Desmond's Paw

Yesterday evening my coworker Shannon Szwarc and I planned to sit on my front porch and enjoy a beer or two after work in honor of his birthday ... about a week late. I no sooner walked through door when one my cats, Desmond, let out a looooooonnnng moaning howl! Startled, I dropped my bags and found him in the kitchen with his claw caught in the screen door. What's the problem? Then I saw that the window had come down and smashed his paw - which was still pinned by the window. AAAAHHH! No idea how long he had been there. All he could do was stare back at me over his shoulder ... with his big beautiful eyes.

Desmond's two outer toes were seriously crimped. I had visions of his little bones being just crushed. But he was no longer howling, nor moaning, nor crying. He was quiet and just rested on my shoulder. So I wrapped him in a blanket, and off to the emergency vet clinic we went.

The good news is - no broken bones. But the poor guy has one seriously swollen foot. It was worse in the morning, compared with the photo that I took after we got home. I tried to ice it to relieve the swelling. Ever try to ice a cat's paw? Good Luck. It worked for a moment, then no go. So he'll spend the next few days limping and lounging.

Have a sweet Valentine's Day,
Robin

Photo Tip #11 - Super contrast and Auto Exposure: Dave the Dog and the Errant Point and Shoot

So I was walking down Broadway not long ago headed back to the office and ran into L-E reporter Lily Gordon and her husband Morgan with their big, lovable boy - Dave the Dog. They were sitting outside the Fountain City coffehouse enjoying some espresso. Dave is a teenaged Weimaraner and as sweet as can be. You can pat Dave's head without reaching down to pat Dave's head.

I pulled out a little point & shoot that is with me almost always, and commenced to make a few pictures. Now, it was a bright, clear, sunny beautiful day. One would think that the light would be perfect for pictures. And it would've been -- in a different setting. That little point & shoot was making exposures all over the map. Why?

We had a super-bright sidewalk in the midday sun. The store front awnings made for deep shadows close to the building where many patrons were seated. And although the tables are black and somewhat relective, they are, or course, very dark compared with the 'hot' sidewalk. (Here, I use 'hot' as a photo-term, meaning that it is quite bright and will require either a fast shutter speed or a small aperture opening, or both, to tone down the strong reflection. Also, remember that a small f/stop opening is a large f/stop number.) The bright sun and cloudless sky created deep shadows everywhere. Which can be fine ... just not here.

(Before I continue, let me remind everyone that photos look different on different computer monitors. On mine, these photos look too light. Trust me, the shadows were deep!)

These were taken on fully automatic. The first shot exposed at a 1/200th shutter speed with 7.1 f/stop. Dave and the sidewalk are a bit overexposed. Too overexposed for my taste. You can see right away that Morgan's face was going stay in the shadows if I didn't sit down. So I sat down to take more pictures. This second shot was WAY too hot, meaning overexposed. The camera picked 1/500 shutter speed at f/stop 2.8. This is just a little more than one shutter speed faster (1/200 to 1/500), but it opened up 2-1/2 f/stops from 7.1 to 2.8. Which means that for the second shot, the camera made its exposure primarily off of a much darker area than the first photo, and so it 'opened up' the aperture to allow more light but probably could not speed up the shutter any further.

Let's visit that again. Consider the center of the frame for the first shot. It's roughly the area of Morgan's hands, his jacket and Dave's gray coat. The bright sidewalk and the dark table might have contributed somewhat. I don't know really how big of an area of the center of the frame is used to take the exposure reading. But there was a range of reflected light and contrast for the light meter to bring together to make the exposure.

Now look at the second shot. The center of the frame is mostly the black table, and the shadowed area of Dave and Morgan's hand. Most of the cup is in shadow. So the camera opened up the aperture to expose for the dark table and make it 18% gray (Google this if you want an explanation now --- this subject is another photo tip session), thereby overexposing the cup and the sunny side of Dave's face. If you think about it, if the camera exposed the table as darker black, the hand and the background would be in even deeper shadow.

So what's the lesson here? Point & shoot cameras have their limitations. And pay attention to where your camera will be making its exposure reading if you are shooting in any of the automatic modes. You might need to move and make a different image. Even with a digital SLR. The DSLR light meter should be more sophisticated than this point & shoot, but the challenge is the same. You might want to go to manual settings, decide where in your image you want to make the exposure and check each image until you get into the ballpark. And consider using fill-flash if you can. Using flash outdoors can be helpful.

There was more to this little photo session. I made a few frames using the few manual settings that the camera allows. We'll discuss it next.

As always, Happy Shooting,

Robin

Go Swimming Tigers!!

This week was the annual city high schools swim championships held at the D.A. Turner YMCA. It's the only swim meet that we cover for the season. Swimming gets overshadowed by other inter-scholastic sports in Columbus, Ga. In fact, the championship meet is the only in-town meet of the season. And it is usually dominated by Columbus High and Northside High. Hardaway High and Shaw High also have teams.

But this year the Carver High Tigers fielded a team of three boys and five girls. Not seasoned swimmers - but serious competitors. Serious about finishing their races and supporting each other and improving their personal best times.

Marvin Forbes described it as "exhilarating!" The team got a late start on the season, swimming in only four meets. "Everybody does a terrific job on the team."

Shanice Baker, a junior, struggled through her 50-yard freestyle heat. Her feet touched bottom once, but she finished - all smiles. She didn't know her time, and said that she didn't care. (1:35.95)

Announcements came over the school intercom to recruit students for the new team. "I never in a million years thought I'd be on the swim team," Tony Daley said. "I just went out there .. and I started swimming. It's kind of cool to be known as the first Carver swim team."

