My almost published Blog!!

Yes I did write one two days ago but when I couldn't find the appropriate photos I deleted the lot. Not so in my list of blogs...the deleted one still appears...almost.
So I'll continue and thank all the members for their votes...you have made my day...I can't believe that you have chosen as the favorite my first attempt at the 'double exposure' competition. It is all very encouraging!! Thank you so much.
Either you all love olives so much or this photo really has value.

Today is the first day of summer and of course Amazon and Google will deny this but we know for sure in Australia. And even though our temperatures are not as high
 as usual I have a nice photograph which will make you
 want to run to the beach despite all the shark attacks!! Yes stop pacing yourself against the clock!

 Ignore the clouds. These watery images are only
the automatic sprinklers...it will never happen. And I took these photos during my early morning walk
exercising my Canon G 15.

 Admittedly I had to visit the Galapagos islands to record what some families do hail, rain or sunshine! Don't forget to click on the images to enlarge them.

To Holger...whose beard is grey and long as are his memories!

Yes a few more for you and anyone else who professes to know about these things. I appreciate the history and the roles the machines played but other than that.....not much. Although I did live in this State in the 70's...from 73 on! Anyway where else could I show these photos and have them appreciated?

 Teeth extractors?

Thank God Dentistry has taken a different turn!
Only joking of course! I do know what these presses were used for...they were.....um.....not for publication!

Did you see in the last Post there was a wag who preferred 'the largest virgin' rather than Rothmans Cigarettes?

And here comes the interesting part...if you are that way inclined...and my friend Holger knows what he is looking at.

 I know...a Giant Cigarette rolling machine. No?
I am being flippant this morning. You know that a great writer named W. Somerset Maugham in his memoirs wrote, 'in my twenties the critics said I was brutal, in my thirties they said I was flippant, in my forties they said I was cynical and in my fifties they said I was competent and then in my sixties they said I was superficial....' I can identify with that but as Frank Sinatra said...'I did it my way!!'

So in a round-a-bout way ...no offending comments will be accepted!!
I hope these fish-eye views will mean something to someone. Of course you know that I am drawing this Post out because I should be writing my latest Novel ....should be! But in the name of past friendships (Holger) I couldn't resist sharing these images.

So back to Creativity!!! The view from my window
Is Rosy!!! Except that it isn't a real window! It is a reflection of a window across the room and onto a book shelf. This is shown in the Library complex.
Would it qualify for entrance in the altered reality/competition in 2014? I'll try it anyway!

A bit of Engineering History In Yarloop WA.

I should include that there is quite a bit of Timber history as well. especially in the 1930's when the timber industry was in full swing. Steam engines and drilling equipment filled the huge sheds and fronted the railway lines with platforms where products could be loaded straight onto the steam trains. A very interesting site we decided and well worth a second visit for a photographer who didn't use the tripod once and was as usual too lazy. But, I did change my wide angle lens to give my fish-eye lens an outing. And, while I loved the experience I do need a lot more opportunities to perfect the method. We plan to return.
The volunteer (not the monkey) offered us tea or coffee and biscuits while we waited for the rest of the club members.

I spied miniature replicas of various buildings on the site as well as small metal reproductions.

 I don't usually include ads in my writing but found these plaques on the walls quite interesting, colorful and historically significant.
You'll notice that there is no warning of possible side effects from the use of cigarettes on this packet.



Someone left their job in a hurry, it looks like, but they managed to arrange some of their tools in case of visitors. How did they know? Ha!

I was sure it would be a BOYS' day out! But I soon changed my mind when my focus brought me down onto my knees capturing amazing historical evidence of what has been.
There were even old dusty newspapers published fairly recently (in the seventies) which had me wondering where on earth I was at that time.

 Rooms and rooms and more rooms filled with all sorts of engineering implements met my eye. Where would it stop? We spent a good three hours wandering around and taking photographs.

These windows even though they allowed some  creativity or imagination to take over reminded me that I have windows in similar condition at home.




I must clean them...before Christmas!
Don't forget to click on the photos for enlargement!

The Fish eye aspect!

