JOY

   The shrill squeal frightened me at first. But I quickly realized it was a 3-year-old's response to opening the Big Package from Santa.  She dragged it over to her Daddy. Fortunately, it wasn't too heavy, but it stood nearly as tall as her 3-foot frame.

    Santa covered the gift with bath towels and bows. She gave it a tug. The wrap slid off. Her Spidey race track was in the box of 20 plus pieces with instructions in three languages.

    She spotted Spidey in his race car and the villain in his. 

As her parents moved onto the floor to begin the Grand Assembly, the tot examined the toys, spinning the tiny wheels.

    She looked at her Mommy and Daddy putting pieces together, decorating them with the accompanying stickers. She looked dismayed and started grabbing parts, handing them to whichever parent looked ready to add the track.

Grandma and Grandpa watched amusedly, but they knew better than to aid in the construction.

    It was not long until the job was done, and the track was ready for initiation. Tiny hands reached up carefully, aligning the cars on each long, winding roadway.  

Her Daddy showed her how to set the cars ready to zoom down. And ZOOM they did!!  The little onlooker clapped and danced, her eyes shimmering, her little corkscrew curls bobbing as they framed her gleeful face.  

In only a few second, the race was over. She scooped up the cars, replaced them at the starting gate, shrieking, "AGAIN!"

    

    I looked at my husband in his wheelchair. He was as captivated as I.

    While our granddaughter's response was energetic and boisterous, my spouse and I only looked at each other knowingly. Our encounter lasted no longer than the time those two cars spent flying down the course.

    We looked at each other thinking, remembering another 3-year-old who found delight on Christmas morning so long ago. We spoke not a syllable, but our expressions revealed it all. Joy!  Sheer Joy! What a marvelous gift to share Christmas with a child who is 3.

(More photos are taken on and around Christmas than almost any other  holiday of the year.)  

 

Colorful Music

I only considered writing about the relationship between photography and music once I read about the Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky.  A dear friend told me about him as I never heard of him.  What I found fascinated me.  I hope you will find it intriguing as well.  

For Kandinsky, music 🎼 and color  🌈   were inextricably linked.  The abstract painter, cellist, and synesthete created an iconic collection of abstract paintings that expressed how he associated each musical note 🎵 with an exact hue.

Best described as a union of the senses, synesthesia is when one sensory experience involuntarily and consistently prompts another.  There are over 70 different types, such as the ability to see sounds, hear time ⌚ and taste shapes. 🚫🚸;  however, the most common involve color.

As a photographer and musician, I do think there are similarities.  What two art forms don't relate?  Music is intensely visual.  A subject in a picture serves much the same role as a melody in a piece of music.  Both anchor the piece, leading us along a story's lines through a literal or figurative landscape.

Musical rhythm is similar to visual rhythm. A progression of notes over a period of time is akin to the layering of shapes, light and dark, that form a photographic image.  The most successful photographs almost always have a rhythm, giving the viewer a coherent path. Music is a play between positive and negative objects--notes and the silence between.  Music is the space between the notes; negative space is equally vital in photograph composition.

    My husband only appreciates melodies that have lyrics. Some find listening to music without words challenging because hearing may provide less stimulation than visual imagery.  

    Some people spent a great deal of money on costly instruments they did not even play, such as a piano or harp.

They were used as decor and perhaps to display one's wealth.

Some scientists believe that synesthesia results from "crossed-wiring" in the brain. This means that neurons and synapses usually contained within one sensory system cross to another for people with synesthesia.  It is not known exactly why this might happen, but some researchers believe that these crossed connections are present in everyone at birth--it's not until later that the connections are refined.

    About 4% of the people in the world experience this condition. They hear a sound and automatically see a color or read a certain word, and a specific hue enters their mind's eye.  Among that population are some well-known persons like Vincent VanGough and Billy Joel.  Persons in other fields also experience this condition:  Vladimir Nabokov, the Russian-American novelist;  Geoffery Bush, an Australian actor; and Robert Cailliau, information engineer, computer scientist, and author.  There are many others, too numerous to list here.

