The Chief Source Photography

The Zahir

2009-11-13T01:37:00.000-05:00

A few years ago, a Venezuelan friend of mine brought me a book of short stories by the South American author, Jorge Luis Borges. Borges ( bore-haze) is not a quick read and I am no way qualified to give intelligent criticism of his work. But one respected literary critic said of Borges. "He, more than anyone, renovated the language of fiction and thus opened the way to a remarkable generation of Spanish American novelists."

That works for me.

After the first read, Borges' short stories struck me as gothic science fiction. Strange objects, landscapes, and interiors permeate The Zahir, the story of an obsession with a simple coin that slowly isolates the main character from reality. Read The Zahir and draw whatever else you can from it.

After reading some of Borges short stories, I became interested in strange scapes found in seemingly common places.

The above photo was taken on the roof of a power plant during a commercial assignment on Lake Erie, on a crystal clear day, which usually is not conducive to mysterious landscapes. But this place was a theme park of shapes and textures. It was really one of the most visually interesting settings I've ever seen. I could have spent all afternoon shooting on that roof.

Other than the shapes, shadows and textures, I liked the two open doors challenging the viewer to enter one and maybe see if things can get any weirder.

The photo was taken with a 20mm lens on a Nikon F3. Tri-x film. No Photoshop.

Calming Mandala

2009-11-12T06:58:00.003-05:00

I decided to go out of my way and brave the Tallmadge Circle after-work traffic in search of the Unity Chapel of Light, where Tibetan monks are visiting and creating a mandala. Upon entering the door of Unity, I heard the scraping of chak-pur, giving away the location of the monks. The chak-pur are the metal tools Tibetan monks use to scrap the colored sand into place that "draws" the spiritual mandala.

Mandala are sacred art that represents a holy and meditative experience for the monks. Through painstaking patience the monks work in focus, scraping the sand into place, creating an impressively geometric space that represents the universe and opens a space for deities .

I stood watching for only a few minutes. The constant scraping created an almost hypnotic drone. Standing there, I recognized quickly the peaceful environment created by the monks' work. However, I also realized my immature patience and an assured inability to ever do such a thing--bent over for hours, even days, scraping metal sticks together in order to draw with sand.

Before the monks leave, they will wipe away their days worth of work. It's like writing a term paper and then deleting it on purpose after finishing--without the gods 'n' all of course.

Seabee Honored - By Edwin Foster

2009-11-09T09:35:00.007-05:00

The following is an article was written by Edwin Foster (Petey) and has been submitted to Saipan and the NPS War Memorial of the Pacific.

Marianas Islands Medallion Award to Phm2c Lewis E. Foster, 112th Seabees, 30th NCR, 6th Brigade, Tinian 1944-1945
October 31, 2009
Akron, Ohio

Family and friends gathered at Dontinos Italian Restaurant in Akron to present the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands Medallion by virtue of his WWII service on Tinian to 112th Naval Construction Battalion Seabee Corpsman Lewis E. Foster of Mentor, Ohio.

In November, 1944, the 112th was assigned by Navy brass to the 6th Brigade, 30th Naval Construction Regiment- known as "Airfield Construction Specialists" which was forming up at Saipan. The mission was to construct the facilities and giant airbase on Tinian to support the 20th AAF -B-29s under the command of Gen. Curtis LeMay. In about three months of nonstop construction under Seabee CAN DO Effort - Tinian became the largest airbase anywhere in the world with full facilities for 450 B-29's and crews , and also in secret, the base from where the Manhattan Project would be executed. De-classified documents are just now revealing the Monumental Effort at Tinian done by 15,000 Seabees in miraculously short time - thereby shortening WWII by months and some say years.

