http://www.toddandbradreed.com/lightbox ... gan;_.html

This is the 4th and last in my planned series of pics from Todd & Brad Reed. It's pretty well composed, rather unique, with another nautical setting, which suits my pisces poetic nature. It also has a pleasant play of blues and whites, with a range of each that goes from soft to hard, to brilliant.

This seascape view by Alan Klein has gotten quite a few interesting comments on photo.net

Most were very impressed. Some photographers liked it enough to invest their own time with suggested editing enhancements. One thought it was too blue and adjusted for that. You can scroll thru the variations there. But most came back to the original, as being the favorite.

It has a lot of nice contrasts, despite the range of textures and color tones.

This image has predominantly blue and white colors, involving a lighthouse, like Todd Reed's photo "Crystal Clear Morning" in my previous post.

But in Alan's photo, the season is warm instead of cold. So the blues are of water and sky, rather than just sky, like Todd's photo. And the scope of view in Alan's photo, emphasizes the wide, horizontal sweep. Todd's emphasizes the high, vertical sweep.

You can see this photo without the multiple embedded watermarks, by clicking on the link below. There, after the image loads, you can double it's size, by clicking again, on the image. That wide angle view brings the scene into full detail, and is mesmerizing. On my 24" iMac, it's probably the most appealing photo I've seen in this thread so far, at least for buying and putting up in my home.

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id ... 51&size=md

I have thought about starting another thread, to see how Alan's photo would look on my walls in some of the rooms of my home. The thread could be called "home decorating" or something like that. I would switch views of my walls, and replace one top photographer's image, with another; and try to sort out which one I would want to buy and hang in that place. This is a newer residence, where I moved within the last year.

Who is Alan Klein?

After I got permission from Alan, as required by photo.net, to post his photo in this topfoto discussion thread, Alan and I emailed further. At one point he said he's looking forward to seeing the discussion here. It's an

"Interesting forum and web site.

Twain's a great singer.

Better than I'm a photographer!

Alan"

I'm surprised he is so relaxed and unpretentious. Most other top photographers with whom I've communicated for this thread, are accommodating and diplomatic. But they're also pretty serious about their work. Not usually as relaxed and casual as this.

His name sounds familiar. I wondered if he is an accomplished professional in another field. So this is just a relaxing hobby for him. About which he is not possessive at all.

Where have I seen that name before? A famous journalist? Reporter? Author? Business executive? Government leader? Or is his name just similar to a famous person, like maybe Art Klein?

A Google search shows Alan Klein, born in 1940, former manager of The Beatles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Klein

Another result shows Allen Klein, businessman, talent agent and record label executive, born in 1931, whose clients include The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Klein

A third result shows Alan Klein, a successful, commercial photographer in New York. The accompanying photo shows a younger man.
http://www.alanklein.com/about/index.php

The Alan Klein on photo.net has another site with other photos. I like the quick capture content from the road, of this covered bridge.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2 ... 614472967/

Heard back from Alan Klein last evening.

He said he's just a hobbyist photographer. And he is not the fellow of same or similar name, who managed the Beatles. Nor is he the noted commercial photographer by the same name in New York.

So, he is one of those, who like Claire Crocker, has photos that are highly pleasing to viewers. Not everyone has to be famous, an award winner, or professionally commercial, to take a top photograph.

Maybe Ren will start his new thread soon, telling us a few tips he's learning, to get a top photograph.

One thing I want to know, is how much to blur the background for a good portrait. My nephew has a very nice photo of his wife, holding their dog, on a sea shore. But the sea, the beach and the curve of the fall color trees in the background are such a great setting, that I wanted those in better focus. When I boosted that focus, it distracted from the primary subject of the picture, his wife and their dog, even though I did not change that primary part of the picture at all.

Ren brought this link to my attention.

It's a cute story about lion cubs, lion kings, and accompanying photos.

http://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/incre ... amera.html

I'm happy to introduce a sample of photos by Diane Berry. Two of her waterfall photos caught my eye. I have seen a lot of waterfall photos. Have taken some myself. They are hard to capture with the same feeling for viewers, as the photographer had at the original scene.

Diane mentioned that she was unable to get a full frontal view of this falls, as she had hoped. I suspect this view from an angle, may be the best perspective.



The MANY waterfall photo's I've sorted through, to find a good one for this discussion, include an emphasis on one thing or another that was nice, but not quite optimal for my senses. Some feature the waterfall height, power, spray, transparency of water, milkiness of water, smooth rounded glassy surface, kaleidoscopic patterns and colors, etc.