    People have combined sound or allusion to sound in poetry, scripture, and stories for centuries.  "All the trees of the field shall clap their hands..."  Can we hear the trees clapping?

    

                "The hills are alive with the sound of music...

Can you hear music in these photos??  or see color in the sounds these "make"?? Do any of them speak to you?

There were discrepancies among the websites I used for my research; I was curious about what movie was the first to be accompanied by sound. Some suggested the first music video was created in 1894 by Joseph Stern and Edward Mark, who set a recording of their son "The Little Lost Child" to a moving slide who  marketed it as an "illustrated song."   Another reference reported that a group called The Buggles released their music video, Video Killed the Radio Star, released in 1979 and launched on MTV in 1981.  If you check, you will find at least 5 different artists who are noted to be the "first" combining video and music.

    I have memories of "home movies" taken by my father.  📹

The technology to record the sound was unavailable at that time, but I remember some of the words and encounters that took place as he filmed them for posterity (and a lot of laughs).

    When we watch movies and TV shows   📺, it is not enough to include dialogue and sound effects, but musical scores were written just to enhance the production. Some of the music became classics, perhaps better known than the films they accompanied!   The music contributed to the mood of the show.  😳😁😪

     Most modern concerts are incomplete without many special effects, including choreographed lights and flashes of pictures that fill the entire background behind the performers. Pyrotechnics are the latest thing to be added to performances, and the use of lighted drones forms elaborate patterns to augment the experience.

    Music is ubiquitous in our culture. It can be challenging to find quiet places!  Note that elevator music is not just for elevators but accompanies us while we are shopping or is piped into hotel lobbies. 

    I do not have the ability to see colors in sound, but I have had many experiences where photography was vital to the creative pieces I was producing. I have an entire slide show incorporating Christian hymns, which I paired with pictures to emphasize the words.

From Kat Stevens: Morning Has Broken:

Blackbird has spoken like the first bird.   

Praise for the Singing   

Praise for the morning    

Praise for the Springing fresh from the word

    

    Why are so many musicians also photographers?  Do Photographers "hear" light?  Do musicians "see" notes?  Are we all just trying to record wonderful moments that we don't want to lose?  I don't have a good answer. But I'm pleased because it seems to enrich both fields. Not just the waveforms but the notes and sounds themselves. So have countless other musicians since the beginning of recorded music.  The strong links between our senses of sight and hearing have inspired musicians for centuries.

    How our senses blend together when we experience music will never be fully explained.  That mystery is part of what draws people to new ways of visualizing music and creating new photographs.

Approaching sound like this is one way to expand your sense of what's possible with music...and your camera!

  

LIVING PATTERNS

         A few months ago, I wrote about texture in photography.  Patterns are very similar, but I discovered far more information about them than I did about texture.  Trying to limit the length of these blogs can be challenging. There is so much information available about this topic!

    Patterns are everywhere. They are on objects and even inside of us, like the blood vessels in our bodies.  There are several areas where patterns are key. I am not a seamstress, but sewing a shirt without a pattern to follow would be unwise!

    Patterns are powerful!  They set up expectations, make connections, and inspire burning questions.  They can be events that regularly repeat themselves, trends in which events rise or fall over a prolonged period, seeing relationships that create new connections, or they can emerge from seeing the larger picture. 

Pattern recognition was vital to the survival of our ancestors, allowing them to identify poisonous plants, distinguish predator from prey, and interpret celestial events. Today, it plays new but just as essential roles in diagnosing diseases, 💉💊inspiring fresh ways to safeguard data, and discovering new planets.  

  

The ability to see patterns results from the brain's natural tendency to find order in chaos. This is how we make sense of the world and learn.

  The best thing we have going for us is our intelligence, especially pattern recognition, sharpened over eons of evolution (Neil deGrasse Tyson, 2015). According to IQ test designers, pattern recognition is a crucial determinant of a person's potential to think logically, verbally, numerically, and spatially. Compared to all mental abilities, pattern recognition is said to have the highest correlation with General intelligence (Kurzweil, 2012). The ability to spot existing or emerging patterns is one of the most, if not THE most, critical skills in decision-making, though we're mostly unaware that we do it all the time. (Memis, 2019)

  📘📩📞  Linguistics uses patterns to develop communication.  The patterns are predictable formations in a language, whether it is read or heard, that construct its words and sounds and give them meaning.  Rules of grammar, syntax, and semantics are linguistic patterns.