The 112th NCB landed on Tinian, secured by the 4th and 2nd Marine Divisions on December, 28, 1944 and moved forward to Okinawa about June 25th, 1945. While on Tinian, their specific construction assignment was to build West Field consisting of all buildings and appurtenances and two 8600 ft. long runways, taxiways and hardstands for approximately 225 B-29's of the 58th Bomb Wing. The work was completed in record time and the 58th BW occupied West Field in April of 1945. The 112th had 5 or 6 B-29's flying its "Fighting Bee" Colors. Seabees completely and faithfully supported their Bee-29's and crewmen.

Corpsman Lewis Foster's specific duties as a Seabee Corpsman were to treat the varied construction related injuries which were very common in this tropical latitude, prevent and treat common tropical diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, jungle rot, as well as any gunshot or hostile related wounds. His medical unit was staffed by two excellent surgeons, one dentist, about twelve corpsmen and a police dog named Price who faithfully stood night watch in sick bay with Lewis. For his WWII service as a Seabee Corpsman Lewis received a Navy Unit Citation from Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal.

Mr. Foster had this to say about his WWII service at his award ceremony:

"I didn't do anything spectacular on Tinian. The B-29 crewmen were the real heroes. Our camp was located 1/4 mile beyond the east end of the two 8600' long airstrips that we had built (West Field), with a mile wide ravine just beyond our camp. One night, about 250 B-29's fully loaded with incendiaries took off on a fire bombing raid of Tokyo from West Field at treetop level over our camp. That night, I watched two B-29's crash in white-hot fireballs into the ravine and three more into the ocean between Tinian and Saipan. After I witnessed that, I viewed B-29 airmen as Heroes."

"As a Seabee Corpsman, I stood night watch in sickbay for two months with a police dog named Prince at my side. We had Japanese infiltrators pilfering our camp nightly. I am convinced that the dog saved my life by intimidating the enemy who dared to sneak up on me."

"I am very happy that the People of the Northern Marianas are free and by choice Americans, and proud to have participated in such a crucial operation on Tinian that led to the abrupt end of World War II."

Support our Veterans,

Edwin E. Foster
112th Seabees Sec/Historian
www.112thseabees.com

Note: Photos taken by Kyle and Mencken

Fading Fall

2009-11-08T22:06:00.006-05:00

Saturday was so beautiful I decided to go searching for some remaining Fall color. I went for a hike out at Virginia Kendall. Many of the trees were bare but I did find these few leaves hanging on. I think you can't go wrong shooting changing leaves with some backlighting - its an annual tradition of mine.

Laughing Gnome

2009-11-06T10:20:00.007-05:00

The thing I like best about David Bowie is that his albums mix songs that are some of my all time favorites (Queen Bitch) with others that are just ridiculous. When I was 18, I ordered a Bowie compilation CD called the DERAM Anthology from BMG. My friends and I were just starting to get into Bowie and I though getting some of his early stuff would be interesting. I remember listening to the CD for the first time, laughing more with each track, and immediately calling Tim. We must have played it 1,000 times in the Milo basement. I think we found it funny that this rock icon had made this nonsense and that a record label put it out. Tim, this post is for you.

Lately, I've been trying to compose shots my wide angle lens at 10mm without having to make lens corrections in photoshop. This gnome sits near my porch.

Mansfield, Haas, and Kurt Win

2009-11-03T23:08:00.005-05:00

Lisa Mansfield and Jason Haas were elected to the Akron School Board. Sandra Kurt was elected to Akron City Council in Ward 8. Congratulations to all three on their victories tonight.

I have known Jason for about five years. He's a wealth of political knowledge and public policy expertise. I've gotten to know Lisa over the past couple of months and her sign graced my front yard. She is kind, service oriented, and will be an instant asset to the board. This was her first run for office and she got the most votes in the city. Not too shabby. Tonight, I got the opportunity to meet Sandra for the first time, but I have followed her campaign and like her plans for Akron. Many of my friends speak very highly of her. Ward 8 is in good hands and I look forward to her work. School Board and City Council are the nuts and bolts levels of government that have a major impact on the future of our city. I'm excited that these three quality candidates won tonight.