As soon as I saw this photo by Diane, I thought this one is different. It's refreshing and complete. There is a depth of quality on many levels. The lighting, colors, contrasts, feeling of motion, naturalness, overall composition, among others. I particularly noticed the blue hue of the water. It's nearly white at the top of the falls, but becomes increasingly blue as it drops through the partial shadows. Perhaps it's diffracting the natural prismatic color of the sky, which in turn, I think comes from the sun going through our atmosphere of H2O. The physics is a bit over my head, without researching further.

But the uniquely pleasing quality of the photo, does not escape me.

You can view this photo, in higher resolution, and without my embedded watermarks, at
http://diane-berry.artistwebsites.com/f ... berry.html

The second of Diane Berry's photos. The spray of the water is special here. The colors, contrasts and composition are also unusually well put together.



You can see this photo without my embedded watermarks,
on Diane's own website at:

http://diane-berry.artistwebsites.com/f ... berry.html

or also at:
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/pixl ... berry.html

On either site, Diane has a fine collection of her photos and artwork. I particularly liked her image of an old dump rake under a maple tree, through the seasons. I remember using a dump rake, or trying to, while growing up on a farm. Normally, a side rake was used for hay. But in an occasional dry season, when the hay was too thin, a dump rake was needed. My legs were still too short to step reliably on the trip lever. So my windrows across the hayfield, had some extra steps and curves. You could call them "artistic".

Two seasonal photos of an old dump rake, under the maple tree, are at the links below:

Gone with the wind
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/gone ... berry.html

To every thing, there is a season
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/to-e ... berry.html

Have you ever bought something...,

but didn't know what it was?

I did. Last night.

"Evening Hatch on the Metolius River"

What is "Evening Hatch"?

A) Mosquitoes?

B) A Fishery?

C) An "opening" thru the trees?

D) The fresh air when they open the hatch on a submarine at nightfall?

E) A typo? meant to say "Evening Catch" in stead of "Hatch"?

F) A color of sky at twilight?

G) The view through the eye of elderly aunts with cataract eyes?

Anybody know?

If all else fails, I guess I can look it up.

Okay. I know the answer now, in the light of a new day. 14 swabbies out there, viewed this post since yesterday, but did not tell me the answer. Had to look it up myself. It's from the world of fly fishers.

I have some stories about that. A river ran through one of them, along my way in Montana to Yellowstone. The very same river as in the movie. And a plane flew through the other one. But that's another story.

I never intended to name this as a top photo.

I couldn't. It wasn't a photo when I first saw it.

It was a painting.

It caught my eye, even so.

In fact, it was the first image by Diane Berry I noticed.

But since it wasn't a photo, I looked at some of Diane's other photos.

I liked two categories, posted samples of one type above (waterfalls),
and links, also above, to the other (hay rake through the seasons under maple tree).


You can view the original of this photo in various formats, with comments by other artists, at:
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/even ... berry.html

This Evening Hatch was not an Easy Catch.

I saw Diane's painting and liked it. But without a photograph, it didn't fit in a discussion about select photos.

After further discussion with Diane about her waterfall pics and hay rake pics, and my posting them in this thread; I asked if she had taken a photo of this river scene. She wrote back and said she did, but she did not have it for sale at fineartamerica.com. So I thought that was the end of my quest.

However, I espied a copy of the photo on her own private website. About the same time, she realized it was there too. So I went ahead and bought a copy.

I have an intriguing project planned for this picture. Will explain and illustrate in separate posts below.

Diane Berry wrote me that her husband can stand in a river like this, for 12 hours (fly fishing). Her replies to comments about it, by other artists on fineartamerica.com, describe the location as exceptionally enchanting.

I wrote back to say my rugged forester nephew, only lasted 12 minutes, in the mecca of fly fishing in Alaska, near the confluence of the Russian and Kenai Rivers.' But he didn't have fancy boots/waders, so he was barefoot in the water. And it was a week before start of snow and winter, so the water was nearly ice cold.

I have a photo or two of that around somewhere. We spent 2 weeks in Alaska during peak fall color in an early September. My careful planning and some good luck got us astounding views of the highest mountain on the continent, stunning scenery and wildlife on their move from summer to winter habitat, as we hiked and camped in the wilderness north of Denali, during the first week. The day after we stumbled back out of the wilderness into so called civilization, the bliss of heaven halted, as the Yin and Yang of life caught up to us. That was on Sept 11, 2001; the day planes flew into the Twin Trade Towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania.

So our planned flight to Juneau got cancelled. And I cancelled the corresponding, related reservations with Alaska Marine Highway ship up to Haines, Skagway, White Pass and the Klondike. Instead, we rented a car and drove to visit Seward, see the Kenai Fjords, the Russian & Kenai River fly fishing mecca, hike in the Chugache Mountains, and several other memorable places.

I hear the fly fishing in peak season at Russian & Kenai River, is so heavy, the anglers are almost elbow to elbow, as far as the eye (and cameras) can see, along the banks. I also hear that enterprising grizzly bears hide just out of view in the brush. And when an angler catches a large salmon, the bear sometimes runs out, swats the angler aside, and swipes the fish.