    There are patterns in music, such as the use of refrains and choruses in vocals.   🎤🎭🎶

Mathematics depends on numerical patterns or sequences, as in geometry, cube numbers, and square numbers.🔟

In psychology and cognitive neuroscience, pattern recognition describes a  process that matches information from a  stimulus with information retrieved from memory.                                                                          

    💽📠    Technology would not be possible without the use of patterns.  The ability to code and program has a number of uses for patterns. For example, design patterns are typical solutions to common problems in software design. Each pattern is like a blueprint that can be customized to solve coding design problems.💻

  👪  Children can find help to make predictions with the use of patterns because they begin to understand what comes next.  They also help children learn how to make logical connections and use reasoning skills.

     Apophenia, is a psychological condition which is characterized by seeing patterns in unrelated things. Anyone can experience this, and it is not uncommon.

    There are two basic types of patterns in art: Natural and man-made . They can be regular or irregular, organic or geometric, structural or decorative.                                              

      

positive or negative     

 repeating or random.

It looks like some critter's chomping made this intricate design.

I love the ocean and subjects with water. I find them to be an almost unlimited source for pattern photography.

So, what is its use in photography??   📷    Pattern in Photography is a regularity within a scene. Its elements of the scene that predictably repeat themselves.  Pattern photography gives our viewers a different perspective and adds to a stunning image composition.  The image will show texture, a unique color, and angles.  They come in many forms and are highly pleasing to the eye. 👀 It is anything repetitive that turns the subject from its innate quality into something more abstract so people will look and respond more to the pattern and shape that it makes and less to the subject itself (from Digital Photo School, Anthony Epps)

     Visible regularities of form can be found in the natural world.  These recur in different contexts and can sometimes be modeled mathematically. They include symmetries,  

  

                                trees      

 

    

                          spirals, 

meanderers, waves

foam 

             

cracks          

and stripes.

Man recreates what he observes in nature. Here are some man-made things with patterns.  Some of these photos show more than one pattern.  Can you find them?  Are you able to identify the patterns??

I like to incorporate shadows that make interesting patterns.

Artisans from painters to hair dressers, architects and landscapers, often invest much talent, patience and energy to add patterns to our world.

Here are a few more.These are spheres within a sphere.

Some of these are just some of my pattern discoveries.

I hope you are more cognizant of patterns and the part they play in our lives.  Maybe you will feel encouraged to go on your pattern safari to shoot the big game!

Credit where credit is due.

I could not have authored this article without the help of information obtained through Google, including an excellent article by Robert Barkman, Professor Emeritus at Springfield College Massachusetts:  See The World Through Patterns

Information obtained from Wikipedia also proved invaluable.

      

    

A DIFFERENT TAKE

     Usually, when I compose my blog, I present ideas about serious, practical concepts related to photography.  The pictures I post often demonstrate what I am trying to communicate in my writing. I try to have the photos "talk" more than my words.   📚

   ⚓  While preparing for my camera work on my recent cruise to Bermuda, I did some research. 🚢 I went to Bermuda 4 times prior. For this trip, I was looking for different locales to shoot, different views, and different takes on the familiar area. One suggestion I came across was to include some props.   These can be quite useful to add depth and/or more interest and character to the scene.   👓  👒

    Without a deliberate attempt, I came across a great prop right here in the community in which I live.  It was easy to pack, and no one would miss it. 

This month, I opted to try something a little different, as you will see. First of all, this is a fictional story.  It is lighthearted and fun.  Photographers are storytellers.  What we capture will record a moment in history.  Each picture should have a narrative.

    In this case, the words accomplish that, with the pictures simply enhancing it, providing some visuals to help.  Besides, it was a challenging task and made me laugh while doing it.   😁  I hope it does the same for you.

FREDDIE, THE FREE LOADER   

    I was sitting in my sand pail on the window sill of the third floor like I always do. I have a view of the courtyard, the greenery, the sky, and the birds.  Once in a while, I try to converse with the other guy like me, but he never has much to say.