Pushing ISO 1600

2009-11-03T14:00:00.004-05:00

Nikon's new Learn and Explore iPhone app defines ISO as:

ISO originally referred to the sensitivity of film—it's "light gathering" ability. The higher the ISO rating, the greater the film's ability to capture images taken in low light. High ISO film was called fast film—it required a shorter exposure than a low ISO film. For digital photography, ISO refers to the sensitivity—the signal gain—of the camera's sensor.

The ISO setting is one of three elements used to control exposure; the other two are f/stop and shutter speed.

The best reason for most of us to think about buying a new camera body is improved ISO performance. If you want a quick introduction to ISO, check out this comparison of Canon 7D vs. Nikon D300s vs. Sony A500 ISO from Photography Bay. The 100% crops of sample images give a good look at the noise control of these three cameras. Tim and I have been discussing the new 7D at length. Over the weekend, Mencken was telling me about about a new Nikon body, D3s I think, that has a crazy high usable ISO. Nikon's site advertises the D3s as expandable up to ISO 102,400.

Then there is my 2005 Canon Rebel that has a max ISO 1600. Almost every article I've ever read has said not to shoot above ISO 400 on my camera because the noise is awful and leaves the files unusable. I've strictly followed that rule until Saturday night. I had snapped a couple shots at 1600 trying to get something usable in the pitch black theater. Perhaps all the reading I've been doing on ISO inspired me to try something new. Maybe it was the Labbat drafts that left me absent minded on the camera settings. Whatever the reason, I spent the tail end of my night shooting on manual at 1600 ISO with my pop up flash. I was excited by the results showing up on my small screen. The bright colors of the background were showing up and my histogram showed nothing blown out. My bright flash was producing soft light. A slight noise reduction in Lightroom left me with pretty usable files.

So, my advice to everyone is to forget every article you read about the limitations of your camera's ISO and experiment in a low light environment. With the pictures I shot at high ISO, using a flash helped keep the subject sharp and keep the noise lower than those shot with no flash.

Candy Traders

2009-11-03T06:00:00.002-05:00

On Sunday night I went trick-or-treating with my nephew and niece. Zane and Ryen then engaged in some serious negotiations over the loot they had hauled in. Needless to say it was incredibly cute.

Glendale Cemetery, no signs of life

2009-11-02T10:34:00.011-05:00

With the leaves as they are and the season so perfectly set, Glendale Cemetery seemed the perfect location to take a Halloween stroll. Hoping for some roaming Simon Perkins zombie, I initially felt somewhat disappointed when one never appeared, but the nicely colored rolling hills of Glendale certainly made up for the lack of walking dead.

Glendale is an eerily still, yet peaceful, plot of land surrounded by the eerily depressed and unpeaceful West Akron--a beautiful refuge for the departed. In 1839, while Britain forced opium into pipes of China, Glendale appeared. The newly built Ohio Canal stretched its way across the state, bringing more future burials to Glendale. The need for grave diggers and cemetery space would soon sky-rocket.

Highland Theater Halloween

2009-11-01T18:53:00.012-05:00

Top: Governor Sanford's Argentian Mistress, Borat.
Second: Brown's Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan, Great Gatsby and flapper girl, Lady Native American.

Another year of one of the best annual social events in Akron. The theater was packed with people when our group made a fashionably late arrival. We locked down a couple rows of seats down near the stage, watched the costume contests, and enjoyed the stream of costumes coming and going from the beer table. This year was a great crowd. Congrats to Sonny and Betsy on another successful event.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T15:49:00.005-05:00

Pictures from the Highland Theater will be posted tomorrow.

Shot By An Akron Pro

2009-10-29T03:57:00.006-05:00

Recently, I paid a visit to the new studio of Akron Photographer Andrew McAllister. The space is a few doors down from Crave and Rubber City Clothing on North High Street. Andrew has posted a write up about the studio on his blog, which has been added to our blogroll. The purpose of my visit was to serve as a stand in for some of the new lighting setups Andrew created in his studio. The upside for me was I got to learn about some of the lighting techniques, see the tools he uses, and get some professional head shots for posterity. Though I'm somewhat wary of doing a post that focuses on my mug, getting to talk a bit about the experience is worth it.

