me a really flat surface. The mat cutter itself is a Logan 650. If I were doing production work I'd want something better than that, but for what I do it's fine. It was top of their line when I bought it many years ago.
The guy who made the matboard case also made the table on the left in the first picture. He designed it to hold 16" x 20" framed prints in the slots under the top. Don't know what I'd do without it. But it can be reproduced without breaking the bank.
The tables in the background are simple folding tables I bought at an office supply store years and years ago. They happen to be exactly the right height for the keyboard and monitors and the two printers. The smaller printer, that'll print papers double-sided is a holdover from my business stuff when I was doing software engineering. The little desk off to the right is an el-cheapo from Office Depot. It does the job.
The most expensive things in the picture are the big old Epson 3880 back there on the table, and the dry mounting press that Bob correctly identified as a Bienfang/SEAL 220 Commercial. The stuff in it is release paper.
There are four top-of-the line Nikon flashes in that bag on the floor just under the Epson printer, plus a bunch of other stuff I use when I'm doing formal work, and there are some lightstands back in the corner, plus a couple tripods out of sight in the same corner, but unless you're doing that kind of work it's not stuff you need.
And that's it unless you want to add in the chair and window blinds. It's not a huge layout, though it ain't totally cheap either. But it all works like a champ.
-
I just looked at that second picture again and I realize I didn't mention my beautiful oak flat file against the wall, or my Foster paper cutter, which I use to trim prints. Those two were moderately expensive. The flat file came in a box, though. I had to assemble it.