    Hey! What's going on? You're choking me.

Some malevolent resident grabbed me by my throat and yanked me out of my pail. I protested to no avail.

The next thing I knew, I couldn't hear anything, not even the wind blowing or a TV show. 

I wished I had a flashlight. 🔦

Not even a pinhole of light got in to me. What in the world was happening? Had I died? Was I in my casket?  No, I still breathed, but I could barely move.  

    I wanted out! I was scared. Why did she take me? Why was I kept in the dark?  😥  

I did not want to cry, but I was so afraid.

    Sleep finally came. When I awoke, I hoped it was just a nightmare, but I was still in that dark place. No rescue, no one came.  Was I even missed? 👀

    Oh, Oh, what's that? Sounds like footsteps. 👣Ahhhh, now I would be set free! 

    Wait, wait! I was standing on my head!  Oh, good grief!  Who was torturing me? I felt vibrations and heard people talking.

    "Goodbye" they said. "Have a good time." Me? Were they nuts? 💼

    The ride got smoother, and I was able to lay on my side once again, but that did little to ease my distress.

I began to sweat. 🍷 A nice cool drink would have been most welcome, but no.  On and on we went. No one talked to me, or about me. How I longed to be back on my window sill.  If only I could stretch my long legs.

    My stomach growled. Hmmm, a nice tasty fish. 🐟

The fantasy made me drool, which did little to ease my hunger pangs.

    Oh brother, standing on my head again! More vibrations. There's a new sound. Was it a giant mosquito? Ziiiip, Ziiiiip.

    🌅 Bright sunlight flooded over me. She picked me up and hugged me.  Hmmm, that aroma, very familiar. It was ocean air. There were crowds of people around, and loud music blared. We were even rocking a bit.

    I realized I was on a ship. A cruise ship!

Wow, not so bad after all. I was not only kidnapped but a stowaway as well.

I was able to put both feet down, although I often stand on one.   Folks asked if I was related to Flat Stanley. He could be a distant cousin, I suppose.

    After unkinking my muscles and taking in that wonderful sea air, I felt much better, but by now, I was famished. 

We walked along into a colossal dining room.  A table filled with all sorts of breads lay before us. 

              Often people tossed crumbs to me, thinking it was cute. But no crumbs for me today.   Matter-of-fact, No Bread.

My nose told me there were fish nearby. Even my favorite-pink shrimp that helped maintain my beautiful complexion.  

    We traveled the globe with our food tour.  There was Italian. I never saw so many pizza crusts in my life, and the makers were very friendly. 

 
There were also Indian and Thai, but they were much too spicey for me.  There were salads with strange-sounding vegetables like mung, watercress, and radicchio.

I slipped away to munch on those inviting greens as my appetizer.

  But Oh, there was more. Much more.  Soups and a carving station. I didn't like that

as a poor relative was being sliced

for someone's plate.

    The dessert buffet was crammed full like the others, covered with such beautiful treats.

    I didn't even recognize the cakes. I was glad I could not eat cake because they were too pretty to eat. Each was a work of culinary delight. 

Some had writing on them that said "Celebrity." There must be someone famous on board.

Eating my fill, I almost smiled. There were two ladies with me, coconspirators in their crime. One told me my name is Fred, but I liked Freddie better, and so that moniker stuck thereafter.



    Then they took me to their cabin. 

I had a high perch to sleep on. There were no loud singers and no window like I had back home. However, we had a TV, and I got to watch some nature shows while the ladies went out. 

    They were great, except for that show-off parrot who is much more colorful than I.

    I didn't mind not having the window too much. After all, I was on a cruise--even for little ole me.

    The days passed quickly and they were full of adventure. We walked all around the ship, riding up elevators, and walking down steps. 

  I even tried my luck at the Casino, but I had nothing to lose, not even a shirt off my back.   

 

 One of the days, we took a ride on a ferry boat. I was so disappointed because I did not see ONE fairy.  It was quite windy, and I had to hang on least I was blown away!  

We rode to the town of St 

George's, which has a lot of history and is a UNCESCO sight.  As a World Heritage Site, it has many old buildings and forts.     