The studio has a high ceiling and two windows that overlook the alley and patio off of Musica. Andrew used a Leica M8 digital camera with wireless Pocket Wizards for the shoot. I asked Andrew if there why he used the Leica and if there were any advantages to a range finder camera for portrait shoots:

"No specific reason. It is just the sharpest digital thing I own. While sharpest is not always the best for portraiture, in the digital age it is not a big deal to make it less sharp if needed. Basically a personal preference. Your portraits were taken with a 50 mm lens. With the crop ratio of 1.3 it functions like a slightly longer lens but still looks "normal". Not compressing space like you get with longer focal lengths.

The studio had two different lighting set ups for the head shots. The first had a white backdrop with giant pieces of foam core board for front and side fill light. One flash was in a giant octobox that kicked out very soft light. He shot a few with a white background, and then stopped it down with a flash behind me to get a gray background. After snapping a few, Andrew changed to a gridded beauty dish positioned high over my head. He showed me a couple different looks and how a grid needs to be positioned at exactly the right angle to light properly since there was so little spill. The third set up had a brown background lit with a flash with a brown film to keep the light warm. We tried taking a couple more casual shots with no jacket, but the dress shirt I had chosen was showing too many wrinkles from a half day's wear and tear. Here is a look at how the different lighting changed the look of the portraits:

I'd like to thank Andrew for the opportunity to come visit his studio. Visit Andrewfoto.com to see more of his photography. We're in the process of setting up a Chief Source staff field trip to the studio for social and photographic purposes. Note to staff: internal memo forthcoming.

4 Boys in a NYC Story

2009-10-26T18:49:00.004-05:00

My recent trip to New York City can only be summed up using the following nonsensities:

Up at 5 and in the car, headed east. Chilled Autumn morning, colored with orange. Hillbilly riffraff stare in disgust. Some bread, cheese, wine and beer energize the spirits. Park in Brooklyn and a dabble at the Chip Shop. Cross the bridge and a public relief. Bottled drinks under a rainbow flag. Get lost at the White Horse and Corner Bistro, then off to bed. A slow start sparked by a museum medley. Hi, Mr. Tyson. A stripped down breather and off to John's. Alf takes center stage despite his raunch. No keys on a one-way subway. Whoopie, take us home.

Mustang Sally

2009-10-24T14:54:00.006-05:00

Every school day, when I was eight years old, my teacher would write the date and the year on the blackboard. Such as "Today is September 23, 1962". Sitting at my desk one day I calculated that in the year 2000, I would be 46 years old. At the time, the year 2000 seemed an impossibly long time away.

Now it's rapidly fading in the rearview mirror.

I was a science fiction freak as were a lot of kids back then. With the advent of the space race and an unending supply of outer space movies, my friends and I all wanted to be astronauts.

I imagined the world in the year 2000 to be a very modern one with flying cars and sleek modernistic houses built by the same architects that built the Jetson's home.

As it turns out, I now live in a house built three years after I was born and my car only flies down Memorial Pkwy. The building my studio is in was built in 1923. The sidewalks in my neighborhood don't move and the concrete they're made of still bear the stamp of the contractor that poured them back in the 1920's. My clothes are still made of cotton and it's amazing how many pairs of 60's style Chuck Taylor's I still see.

What happened to the future? Well of course it came with all its eye candy and technological miracle widgets. But even though I love my iPod, I don't recall complaining about my $6 Arvin transistor radio with the earpiece. That earpiece allowed me to run the cord up my sleeve so I could listen to the World Series without my teacher being any the wiser. Back then, the Series was played during the day, and my clandestine radio would get me to about the 6th inning. Then I would run home to catch the last 3 to 4 innings. At night that same rudimentary piece of 9 volt technology would bring me WCOL's Top Twenty Countdown with as much Beatles, Stones, and Motown as I could absorb. A fresh 9 volt and no bad weather, and life was good.