Diane's invigorating photo of fly fishing in Oregon, reminds me of the stunning scenery I've experienced in the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, and also along the Gallatin River thru the Mountains from Bozeman, Montana to West Yellowstone. That river was the setting for much of the popular fly fishing movie "A River Runs Through It".

Diane wrote that she fishes for a while, then picks up her camera. I'm glad she did. This is the kind of photo I've been looking for. And the first one I've bought, out of the thousands I've viewed, related to this thread.

The painting that first caught my eye, is at right. I loved the rich blues in the river.

The photo I eventually tracked down, is at left.



You can view the painting from right side above, at:
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/even ... berry.html

Diane did a separate painting, a more finished version, better centered, near the same spot, but with less vibrant colors. which can be viewed at:
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/even ... berry.html

Now, why did I want this photo, what's so special about it, and what am I going to do with it?

Some persons would put a mat on it, frame it, and hang it on a wall.

But I have a more imaginative use.

I have prepared more text and imagery about this, which is ready to post. But I didn't want to wear you folks out. This was a pretty big chunk, all at one time, already.

Besides, I have to work on my taxes, before the deadline in about a week. I can no longer see small numbers easily. And my math is a bit rusty. Good thing my income is rather modest, and I rarely end up with much to pay, or to receive as refund at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Happy Easter!

"Evening Hatch , evening hatch meaning , definition of evening hatch , what is evening hatch - the emergence of aquatic insects in the evening; emergence is the transformation of an insect from a swimming to a flying stage at the water surface; a term used by anglers . Hatches attract fish"

So fly fishers are not squeamish about insects, bugs, larvae, worms, etc. Interesting that a point of view, can change things around so dramatically. And a photographer with an artistic eye, can turn something ugly, awful and uncomfortable, into something gorgeous, wonderful and pleasurable.

A few years ago, I went to the National Archives (NARA) near Washington DC, to look for records related to the book I was writing. This one is about my 92 yr old uncle's experience in Secret Intelligence in the OSS during WW II. I'd been told over the phone, these records did not exist. Even if true, I expected to find other interesting info for my book.

When I arrived at NARA, I registered as a researcher, then looked around and asked questions. Due to my preparation and online findings, I knew some of the answers better than the regular NARA staff. Before long, they got tired of such embarrassment and one of them took me back, through multiple layers of security, to see the dean of archives on the OSS (the forerunner to the CIA). John Taylor had been taking care of these OSS records since 1946. He was intrigued about my persistence and confidence. He also was close friend, with the family of an OSS veteran who had been stationed in Cairo, the same place as my uncle, for most of the war. John took me under his wing, and showed me how to find what I was looking for. My life has not been the same since the information, contacts and declassified secrets that have opened up for me.

My unexpected discovery of Diane Berry's photograph, after seeing her painting, and asking about it, has had a turn, somewhat similar to my unexpected discoveries in Washington. It has led me onto a path less traveled, and as Robert Frost used to say, "that has made all the difference".

The 3rd layer of unexpected discovery for me, frames the context of Diane's photo "Evening Hatch". That discovery was a documentary I saw several days ago on PBS, about Margaret Mitchell. She wrote "Gone With The Wind". Sold a million copies in the first 6 months, despite the book coming out at a rather high price of $3.00 in those days, during the depths of the Great Depression. I note that book won a Pulitzer, and was over 1,000 pages. (Take THAT, you speedy readers, who want everything in a 6 second sound bite).

Margaret Mitchell had a perfect idea for the end of her book. But she couldn't figure out how to start the book. So she wrote the last chapter first. Poured her most compelling feelings and ideas into that part. Then she worked from back to front, building the story in reverse, one chapter at a time.

That idea, of starting with the end, and building back to the beginning, has similar potential for Diane Berry's photo.

I have a large print on my wall in my home. I've enjoyed it for many decades, and my guests notice and compliment it.



This artwork reminds me of Margaret Mitchell and how she started at the end, then worked forward.

At the far end of the view in this picture, is a window, a bit left of center, with a natural and pleasant scene outside. The light comes in and illuminates the room in front of the window.

The rest of the elements in the picture, are painted sequentially. In front of the window, is the room, then the table and people, then another room in front of that, which shows the entrance, and completes the background/foreground context for what is happening in the scene.

Margaret Mitchell's reverse writing sequence for the chapters in her book, is chronological. The sequence of painting the elements in the art print on my wall, are as much spatial as chronological. Those two concepts are partly different, but partly overlap.

The general idea of layers, and sequence, and context and framing; creates possibilities not otherwise obvious.

