Sunday, March 3, 2024

#212 About Trees

Birks of Aberfeldy, Scotland (2011)

Birch Bark, Branklyn Gardens, Perth, Scotland (2011)

 

Trees are the topic for this edition of the travel blog. Since I’m not traveling much right now—winter, getting ready to move, health problems—I’ve been reviewing lots of old photos.One of the things I noticed was that over the years I’ve taken many photos of trees and that they still hold my attention. So, for this post I found some noteworthy facts about trees to share with you and I’ve some photos to go along with them. I hope that reading this blog will be as worthy of your time as it was fun for me to put together.

Smoke, Mulino, OR (2010)



Fact: About three trillion trees currently exist, and trees didn’t exist for the first 90% of earth’s history.

Birch Forest, Cairngorm Nat'l Park, Scotland (2015)

Fall in the Scottish Highlands near Braemar (2017)

Canadian Rockies (2014)



Fact: Earth has 46% fewer trees than it had 12,000 years ago.

A Tree Grows in Edinburgh (2017)

Burned Forest, Canadian Rockies (2014)





Fact: There are more than 60,000 known species of trees.

Canyonlands National Park, Utah  (2016)

Tree and Horse in Fog, Dartmoor Nat'l Park, England (2013)

Painted Hills National Monument, OR (2013)

Beech Tree Lined Entrance to Drummond Castle, Crieff, Scotland (2018)



Fact: More than half of all tree species exist in only one country.

Gnarled Juniper, Bend, OR (2015)



Fact: Trees are among the oldest living organisms on earth, and never die of old age. A bristle cone pine has been found that is more than 5,000 years old.

Old Scots Pine near Aviemore, Scotland (2012)



Fact: A large oak can drink 100 gallons of water per day. A large sequoia can drink 500 gallons per day.

Golf Course Oak, Central Scotland (2013)



Fact: The tallest tree, Hyperion in California, is a coastal redwood that is 380 feet tall.

Mt Washington, OR (2015)



Benefits of Trees (The Nature Conservancy):


Trees eat green house gases that cause climate change.

Exmoor, England (2014)



Provide a home for wildlife.

Cottonwood near Taos, New Mexico (2018)



Cool down your life—natural air conditioning.

Sma'glen, Scotland (2016)



Filter our water.

Reflection near Aviemore, Scotland (2014)



Provide a renewable building source and promote a strong economy.


Provide a good source for food.

Winter Apples near Mt Angel, OR (2013)



Besides being damned beautiful, remember what Scotsman/naturalist John Muir said about them, “Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.”


Lone Pine, Mt Shasta Nat'l Park (2016)






Saturday, January 27, 2024

#211 Putting People in Our Travel Photos

Note: If you're looking for our Christmas Letter, it is #210. To reach it, scroll down past the bottom of this post. 




#211 Putting People in Our Travel Photographs

Cat reading the daily rag in Mousehole (mow-zel) village, Cornwall, UK.




    Putting people in our travel photographs, other than friends or family, is often uncomfortable—it’s difficult to invade people’s privacy. It needn’t be. We can include people in situations that don’t intrude and we can use techniques that are standard repertoire of Street Photographers. I find it easier to include people in my travel photography by recognizing several situations where people can be photographed without invading their privacy. Starting with the easiest subjects and moving to some more difficult situations, let me demonstrate how we can find subjects to include in travel photography.

    First, those who want to be photographed are easy and willing subjects for our cameras.

One-ear was easy to photograph. All I had to do was hold up a Euro coin and he posed nicely.

Elaine Davidson of Edinburgh, Scotland, holds the world record of more than 6000 body piercings. She loves to show off at festivals and her booth on the Royal Mile.

This Seattle street artist attracts attention and poses for photos. Buy a painting or donate to his tip jar.

With hair like this, she knows she's attracting attention. She wasn't bothered by my quick snapshot.

A stylish golfer (?) in St Andrews, Scotland, gave me a big smile as I took this candid shot. 

This Edinburgh couple show off native Scottish costumes often. I've seen them several times.



    Second, performers, profession and amateur, are special people used to being targets of picture takers.

This BBC actress at Stirling Castle didn't mind my photographing her as long as I didn't bother the crew.

A street dancer invited me and my camera to dance with her at a festival in Dumfries, Scotland.

