Category: Photography

Art

Bridges In Need Of Crossing

Busy stuff today.  It’s warm enough (again) to go to the gym, but I have to get an oil change in Donna’s car (which means I get to drive the new one!) and then run a grocery errand.  Donna is doing a quick review of her second go-through on my new book, which means some time this week I’ll be starting on final draft stuff.  So I have to get a few things out of the way.

Last night I had a phone interview for a job.  I have serious problems with this, of course, but that’s a post for another day.  Suffice it to say, I need Book Deal sooner than later, but that’s like (apparently) forestalling the advance of a glacier with a hair dryer. Grr.

Which brings me to my image for the month of February.  This—

chicago-iron.jpg

—was shot in Chicago, back in 2000. I like it.  There’s symmetry, there’s detail, there’s iconic inference.

February is my month for crossing bridges.  Sometimes you get stuck in the middle of a bridge that needs crossing because it seems like such a cool and safe place to be.  Solid.  You know where you are.  The other side?  Not so much.

Cross it, though.  You’ll be glad you did.

Art

For The New Year

Starting off on a positive step, I’ve made a change on the site.  Not much of a one, but it could lead to something special.

The Art page has been static for some time now.  Technical issues among other things.  But I decided to move the art to a site that can give me a little better control and offer the possibility of expanding this part of my creative life.  Take the plunge, go for it, I say, put your stuff out there where people can see it.

So over the weekend, with a bit of help from my webmaster, I changed the Art link to a hosting site that offers a nicer look and some bells and whistles.  You can go to the main page and click on Art or just go here.

If I get enough visitors, comments, hits, etc that it seems worthwhile, I can upgrade this site to allow people to purchase an original Mark W. Tiedemann image.  Who knows, some of you might.  But I want to see what kind of interest can be generated first.

Meantime, I can add more images to this page much more easily than with the original and the display is better.  I’m fairly pleased with the look.

So if  you think it’s worth a look, please spread the word.  I think (he admits modestly) I’ve done some decent photography in my time and I’ve been wanting to showcase it to more advantage.  This might be the solution.

Thank you and enjoy the show.

Home

Christmas Card (more or less)

It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I don’t care for snow.  It looks great when it’s fresh and thick, makes the trees all pretty, and does wonderful things for mountains, but on city streets, in traffic, or even in front of my house on the sidewalk, requiring shoveling, forget it.  Before getting my driving license I liked it.  Went to Art Hill, played, as a little kid looked forward to building castles, all that good ol’ fashion cool stuff.  I have learned to dislike it.  Especially in my town, where people seem annually to forget how to drive in it.

Besides, I’m not too fond of the cold anymore.

So in lieu of images of snow-clad trips to Grandma’s house, let me offer a warmer scene, something of light and shadow and early morning promise.

morning-over-wetlands.jpg

Once upon a time I had serious intentions toward photography.  This was taken during one of the occasional wanderjahrs I used to take, searching—what’s the phrase?—the “visually arresting.”  A lot of great images are the result of being somewhere unexpected at the right time.

Anyway, here’s my Christmas card via blog for anyone interested.  Wherever you are, whatever is on the ground, may you be warm and comfortable and with good friends and family you love.  Merry Christmas.

Art

Misty Mountains

One of the trips we don’t make anymore is south to Atlanta.  When our good friends Kelley and Nicola lived there, we went down a few times, most notably for their wedding.  That trip was an adventure.  We often make long drives at night.  Donna is good at the wheel in the dark (I fall asleep, no matter how much caffeine or hours of napping beforehand) and it chews up mileage during a period when not much else is happening.  It also afford us sunrises on the road, which can often be spectacular…or just profound.

The trip down for their wedding took us through a storm.  It was raining when we left.  As we drove up into the mountains, we literally drove into the storm cloud.  Visibility was probably no worse than if we’d been driving in the daytime.  Lightening sheared across the sky seemingly fifty feet in front of us.  It was a tense trip.

But on the other side, as the rain abated, and the sun rose, we got to see this.

mountain-mist.jpg

Going through a stack of old prints, I found it.  I have hundreds of images I did not, at the time, pay enough attention to.  I have a huge job ahead of me converting these to digital and bringing them  up to the level of quality they should have.

Thought I’d share this one now.

Safe journey, all, no matter where you go, and may the far side of wherever you are give you something memorable.