Carver is known for its football and basketball programs, having produced several NFL players over the years. But Tony says that now that the gridiron guys realize how hard these new swimmers work, there is respect. Other students call him "fish boy" as he walks the hallways -- as a compliment. "They're saying I'm fast."

Asked what he would do if Jarvis Jones got in the water? "I'd whoop Jarvis Jones in the pool right now," Tony said laughing. (Jones, a defensive linebacker for the Tigers, is headed to USC to play for the Trojans.)

Congratulations to Tony, Marvin, Shanice, Jaleesa Perry, Emilio Holloway, Rachel Quitugua and Charnele Jones. You've won big.

To new challenges, Robin

Wrestling Fun

Saturday evening was the citywide high school wrestling championship tournament at Columbus High. I arrived a bit early - the elimination rounds had just finished and there was a break before the finals. So of course, the kids where out on the gym floor stretching, lounging, talking, taking a moment alone and wrestling around the mats. After I took a break of my own, I thought to look for a picture or two.

Dashurra Riggs, 18 and a student at Columbus Technical College, wrestled the 103-pound weight class as a 2008 senior at Kendrick. She was at the tournament to watch her former teammates compete, and during the break she wrestled around with Kendrick High freshman Loren Spencer. She's quite the scrappy little gal.

GianCarlo Parrado, 12, bless his heart, thought he'd take on Columbus High heavyweight Ian Walker. Ian wrestles the 285-pound heavyweight division. I'd bet GianCarlo weighs less than 100 pounds soaking wet! They had fun. And Ian went on to pin John Herndon of Hardaway to win the individual title and secure first place for the Blue Devils.

Congratulations to all the wrestlers for their spirited efforts -
Robin

This Old House

One of my favorite assignments this month was the moving, literally, of the old Jones General Store, which was also the Jones family home, in Smiths Station on Jan. 8th. Physically relocating a house isn't all that uncommon, although we don't see it every day, so it's interesting. It's interesting to watch these guys troubleshoot the obstacles that pop up every inch of the way.

And the story of the house was cool, too. It belonged to G.W. (George) Jones, the grandfather of J.D. Enoch, 70, of Smiths. George and his wife Maggie built it in 1910, and J.D. remembers "practically being raised in it as a teenager". It became the family business with the general dry goods store. His grandpa also farmed. Enoch's father had his veterinarian's office there for more than 20 years, then his uncle lived there. It has stood empty for about a year and a half. The Lee County School District has purchased the land under the old house as the site for the new Smiths Station High School. So the Jones General Store had to go.

But instead of demolishing the building, the school district and the contractors gave the old house to J.D. "If I'd seen this house demolished, I'd have regretted it till the day I died," he said. Enoch walked around in the mud as the moving crew waited for the utility crews to do their thing. They lowered some lines, and shut off others so two men - one each in a bucket-truck on either side of the house - could hold high a line and flip it up and over the peaks of the roof as it crept onto the road. Some trick.

Moving the 2,500-square foot structure and laying a new foundation cost more than $50,000, plus the cost of moving the utility lines and who knows what else. It was moved all of about 1,500 feet to land that J.D.'s mother owns according to I.L. Davis movers from Salem, Al.

1,500 FEET!!! That's just one big u-turn!! Yes, one big u-turn -- onto Old Opelika Road, roll a few hundred feet and make a left turn, cross the tracks, take another left turn, creep along a few hundred feet, turn right onto a patch of his mother's land where an outline of the house had been cleared, measured and prepared for the foundation. It took about three hours.

Smiths resident Jack Cook sat in the bed of his pickup and watched. "I grew up around here," he said. "I'm glad somebody's gonna save it. Seems like every time you turn around, they're trying to tear something down." One of the wonderful things about a small town. J.D. gets to keep the family home.

328 days until Christmas,
Robin

A Tender Touch

I saw the most wonderful thing today. Tenderness and love in a most generous way. While taking pictures on assignment at the Brookside Glen Assisted Living and Alzheimer's residence, I turned to see one of the caregivers with her

arms gently but fully wrapped around one of the old women in a wheelchair. I missed that shot, but the serenity of the moment filled my heart with that joy that is also sadness.

A bit later Sylvia, who was quietly and constantly aware of Catherine's movements in her chair, had stepped back behind Catherine to rub her shoulders. It was difficult to get a good angle for a photo, because about 15 people were seated around a piano in the small foyer, and I did not want to just plow into the middle of their sing-a-long. Catherine McGarr is 88 and in the late stages of Alzheimer's, so she wasn't singing. But she was well cared for.

As the group broke up to return to their rooms, Sylvia walked over to Carmen Rivera, 70, who was smiling and swaying ever so slightly to the music that was still playing inside of her. Maybe in her memories. Carmen shuffles more than she walks, but Sylvia was in no hurry. Such gentleness. What a gift.

Have a nice weekend,

Robin

Where Were You on Inauguration Day?

I was at Fort Middle School for a great program that celebrated the inauguration of our first African-American president. Two student choruses sang, the student band played in the school lobby, an interpretive dance was presented, and two guest speakers - Muscogee County Superior Court chief judge John Allen and Georgia State Senator Ed Harbison - gave eloquent history lessons with encouraging words for the kids.

I then watched the inauguration ceremonies with Mrs. Johnson's 8th grade social studies class. At the end we took a group shot. Actually, a young student, Jared Bryant, who assisted me with the video camera took the picture. Thank you, Jared. After all, when someone asks me "where were you for President Barack Obama's inauguration?," my answer is - "with Mrs. Johnson's 8th grade social studies class in Columbus, Georgia."

Stay warm,

Robin