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Showing posts from March, 2021

Steaming South: Respect for our Merchant Mariners

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  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ Photography is not about cameras, gadgets, and gizmos. Photography is about photographers. A camera didn't make a great picture any more than a typewriter wrote a great novel. ”  - Peter Adams     The world watched in amazement this past week as global shipping was in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The ongoing challenge at the Pacific Ocean docks of the United States continues with more than twenty-five cargo ships remaining backed up waiting for a berth to unload their goods, the result of the COVID-caused labor shortage and a surge in orders from American companies anticipating a big increase in consumer spending as the pandemic presumably winds down.      Far more interesting to the casual observer, though, was the drama in the Suez Canal. The cargo ship Ever Given of the Evergreen Line ended up stuck with its bow jammed into the sand on a particularly narrow stretch of the canal. With low tides and heavy to

Quiescence: A Party Place in Repose

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  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ Taking a picture is like giving a piece of your soul away. You allow other people to see the world through your eyes. ”  - Katja Michael     A temporary cessation of activity is how the dictionary defines the word quiescence , and I think that's an apt description of the lower Delaware town of Dewey Beach in mid-winter. Frenetic with youthful energy in the summer with packed hotel rooms, entertainment for every taste, and an endless array of water sports on the bayside and sandy fun on the ocean, Dewey Beach transform into a very quiet, tranquil version of itself in winter. No less beautiful, but far more peaceful...      I was reminded that these empty piers "will start filling up soon" as springtime ushers in the promise of warmer weather. So I say we should enjoy the break while we can. The throngs of happy tourists and endless brake lights on Coastal Highway will be back soon enough. As I wrote in my post o

Icon: In Honor of Charles W. Cullen

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  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ Seeing is not enough; you have to feel what you photograph. ”  - Andre Kertesz      Few man-made structures stand the test of time in both beauty and function. It's r are when design and engineering unite in perfect synergy. When I think of beautiful architecture, places like the Taj Mahal, the Chrysler Building, the Sydney Opera House, and the Golden Gate Bridge come to mind. Locations like these have not only enduring beauty but also perfect function.     The Taj Mahal was built as a glorious tomb for the wife of a heartbroken Indian emperor. It is resplendent like no other. For admirers of Art Deco, the Chrysler Building in east-central Manhattan is unequaled in elegance. Sydney's Opera House, with its famous silhouette of soaring "shells," is an archetype of modern expressionistic design and a symbol for Australia's most populous city.      And the Golden Gate Bridge which spans the mouth of San Fran

The End of the Day: A Vision of Crossing Over?

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  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ Photography is a language more universal than words. ”  - Minor White      February is the month, too many years ago now, that my father passed away. And in March only a few years later, my mom suddenly left us. The sense of loss and agony of missing them is overwhelming sometimes but thankfully, those feelings are much rarer than they used to be. Still, even now I often find myself with a question about our family or an old recipe where my first instinct is to call my parents... it's hard, as anyone who has lost a close family member or friend knows all too well.      Many of us hope those gone before are in a better place and perhaps more at peace than they were while here, especially if the end of their lives involved failing health and pain. I hope everyone's final moments between here and there are peaceful and filled with embracing warmth and comfort. As I wrote in my post on March 6, 2021...      Recently, I&#

Head of the Gut: I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means

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  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ The camera has always been a guide, and it's allowed me to see things and focus on things that maybe an average person wouldn't even notice. ”  - Don Chadwick      What peculiar names we give to places! Who could imagine a head or a gut being terms for an area of water? How can so many rivers and creeks in the Northeast end with the malevolent sounding kill ? (Hint: There's nothing violent to worry about; it's from the Dutch colonists who originally explored there.) Did you know an inlet is also known as an arm of the sea ? Some of these terms are for similar types of water features but depend upon their size... for instance, “you can step over a brook , jump over a creek , wade across a stream and swim across a river " as an old saying goes.      Where I grew up, a creek was actually called a crick , at least by my mom. In Scotland, a large stream is a burn , thus the common ending to so many Scotch