SUNSET

Uh huh, I agree with everyone. Great stuff. I love the vivid colors I also like that it says Sunset and the light makes me think you took the photo at sunset.

It was sunset. I shot from both sides, but the shadows on the other side made it a poor choice. On the other hand, this side was lit up pretty damn good.

was the sign really pointing west where sunsets occur? If not, they should be sued for false advertising. What's with that vignetting, dude? Cheers, Micheal

The sun was full bore shining on the sign, so I'll assume it was pointing south. The vignetting occurred when I use a plugin from optic verve that intensifies the colors. I thought it gave the whole thing a kind of 1950's look. I can't believe you did not make reference to the fact that the sign looks full of V8. Cheers

David, a fantastic shot. I love these old signs and you captured a goodie. Love your PS touch on this one. Gorgeous coloring too.

Thanks. Somehow I seem to have lost contact with you. A shame since your work is so great. I'll have to go over and take a look to see what you've been up to.

This came up on the sidebar as I was looking through some of your new work and though I originally commented on it back in 2008 it served to remind me how important you were and are to our little and rapidly diminishing community here on pn. It is important, I think, that people with creative abilities join together in informal groups and in a stimulating environment to encourage and inspire one another. I've often voiced my disappointment with pn and thought of leaving but what's the alternative. I'm already performing for a rather limited audience and the next level down is having no audience at all. The companionship of fellow travelers and understanding souls is essential if one is not to sink into total despair.

Wow! I looked at all the comments on this image, and remember a time when there was that community of which you speak. I don't know where it went. I guess all communities have their day in the sun, and then fade into the sunset (yeah, pun kinda intended). One constant throughout my time on Pnet has been you. Your artistic sensibility and wisdom go far beyond the norm on most photo sites. Me? I'm sorry to say I'm not much of an artist. I once aspired to that high calling, but having limited talent have settled for being a chronicler. Not necessarily a good one, but at least one who passes on the sites of my times as I've seen them. But to whom might I pass them on? Oblivion seems our fate.

But I assure you that your praise, wisdom, humor and art do indeed impact me. And, I hope to be the beneficiary of them for many more years.

Have a wonderful holiday.

Reference your earlier statements: I happened to be wandering oldie land and came upon this:  http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=6344282

Damn! I could not believe the level of commentary. That has been gone for some time, at least as far as I'm concerned. I don't know that I have sufficient time to invest in such conversation, but, damn, it was a time. What a time it was.

I took a look at The Rapture as you suggested and can only sigh for them good ol' days when comments flew thick and fast. I looked forward to opening photonet every day back then when people would take the time to put their thoughts into words. I guess we have now fallen prey to the mind-numbing blather of Facebook and Twitter. Everybody seems to buy into the "I don't have time; I'm really busy" meme, as if the appearance of busyness itself is a virtue. Sometimes I think we keep ourselves busy so that we don't have to reflect on our lives which seem so complicated and overwhelmed by events. It seems our solution is to move faster and shallower, trying to skip across the surface of the water to get to some imagined other side. The truth is, there is no other side and if we didn't thrash around so much we might find we could float quite nicely in the here and now. It's not that there aren't things that need our attention, it's that we seem to be swallowed whole by our undertakings

 

When I go back to the Bay Area to visit my family I'm struck by how busy everyone is. Everything moves so fast that there doesn't seem to be time for anything of much lasting value (or even long comments like this one). I guess it's all a matter of priority. Right now I realize that this moment is all there is and all I've got so I'd better make the most of it. When I relax into the moment, time seems to expand. There's no need to hurry. Of course mostly I forget this and find myself caught up in the mindless current of modern life which carries us along at flood speed to nowhere in particular.

 

I'm still going to take the time necessary to make my comments because the alternative is to accept the fabrication that I'm "too busy". It's not true and I'm not going to buy into that personally. I believe taking the time to reflect on our life and work, and sharing our experience and opinions in fraternal discussion are two priorities we can hardly do without.

 

I've also decided to go back over my pictures that sparked the most comment and collect them along with the resulting discussions into a Blurb book. I've hardly deleted any of my pictures over the last few years, not that they're so precious (I have them on my computer, of course) but because I've so thoroughly enjoyed the give and take of the discussion they've engendered . I know it will be quite a project but one worth doing, I think. I'll end with a quote from the Tennessee Williams play "Camino Real", an observation made by Don Quixote in Act One "When so many are lonely as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone." Regards, Jack