Notes in class were passed in folded origami style notebook paper, the evidence not as easily or conveniently discarded as a text message. No text message will ever be as great as a scented piece of lined notebook paper from your girlfriend, although sexting would unfortunately have been a big hit in any generation..... it's just not as mysterious or romantic, or sociologically as troubling.

So what happened to the future? It comes and goes like a mobius strip. It just depends on where you're standing and how aware of the moment you are at any given time.

All this brings me to this car lot in Chicago that caught my eye about two years ago. It looked much like hundreds of others I saw in the 50's and 60's. It was timeless. Even the cars in the photo have an ambiguous look for some reason. Anyway time stopped and went backward here for a moment and I captured my Twilight Zone moment with my Panasonic Lumix point and shoot digital.

The Fall Needs Light

2009-10-22T20:11:00.004-05:00

I went for a walk around Indigo Lake to try to catch some of the bright neon colors of fall that are quickly fleeting. By the time I got out of work and got down to the valley the bright sun had faded to a muted gray. I'm on a mission to try to find some sun with my camera before the season fades completely. Today was a failure in that department. It is remarkable how bright light can light up trees like neon signs. Without the sun, the fall foliage seems dead instead of vibrant. I used a Photoshop action Brian had given me called "Technicolor Dream World" to add some pop to the landscape. I liked this photo because of the gray algae lurking below the water contrasting with the colors of the leaves.

Sport Utility Jetta

2009-10-21T19:41:00.003-05:00

Last weekend, Brian and I went camping with some of our good friends in the Hocking Hills. It was a chance to get out of town and enjoy some of the fall foliage in the southeastern part of our state. Unbeknown to us, we had a site reserved at a very poorly maintained campground. The ruts in the drive from truck tires and the rain were deceptively deep and one of our vehicles was marooned in the mud. Short video. We spent about two hours trying to get it free only to have to call AAA to come pull it out the next morning. I'm posting this a bit later in the week than I had planned because I have been laid up the past couple days with a pretty nasty cold.

Final Farm Post

2009-10-20T16:43:00.003-05:00

Winding down the season at Szalay's Farm.

Switches

2009-10-15T17:06:00.005-05:00

About a year ago my friend Pete Milo asked me to do some photos for a new music project he was working on. After the shoot we were looking through some of the photos in Google's photo-editing program Picasa. I accidently clicked on something and it turned the photos into a time-lapse style movie. We started messing around with this feature - throwing more photos I had of Pete in it and adding some music. Eventually the obvious hit us - let's add his song and turn this into a real video. We did a few more shoots but then kind of moved on and never finished it. Today I started to think of this project after seeing a video Ted Mallison made for the Akron band Drummer. So I decided to finish it up and put it on the old YouTube.

It took over 1,000 photos to make this...

Canal Fever

2009-10-13T13:38:00.002-05:00

Akronites all know of the canal. It lines our running trails, and it adds character to our baseball stadium. But what is now just a disjointed and dilapidated shell of a canal once powered our state and changed its demographic innards.

In 1832, the Ohio & Erie Canal traversed the length of the state, allowing for quicker travel and the ability to haul cumbersome loads of goods to greater markets. Also, great numbers migrated to our through the state, making Ohio very populous (just in time for many Ohioans to die during the Civil War--but at least we got a lot of presidents out of the deal). The immense trade from the canal made Ohio an international player. And, of course, we would eventually get a hotel made of silos.

In any event, the history of Ohio and its canal is a great story that illustrates the growth of the country during the Industrial Revolution, which would eventually catapult the United States to world prowess. And it just so happens that my neighbor Peg Bobel collaborated with her friend Lynn Metzger to write and edit a new book on the Ohio & Erie Canal, Canal Fever. Included are illustrations by Chuck Ayers.

