The only time anyone ever cuts any wood around here, seems like, is when the power company is clearing a path for the power lines. I'm sure that's not true, but it seems like it sometimes.
This is in downtown Dundee at sunset. Sunset in more ways than one—Upstate New York is filled with small towns that are poor and run-down and have seen better days. No offense to Dundee. Let's just say small-town America is generally not prospering.
Saturday is my day off, and yesterday I took the camera and went out photographing. What a concept, huh?
I'd say the two pictures above are "chaff," which I was talking about in the previous post. I'm rusty, all right, and don't have much to show for yesterday.
But look what I encountered:
In case you're wondering, it's a pink rooster.
This is proof positive of the idea that if you want to find something to take a picture of, you've got to get out with a camera in your hand and poke about. If anyone had asked me what I expected to find when I left the house yesterday, a pink rooster would not have been on the list. No matter how long the list got.
I asked for permission to photograph him, from a woman who poked her head out the door of the back porch of a farmhouse sixty feet away (social distancing strictly observed) to call off the farm dog—actually a very friendly little fellow. I wouldn't have trespassed. But she disappeared inside again, so I didn't get to ask for specifics about the pink rooster—what kind he was, whether pink is his natural color or if perchance there's a girl around getting stir-crazy with the stay-at-home orders who went a little nuts with some food dye. A Google search for "pink rooster" turns up an awful lot of cutesy boutiquey crafty kinds of things and precious few pictures of actual pink roosters. Let's say I'm suspicious.
(A giant wild turkey just flew right past my window as I was writing this, landed on the hillside, and walked over the top and disappeared. This seems to be the post of unexpected birds! I don't see a lot of turkeys down here by the lake and I hardly ever see them fly. When you do see them fly, you realize why they don't like to.)
Oh, all right
I had the 35mm ƒ/1.4 on the camera yesterday, and I have to admit it's not the thing for farm country from the car. I suppose I should take that long telephoto when I go out. There are pictures up here, but most of them are far away.
Only one more thing to show you, just to make a small point:
It's Venus, in the sky in the West, above the bluff, as I saw it on the way home. Venus is lovely and bright this time of year and a dominant feature of the evening sky. This isn't perfectly sharp, but it was taken with a shutter speed of half a second. I said I wanted a digital camera with really effective IBIS, and we certainly got that in the X-H1.
Wishing you and all your loved ones the very best this Easter morning. May God bless and keep you safe, and sane.
Mike
Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.
Including, for your delight, Cosmic Kiddies,
English Roadies, Children with the Answers,
Cooking Italians, Presidents of Recording Companies,
Acrobatics and Displays, The Odd Sane Dog,
The Space Choir, Assorted Sound Freaks,
And All Elements of the Truth.
(15 life points if you know where that came from.)
(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:
richardplondon: "Lord Berners, a full-on English eccentric of 100 years ago, used to keep white doves dyed into similarly startling pastel shades. A tradition maintained after his death."
Mike Ferron: "'The Pink Rooster' sounds like a drinking establishment on 6th St. here in Austin. Maybe we need clarification on the one camera one lens suggestion. If I know what it is I am going to photograph? A single focal length is just fine. But for walk/drive around with no known target? Hey give me a zoom any day."
Mike replies: It would make much more sense for wandering around in this kind of country. A 35mm is limiting. Only one problem, I don't own one.
Mark Sirota: "I've been telling my students for years that the hardest part of photography is editing—I define it as finding the best single photo of the set. I don't get into whether that one is actually a great photograph, it's merely the best of the set. There's a lot to unpack in that goal—to determine 'best,' you have to understand what you're trying to achieve, and be able assess whether each photograph accomplishes that, and whether it does so better than that other one that also seems to accomplish that.
"I went through a phase a decade or so ago when I basically gave up—I always presented multiples. A diptych, triptych, a 3x3 grid...because I was unable to close the deal in the editing phase.
"I think editing is the most underrated part of photography. I don't see a lot of attention paid to it, but it's critically important."
Mike replies: I'll second that.
David Raboin: "I feel how tentative you are about posting your photos. Am I wrong? Please keep it up. You say your first two photos are "chaff". I agree that they don't say much as stand alone photos, however, within the context of your blog they become evocative. These quiet photos create a mood, a sense of place, and help us readers understand exactly where you're at."
