8/02/12 Eastern Kingbird and Milkweed Bugs & company.

I see that author Gore Vidal died recently. In 1960 a nine-year old boy sat spell-bound in front of his television while Vidal (from the left) and columnist William F. Buckley (from the right) debated the merits of presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. I hadn’t before seen two people passionately yet intelligently discus matters of the world. I was taken. I have never stopped studying the world and its politics since that time. I owe Vidal, Buckley and other intellectuals of that time much, as they showed me that it was possible to defend your beliefs with intelligence and selflessness. Oh they got animated once or twice, but remained respectful of each other. Imagine disagreement without hate. We could use that today.

Several weeks ago I watched PBS’s Charlie Rose Show. Rose (from the left) and his guest George Will (from the right) had a respectful and dare I say intelligent conversation. They are of course holdovers from that 1960 generation. It ended with an invitation and acceptance of another visit.

Will I sound old if I say “it ain’t like it used to be”?

Saw a comment on a blog the other day. It contained an admonishment from one commentator to another, because she liked Facebook, and the other didn’t.  I have mentioned Facebook a lot on this blog because they are both a part of social media.  My main purpose with Facebook is to follow and enjoy professional photographers.  Not only how they handle social media but where they plan workshops and how quickly they can fill them if they do.  Yes you can tell if they have really been filled. How much they charge for those Workshops.  When they share a published image (rare since cheap stock), and gallery openings and competitive shows. Yes I do occasionally click “like” or make a comment, and from time to time I share a photo from someone else or share a photo of my own.  Mainly I am interested in all of those business aspects of photography because I have been there.  Following things like this used to be a part of my business and now it is sort of a hobby. I do not go to people’s profile page to see if I have missed something.  It’s not that big of a hobby.  I view posts from friends as they come up on my own home page.  I would suspect very few people use Facebook and other social media the way I do, because what is fascinating and interesting to me, would be boring to most. I was interested in every facet of photography, and it rolls over into places like Facebook.  I don’t follow people’s personal lives.

It was round about 1975.  I was living in Colorado and had just finished a series of images for a realtor.  I had a job coming up photographing Cinderella City.  It was at the time one of the world’s largest shopping malls. I had two outdoor high school portraits to do, and a new local art magazine from Colorado Springs had just done a story on me and showed a series of my personal “art images”.  Life, at least in photography, was good.  I have traveled a thousand roads since then. I have been a part-time pro, a hobbiest, a workshop/seminar  teacher, a full-time  photographer and a spectator of those experiencing a similar journey.  A better life I could not ask for.

Some other posts of interest.

Four Lesser Known But Great Places for Nature Photographers

Visual Melodies…Listening To The Music

Turn The Page