Photos and the Reasons Why

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Taken on November 29, 2009
Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/11.0
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 800

I’ve been thinking that this is probably the nicest view I will ever have from my home. It’s pretty intensely beautiful on a regular basis.

I left work late last night and was driving home just as the sun was setting on the horizon. I watched some kids play in the beach while the restaurants set up their beach front tables. A group of Thais on vacation were lounging about sipping beers on the sidewalk as I turned off the beach road into my driveway.

Sure the road is broken and loaded with potholes and uneven speed bumps. Sure it’s too narrow to handle two directions of traffic along with the tour busses and other parked cars. Sure elephants occasionally make it difficult to drive faster than, well, an elephant walks. It is still a hell of a way to finish a long commute.

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September 5, 2007
Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Location and musings:
This photo is very representative of the road trip, a least in my mind. This was taken in Illinois on my way to Chicago. I found myself getting drowsy about an hour before sunset, so I pulled over to the side of the road and took a nap while I waited for the sky to begin it’s nightly light show. It was a gorgeous evening and was plenty warm enough to roll down the windows and enjoy the air as I listened to the corn rustling in the breeze.

Every time I think about the time I spent doing that, I feel a great calmness. Of course, then I remember the fears and worries I had back then and I’m glad I’ve got a new set now.

Technical thoughts:
This was definitely early on in my study of photography, I have next to no lighting control. My only flash is the on camera flash, so there ends up being far too much debris being lit to have the photo be particularly interesting. I probably should have taken the photo over closer to the corn stalks to be more midwesty.

Still, that is one gorgeous sunset.

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Taken on March 19, 2010
Camera: Nikon D300S
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250)
Aperture: f/4.2
Focal Length: 36 mm
ISO Speed: 200

I took this photo of tonight’s sunset because it reflects some thoughts I’ve been exploring recently regarding how much I take this view for granted.

I still remember the first time I came up here. I could hardly believe that such a view existed. It barely passed into my understand that I could live in such a place. Still, I made an offer and signed a one year lease. 9 months later, here I am, bored by it.

Most evenings I give the sunset a passing glance before shutting it out, so the light doesn’t bother me. It ranges in beauty, for breathlessly beautiful, to somewhat average. Occasionally there isn’t much sunset to speak of, obscured by clouds. The photo in this picture is from an average sunset. There are just a couple of clouds in the sky and the colors are typically orange and blue.

I’ve found myself ready to move out. I’m looking forward to the end of my lease in June so I can go find another place. I have my complaints about this place, but I can’t reasonably expect that I won’t have similar complaints about the next. I think I’m just bored, ready for change.

That is what is so interesting. It’s amazing what becomes routine and uninteresting when it isn’t a struggle. I have come to expect a level of service and I become frustrated when I don’t get it, yet that level of service is so far and above beyond what I actually need. It makes me feel like such a spoiled brat to dislike a place with sunsets like this. A place with security who salutes me every time I pass. A place with a swimming pool I’ve never entered, a place that is almost absurd in it’s extravagance. I can go down to the empty gym and use the free treadmills and free weights and be frustrated by the state of things, but this is free. This is included. This is part of it all.

Who am I to be bored of it?

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Photo Taken October 29, 2007
Camera: iPhone

The Grand Hotel in southern Alabama has a mint julep on the menu.
I have a particular way that I like a mint julep to be made. I’m fairly certain that, much like the old fashioned, it must be made at home to have it made right.
That said, atmosphere is important. A nice warm October evening in the south, the back yard of a 200 year old hotel, it seems like some pretty nice atmosphere.
The sunset was remarkable. I had brought my nice camera, but I left it in the car. This was taken with my phone. I do rather like the shot.
I ordered julep, this time with a little more sugar. The bartender was a very upright fellow wearing a tux.
“Yes, sir, right away, sir.” He spoke with a heavy german accent.
This one was better. I continued exploring the grounds, stopping briefly to remark on the wonderful weather and remarkable sunset with a nice old lady.