A docent or guide at the Crannog Centre on Loch Tay encouraged the tourists to photograph or video her efforts using first century fire starting techniques.

A Medieval Band Playing at a Festival in St Andrews

At a session of Irish music at Betty's Bar in Tralee, guitar player Michael Dooley invited us to sit right among the musicians as they played.

Participants in numerous street parties, this one seeking donations for cancer research, are eager that audience share in their fun. Birthday, Hen, Bachelor and other types of parties are easy to photograph. Perhaps their state of inebriation has something to do with their openness.



    Third, sports figures or those participating in sports as special kinds of performers become used to having cameras pointing at them.

Bols is a very quiet sport, but here is still enough action for a picture or two.

School sports are a good bet for a photo--everybody is taking pictures. Here a field hockey team waits for the next bit of action. Notice how intent the redhead is; she's our Scottish niece.

We came upon a school of kayakers practicing near Aberfeldy, Scotland.

Most amateur sports participants will ham it up for anybody with a camera, especially at the finish line. It didn't hurt that this particular ham was our nephew.



    Fourth, people whose jobs put them in the public eye are often open to having their pictures taken, but if in doubt be sure to get the permission of the person before you point your camera.

I asked this whisky shop clerk for permission to take the picture and later gave him a copy.

While Anne and sat visiting with a Dunvagen (Isle of Skye) hotel barkeep one rainy afternoon she graciously let me take her picture.

Posing for photos seems to be part of the job of being a Native American tribal chief.

It wasn't hard to snap this candid photo of a librarian at the Innerpeffray Library, Scotland's oldest lending library, near Crieff.



    Last is the candid shot where people are caught doing every day things. Again be courteous enough to ask permission to include them in you photograph or be discrete enough not to invade their privacy. Even though people in public places or activities are fair game for the camera, it never hurts to ask, and if you ask, be sure to follow people’s wishes. 

For this candid tearoom conversation shot in Kirriemuir, Scotland, I set my camera on the end of my table set to silent shutter and took the picture without disturbing the chat.

Juxtaposition

He didn't notice me at all making this image in a garden in Perth, Scotland.

These Irish lads in Dingle Peninsula pub noticed the old man tourist with the camera, but weren't bothered at all.

People get so absorbed in their own affairs that the don't pay any attention to another tourist taking a picture.

I caught this lady peeking at the sweets from outside the shop while I was inside eating mine.


NEXT: If you have any ideas for topics you'd like to see in this blog, drop me a note.

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

#210 Merry Christmas

 

Not This Year


MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! We hope the upcoming year will be filled with joy, prosperity, and good health for all of us.

2023 was a Dickens of a year—you know, the best of times and the worst of times. Anne and I have had our joys and our challenges. Anne’s biggest challenge was a left shoulder replacement. She met that challenge head on—she did her PT (physical torture) with a positive attitude and exceeded her doctor’s expectations for full recovery. Her golf game is now as strong as it’s ever been.

Her second challenge was me dealing with Parkinson’s Disease and spinal stenosis. I’m not quite as good a patient as she is and I’m not as good at doing my exercises as she does. The challenge for me is to accept the fact that I can’t do things like I used to, but also to believe that I can still do things. I still do enjoy golf, but need to accept that I’m a different golfer than I used to be. That said, I did get a hole-in-one in November at our club.

As big as our challenges may be, our joys are bigger. We have each other, for 55 years, and are still each other’s best friend. Of course we still golf and travel. And although our travel is mostly smaller trips, we did get to the coast a couple of times and spent a lovely 12 days in the Santa Fe and Taos areas of New Mexico.

Our fall has been occupied by getting ready to downsize and move to a single floor house (we currently live on three floors). We really like the Garden Homes at Hope Village in Canby, an adult independent living community, and are waiting for a unit to become available. While we wait Anne has taken charge of downsizing 38 years in our Canby home to a two bedroom and single garage. It’s a new and uncomfortable experience for Anne the Collector.

Another joy we share is a great clan of friends and family who are always around to help us enjoy the good times and there to help us through the not so good times. Our hope for 2024 is that we have the strength to face its challenges and appreciate the joys it may bring.

Love and Best Wishes to All, Bob and Anne


Golf at 32 degrees, taken last weekend.