#213 Doors and Windows

#213 Doors and Windows

Where do I get my ideas for a blog? Some are original with me, but I must admit that I’m guilty of stealing topics. Whenever I do I like to give credit to the real source—it assuages my guilt to an extent. Thus the topic for this photo retrospective. In a blog by Taos photographer/author/photo-tour guide Geraint Smith (www.geraintsmith.com) I was attracted to several of his photos of local Southwest doors. After viewing some of Geraint’s shots I looked at my files and decided I had enough photos of doors and windows to make an interesting post.

Doors and windows bring up the subjects of entrances, exits, and view into all manner of life experiences. I selected the photos I want to share and let them organize themselves into common themes. I’ll keep my commentary simple and let the doors open and close and the views be as narrow or far reaching as they will be.

Closed Doors. It’s often said that when one door closes another one opens. That may be true, but some closed doors do open up many questions.

Glencoe Village, Scotland: Is the face on this bricked up door inviting or off-putting?

Scotland: Where did this door lead and why was it closed off?

In the Window. From the outside we see what’s in the window or what’s on the other side. Either or both views can be interesting.

Spittel of Glenshee, Scotland: The Old Manse

Muthill, Scotland: Pooh in the Window

The Shambles, York, England: I ponder the watches in the window.

Acorn Bank Gardens, England: Is the story of the photo us looking in at the gentlemen in the tearoom or of him looking out?

Edinburgh, Scotland: Where the girls are.

Sellwood district, Portland: A Window of Windows

Through the Door. “Close some doors today. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because they lead nowhere.” [Paulo Coelho, Brazilian novelist] Let’s see where these doors lead.

St Andrews Cathedral, Scotland: From the front to the back.

An Oxford door leading to bikes.

Fort Stevens, Oregon: Multiple doors or just one?

Sweetheart Abbey, southern Scotland: One door leading to many others.

Duunottar Castle, Scotland: Enter a tunnel and emerge seven centuries earlier.

Tintagel castle, Cornwall, England: Step out of the doorway into the view King Arthur saw. Supposedly.

 Anne was so excited about being in the castle that she phoned her sister in Oregon--at 2:30 AM.

Bonito Pueblo, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico: Historic 10th C Doorways

Out the Window. “Two men look out a window. One sees mud, the other sees the stars.” [Oscar Wilde, playwright] Looking through these windows what would we see?

Lake District, England: The view of her garden that Beatrix Potter enjoyed as she wrote.

Falkland Palace, Scotland: The guide said we couldn't take photos inside the castle, but she did let me take a picture of the outside from inside.

Stonehaven, Scotland: A view of the harbour from inside our B&B bedroom.

Sunlight transformed by stained glass windows of a church. I'd tell you the name of the Scottish church but my notes are already packed for the move to our new home in Canby. The move is coming soon.

Decorated Doors. In Ireland, locals were required to paint the doors to their houses black in remembrance upon the death of Queen Victoria. In diference, the Irish painted their doors every color of the rainbow—black is not a color of the rainbow. Anne and I liked the look of the Irish doors we saw on our first trip to Ireland. We came home and painted our front door red and back door blue.

Cathedral in Cork, Ireland: Doorway decor over the top. Literally.

Papermill, Oregon City: The decoration on the door tells the status of the mill.

Santa Fe, New Mexico: A very understated decorated door in Santa Fe.

Falkland, Scotland: The door lintel notes the marriage of RMK to MM in 1743.

I'm not certain of the meaning of decorations above this Arizona church door, but it is defintely grim.

Look carefully at the detailed small images decorating the wall above this doorway in a small Scottish church. Much to imagine.

Smoke Shop Wall and Door, Sant Fe

Decorated Windows. Most of the decorations for windows will be holiday decor or what’s just on the inside, We did find an example of note of window decoration in Santa Fe.

Reflections. “There’s a world out there. Open a window and it’s there.” [Robin Williams, actor and comedian] The same could be said for looking at the reflection in a window—look, a world in the image.

The world of a small Scottish country road reflected in cottage window.

What did you see first in the York store window--sewing machines or the reflected building across the street?

The sign on this Santa Fe door invites you into the reflection.

Just for Fun. It’s knot a door and knot a window. 

NEXT: I'll see if I can find another interesting world to visit.

#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)

#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.