You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught

June 2, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 14
Abstract / California / Impressionism / Inspiration / Photo Log / Photography / Positivity / Seascapes

April 7, 1949 — The Majestic Theatre, New York

Lt. Cable: “It’s not born in you. It happens after you’re born.

You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear
You’ve got to be taught from year to year
It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear
You’ve got to be carefully taught

You’ve got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made
And people whose skin is a diff’rent shade
You’ve got to be carefully taught

You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late
Before you are six or seven or eight
To hate all the people your relatives hate
You’ve got to be carefully taught
You’ve got to be carefully taught”

Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II
South Pacific

 

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Respect, tolerance, understanding, and kindness can also be taught. They are easy to teach because these are the natural qualities of untarnished life. Wherever there is light in the world or on any horizon, these are the qualities of that light.

Best if taught early. Most effective if taught by example.

Texture and Tone. Again.

June 1, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 19
Abstract / California / Impressionism / Inspiration / Photo Log / Photography / Seascapes

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January 17, 2012 — Sonoma County Coast, California

Returning with new eyes to a shot taken eight years ago. I’ve just competed a series of webinars by Bruce Percy. He describes himself as a black and white photographer working in color. His sensitivity to tonal balance is inspirational and very instructive.

This shot is pretty much the same as the way I left it the last time I worked on it almost three years ago, but with minor tonal adjustments to a part of the picture that had always bothered me. Bruce’s patient guidance in tonal balance helped me to see why it had bothered me and led the way to my adjusting it to my liking.

Now that it bothers me no more, I can show it to you.

(Canon 40D; Canon EF 70–300mm f/4.5–5.6 DO IS USM Zoom. RAW processing in DxO Photo Pro. Final editing in Adobe Photoshop.)

Chewy — What’s in a Name?

May 31, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 25
California / Photo Log / Photography

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May 28, 2016. Silicon Valley, California (Photo May 30, 2015, Sonoma County Coast.)

While thinking about what to say in a notice to family and friends, I recalled something that I’d read or heard that the number of nicknames one has for someone is a mark of the degree of affection that one has for them.

That got me and the Muse to thinking…

Here’s what we recalled, in no particular order:

Chewy, Chew, Chewbacca, Chewy-Bacca, Chewster, Chewsty, Bacca, Bacca-Boy, Bacs, Bac Man, Bopper, Bopper-boy, Chew-bopper, Chew-boppa, Chew-bop, Chew-bop Kwaku-Bah, Crazy Horse, Bops, Ba, Baba, Chew-bird, Chew-burg, Chew-biscuit, Chewy-biscuit, Chewberry Pie, Chewy Burbock, Chewy La-La, La-La, Chewbser, Chewbsers, Chewbster, Chewmanfu, Choob, Choobie, Choobie-Bacca, Choo-Choo, Choo-Choo Train, Train, The Boy, The Man, Mister Man, Man-pants, Pants-man, Man-among-men, Mang, Tail-wagger, Wail-tagger, Waggie, Wags, Wag-man, Fuzz Face, Face, Dude, Duder, Your Dudeship, Mister Dude, Main Man, Schush, Schkunk, Schkunkman, Schkunker, Schkunkerman, Buba, Bubs, Bullet Boy, Rocket Man…

There are probably more.

He answered immediately to every single one.

It’s good to have a dog with a sense of humor. And flexibility.

Chewy — Movin’ On

May 30, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 27
California / Inspiration / Photo Log / Photography

Northern California

Chewy’s last year was testament to the way life works and to the fact that it eventually comes full circle. No one is exempt.

He had various maladies and he had great vets. One thing that really cramped his style was arthritis. Someone told us about a holistic vet in Los Gatos who did acupuncture treatments. Our attitude was, “it can’t hoit” so on January 16, 2016, we took him. As it happened, after the last needle was pulled, we immediately made the tree-hour drive to visit family in the Sierra foothills — not too far from where he was born.

When we got there, we took him to a dog park. To our delighted surprise, he was running and chasing balls like a four-year-old. As we stared at him in amazement, we realized that the is no such thing as a placebo effect in dogs. The acupuncture worked. He was a bounding boy, full of joy.

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January 16, 2016. “I’m young again!”

Still, it was not meant to last forever. Between April and May, age caught up with him. This, that, and the other thing. In April we took him to the Sonoma coast and made the final Christmas card picture.

On the morning of May 27, 2016, he looked at me and told me he wanted to move on.

And so he did.

