Selling and Shopping

Many years ago, I tried to market pictures. I had very little luck until I started using my pictures to illustrate my writing. I started this year thinking more seriously about writing. As usual, my mind has wandered. It wants me to try selling "fine art prints." A friend who has a website design and development business asked for some graphic support. He's working on a site for The Big Bend National Park and asked for pictures. He has offered to help design and develop a website for marketing my pictures. He will link the Big Bend credit line to my website. Here we go again. :-)

I am taking it seriously enough to start shopping for a printer. It's hard to justify the expense ... unless!!!! Jane wants to know if I am serious. I'm not sure. Perhaps outsourcing the printing and mounting of a few images for display will shed some light on the possibilities. I've even chosen a theme ... the West.

I have some stuff from our trip last fall that looks pretty good. I'd also like to fool around a bit more with creating "eye catching" images using the HDR process. The colors in this image of a sunset near Canyon de Chelly National Monument were intensified with the HDR process.

I want to try printing a few similar images on a larger format canvas. A printer that I have in mind will print panoramas up to 44 inches wide. It is not terribly expensive but not necessary for normal everyday use. I was thinking that five images may be enough for a library display. The problem is that paying for matted and framed prints can cost nearly as much as buying a printer. Maybe I should stick to developing my memoirs? :-)

l8r

Spin

I'm so sick of "spin." Now, we have Democrats spinning their own spin. Whatever happened to TRUTH, JUSTICE and the AMERICAN WAY? Hillary and Bill against Obama is getting ridiculous. It wouldn't be so bad if John Edwards was realizing any benefit from the hogwash. But, that doesn't seem to be happening. You could expect this from the Inner Party and the Outer Party. But, I thought it was more of a Republican Party tactic. There's not a dime's worth of difference. We, the proles, need to step forward. Why does 85% of the American Populace not give a damn? We're the most affected and the least represented. And, the proles are less likely to know the issues or who is running for office than our children. I suppose that is because we, the proles, are too busy making a living or trying to forget our problems to listen to the news or pay attention to a debate. It is disheartening.

As mentioned in my last post, I'm reading again --- George Orwell. I read Animal Farm many years ago. Just recently I ordered a copy of it and Nineteen Eighty-Four from Amazon.com. I could go to the library but prefer to have my own copy. These document some important points. Only when the proles organize and rise up will we again realize the freedom we so arduously purport around the world. Only then will realspeak replace the newspeak and the disgusting process of electing our representatives in the Inner and Outer Parties.

It is amazing that Orwell was able to document our oppression as early as 1949. It is frightening. We're such docile sheep. Who really gives a damn whether the next President is Female, Black or Honest? Certainly not the proles. :-(

l8r

Mind Altering Substances

Many good writers say that the key to good writing is good reading. I can agree with that assertion. It makes sense -- I guess. But it falls short of saying just how much reading is necessary? I spend a lot of time reading, mostly on the internet. And, I have good books available at home and several libraries are nearby. Maybe my writing has improved? It might have improved even more if I had spent that reading time practicing my writing.

I am hesitant to believe anything anymore about keys to good writing. I once thought that "mind altering substances" were the key to good writing. If you've noticed, many of our most famous novelists were prone to heavy drinking -- Hemmingway, Faulkner, Williams, Mark Twain. I used to drink. I drank a lot. I spent a lot more time drinking than writing. I became a good drunk. I'm afraid all this reading is only making me a good reader. :-)

It has occurred to me that the drinking days might make good subject matter. Lord knows, I had some unbelievable experiences. Those memories can be a bit "fuzzy." That isn't so bad; the fuzziness gives some creative leeway.

That's enough on the subject. I'll get back to what I've been doing ... nothing. :)

l8r

North Carolina -- The Outer Bank

We're home. We had a happy holiday with our family and a wonderful journey home. I know that I'm switching my emphasis again but can't resist the temptation to write about (and post pictures) of that journey.

I spent a lot of time during the holidays researching the North Carolina Outer Bank and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Our daughter has friends in Nags Head but that had little to do with our decision to stay there. Nags Head is the gateway to some of the most beautiful seascapes and beaches I have ever seen. And, it is all a part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Abundant Wildlife!!!

Our timing, however, was not perfect. We came into Nags Head with a chilling cold front that brought freezing temps and gale force winds. We barely had enough warm clothing to brave the weather. I managed by wearing sweat pants under my jeans. Jane managed by staying in the truck. :-)

This picture is from the balcony of our hotel in Nags Head. I noticed it from our window the morning after our arrival. Even though it is very cliche, I ventured out into the morning chill for a quick pic.

Our first stop on the Outer Bank had been Kitty Hawk, the famed location of aviations first powered flight. Actually, the flight took place at Kill Devil Hill which is a few miles south of Kitty Hawk. We spent a couple of hours in the museum and drove around the Wright Brothers Monument on Kill Devil Hill. It was just too cold to enjoy the outdoors so we found our hotel and checked in early.

We prepared for the outing with a substantial breakfast, compliments of the hotel, and loaded the truck for an adventure to the southern environs of Hatteras Island. I've always been drawn to lighthouses and the Outer Banks is well-known for its shipwrecks and lighthouses. There are five lighthouses along this coast and a shipwreck museum at the tip of Hatteras Island. Plus, abundant migratory birds and waterfowl at Pea Island National Wildlife Reserve. Here, a flock of snow geese is silhouetted against the evening sky as they join others in their roosting area.

Our plan was to stay two days in Nags Head and leave the Outer Banks via ferry after exploring Ocracoke Island and its lighthouse. We were bummed to find that the only way to explore Ocracoke was via four-wheel drive. Many of the highway bridges were under repair. Only residents were taking the ferry from Hatteras to Ocracoke.

We traveled south anyway, visiting the lighthouse at Bodie Island and catching some beautiful late-day light on the Pea Island wildlife. The beaches and sand dunes were most photogenic in this light. I managed to con Jane into taking a walk along the beach. I needed a focal point for my seascape. That's Jane in the red jacket.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is probably the most photographed and well-known of all lighthouses. It also made national news in 1999 when it was moved 1600 feet from its original location to a more stable position. Most images that I have seen are from the original location. The new location isn't bad. I took fifty pictures while Jane was staying warm in the museum. The one to the right is my selection for sharing. I probably should have spent more time waiting for better lighting.

On the return trip, the evening light provided enough warmth (or courage) to brave the elements in pursuit of wildlife pictures. There were birds I had never seen and may never see again. I learned a lot about ducks. I wasn't sure what I was seeing but did manage to identify redheads, widgeons, coots, snow geese, canvas back and tundra swans. I'm sure there were many others. These are tundra swans -- one immature and two adults. They were flying very slowly into a stiff north wind. The evening light gave them a warm, golden appearance.

I have no idea what these waders are. I'll try later to identify them. It doesn't really matter. It was those beautiful blue and gold colors that I was seeing. There is nothing in this world like warm evening light. I only wish we had had longer -- and that it had been a little warmer.

I think I've written and displayed too much for one outing. I may post more later. It really was a great adventure, filled with many exciting scenes. We'll do it again. :-)

As always, clicking on a thumbnail will produce a larger image.

l8r

Character Development

January 1, 2008 … I’m not feeling creative today. I’ve tried letting my mind wander. It doesn’t get far and thinks of little interesting. Forcing creativity doesn’t work. It has to “just happen.”

I’ve been thinking about the writing seminar I attended in Taos. A lady who made her living as a storyteller presented it. She was in Taos with a group of storytellers. I can’t remember her name. She was a chubby little Jewish lady from New Jersey. Her accent was a key component of her personality, story telling and teaching. She was very entertaining. The seminar was the day after the show.

Taos is a hotbed of artistic types; writers, artists, craftsmen – most of them quite well to do. I was a bit intimidated but did gather a lot of interesting information. She presented an approach to gathering subject matter for writing personal memoirs. The first exercise was to make a list of everyone you have ever known. I’m still working on that exercise, intermittently.

The next exercise was to make a list of every place you have ever been. It was interesting and stirred a lot of group discussion. Being a senior citizen and retired military, I have traveled a lot. I’m still working intermittently on that exercise as well. It will remain a work in progress.

When she finally told us to select an interesting person in our lives and create a web of personal characteristics about that person, I saw how her process worked. Creating interesting antecdotes about all the interesting people you know goes on forever. It is her method of character development and I like the idea. My interesting person was my dad. That was fun. It was also a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Wish I had not procrastinated so long in applying the method to my writing.

Were my mom still alive, she would be 88 on the third of January. Special times like birthdays are good excuses to spend some time developing a character. The storyteller’s character development method requires a handwritten chart -- “The Web of Anecdotes.” The selected character is the center of a hub with each anecdote leading away from the hub as a spoke. Since I can barely read my own writing, my “Web of Anecdotes” is usually developed as a bulleted list of anecdotes (characteristics) beneath the subject character. Maybe I should break here and spend some time developing mom.

Life is getting in the way of art anyway. Character Wife and Character Grandson are trying to develop me. Biscuits and gravy is my newest number one priority. :)

l8r