”Parting Words from Moristotle” (07/31/2023) tells how to access our archives of art, poems, stories, serials, travelogues, essays, reviews, interviews, correspondence….
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Photographic epitaph to four Blue Bird eggs
Click to enlarge
These jade-like little eggs! The nest had been in our Blue Bird house for so long, it was clear that they weren't going to hatch. Perhaps their mother has perished. We'll never know. But I memorialize them in a photograph. [filtered variations]
Thanks, Ken. I think I know what you like about this photo—the way the surround is darkened, muted. That was luck, as it turns out: I took the photo late in the afternoon, slightly timed exposure on a tripod, expecting the photo to be well-lighted (as had previous photos taken in the evening). I think it must have been darker on the previous evenings, for this photo came out very dark, and I "brightened" it in Photoshop. That's all I did.
Thanks, Steve, but it was a very simple shot. Carolyn had removed the nest from the Blue Bird house (isn't it marvelous?), and I simply set it on a convenient bush in the back yard and photographed it using a tripod (because of the need for a delayed exposure in order to use the narrowest aperture—for maximum depth-of-field). As I explained in my previous comment to Ken, the light [and camera] did the rest (so to speak).
Yes, Morris, I do like the photo because of the contrast in lighting. But I also like its contrast in lines, textures, and ideas. The nest is all rough edges yet a work of complexity and precision. Its contents, on the other hand, are simple, smooth, and curved. The nest itself seems to rest in another nest, but the larger nest is richer and decorative. There's a great deal of interesting variety here.
All of that was unconscious, I assure you. But I much appreciate your analyzing it, and, now that you have, I can "see" it more fully. Did you read the piece in "Annals of Ideas" in I think the most recent issue of the New Yorker about the Oxford professor of moral philosophy (Derek Parfit)? There's quite a bit in it about his photography.
Very nice, Morris. One of your best, I think.
ReplyDeleteSuper shot.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ken.
ReplyDeleteI think I know what you like about this photo—the way the surround is darkened, muted. That was luck, as it turns out: I took the photo late in the afternoon, slightly timed exposure on a tripod, expecting the photo to be well-lighted (as had previous photos taken in the evening). I think it must have been darker on the previous evenings, for this photo came out very dark, and I "brightened" it in Photoshop. That's all I did.
Thanks, Steve, but it was a very simple shot. Carolyn had removed the nest from the Blue Bird house (isn't it marvelous?), and I simply set it on a convenient bush in the back yard and photographed it using a tripod (because of the need for a delayed exposure in order to use the narrowest aperture—for maximum depth-of-field). As I explained in my previous comment to Ken, the light [and camera] did the rest (so to speak).
ReplyDeleteYes, Morris, I do like the photo because of the contrast in lighting. But I also like its contrast in lines, textures, and ideas. The nest is all rough edges yet a work of complexity and precision. Its contents, on the other hand, are simple, smooth, and curved. The nest itself seems to rest in another nest, but the larger nest is richer and decorative. There's a great deal of interesting variety here.
ReplyDeleteAll of that was unconscious, I assure you. But I much appreciate your analyzing it, and, now that you have, I can "see" it more fully.
ReplyDeleteDid you read the piece in "Annals of Ideas" in I think the most recent issue of the New Yorker about the Oxford professor of moral philosophy (Derek Parfit)? There's quite a bit in it about his photography.
Haven't read it. Thanks for the tip. I'll find a copy.
ReplyDelete