Visualization of a poem by Walt Whitman.
🙂 🙂 🙂
Pandemic-Era Black & White Slideshow
America is at war with itself, brother against brother.
As in any war, truth is the first casualty. Complexities are reduced to black and white and rational discourse drowns in a sea of angry cliches.
Against this cultural backdrop I recently found myself leaching color from my photographs, as if attempting to mimic stark post-truth realities.
But black & white, I discovered, isn’t always black & white. Sometimes there are nuances. 256 shades of gray, to be exact.
🙂 🙂 🙂
Grand Canyon Flyover
When I retired I embarked on a 4-year road trip in pursuit of apex predators and wide-open spaces. A month here, two months there. Hundreds of motels. Tent-camping in the Tetons. Something like 7-8 round trips coast to coast, Atlantic to Pacific. Three different Ford SUVs, umpteen thousands of miles.
I tended to winter in warmer climates. Tuscon was a favorite. And of course while in Arizona I sought out the Grand Canyon. I opted for a helicopter tour.
Unbeknownst to me, taking acceptable video while squeezed into the back seat of a wind-buffeted chopper 6000 feet above the Colorado River is impossible. Not to mention that at that time, ten years ago, I didn’t know squat about how to operate a camera. So I did what most tourists do – I bought a DVD from the gift shop.
Surprisingly, I got some good still photos through the scratched and sun-baked, plastic canopy, which was horrible at catching and reflecting colors from inside the cabin. It is only now that I have enough Photoshop skills to rescue them. I can’t decide between color and black & white versions; you be the judge.
It’s rather exhilarating to be flying virtually nap of the earth and suddenly a mile deep chasm opens up under you. Takes your breath away.
🙂 🙂 🙂
giblets & flapdoodle 