Ned Bunnell: "Mike, this is a great start. As David said, don’t be tentative and worry about posting images. As Charles Harbutt reminded me over the course of attending three of his workshops...none of us are ever going to be Cartier-Bresson. Focus on developing your own unique style of seeing life and then stick with it. And as I mentioned in a recent email to you, I’ve always compared photography to fishing. Some days for me are like catch and release...none of the photos are worth bringing home. You live in a beautiful corner of the world. And relative to other parts of the country, you’re very safe. The photo walks/drives would be good for you. And even if you only bring home one keeper each day, it will contribute nicely to an on-going series about your experience living with this pandemic. Just do it and remember, many of us here really want to see a regular flow of images taken by you."
Mike replies: Re photography and fishing.
I wonder if the other roosters make fun of him.
If you're interested, there's a Vimeo channel with several short documentaries about dead or dying towns in the northeast USA: "vimeo.com/hollowdocumentary". Sad things to watch.
Posted by: Robert Roaldi | Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 11:10 AM
I had my rooster moment last week. I live in a small city in Ontario where people kept chickens in their yards long before it was legal to keep chickens in their yards. It's that kind of place. Anyway, walking back from the woods I passed an apartment building that faced the trees and heard Mr. Rooster letting us all know he was alive and kicking. Classic Guelph,.
Posted by: Rob de Loe | Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 11:25 AM
Can you say Joe Cocker?
Posted by: LeftCoastKenny | Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 11:30 AM
I like that first one quite a bit. I would follow an MJ instagram feed for sure!
I have to say that walk-about photo snapping, with regular social media posting to share with the people that know me, or know me through my photos, has been one of the greatest simple tonics I know for my life. It helped me recognize that the immediate parts of my life, my surroundings, were good enough, especially in tough times. They were worth simple appreciation. And then my friends' responses pointed out that I seemed to find framing where they wouldn't have. I spotted scenes of things that they wouldn't have noticed. I had a perspective, my own, it turned out, and it was worth note.
And don't we all have that? Keep snapping, I say. And thank you for sharing and writing. Love the rooster, and I do like the others too.
Posted by: xfmj | Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 11:55 AM
"When you do see them fly, you realize why they don't like to."
LOL! I think they hesitate to fly because they're really bad at landing!
Posted by: Rick Popham | Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 12:14 PM
In my experience, dogs rarely get angry but that is not true of male inhabitants of England or... maybe mad has another definition.
Posted by: Frank Gorga | Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 12:35 PM
I love the film of this. There's one song (Delta Lady???) where the backing singers look like they're having the best party of their lives.
Posted by: Andrew Lamb | Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 12:45 PM
Sounds like something from Joe Cocker...
Posted by: Dale N | Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 12:47 PM
Something that makes me realise how different the US is from the UK is the whole 'go out in the car to take photos (from the car)' thing. I can't imagine doing that in the UK and it is tempting to get all sneery and superior about it. But that's wrong, not least because there are lots of really famous photographers (Robert Frank? I'm not sure but I think maybe) who did just that.
In the UK I might drive somewhere to park and then walk around for a while to take pictures, but that's a different thing. During the current unpleasantness we're having to remember to drive the van round a loop every couple of weeks so the battery doesn't die.
I probably will never stop making the mistake of thinking the US is anything like the UK, however hard I try.
Posted by: Tim Bradshaw | Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 01:03 PM
Pink rooster? It is Easter after all.
Is there really a bar called The Pink Rooster in Austin? That's pretty cool. But Austin is known for its Weird. The only oddly named bar locally I can think of was The Killer Poodle but I think it closed permanently years ago.
Posted by: Dogman | Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 05:46 PM
Respect Where You Stand. At first glance, I took this to mean relative to the subject matter (distance/angle and such), not relative to one’s development. Fooled me. But both seem worthy concepts; for fishing and for visual perspective. Oh, I enjoyed the pics, too.
Posted by: Jeff | Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 08:43 PM
My intention was to comment on the post about the long zoom, but it seems better here.
We lived for most of 15 years on a farm in rural CA mountains, near Camp Pendleton.
Posted by: JimH | Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 10:15 PM
We were going to comment on the post about the long telephoto, but it seems more appropriate here.
We lived on a farm in rural California mountains near the coast. We grew fruits and vegetables, raised chickens, and hosted thousands of wild animals and plants. We logged more than 50 types of birds, migrating monarch butterflies, and practically everything else that was native to the area.
