Everything is Political - Pioneer Cemetery Version

Recently, after posting some pioneer cemetery photos on another "site" I ended up in a discussion with a friend about old cemeteries. They said old cemeteries prompted them to reflect upon what it was like to live there back then. I replied; "these days old cemeteries (and especially the gravestones of infants and youth) are a reminder to me of how far we've come... "

...and how far people are willing to go backwards to make things "great again".

I used to think of what it was like to live back in the 1800's, but now all I can think of is the various childhood diseases, simple infections, etc. that killed large numbers of young people. There are plenty of 70+ and 80+ year olds in those cemeteries. The average life expectancy has jumped in the last ~125 years due in most part, not to people living older but instead to babies and children not dying because of two things.
1. Antibiotics.
2. Vaccines.
In general, if you made it through childhood diseases such as chickenpox, polio, mumps, measles, the random staph infection, etc. as a kid, you were on your way to a long life.

Just a VERY SMALL sample of the infants and children in a couple of the pioneer cemeteries I visited a couple weeks ago

One Year Old, Died 1904

Born and Died, October 31, 1924

Unknown Little One

Son of... Age 3 Months

Iconic, Cliché, or Original?

I've taken a lot of short, 2-4 day trips lately. With my cameras of course, and I do at least a little bit of research as to where and what I may have a chance to photograph. For certain places there's going to be the iconic photos that come up, think Ansel Adams and Half Dome. For many other locations, there's the clichés such as a million photographs of Half Dome that say "I was there too" and a feeble attempt at duplicating Adams' work. Then of course, there are the photos of a location that seem original, a way of seeing it that no one else has put out there.

I'm all for taking that "iconic" yet cliché photography. It gives yourself and others a frame of reference as to where you were. After that, I try to see things MY way, a bit original. Sometimes I have success, sometimes I think I have success yet find out otherwise later, and since I'm a details type photographer, I sometimes do have success. For instance, one of my "I have a good one here" photos that I took, only to find out later, that many, many others also took similar photos was in Prague. I noticed that the sewer lids in the streets were frequently works of art, so I photographed some. When I returned home and searched, I found that I was only the millionth person to notice the sewer lids.

I recently returned from a few days in New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia, you tell me which are the iconic or cliché photos and which veer toward original.

New River Flows Through the Gorge

Weathered Pine Above New River Gorge

Turkey Vulture Soars Above New River Gorge

New River Gorge Bridge

Fungi Along Stone Cliff Trail, New River Gorge National Park

Caterpillar Along the Trail

One Rock is Different From the Rest

Finding "Art" In Strange Places

I've been walking in the area a lot more lately. Walking up and down a nearby street with a steep hill in preparation for some hiking later this month. As I walk along, things tend to catch my eye "oh, that might be a cool photo" or similar thoughts. Now with the iPhone, I sometimes actually stop and take the shot.

I've walked by this bicycle a number of times over the past couple weeks. It was placed out for trash pickup but was not noticed and didn't get picked up. It reminded me of various sculptures and such I've seen over the years. (See "Boulevard of Broken Things") I ended up taking photos a couple different days.

This week, it was suddenly gone. I'll miss it. In the meantime, here are my two favorites.

Modern Art is Trash

Modern Art is Trash II

The Joy of Oversleeping

For much of nature and landscape photography, the general rule is be early...earlier than you think is early.
Stay late, later than you think is late.
Many types of wildlife (I'm thinking birds right now) are more active at the crack of dawn and then again at dusk.

For landscapes, nice colors, skies, and shadows are also more prevalent during the "golden hours" just before and after sunrise and sunset.

With those thoughts in mind, I set my alarm to get up early and get to the Magee Marsh boardwalk shortly before sunrise and hopefully see some birds.
Except I forgot to hit save. So I woke up just minutes before sunrise, 45 minutes later than planned. I rushed out the door of our hotel for the 25 minute drive, the sun was already on the horizon. And then, a mile down the road I saw this:

Port Clinton Lighthouse at Sunrise, Port Clinton Ohio

I still managed to be the first one at the popular birding boardwalk, and did capture a few bird photos, but the photograph that made my day was that sunrise.

Cape May Warbler, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area

Great Egret, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area

Green Heron, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area

The Camera You Have With You

Photographers are frequently asked:
What is the best camera?
There are at least as many answers as there are photographers, but without getting into a long back and forth discussion such as ...
"well, what type of photography do you want to do?"
"how will the photos be used? printed?(how big?), posted online???"
"what's your experience level?"
"what's your budget?"
"have you tried some camera's out to see if you like their feel, menus etc?"
"do you plan on using software such as Photoshop/Lightroom to process your own photos?"
and so on.

And then some people buy an expensive (to them) camera and become reluctant to take it out...it's too big and heavy, it's too noticable, it might get wet, it might get sand in it, it might get stolen or maybe I'll get robbed...

And so the common cliché response is:
"The one you have with you!"

And it's true to a great extent. If you don't have a camera, you can't take a photo. These days, most people have a cell phone that can take nice photos in most situations. I have an iPhone 15. I am now in the habit of making sure I take a photo with it when I'm dealing with difficult lighting, even when I am primarily shooting with my DLSR. My iPhone takes photos that are generally good enough for posting online. In many difficult lighting circumstances, it does better than a DLSR if you're not willing to use a tripod and spend some time on the computer to process the images.

So that is generally my answer to the question.
"What is the best camera?"

Below are 4 photos taken pretty much at the same time, a landscape orientation and a portrait orientation from both my Canon 6D DLSR and my iPhone 15. All have been processed to some extent using Lightroom.

Cade's Cove, Canon 6D Portrait Orientation

Cade's Cove, iPhone15 Portrait Orientation

Cade's Cove, Canon 6D Landscape Orientation

Cade's Cove, iPhone15 Landscape Orientation

Testing

Blogger was giving me fits through April and May, so I gave up on it.
This is a test to see if it's working better now.

Black Swallowtail Butterfly on Parsley

Butterflies, I Like Them Too

Butterflies from Summers past
Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly on Butterfly Bush

Painted Lady Butterfly on Zinnia

Black Swallowtail Butterfly on Butterfly Bush

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on Cosmos

I like Spring and the Flowers it Brings

Daffodil portraits from springs past.
Daffodil

Daffodil

Daffodil

Daffodil

Daffodil

Daffodil

Daffodil

And Hawaii isn't Bad Either

Photos from one of our visits, but we lived there for a while too!


Waikiki from Diamond Head

Honolulu and Diamond Head from Punchbowl (National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific)

Kauai Looking at the Na Pali Coast

Desserted Beach, Kauai

Blow Hole Makes a "Rainbow", Oahu

Sandy Beach, Oahu

Hawaiian Sunset, Oahu

I Like Sunsets

Four consecutive sunsets Key West, Florida 2013


Key West Sunset

Key West Sunset

Key West Sunset

Key West Sunset

I like Waterfalls

Some waterfall photos from over the years, to as recently as this past week.


Yellow Springs, OH - 2012

Ricketts Glen, PA - 2024

Plitvice, Croatia - 2012

Fallsville Preserve, OH - 2022

Taughannock Falls, NY - 2022

Letchworth State Park, NY - 2022

Charleston Fall Preserve, OH - 2024