December 2020 – Photographic Impressionistic Illusionistic

What Do I Know?

on December 30, 2020December 30, 2020 By Mark Wade 4 Comments

Do I like fishing?
As a boy
A hook and worm
Were tools for adventure

Pleasing my father
Who taught me rules.
One must pull their weight
Or be sent away

Dogs must defend the farm
Cats had better kill rodents
Cows will give milk
Or become dinner

These systems of value
Created from another world
Transitioned to the city
Never did fit very well.

So I relied on the moon
Or the waves of the ocean
Something repeatable,
Careless and sometimes unpredictable

Truth, I found
Is sometimes static
And sometimes
Constantly changing

Dusting off rod and line
Casting lures into the dark
Looking to catch something old
To capture a spark, a fire

I’m not a very good fisherman
And the fish know it
Better at feeding them
I suppose

I said hello to the moonrise yesterday. It was cool and the horizon burned lavender. Some things are static, others, not so much.

Best Seat in The House

on December 18, 2020December 18, 2020 By Mark Wade 2 Comments

Sometimes
The best seat in the house
Redefines “house”

Yellow Throat

on December 11, 2020December 11, 2020 By Mark Wade 2 Comments

A little friend
With mask and beak
To catch a gnat
Mid-air mystique

I was lucky enough to catch a yellow throat as it was eating and followed it for a time with my camera. Quick and agile they are. This video is rendered 1/2 speed.

Ten Months Gone

on December 4, 2020December 4, 2020 By Mark Wade 7 Comments

Swimming in yellow and orange
Treading on ground long forgotten
A soul restored

10 Months Gone – It’s been that long since I’d walked these trails. So overwhelming to walk them again. An entire spring, summer, and some of fall gone now. Glad they opened it up. Found a little gnat catcher fitting in and out of some lovely backlighting – Mission Trails Regional Park

Waiting

on December 1, 2020December 1, 2020 By Mark Wade 1 Comment

“Oh yes, this is why I usually do not make full moon photographs ON THE DAY of the full moon.” How could I forget? The full moon’s rising is typically accompanied by no light from the sun.
Cameras are still junk when compared to the efficiency of the eye. Contrasts make it cry. You see, the light value of the moon far exceeds ambient street lights, etc. When the gain is lowered so the detail in the moon can be seen, everything else goes overtly dark.
This camera failure can be used to make some cool photographs. But for the full moon, it’s better to make photographs the DAY BEFORE the actual full moon rising….maybe even two days before the event. That way there can be some twenty minutes of balanced light and we can actually see what is what.
Otherwise, we need to make (2) frames and blend them in an editing program.
Also, if you’re going to hike up a trail and don’t expect to come down until after dark….bring a flashlight. I’m so out of practice. Luckily, the moon sufficed.
Will anything be normal again?

Moon over Santee Kwaay Paay Trail Mission Trails Regional Park