This past Sunday, Peg and the gang held a book signing at the Mustill Store. The sun peaked from the clouds every once in a while, and the coloring leaves helped decorate the canal. Some of the beauty of the Towpath can be seen beneath the picture of Peg.

Fairlawn Wedding

2009-10-11T20:24:00.007-05:00

My friends Jeff and Sarah got married at Fairlawn Country Club this past Saturday. It may be cliche to say a wedding was perfect, but this one was. Weather, food, location, live music, and most importantly the people in the room made for a great time. I was really happy for Jeff and Sarah.

I managed to snag an aisle seat for the ceremony to snap a few pictures. I was worried about the sun being too bright, but I trusted the histogram and it delivered. The occasional cloud provided the perfect amount of light on the wedding party. I talked briefly with the two photographers who were working the wedding. They had a Canon 5D with a 16-35mm and Nikon D300 with a 50mm. The lady with the Nikon also had one of those Gary Fong flash modifiers. She said it is one of the best photography purchases she has made and rarely shoots a wedding without it.

Deere at Dawn

2009-10-08T12:05:00.002-05:00

Down at the farm we've switched over to our fall hours. I don't have to be there as early but since I'm so used to waking up I decided to head on down before work with my camera on Tuesday. I wanted to capture some of the really pretty foggy scenes I've seen from the tractor on my way to the fields in the mornings this summer. On this morning the sun hadn't burned off enough of the fog yet for me to get much besides a mostly white picture that I could've sold as a postcard titled "valley in the morning" to dumb tourists. The sun coming over the top of the trees on the valley wall did however make for some cool, diffused side-lighting that you can see on this photo of a couple of the tractors. In the foreground is the John Deere 7830 and in the back is the 4WD 7820.
These days the most common place to see a Deere & Co. logo is on a t-shirt or baseball cap - at the farm we have a phrase for these farm gear enthusiasts and K-Mart cowboys, "all hat, no cattle."

Squatter's Rights

2009-10-06T05:59:00.001-05:00

The relationship between Lemon and Kimse has always been a little shady. Lemon, the older of the two and the cat, has never been shy in expressing his assumption of superiority over the dog. Lemon often gives Kimse looks of disgust, annoyed by the dog's mere existence.

However, Lemon has also appreciated some of what Kimse has brought to the household. For instance, just as Lemon feels comfortable sitting on the keyboard while one of the humans is typing, he finds similar pleasure in taking a snooze on Kimse's bed. Here, Kimse's expression is priceless, as she seems dumbfounded to find her bed already claimed by Lemon and his long afternoon nap. Not even her ball provides her with any solace.

Wine and Gold Scrimmage

2009-10-05T07:17:00.005-05:00

This past Saturday, the Cavaliers played their inter team scrimmage at the James at Rhodes Arena at the University of Akron. The game was played at maybe 60% effort and Lebron played in sweatpants. The highlight was watching Z and Shaq guard each other knowing we have both of them on our team. Delonte West was absent.

Picking

2009-09-29T20:27:00.003-05:00

Last week when we were all taking pictures of the snapping turtles I suddenly realized I was supposed to be running a wagon to Johnny. He was picking a load of sweet corn from the Bender South field on Akron-Peninsula Road. I got there before he was done and since I still had my camera on me I shot a few photos. He's using a Pixall Big Jack with a four row sweet corn picking head.

We will be getting into our last planting of the season tomorrow - we'll be picking corn for about another week or so. So stop on down to Szalay's and get some of the last of the season and a pumpkin or three....

Brian's Work On Display

2009-09-29T10:45:00.007-05:00

The Chief Source's own Brian Babb will have two photographs on display in October at Summit Art Space. The shots in this post will be part of "Photo 2009," which is curated by Akron Photographer Andrew McAllister. The opening reception is this Friday from 5:00 - 7:00pm at Summit Art Space, which is located one block east of the Akron Art Museum. I hope some of our readers will be able to join me at the reception to see the other work and personally congratulate Brian.