Art of Preparedness

I had the opportunity to photograph one of the new dishes at Yia-Yia’s. Upon approval the image will be utilized as lead art in some new marketing materials. Though food photography is not my focus, I am certainly glad for the opportunity. Now, if I could just find a way to replicate smell via the web…hmmm. Grilled Crostini, warm mozzarella, oven roasted tomatoes, basil pesto and warm balsamic drizzle, oh so good!

Chef Aaron Whitcomb’s Bruschetta 

Sometimes the best way to learn something new is to simply jump in, emerge yourself fully!

Nearly seven years on the west coast, moons spent in intimate union with tides of destiny, left me bereft one life wonder; the Rocky Mountains. Exactly one month after I quit smoking I challenged Torreys Peak with Coda, Mia and some friends from work. The experience was electrifying. Home have I returned!

Infinite Park display from Colorado Blvd Whole Foods Parking Lot

Spica Dr loves Sweet Water

Launching Boyhood Dreams

To the Moon!

Lounge-Eugene

At approximately 3:08 p.m. a fire broke out in the Westerly Creek Damn in Lowry, in which large portions of the wildlife sancturay were destroyed. According to Denver Shift Commander Greg Champlin, the fire began in thick brush within the sanctury itself and quickly spread to the south. “Though winds were high, we were lucky today,” stated Champlin, “the winds kept circling around until the fire pretty much put itself out.”

Often I have been approached by friends, family and my special friend, “Joe the Casual Photographer,” on the subjects of orbs.

I will start by saying this: I am a firm and lifetime believer in angels, aliens, fairies, Jesus, the Buddha, the Illuminati, conspiracy theories, the healing and protective qualities of crystals, chakras, miraculous healings and many other natural and super natural phenomenon. I even believe in Dinosaurs! We live in a wondrous and truly magical universe.

However, as a soul dedicated to the pursuit of the camera obscura and all light/shadow pursuits, I believe that “orbs” are merely airborne particles refracting on-camera light sources. In other words, point-and-click cameras, especially those in which the flash and lens are less than an inch apart, have a propensity to generate direct flash back. Here are born our little “orb” friends.

We have all seen that alarming and evil looking little bungle called “red-eye.” This is caused by OFC (on camera flash). The light leaving the camera hits the back of the eyeball and bounces directly back at the camera lens. Professional photographers and their gear will not generate red-eye, nor will they generate “orbs”, because the angle between flash and lens is great enough to cancel the effect. In billiards, if one shoots a cue ball directly at a rail, the ball will bounce directly back into the stick. Same concept.

I know that “orbs” always tend to show up in photographs where lots of people gather in happiness and joy. It is tempting to believe that in these times little joyous spirit bubbles join us; and perhaps they do. But I doubt that what we have seen labeled as “orbs” are truly spirits. In photos sent to me there is often glitter attached to costume, to wigs, to face paint. There is also always either old carpet in small rooms or large dusty fields where numerous people are dancing furiously. In these images the “orbs” that are further away lose the fuzzy, translucent, orby quality and become mere points of light. This occurs because light becomes more specular (focused) the larger the distance between source and subject.

I have simply spent considerable time contemplating this phenomena as I am one who truly wishes to believe that these weird little objects are really spirits. Again, I do believe in the supernatural, and I don’t doubt for a second that there are often more then the observable guests enjoying good times with us humans. Nor do I want to rain on any one’s parade. I simply don’t believe that dust particles are particularly supernatural.

One more quick point: The human eye has a “latitude” of about 32 “stops”. Within these “stops” the best of us can see what we call the visible spectrum: violet to red, the rainbow. A camera has a latitude of between 5 and 7 stops, a fraction of what the human eye can see. Most ghostbusters and clairvoyants hold that visible spirits reside either in the ultra-violet or infra-red realms of the energetic continuum. So, unless a camera dedicated to viewing light outside of the visible spectrum is used, if you can’t see a spirit, your camera certainly wont.