 

                             

When we went on shore, we found a pay telephone-very rare birds these days!  I should be like ET and phone home, but I didn't really want to be rescued anymore.   Yet, I thought I should notify the others home on the window sill that I was OK, Actually, I was having the time of my life!

    Rats! I forgot flamingos don't have any coins, so I couldn't make the call.

    It was very humid like the place I used to live before moving to the window sill. The two ladies and I roamed around taking in all the sights. The buildings were lovely hues--blue, green, yellow, and red, but each had a white, corrugated roof. They looked rather odd, not like anything I see in Pitman.

My feathered friends liked perching on them, but not me. I was staying close to my escorts.

    Bermuda has very little fresh water. Those corrugated roofs collect rainwater which is then deposited in cisterns, providing potable water to the citizens.

    It was so hot, we did not venture very far. We found a bargain postcard that cost only 25 cents. Then we went to the post office for a stamp and had to wait almost a half hour in line, and the stamp cost 4 times what the card cost!

    We wandered about, stopping in some shops. The lady with the camera took many pictures- even some of me.

    St George's is a World Heritage sight with some very historic buildings.  The streets had unusual names like Featherbed Lane and Barber Lane.

    Soon it was time to return to the ship. We had to take the ferry again but had a wait this time. We were glad we could sit down.   

    

We passed Fort St. Catherines, built to protect the country.  Being a British domain, there was fear that America would attack during the War of 1812, or the American Civil War. There was nothing Civil about it. 

The British had some sentiments for the Confederacy. However, the onslaughts never came, and the forts were not needed for any violent events.

    Americans do invade Bermuda now, but we are welcomed with open arms. Tourism is their second most lucrative business, with banking being number one.

    Back on board, I noticed that Celebrity stuff was still showing up. It was on the towels. There was one of the biggest letter Xs I ever saw on the smoke stack. I thought maybe it was like the big advertisements at the sports stadiums.

Our cabin steward, Sebastian never reported me.  He was such a fine fellow. He made our beds. Of course, he didn't have to make mine. He straightened up  and brought clean linens.    

    

    He always knocked and announced himself calling, "Housekeeping." I could not understand that. While there were much larger cabins on the ship than the tiny one we shared, I did not see one house.  I told him he should have said, "Cabin Keeping," but he never did.

    The very best thing he did was to leave us chocolates every night.  Even their wrappers had Xs and Celebrity on them. I still didn't see anyone famous.

    We were ready for a rest after our shore excursion. I didn't even leave the ship on Friday, our final day in port.  I had enough fun checking out the shops.  

    Art auctions were held, and we had the benefit of perusing it often.  Some of it was unusual, and some made me just shake my head and wonder why is that art.  It was very different from anything I saw or did back on my perch in New Jersey.

    Drinking is a very big business on cruise ships.  Alcohol is not good for me. Fortunately, there were many specialty drinks to treat my taste buds.

         

    I really enjoyed the pool time. Checking out the babes.  I tried the hot tub, but it was TOO  hot. I was afraid I would melt!

    

    The water was a bit rougher on the way home. There were white caps in the pool, making it like a wave pool. Lots of fun!

Cruises are notorious for the gourmet cooking and generous servings. Few people (and flamingos) return without a bigger waistline.  Oh, but it was scrumptious.  We had surf and turf one night. The lobster was succulent.  

    How could I return to my mundane menu?

    Those dining room chairs made me feel like Capt. Kirk of the Enterprise from Star Trek. I was ready to blast off! Either that or they were left over shells from Mr. Peanut.

    

    By morning, I was pretty deflated, so back into the suitcase I went. Only this time I was not afraid.

  

I had amazing, exciting tales to tell.  Honestly, I would not mind being kidnapped again.

    I never did figure out who the famous celebrity was on board.   As we rolled over onto land, I thought about my fantastic time, luscious meals, beautiful scenery, and meeting new people.  I figured I was treated so special on the ship that, at times, I felt like a celebrity.  I understood then the celebrity on board must have been ME.

When you approach your next photography shoot, try thinking "outside the box."  You never know what might develop!