Richard Nixon, the everyman
Richard Nixon's Bowling Alley
In 1969, friends of Richard Nixon paid for and had a two-lane bowling alley installed in the lower level of the Executive Office Building. Nixon was an avid bowler and spent quite a bit of time at this bowling alley over the next five years. He had been known to bowl up to twenty games without a break.
Ollie Atkins, the official White House photographer, snapped this photo in 1970. Later that year, Nixon's White House staff used this photo to demonstrate that Nixon was not out of touch with the average citizen and was, in fact, just like any other citizen.
The photo later achieved iconic status due to a single scene from the 1998 film "The Big Lebowski."
There is a tremendous amount of public domain imagery available from the US Government, some of it noteworthy and historically significant, and some of it kitschy. Since it was paid for with tax dollars, it really is owned by the public.
Charley Harper, 1922-2007
Remembering Charley Harper
It was three years ago today that Charley Harper passed away.
Charley was a very unassuming artist from Ohio. He began his career as a book illustrator and over time transitioned to being a wildlife artist—but not the typical wildlife artist. Charley used his graphic art skills, his penchant for precision, and his sense of humor to portray the natural world like no other artist ever has.
One of his pieces, "Isle Royale," captures exactly what a birch tree forest feels like. You might think you are alone, but there are probably dozens of different eyes watching you at any given moment.
Goodbye Charley. You are missed.
A Bully Pulpit hiatus
This note is being added after the fact. May was a nearly overwhelming month between work, a mini-vacation, graduations and non-profit activity. In lieu of posting anything of substance, here is a photo that was taken in May.
Grand Marias, MN on May 24, 2010. The fog was very thick and the air was very gray. Probably not a good idea to stand in the middle of the road, but it was awesome.
Going ultra-wide
Understanding the Field of View Crop Factor in Digital SLR Cameras
Because the sensor in a digital SLR camera is typically smaller than the 35 mm film it replaced, the physics of the lens's focal point changes. This phenomenon is known as the "Field of View Crop Factor" or "Focal Length Multiplier." The result is that your long lens becomes longer, and your wide lens becomes narrower.
Wildlife photographers appreciate the Focal Length Multiplier because their 200 mm telephoto lens effectively becomes a 320 mm lens. However, creative photographers find it frustrating because a 24 mm lens becomes a 38 mm lens, making it challenging to achieve a truly wide angle.
My personal lens investment dates back to the pre-digital era, so I never had the chance to compensate for this effect. Consequently, all my lenses became too long for many of my purposes. To satisfy my need for wide shots, I occasionally rent a 14 mm ultra-wide lens (with an effective focal length of 22 mm), which reminds me of the good old days when a wide lens was truly a wide lens.
Wide-angle photography is a lot of fun and allows me to keep the social media header imagery fresh.
Anatomy of an Exhibit
Catholic Charities USA Centennial Leadership Summit
Yesterday, on April 20, 2009, Catholic Charities USA held their Centennial Leadership Summit at the College of St. Catherine. This event marked the inaugural exhibit of the "In Our Own Backyard: U.S. Poverty in the 21st Century" photojournalism awareness project. The summit kicked off Catholic Charities' ambitious goal to reduce poverty in the United States by 50% by the year 2020.
The entire exhibit process was meticulously documented, much like the television show '24', but instead of saving the country from terrorists, we were hanging art (perhaps the lamest metaphor ever).
T-2 weeks: Once the project was defined, the supply chain of raw materials started filling up. This exhibit required two cases of 4'x8'x1/2" black Gatorboard.
T-1 week: Each image was printed on premium luster photo paper (wide color gamut, scratch-resistant but susceptible to fingerprints), vacuum mounted to the Gatorboard, then trimmed to size and packaged. A total of 50 images were printed and mounted for this exhibit.
T-24 hours: The finished materials were delivered the day before the exhibit opening. The exhibit panels presented some challenges, with the image layout being the most critical.
T-12 hours: The image title blocks were completed, enhancing the storylines. I was delighted to see Carlos Gonzales from the Minneapolis Star Tribune participating, having known him from the Max Becherer exhibit.
T-4 hours: No exhibit is complete without a politician. In this case, it was the Honorable Mayor Chris Coleman of St. Paul.
T-0 hours: The exhibit generated a lot of discussion with its 'first person, photojournalistic' style.
T+x: From St. Paul, the exhibit moves to Portland, Oregon, and begins a nine-city nationwide tour, aiming to conclude at the White House in 2010.
Math, art, and a touch of drama—all in a single blog entry. Now that's efficient blogging.
Penumbra
The Captivating Penumbra: A Photograph of Jake's Strip Club
The definition of penumbra is 'almost shadow' or 'almost dark' (or light). Penumbra is typically used to describe events in astronomy, such as when an eclipse occurs.
In photography, penumbra provides a unique opportunity to capture texture and atmosphere in an almost occult-like light. A strip club has always struck me as kind of sad and desperate. I have been meaning to take this photo for years, but the highway has been re-routed, making it tricky to get to. This isn't exactly the effect I was looking for (drizzle and water puddles would have been ideal), but I liked the emotion the headlights provided.
Jake's strip club is located in Coates, Minnesota. It had a litigious relationship with the community, and for years the town continually passed laws to close it down. In 2002, the Minnesota Supreme Court finally ruled that the town was within its authority to close Jake's. In an unwise effort to vote the local politicians out of office, Jake's owner had 92 patrons (sometimes called rummies) fill out voter registration cards, using the strip club as their home address.
You don't mess with the feds. It is never a good idea to break federal voting fraud laws, especially in such a foolish manner. Several hundred thousand dollars later, the case was finally settled. The bar never reopened, and it has been vacant ever since. No doubt it will be torn down, and the opportunity to capture Jake's in penumbra light will be gone forever.
The missing piece
The Lost Puzzle Piece
Many years ago, a very good framing customer brought in a beautiful antique jigsaw puzzle to be framed. It was from the turn of the 19th century, and the construction itself is a work of art. The pieces are scroll sawed, and several pieces themselves are shaped as children's toys (monkeys, toy soldiers, etc.). It is a remarkable example of craftsmanship.
The only problem was that a single piece of the puzzle was missing. This seemed very tragic, and because of the depth of the puzzle, it was as obvious as a missing tooth on a beautiful model in a toothpaste ad. But, it is what it is, and since it had been in her family for many years, it was decided to frame it up as is.
Jump ahead several years to the present... the customer removes a drawer from a dresser, and lo and behold, the missing puzzle piece reappears from behind the drawer.
There is something very therapeutic in knowing that the missing puzzle piece will soon be reunited with its brothers and sisters, and now the picture is complete.
The Lord works in mysterious ways.