Low Vision Photography (LVP)

I'm starting a new storyline on my other blog. Here is a sample of what it is going to cover. If you want to continue following my low vision journey, here is the address to the other blog. 

Those of you who have followed my illness know where I've been. The rest of you can read about it here. For the last few months I've been thinking about what I want to do with my photography. A recent article by Chris Gampat about low vision photography inspired me to give it a try. 

People often wonder how one can do photography while blind. So first let's define what what we mean by low vision photography. Low vision isn't exactly blind. Many of us learned photography while we still had some vision. This is why the phrase low vision is more accurate than blind. Chris learned photography after he had lost much of his vision. I've only recently lost significant vision, but I've been doing photography all of my adult life. 

 

To illustrate this, here are two images (one above & one below) of the same subjects and scene. The first one, the blurred one, is somehow more compelling than the second, which is technically more correct. 

Here are two more images. They are abstract because of the lighting and the exposure. They both have some interesting elements in common, such as strong back lighting, and some that are not, such as motion blur.

Which one do you prefer? And why? 

Goodbye Andy

We lost our canine companion to cancer this summer. His name was Andy. He was half a year short of 15. It has been a couple of months now since he passed, and we are ready for another dog. So I found a wonderful pup at a local rescue that collects strays from nearby reservations. Unfortunately we weren't chosen, but here is the photo they wanted as part of the adoption application to prove we had a sufficient yard. Once again I made use of the panorama feature.  

 

Lake Waneka awaits winter

 The other day we headed over to our local open space park to capture the reduced water levels in Lake Waneka, but recent rains had partially refilled it. I decided to play with the panorama feature on my phone and was very happy with the result. 

Our local park suspended all water based activities this summer because of the ongoing water shortage resulting from the drought. This summer started very dry, but around August the monsoon pattern started up and we were getting significant dumps about every ten days. Now we have just enough water for our migrating Canada geese as they migrate through.  

   

Sunflower

 Here is an image of one of the many volunteer sunflowers in our garden this year. Birds have transplanted sunflower seeds from a neighbor's yard into ours and given us this gift. I love the transparent glow that comes from the side lighting of the flower. 

Sights along the Ohio River

Gallipolis Lock & Dam

 After the end of the family reunion we took a detour east to the Ohio river. We started in a little town of Gallipolis and drove along the river for a few hundred miles. Shortly outside of Gallipolis was this structure built for flood control. It is now named after the West Virginia senator Robert Byrd. 

Further down the we passed a number of suspension bridges, no two exactly alike. This is a small one I was taken with. 

Serpent Mound, Ohio

 Back in a remote corner of the eastern hill country of Ohio is a the Serpent Mound. The earth works represent a giant serpent with an egg in its mouth.  The mounds are less than eye height, so the scale is completely different than what I was expecting. We were told by the ranger that the mounds had been reconstructed. 

St. Louis Arch from across the river

 Across the Mississippi river from the St. Louis arch is the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park. Getting there is a tad harrowing. It requires navigating through a post apocalyptic landscape of burned out cars and gutted buildings.  At the edge of the park is an elevated platform that allows an unobstructed view of the arch from the east side of the river. What is nice from this side of the river is that you have a clear view of downtown St. Louis. Unfortunately there is a powerline obstructing the view, but it isn't too noticeable.

   

A mass shooting in my old home town

 You may not have heard about this, but last Sunday there was a mass shooting in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of my old hometown Cincinnati. None of the majors networks seemed to covered it. The only reason I even know about it, is a single national report, I can't remember where. Please read the article at the link to the Cincinnati Enquirer website (link here) for the details. I especially recommend the embedded video of the mayor's press conference. 

St. Louis Arch at Night

 

This is one of those instances where the cell phone ended up being the better camera. I tried to capture this scene with a crop sensor sony, but could never get a decent image. First cell phone attempt was a keeper. 

The texture on the left side of the arch is exaggerated by the evening light. During the day it is barely noticeable. The shape of the arch is a catenary, which is the same shape a hanging chain makes. 

Room with a view of the Arch

 The St. Louis Arch, that is. On our recent road trip to Ohio to attend my family reunion, we decided to splurge and book a hotel room overlooking the arch. Having never seen the arch in person, my husband was quite impressed. I'd seen it, and travelled up to the top, as a child. With my reduced vision, I was having difficulty seeing the arch, so I tried my special goggles and was able to see it!  

In the next post we will share some photos taken of the arch at night. 

Johnson Family Reunion; an overview

I sent this letter to local friends a few days ago as an overview of the recent reunion activities. I'll get back to you soon with additional details of the trip.

Dear Friends, we just got back from a long road trip to Ohio for the second Johnson family reunion. Overall it was good, but there were ups and downs. Let's start with the ups.

The host, my cousin Dwight, was doing quite well. My Mother brought her friend from church and enjoyed herself. And I met lots of my younger cousins. I especially spent a lot of time talking to my brother Wesley's children Lizzy and Cedric. I really enjoyed getting to talk to them at length. 

Now for the downs, and really only two. My Florida branch of the family dropped off their father and my brother, Kevin, and then spent the rest of the day at the mall! So I barely got to speak with any of them. When they finally did arrive, they quickly ate bar-b-que before leaving again to bowl the rest of the evening.  I had really wanted to talk to them about their kid's plans for college, but never got the chance.  Somehow they lost sight of seeing family, as the goal of a family reunion. But, at least they seemed to have a good time. The second down is that my brother from Washington state, Wesley, decided to bring COVID with him to share with the family. Donald and a handful of other family, including my Mother, is currently sick. So far I'm still testing negative on the home test, but I am starting to show symptoms. 

Let's end with something positive. My cousin Dwight decided to honor my father's 100th birthday by commemorating the reunion to him; Vernon Johnson. Dwight had these T-shirts made and we decided to visit his grave and share it with him. See the photograph above. 

Happy birthday Dad!

Johnson Family Reunion

 We've headed back to Ohio for the Johnson family reunion today. Getting to see my mother, brothers, and endless cousins. Will post photos when we return. 

Andy the Pocket Shepherd

 March 2008 to July 2022

Andy came into our lives over 14 years ago.  He was a puppy mill accident between a shepherd and an Norwegian Elkhound that produced a litter of beautiful sable coated puppies. He was a constant source of joy and he is already greatly missed. Goodbye good friend.

Oh my God, I have to watch the Super Bowl!?!

 The Cincinnati Bengals are my home town team. They've only been in the Super Bowl once in my life time, so I didn't expect much of today's game. Now I find that I will be watching the Super Bowl and cheering for one of the teams. Who'd have thunk it!

Bengals vs. Chief's highlights

An irrigation ditch at Twin Lakes Open Space

 Near the Avery brewery in Boulder county is an open space named Twin Lakes. Along the eastern side of the one of the reservoirs is an old irrigation ditch. We thought the flowing water and the dense vegetation made for an interesting photograph.  This was taken sometime back in the Summer months.

This image was made with a Mamiya 7 and Kodak Portra film.