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April 23, 2016. Like his humans, one of his favorite things to do was to look out to sea and contemplate the horizon. An old sea dog.

 

PS: One more Chewy post to go. I always like to leave ’em laughin’.

Chewy — World Traveler

May 27, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 46
California / Inspiration / Photo Log / Photography / Positivity

All over the world

Every year, our friends and family waited with bated breath for our Christmas card. Every year we presented a photo of far-flung locales with the Muse and I and the boy.

Sometimes the scenes happened almost as shown.

Xmas 2007 Blog

We began the tradition in 2007 on the Sonoma County Coast. I told a business associate that we had to rent a helicopter to get the tree onto the rock. She believed it. And we were off to a roaring start!

 

XMas 2008 Blog

  1. St Regis Mountain, New York State. Easier when I was a kid.

 

Xmas 2009 Blog

  1. Patio of the Art Institute in Chicago. Our kind of town.

 

Xmas 2010 Blog

  1. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Vince gave me permission to re-do his self-portrait. I don’t know how Chewy got into another one of the paintings.

 

Xmas 2011 Blog

  1. A major city in France. That tower is a real eye-full.

 

Xmas 2012 Blog

  1. A major river in a major city in the UK.

 

Xmas 2013 Blog

  1. A conversation with two old gents in the aforementioned major UK city.

 

Xmas 2014 Blog

  1. Yes, Chewy really did go to Lake Tahoe with us. Every year.

 

Xmas 2015 Blog

  1. A major West Coast city. A famous bridge.

 

Xmas 2016 Blog

  1. Full circle.

Same hats every year. Magic. Same tree too.

As I Saw it Thirty Seconds Later — For Three Seconds

May 23, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 33
Abstract / Impressionism / Inspiration / New Zealand / Photo Log / Photography / Seascapes

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June 28, 1018 — Cape Saunders, Otago Peninsula, South Island, New Zealand

Just a half a minute later, three seconds of intentional camera movement.

(Nikon D850, Tamron SP 24–70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.2; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)

For more Abstract Horizons, go to www.amagaphoto.com

Kind of Like it Was

May 22, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 31
Impressionism / New Zealand / Photo Log / Photography / Sunset

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June 28, 1018 — Cape Saunders, Otago Peninsula, South Island, New Zealand

If you go due south from this spot, you’ll come to Antarctica. If you go due east, you’ll hit South America. Either way, it’s chilly. It wasn’t all that warm right where we were on this winter afternoon, either.

This is sort of how it looked. Kind of.

(Nikon D850, Tamron SP 24–70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.2; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)

For more Horizons, go to www.amagaphoto.com.

 

Just in Time

May 17, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 51
California / Flower / Hummingbirds / Photo Log / Photography

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May 14, 2020 — The Back Yard, Silicon Valley, California

Every April/May I engage in the Hummingbird Ritual. It’s a simple ritual, mostly involving standing around with a heavy camera/lens combo waiting for hummingbirds to feed on echium blooms. This requires four ingredients: Me, Heavy camera/lens, Purple echium blooms, and a Hummingbird.

Thing is, despite shelter-in-place, my schedule has been less than accommodating, which has effectively removed the “me” ingredient for several weeks. When I finally was available, the purple blooms were almost gone. But not quite. And so, on a soft overcast morning I grabbed the heavy camera/lens combo and went out to stand around waiting. And waiting.

Eventually a pretty Anna’s Hummingbird had mercy on my poor soul and — kindly waiving the customary modeling fee — provided the opportunity.

Just in time.

(Nikon D500, Tamron 100–400mm f/4.5–6.3 Di VC USD. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.2; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)

The Pacific, Living up to its Name

May 15, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 31
California / Inspiration / Photo Log / Photography / Seascapes

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May 12, 2020 — San Mateo County Coast, California

Driving has always been allowed in California. There is simply nowhere worthwhile to park. All state beach (meaning “beach”) parking has been blocked. But there had been rain (finally) and the sky promised to be interesting, I drove to the coast to try my luck. I was expecting reasonably good surf for wave photos. Six to nine feet was the forecast. I was pumped. The very last existing copy of Sirens, Rachael Talibart’s brilliant book of towering waves had just arrived in the mail and, suitably inspired, I wanted to shoot some waves of my own.

But when I got there and pulled off to the side of the road north of Pescadero, the Pacific was being… Pacific.

So, shooting not what was expected but what was presented, I shot this.

(Nikon D850, Nikon 24-120mm f/4G VR. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.2; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)

More seascape horizons: www.amagaphoto.com