Extracts from Around the House

One of the things I find most photographically gratifying is to photograph household items, but not in there contexts. Separate them from the elements around them; segregate them and allow them to stand on their own merits. Extract from them a quality that is generally camouflaged by their every-day-ness.

Most refer to this taking things out of their context as abstracts, but photography icon Ansel Adams made the following statement, which I really identified with: "I prefer the term extract over abstract, since I cannot change the optical realities but only manage them."

Extract photography is something that I had long seen others do well, but that I struggled with. I had a difficult time initially conceptualizing and composing such photographs, but have since come to believe extract photography is one of the things at which I excel.

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, Birmingham

Two local artists have been ministering to the city of Birmingham over the last couple of months, plying it with this message: YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. This message has been illicitly spread via graffiti on public and private structures. Public sentiment has largely been in favor of the message and evenly vocally encouraging the two to continue to spread their credo.

 on the Retainer Wall on the Way up to Vulcan

They were recently given the opportunity to paint the side of a building by the owner of Monarch Cleaners in Homewood, but after five days of work, the city of Homewood halted their progress until it could determine whether the message "YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL" fit within the city code for artistic expressions. It will hold a public meeting in SOHO next Monday to determine whether or not the artists will be able to employ legal means to share the word.

The Work in Progress at Monarch Cleaners in Homewood

Bridge on Red Mountain Expressway

 You can show your support for the message and those who are sharing it on Facebook. Additionally, Fox 6 did a piece about this story, which can be found here.

Across from Railroad Park

Buck's Pocket and High Falls Parks

Buck's Pocket State Park and High Falls Park have some really lovely wonders to behold. However, some of them can only be observed from their most advantageous perspectives by the most adventuresome of hikers. Here are a couple that I and my compadres were privy to on Saturday, January 29, 2011.

Buck's Pocket State Park

Rock Formation at Buck's Pocket

 

Tree Growing out of a Rock Outcropping

 Whirlpool just above a Low Bridge (CR-452) on South Sauty Creek

This sign's been here a while; the tree is starting to grow over the sign.

High Falls Park

In order to capture this photo, I was stepping on a tree limb with one foot (in order to keep its wayward branches from entering the frame), firmly-ish planted with the other, while grasping and leaning out from another tree in order to stay on the mountain's side, rather than its base. It was worth the while.

This was taken from the other side of the same archway formation.

High Falls Panorama No.1

High Falls Panorama No.2

Here's a bit of video we took as well: