Day Ninety: Memorial Day

58 degrees in Chaumont, NY at 5:30am this morning.

Today is Memorial Day. Originally it was called Decoration Day and came about from the efforts of women decorating the graves of Civil War soldiers. The following poem was written by Canadian doctor & poet John McCrae (November 30, 1872 - January 28, 1918) while he was a field surgeon during World War I.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

These fellows are from American Legion Post 832 of Cape Vincent, NY. Today they will visit 14 cemetaries in the region and participate in two parades in honor of our countries war dead. In this photo they were at Cedar Grove Cemetary in Chaumont, NY, (across the street from my house). Thank you for remembering.
photos by Gary Walts

Day Eightynine: Nature All Around Us

Six AM it was 68 degrees in Chaumont, NY. Plenty of Sun this morning, low humidity, turning into a beautiful day. Both photos presented here today were taken at my home. There is an abundance of nature and wildlife photos all around us, wherever we are. One need only be armed with a camera 24/7 to be prepared for those unexpected encounters with God's creatures.
Well, yesterday I failed to post anything. I could have, (and was going to) post the photo below of the spider. I came upon the spider yesterday as I was digging up a garden bed in my back yard. But, for a number of reasons, I never got to putting it on this blog. So, I decided to save it for today. So, I am sitting at my computer editing the spider photos when I hear a sharp chirping. I look toward the front door and see the young Robin on the floor of my front porch. I quickly took his picture through the screen of the door. I would prefer to have shot him with the door open. Shooting through the screen has a degrading effect on the overall picture quality. After I took a couple of initial photos, I decided to try and get one of him with the door open. I slowly opened it and, as I thought would happen, he got spooked and flew off into the yard. So, this is what I have.
The spider photo is more of a documentary photo. I took it to show family & friends. I wanted to photograph it more, trying to "work" it into a more graphic, artsier photo. But, the creature ducked away on me and I lost him.
The Robin photo is also a documentary photo for the same reason as the spider, However, you can see that it has a graphic quality coupled with nice light that elevates to higher level than the spider photo.

Day Eightyseven:

It was 58 degrees at 6:00AM in Chaumont NY this morning. The day remains cooler and grayer than recently. Today's agenda includes planting tomatoe plants, flowers and well a few other odds and ends. In our part of the world you try to get your garden in by Memorial Day. Often times if you do it earlier you run the risk of a late frost appearing and spoiling your efforts. Any later than Memorial Day and you will probably have a later harvest than you might like.

“Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul” Plato

Day Eightysix: Large Family Portriat

This family portrait is of a woman and man with nine of their twelve kids. I took it for the Post-Standard newspaper at their home in Syracuse, NY.


Working for a newspaper, magazine, Associated press, or the like, one gets hired to photograph all manner of things one normally wouldn't shoot on their own. One of the challenges is photographing groups of people. The bigger the group, the more challenging it is to make an interesting photo. Simply lining them up in a row is not very interesting. When I knew I was to photograph the family presented here, I was concerned about how I was to pull it off. I arrived at their home a little early. Some of the family was not there yet. I looked around for a setting, either outside or inside. As the Dad arrived home and remaining kids straggled in the scene became a bit chaotic. A few minutes later they were waiting for intruction from me, to direct them in this group portrait. Well, I didn't know what to do, so, in these situations I just beging with a suggestion. This starts the photo session rolling. Then I keep shooting, re-arranging the folks, shoot some more, and hopefully something begins to fall into place. All the while I am trying to catch a moment when everyone has a satisfactory facial expression, or projecting some sense of wanting to be a part of the photo. Many times there are unwilling participants in the group. This particular job turned out to be great. The photo created itself! I didn't need to do anything except be prepared for the spontaneity that happened.

With nothing better to try, and to break the ice and get the photo shoot started, I suggested we try thye living room for a setting. In my mind I was thinking I would have to seat some of the kids on the floor, some satnding, create an interesting arrangement of bodies. Then work on capturing a frame where they at least all had their eyes open at the same time. Well, I didn't need to do anything motre than the suggestion. The family very spontaneously crammed all together on the couch as if it were a festive event. They were jostling about and jockeying for position, laughing and enjoying the moment. It reminded me of a group of kids trying to see how many people they could cram into a car, or a telephone booth, just for kicks. For the fun of it. Snap, snap, snap. The photo is the result of the family's love for each other taht naturally went on display for me in front of my camera. Wow!

Day Eightyfive: I'm Tired

It's almost midnight. I'm dead tired. I should be in bed. My schedule has been drifting out of whack. Slipping out of my control and I do not like it. Anyhow, I snapped this photo of the moon tonight. I do hope all is well with you in your world. Good night. Gary

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“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music. ... I get most joy in life out of music.” Albert Einstein

Day Eightyfour: Guitar Gig Tomorrow

I'll be playing guitar at the Jefferson County Historical Society in Watertown NY tomorrow night. The event is a dinner for their members. Should be a good fit for me. (photo at left is a self portrait. The Guitar is a Guild MarkV classical made in 1982)
Last night went to bed at 10:30pm, fell right to sleep. Great. Woke up at 12:30, and my mind began to think. Not good. Thoughts about all manner of things. The many things I need to, or would like, to get accomplished in the next few months. Thoughts about how to get them done, get them paid for. Well, it was hopless getting back to sleep. So, I get up and read some more of Robinson Crusoe. It happens that I was just reaching the point where Crusoe sees a footprint on the beach. It sets him into a fit of worry because he is well aware that it is probably the footprint of a cannibal. Over the course of the next pages Crusoe tells us how this has affected his sleep. His situation happened to be the very same as mine was at the moment. The book was published in 1706. That's a long time ago and what does that tell me? That we humans today, with all of our technology, blessings, opportunities, we still have to deal with basic human emotions. Makes me wonder what keeps Osama Bin Laden awake at night.
Anyhow, I went back to sleep at 3:30 woke again at 6:30, got out of bed at 7:00. I don't like that. For one thing it left me tireder than I like all day. Guitar practice was less than ideal. Updated my Craigslist ads. They seem to generate more spam than anything. The morning mail brought a deposit for a wedding photography job. Then I went off to mow the grass at my apartment house and place a temporary patch on the roof over the back stairway. I met up with a man who paid me for a job I did the other day. I went to the grocery store. By the time all of that was done I was home by 7:30PM. At that point I fired up the grill (charcoal, of course) and made some chicken kabobs. Most excellent. I am too tired to really put much into this blog entry, but I am finishing the day with it. Now I have to ask myself, "You put in a full day, got some things accomplished,got paid for a job from the other day, ate some great food. Life is good. What do you have to worry about?"

“When people hear good music, it makes them homesick for something they never had, and never will have.” Edgar Watson Howe

Day Eightytwo: Another Dandelion

“To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.” Aaron Copland

Day Eightyone: Grilling Chicken

Eighty degrees (farenheit) in Chaumont NY at 2:45 in afternoon. What a terrific day. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts on the grill. Gonna make some sandwhiches and put them into a panini press. It's happening as I write this. Below is photo of the chicken on the grill.

Day Ninety: Plug For Topsiders

Among the things I like are Sperry Topsider shoes. I have been wearing them for many years. They really are durable and comfortable. Depending of course upon the particular style, they are wearable in a variety of situations. I generally only wear them from late Spring through September or October. I wear them indoors in the Winter, but never outdoors. They are not a Winter shoe. A pair will usually lat me two to four years. I will say, however, at the end, they are beat. I wear them until they are trashed and unwearable. Now I wear other shoes durting this time also. And while a pair of my Topsiders is on the wane I buy a fresh pair for wearing when I need to look good. The older pair I wear while mowing the lawn, painting the house or working on the car. That sort of thing.

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent.” Victor Hugo.

Day Eighty: Spring Cleaning

Fiftyfive degrees and sunshine at 7:00am in Chaumont, NY. Today I will be playing guitar at the Riveredge resort in Alexandria Bay, NY. Got up late this morning because for no apparent reason I couldn't get to sleep last night. So I got out of bed and read some more of Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe. Very good book. First published in 1719. A few years ago I decided to start reading some of the classic novels that I am familiar with, but have never read. Haven't we all heard of Robinson Crusoe, shipwrecked on a South Sea island? But do you really know the story as written by Defoe? I am enjoying it. There is much about his soul searching and coming to terms with his life and relationship (or lack thereof) with God. The edition I am reading is 264 pages. I am at page 104. I reccomend this book.

Somewhere in a little hole in the wall a three legged mouse drinks a beer and tells his friends how he narrowly escaped with his life and a piece of the sweetest cheese he ever tasted.

Occassionally over the years I have seen evidence of mice within my domicile in Chaumont, NY. Usually it is in late fall when the temperatures are dropping and the approch of Winter is evident. So it was last year and I set out some mouse traps. I use the tried and tru spring loaded traps. Well much to my surprise when I checked the traps one of them was missing. Now once in a while a trapped mouse may drag one away a few inches, a foot at the most. I could not find this trap. I was a bit concerned about what kind of mouse would carry off the enire trap. I mean, it was NOWHERE! I searched the far, dark corners of the pantry. I looked behind the hot water heater. No sign of it. Over the next few days the remaining traps produced several dead mice.
Winter came and went and I never saw anymore evidence of mice. Good. It is Spring now, time for cleaning. I get under the stove in the kitchen to clean up the dust bunnies and lo and behold: A mouse trap with a leg in it. Evidently the poor creature got a hind leg caught, dragged the trap way across the room and when under cover of the stove, went to work chewing himself free. I know it sounds awful, but that's what happened. Unless one of his buddies chewed his leg off to set him free. That's not likely. Anyhow, I do feel bad for the critter, but he probably lives on.
Regards, Gary.

Day Seventynine: Garage Lights

Well, it started out sunny and 50 degrees in Chaumont, NY, this morning. Then it became overcast. A couple of hours on guitar, need to review some music for an event tomorrow evening. I will be playing at the Riveredge Resort in Alexandria Bay, NY. They are hosting a Chamber of Commerce event called Business With A Twist. Five to seven PM. I am hoping to catch the ear of some restaurant owners / managers, maybe make some connections, or land a gig playing dinner music one or two nights a week.

This photo I made while walking the streets in Syracuse, NY. I believe it's the entrance to an underground parking garage. What caught my eye were the lights illuminated in the day time. They are probably on the same circuit as the lights inside the garage so they cannot be turned off independently. This was a photo in which I had to do a tricky crop because I couldn't quite frame it the way I would have liked. Anyhow, I got an interesting feeling about it when I was passing by.



"The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy." Sun Tzu, The Art Of War, around 500BC.
photos and text copyright Gary Walts 2010

Day Seventyeight: Two Very Different Things

Again I will say, just carry your camera with you and you will be ready when something catches your eye. I don't know what it is about sidewalks and roads, but I see photos in them quite regularly. I do not specifically go in search of these photos, I just notice them. Usually my mind is elsewhere, I am walking to or from my car, on an errand, and suddenly, I see something. In the photo at left I was struck by the round shape within the square shape. It's also an unusaual cover, or whatever it is. It may be a steam vent. I realy do not know. Anyway, it catches my eye and then I begin to look at it through the camera. I pay attention to the cracks and lines in the sidewalk and try to work what I see into a composition. So I guess, it's about shapes, and arranging those shapes withing the confines of the picture area. They are "arranged" by camera angle and lens selection. The lens used in this case was a 17-55mm zoom. So, I zoom in and out and eventually settle on an angle. Sometimes I crop the picture later on. Thiese type of photos are my artsy ones, or personal work. It doesn'e matter a whole lot if they have widespread appeal. They just do something for me.
Now the second photo I present here is of an unusual butterfly or moth. I'm not sure which it is. I have never seen one that looks like this before. I was getting out of my car in the driveway of my home and saw the thing at rest on the pavement. I took this photo not to be artistic or to create a nature photo. I took it to document what I saw. An unusual insect. This way I can share it with family and friends, and, of course, the World via the internet. I am hoping someone sees this and can identify it. I did a quick Google search and came up empty handed. Anyway, to sum it all up, two very different things caught my eye and I photographed them for two very different reasons. I would say the greatest thing about photography is that it's a versatile medium. It's applications range from artistic to scientific, to documentary and beyond. Plus, the categories often overlap. A scientific photo can be artistic. As can a documentary photo. A documentary photo can contain scientific information. And on and on. It's quite incredible.