Dedication

Disclaimer:   I do not hold myself out as a photographer.  I take pictures only because a certain videographer gently chided me for stealing photos from the internet to illustrate my blog entries.  He mildly noted that I would not want someone snipping those entries to provide captions to their pictures, now would I? and no, probably not. So, then.  Take your own.

Since purchasing my plug-and-play basic Canon, I’ve found that I can barely make the ten-mile drive to work without stopping to gawk and snap.  I see everything framed.  The images freeze for a split second and I murmur, Oh, that’s the money shot.  I know nothing about the technical aspects.  I could never sell my images because they lack the crispness which manual settings afford.   I just share what I record.

By the same token, the running inner monologue has not stopped.  I still write the narrative of my days.  I keep mental journals, editing, swapping strong verbs for muddied split infinitives. I insert paragraph breaks in my constant whispers about the scenery which passes my windshield.

If I grudgingly credit my paternal genes for the writer’s mantra by which my days find rhythm, I must thank others for whatever deftness of vision I can claim.  Penny Thieme, first and foremost:  she who stood in the middle of a crowded city street for fifteen minutes waiting for an old man to step into a crosswalk, her camera held aloft, her body poised.  But others — Genevieve Casey, whose photograph of leaves steals my breath whenever I come downstairs; Samantha Bessent, with her charming flowers and her poignant snippets of rusty machinery; Scott Anderson and his serene ladies; Dave Michael, who hauls his equipment down embankments with dogged drive seeking a precise angle; Kimberley Kellogg, who sees beauty in the smallest treasures. And the ethical videographer, who dragged me to the exact path of totality in 2017, to a farmer’s field, and a date with history.

I do not pretend to be qualified to even hold their camera bags, but each of them taught me something.  They opened my writer’s mind to the possibility that words could share a stage with pictures.  They reminded me that I describe what they see.  They broadened my horizons. 

Because of them, I can enrich my offerings.  I dedicate this entry in their honor.  I give thanks for their inspiration.

It’s the twenty-eighth day of the ninety-first month of My Year Without Complaining.  Life continues.

 

2 thoughts on “Dedication

  1. AC

    MYWC wrote, “I take pictures only because a certain videographer [& photographer] gently chided me for stealing photos from the internet to illustrate my blog entries. He mildly noted that I would not want someone snipping those entries to provide captions to their pictures, now would I? and no, probably not. So, then. Take your own.”

    Or as one appeals court has written: “Get a license or do not sample. We do not see this as stifling creativity in any significant way.”

    US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
    Bridgeport Music, Inc., et al. v. Dimension Films, et al.
    June 3, 2005

    MYWC wrote, “And the ethical videographer, who dragged me to the exact path of totality in 2017, to a farmer’s field, and a date with history.”

    Much of the Kansas & Missouri August 21, 2017 solar eclipse viewing areas were overcast or saw rain. Though we faced both types of inclement weather, we were truly fortunate that the sky over Sparks, KS briefly opened up, and we got to enjoy about 20-seconds of full totality bliss against an old Kansas wind pump. Months later, I mailed Melissa & her husband a photograph of the eclipse and a $100 Target gift card in appreciation for allowing us to view the event from their gravel driveway property.

    FYI: North America map of the 2024 total solar eclipse path: https://www.conservativedailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/NASA-GSFC-2024-Total-Solar-Eclipse-Map.jpg

    MYWC wrote, “I dedicate this entry in their honor [photographers]. I give thanks for their inspiration.”

    And we’re inspired by MCC’s writing skills + she’s always supporting the creative community!

    Reply

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