Call me overindulgent but when I came back to Perth I couldn't help but enter a club's photography competition named 'the coast'. Here was a chance for me to use my fishey eye lens. This would surprise them all...nothing too normal for me!
But I was wrong!!
These images must have been too unusual in this conservative environment. Nevertheless I love using my new lens. With a bit more practice I can hope to get everything square on. Don't forget to click on to enlarge!!

Sunny side Up!!

After visiting the Buenos Aries cemetery it is time to leave the city with some bright and beautiful photographs...to give you some idea of the really fantastic city it is. The roads are broad boulevardes in the main with architecture similar and in fact influenced greatly by that of Paris in the 1930's.
Restaurants are within walking distance of anywhere and wide open spaces dominate. Shopping is a favorite pastime.




However Buenos Aries is known for this amazing metal (stainless steel) flower which opens in the morning in response to sunshine and closes in the evening when the sun sets. It has been designed and built as a water feature.









The white building in the background is the recycling center which did its darndest to wish everyone a happy festive season with their Christmas tree made out of recycled material as well as the seats resembling gift boxes.

Comfort may not have been a pre-requisite
consideration of the design. But considering Christmas is nearly upon us for another year the photographs I thought belonged here rather than in my computer album. Have a happy festive season!!!







People crowded the streets interested in searching for the most suitable gifts. Of course there was McDonalds offering a well earned rest for those not very choosy!!

We remember the strugglers!

Yes we do. As we explored the site of remembrance the name Eva Peron appeared on the family burial plot.
Of  'Don't cry for me Argentina' fame it made us stop and think of her history. Then again, in this cemetery the years of its existence (hundreds) said it all.

The skull and cross bones sent a shiver through my spine. Its symbolism a little too graphic for me.
But the overgrowth  of weeds and the deterioration of the bricks made me stop and realise just how long ago this family had been interred. I wondered if any relatives  still existed in this city.


However a surprise
lay in store for me. Not all burial sites had been forgotten or neglected. A particular family had grown to such an extent that a family plot was now affordable and necessary.
Much to the discontent of the grave digger who did nothing to stop me from photographing the event. The coffins extracted and piled onto a wheeled  stretcher (they appeared light...little remaining content?) and were thus moved to their new resting place... in the company of angels.

.

The Struggle!

To introduce some of the people who lived in these brightly colored houses and who were facing all sorts of difficulties in Buenos Airies making a living then, here are some of the dockworkers and their families remembered. Photographs I snapped in La Bocca...figures displayed on walls amongst the houses in which they had lived.

 No matter how big the struggle the worries could always be lessened by the joy provided... through simple living...music, singing, dancing, the company old friends, shared memories as well as lifting their spirits by residing in their bright and colorful houses.
Most of these immigrants had left family behind in Italy where unemployment and poverty was rife.

Color...a winning combination!

Of course when anyone sees what I see in my photographs and then the club members reinforce the idea I  smile from ear to ear. You might like these images too. Photographs taken on the run, so to speak, in a laneway in the Argentinian capital... a second hand store for recyclable clothes. It may not be in every man's interest but nevertheless there are men who gave my picture the thumbs up! The gloves won the vote and the  other below I have added as it was taken at the same time and has remained a favorite of mine. This brings me to the notion of the psychology of color.

 Yellow...happiness, laughter, cheery, warmth,optimism, hunger (for what?), intensity, frustration, anger, attention-getting. Red...love, romance, gentle,warmth, comfort energy, excitement (watch any bullfight), life and blood.
Black...dominates the lower photo...authority, power, strength, evil, intelligence,thinning/slimming, death, mourning and I think....sophistication.
So what of these colorful houses also spied in Buenos Aries ?

And doors? Lots of Blue...calmness, serenity, cold, uncaring (I don't think so), wisdom, loyalty, truth and focused. These houses were initially painted with colors stolen from the wharves where the port workers, all immigrants, worked in order to survive the hard times.

These two were, perhaps the next generation, or I should, say the grandchildren of the original dockworkers. They welcomed a photo or two of themselves and their surroundings. Again, yellow and blue dominated although some green could be seen...natural, cool,growth, money, health, envy, tranquility, harmony, calmness and fertility.

                       Don't forget to click on the photographs to enlarge them!