For months, since I first saw Diane Berry's painting, I have been thinking how visually pleasing it would be, to put it in a special setting/framing/context, to magnify it's effect.

The art print already on another wall in my home, gave me some ideas. But I had other ideas along those lines for a LONG time. When I first began to draw sketches and scaled drawings for a home I wanted to build, I had framed murals in my dining room. I drew those on graph paper, when I was in the army, in 1967-68. Still have 'em. And I have all the tools and skills to build my own home. Haven't ever gotten around to doing a whole home yet, though. Too many other interesting projects and ideas keep distracting me.

I could use the print I purchased from Diane, as the far end, the start, like the scene outside the window in the art print above. Then I could frame it, with sequential layers, in front, with other compatible, but synergistic imagery.

Her print arrived today. It fits the window in my wall art print quite well. But I'd never cut and remove the existing view out the window and tape in the new one. For one thing, Diane's scene would not be compatible with the rest of my art print.

However I've thought that if I start with a scene outside the window, namely Diane's photo, that is theoretically 100 times more appealing, than the one in the small center of my wall art print now; and make each of the other levels of the artwork, also 100 times more appealing than what is in my wall art print now; I'd end up with something about a million times better. I'm not sure anything that good has ever been created before. Maybe I should wait til I die, before I expect such heavenly result, hey?

Another possibility, is that a high quality scene outside the window, is actually enhanced by a less distracting, or more plain/subdued scene on the viewer side of the window.

More on these developments, to follow.

Just back from trip to Wisconsin 2-3 days ago. Multiple family projects, events and photo shoots there for 10 days. Someone at Marquette Univ. in Milwaukee and a nearby nunnery are asking for my recent pics. I got so involved in a shoot of my (and their) former private high school, between Manitowoc and Appleton, which has limited access since it closed in 1986; that I barely got back to the boat/ship in time for carferry sailing across Lake Michigan.

When I arrived in Ludington around 7 pm, I stopped by Todd and Brad Reed's photography store, studio and gallery near downtown. I've featured/reviewed several of their photos earlier in this thread. Unfortunately, neither Todd nor Brad were in the store. One was on a scheduled photo shoot. I'd forgotten they do a regular "Tuesdays with Todd and Brad Reed" online feature. The other fellow was at a state or county fair exhibit, according to Sharon in the store, an assistant and close friend of the family. So I left them a note, saying I'd been there.

On the way in and back out, I could not help but notice the place had changed since my last visit a few years ago. One of the features was rather stunning. Most art or photo galleries I've seen sporadically through the years, seem oriented to decorating the image of the artist. This gallery had a very different, predominant effect. It seemed oriented toward decorating the life/image of the customers. What a delightful eyeful, looking in every direction. Well lit displays of large photo prints, in racks, on walls and stands, every direction. And the photos were captivating and delightful. To a visual person like me, this was a real treat. And all I did, was walk in and walk out. If I'd had more time, I'd have looked around some. Sort of like walking through a forest, field or a beach, except in pictures instead of reality. But I had 4 hours of driving ahead of me, and would not get home until near midnight, or to bed until after 4 am, as it was. Pleased to see that they have followed their personal passion, and seem to be doing a booming business.

I wish more people would do that. But it's not for the faint of heart. I hear Todd and Brad have an exhausting schedule of hours. But it's worth it when it's fun, and succeeds.

Parts of this trip alerted me to something that never occurred to me back when I was in high school. But private high schools, even those oriented to religion, lead to extra academic training and networking. In recent years, I thought it was my own abilities that enabled me to discuss the larger issues of the day, knowledgeably with some of the better professionals and thinkers around the country and globe. Turns out it's not unique to me, but is somewhat unique to persons who've gone to private prep schools. Some of the books I've read in preparation for writing my 2nd book, show the network of achievers from schools like Groton and others, which in turn funneled into the Ivy League colleges. Here in the Midwest/Great Lakes, the Ivy League role is filled by places like Marquette, Notre Dame, Northwestern, and maybe Univ of Chicago. I didn't go to any of these. Not sure if my first alma mater - Univ of Mich, relates. Probably in part it does. At least in the past, it had a strong financial backing from wealthy alums and families in Detroit and it's suburbs. With the population of Detroit down from 2+ million, to about 700 thousand now, that UM donation equation has probably changed some.

Interesting to learn, not only of the success of people like Todd and Brad Reed, but of others who had been my class mates long ago, and the class mates of my brother, 2 years ahead of me in the same school. They have a 50 yr reunion coming up in early Oct in Wis. My brother is coming to it from Florida. I might see if I can join his class mates. I knew most of them and received as much support and encouragement from some of them, as from my own class mates.

Aiee! My ability is undermined by my eye-sight and finger coordination. I must have found over 3 dozen typos/grammos that needed correcting so far. There are probably more. But I need a nap.