I kept two cameras ready, Oly EP-3s, one with a macro zoom the other with the Panasonic 100-300, both optimized for that lens.
In those 15 years, I probably shot 50,000 nature photos, and produced a "Food Chain Farm" calendar for Christmas presents every year.
I can't imagine living in a beautiful rural area like you do and not having the same setup. I know the area well - lived just N 50 years ago and used to visit to race at Watkins Glen in the 90s.
Don't you have lots of birds and wild animals to photograph?
BTW, we were near Camp Pendleton so I have photos of giant transport helicopters and Ospreys flying overhead too.
Posted by: JimH | Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 10:36 PM
My prime setup for μ43 includes the Sigma 60/2.8; it pairs nicely with 14 and 20mm for a wide-biased variant of 35/50/135 film trio. I have a few other primes & a zoom or three, but carrying 20+60 is great for me. I don't find the 14 a common walk-around FL for me, so my third can be a PK 100 or 135 SMC-M - those are small even with adapter!
Posted by: longviewer | Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 11:19 PM
I bought Mad Dogs and Englishmen as an album when it first came out. Hard to believe the it is now 50 years later. Still an excellent album (CD).
Posted by: John Fleming | Monday, 13 April 2020 at 12:11 AM
I love your venus photograph. Can’t believe that’s a half second exposure. The pink rooster I’m not sure. It reminded me of a restaurant in Dublin, The Green Hen, though.
Posted by: David Lee | Monday, 13 April 2020 at 08:55 AM
Cock-a-doodle-doo from Big Pink…
Posted by: Nico. | Monday, 13 April 2020 at 09:20 AM
“ If anyone had asked me what I expected to find when I left the house yesterday, a pink rooster would not have been on the list. No matter how long the list got.”
And there’s the magic of candid public (a.k.a. “street”) photography. No additional theorizing needed.
And by the way, don’t knock “chaff”. People like Stephen Shore have built entire lifetime careers on it. It’s only considered crap if you don’t have a good NY dealer.
Good to see you’re getting out and making pictures. Your rural setting is very much a luxury. I am almost literally fenced-in here in Chicago.
Posted by: Kenneth Tanaka | Monday, 13 April 2020 at 09:57 AM
I also live in the country, Mike. The lens that mostly stays on my X-H1 when I'm around home is the 50-230, which, although slow, is light and surprisingly sharp.
By the way, I linked to your post about Taking the Camera for a Walk.
http://alifeinphotography.blogspot.com/2020/04/my-final-camera.html
Posted by: Dave Jenkins | Monday, 13 April 2020 at 10:52 AM
I hear you are getting the 55-200. Very sensible. I got the 50-140, heavier and less zoomy. Less sensible, but I love it.
Posted by: Roberto Carlin | Monday, 13 April 2020 at 11:00 AM
Mike I know you are a fuji guy, and have been thinking about a telephoto lens. The 50-200 is a great lens, but don't overlook the 18-135 Fuji lens. It is not as sharp as the 16-55 or the 50-200, but it is a very handy lens indeed. I have used it on many trips, and found the image quality very acceptable. I generally shoot at f 8 and find it is hard to take a bad picture at f 8. I would encourage you to look at the images in the fuji 18-135 group on Flickr. I do that all the time when I am thinking about lenses. With that lens you have all the bases covered. You can buy one on Ebay for $500 or less. Just a suggestion. Stay well. Eric
Posted by: albert erickson | Monday, 13 April 2020 at 01:54 PM
Pink rooster? Is that one of those things that generates a lot of NSFW results when you Google it?
Posted by: ChrisC | Tuesday, 14 April 2020 at 07:31 AM
Made me start humming "Little Red Rooster"
After all, isn't it just white with a "Little Red" added to it? ;-)
Posted by: James | Tuesday, 14 April 2020 at 12:43 PM
For some reason, I keep thinking of Howlin' Wolf.
Posted by: Dillan | Tuesday, 14 April 2020 at 01:18 PM
You need a long lens for bird photography. Get one :-)
BTW, it seems we have Facebook now to this page (with its like even) but comment like to click follow-up then comment. Change after a decade.
Posted by: Dennis Ng | Sunday, 19 April 2020 at 09:23 AM