black and white

“that’s me in the window and me in the bar”

/ mobius faith

I’ve not been out with my camera taking photo’s for a couple of months.  In fact I think I’ve only been out a couple of times this year so far.   The photo’s I’ve posted in the past several weeks and going forward are old files.  I’ve been digging through old files from 2007-2010.    About half of the photos I’m posting are re-edits from personal favorites of the past.  So for those who followed me since my flickr days or my very first blog (which I deleted in 2014 to start this one) – some images may look familiar.  The other half of images, you have seen recently or will see going forward, are files I’ve never processed or shared before.    

Today’s post includes one of my personal all time favorites.   Back in the days when I was on flickr I posted a sepia tint version that was cropped.  I’ve re-edited it without the crop and without the sepia which I like better now.  I also like the original color version just as much as the black and white.  For me this image evokes a number of different moods.    This image is from 2008 and was from an abandoned music store window (the name of the store I’ve long forgotten) with a poster of some musical artist (I don’t remember who) promoting some recent recording of the day.  I like this image for it’s abstract qualities and the composition of the crumpling poster.   If you look closely, you can see in the windows reflection, my car which was parked across the street – LOL.  This building was on East Exchange St in Akron, OH and was demolished a couple of years later to make way for a college football stadium. 

Song for the day:  That’s Me In The Bar by A.J. Croce

https://youtu.be/2yYFq5_PHH4

blackstracts 1

/ mobius faith

I’ve experimented with extremely dark images in the past but it’s been a while and I was in the mood. Today and tomorrows images were taken one Saturday morning early in May. I had gone to the laundromat to clean my winter comforter and a couple of pillows to put in storage. At that time people were not permitted to wait inside due to the pandemic. So I sat in my car. It was raining rather hard and I was not in the mood to go out and about for photos. So I just sat in my car for these abstracts. The inside of my car is dark gray and black with some chrome accents. Wondering what kind of abstracts I could create – I dialed down the exposure to -7 and started clicking the camera shutter. I did very little in Photoshop except to convert to black and white and some vignetting to darken the edges. Enjoy.

As with all my galleries click on one image to view larger and then use the arrows to go to the next image.

Easier Sung Than Done

/ mobius faith
Autumns End #1

Something we all need to be reminded of from time to time.  We as human beings have a habit of blowing things out of proportion and making them seem more important than they are. 

I want you to think about what makes you angry, frustrated, sad, hopeless.  It might be relationships, politics, health, personal economics/finances, business, religion, culture, media, the environment etc.   Nothing is off bounds.  Everything matters here.   I’m guessing there is at least one thing that immediately comes to mind for every individual.

Now. 

Let it go. 

Let it go now.

And yes, that seems easy; but it’s not, especially the more invested you are in the subject whether it’s emotionally, spiritually or intellectual investment.   

But do you think the tree in Autumn wants to let go of its leaves? Or that it’s easy.   And yet it does.  The tree feels the pain of separation with each leaf – sometimes a thousand times.  Year after year the tree will let go of its leaves.  The tree does not know what the future holds but it continues the cycle.  

So for all the things that seem so important at the time – in the long view – they are not important at all.     

They are about as important as a “pebble lying on a gravel road”.   So let it go.  Sometimes it’s easier sung than done.   I found that singing this song while I’m thinking of these things helps me keep things in perspective and remember what’s really important.

Maybe a nice practice would be to write down all these things than anger, frustrate (…etc.) you.  Then like Autumn leaves – burn them. Let the worries and cares turn to ash.  Then wash them away. 

Hey man, you don’t know what you’re missing
You count your curses and forget about the blessings
Don’t you think you should learn a little lesson
What are you waiting for?
 
Hey man, what makes you so special
Can’t seem to find the angels for the devils
Don’t you think that if you learned to love a little
You’d live a whole lot more
 
Let it go, let it go
This is smaller than you know
No bigger than a pebble lying on a gravel road
Let it go, let it go
Got to leave it all behind you
Give the sun a chance to find you
Let it go
 
Hey man, there’s no time for crying
You made your bed but don’t think its fit to lie inWasted on the ground when you know you should be flying
What are you waiting for?
 
How can a man not see
It seems so clear to me
You’ve just got to live and learn
Smile at the simple stuff
This road ain’t long enough
To miss a single turn