Author: Mark Wade

Still attached to a day job. It pays the bills and has been a great asset in life. When that is not occurring, I make photographic art in many forms....without adherence to any philosophical tyranny. Love to paint, mixed media 2D pieces at my leisure. Still working on some pieces that have evolved over a period of years. Art for me is not on the clock (mostly). Sites that do not show up with GRAVATAR for some reason: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/bluemarblearts/ Deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/markus43 REDBUBBLE: https://www.redbubble.com/people/markus43/shop

Hidden Revelation

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There are things
Hidden from our sight
Too afraid to be seen

Yet must be uncovered
To reveal the truths
Of our wonderful world

Cover photo is a simple static image on the trail. They were caught between the broken bridge and me. I moved out of the way and watched them bound away.

These 2021 4th quarter photographs complete the circle started the previous fall. The bulk of favorites being in-camera multiple exposures.

A simple reflection
Multiple exposures – one frame.
Yes, I do love the moon.
Multiple exposures. This murmuration drifted into the tower and at first I thought it ruined the composition. It’s grown on me.
Multiple exposures. Blur the light behind a mountain, set a long exposure and drag down to emulate the aurora borealis.

2022 is a transformative year for me. I will be putting things in place for retirement from the corporate world for early 2023. Yesterday I was out and about with one of my LensBaby optics. They can be challenging, just what I’m looking for.

Leave Reality Behind

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Deja vu
Says you
Me too

Cover photo from July 2021 – one of my favorites of my swallows project.

August manipulation from an outing to a San Diego channel near dog beach
Texture-added manipulation – September 2021

One of the joys of photography is the power it affords the one carrying the camera (within the context of artistic endeavor). With a few tweaks, everything becomes liquid. Get close, and squish the background. Is something dark? Use it! Is something bright? Line it up!

The third quarter of 2021 saw reduced outings. Only a couple in the month of August. Too many life things on the plate to make the adventures. After July, the swallows were gone so much of my work included technique practice. Just trying to stay sharp.
I see from my folders that the fourth quarter has more outings than the third. These will include many more multiple exposure pieces as is typical for me.
Happy holidays! Keep shooting!

A Matter of Time

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Foolish children sing
Too Much time on My Hands
The arrogant declare
Time is on My Side

Sages declare
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

References: STYX – Rolling Stones – Pink Floyd respectively

Digital photography is a boon for learning and challenging yourself.
Like when you want to make photos of fast moving birds. Their erratic movements become an obsession to master.
Now, at year’s end, going through the folders, I see handfuls of usable pieces, and thousands of rejects.
Thousands. It is time to assess and measure the time spent. I am glad I did it, and will continue to do it. It IS however overtly time consuming on the output end of the equation.


In my last entry, I presented some works from the first quarter of 2021.
The second quarter always looks different. Photography has to fit my lifestyle (work schedule).
Most of my end-of-day pieces are made between October through March. So, instead I might make a bunch of static work.


During these months, I will break out some creative lenses for some on-the-fly exploration.
A year ago, I picked up a little Russian lens and modified it to make some swirl fall off pieces like this:

Wide open, this lens will crush backgrounds

and this:

California Sunflowers

There is just not enough time for all the photos and video to be fully vetted/edited. Perhaps when I retire, my photography schedule will catch up with the volume. Perhaps.

82 Folders

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Cover photograph: “Single Black Bird at Dusk” January 2021

As I peruse my photographs made in 2021, I am currently at 82 folders (for creative photography only).
Each folder represents an outing with resultant works. Some are full, others not so much.
This year was a year to dive into bird portraiture, which is rewarding, sometimes very boring, and never easy.
“The Truth of the Matter” is that birds in the wild don’t like humans. Couple that with restrictive access and finding opportunity can be challenging. (Not to mention attaining focus on a moving target)

The Truth of the Matter – Birds are wary of us. Clean portraits are nice, but birds prefer to hide in bushes and trees behind cover.

Typical wild bird “cooperation”
Even with its imperfections, this is one of my favorites for the year. A dramatic moment for this little mouse.
Again, imagery full of “errors” in the birding-perfect-world-tradition, but one of my best.

There is always more to learn with this craft. It forces the artist to push past the “mistakes”. A camera is a powerful tool. It can turn down the light of the sun, blur realities and simply make the user “get up and go make something lovely.”
That is power.

1st Quarter Work Files:

One Trick Pony

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Fall descends in a gust
Winds narrating
The passage of ageless sparks

Wind created by wings
Many, becoming one
True to their calling

In the fall/winter, I am a one-trick-pony. Obsessed with murmurations and their relationship with the ending of day. They dance with the moon and get drunk with the reds of the eventide. It has been ten seasons that I have sought them out. They no longer number in the 100’s or 1000’s as that first year, but the call is still irresistible.
Multiple exposures on a single frame. (Nikon Z6) – Selective blur added