I have been having a ball playing with my digital camera.
I am actively taking pictures of the sunrises, the sunsets, the local flora and fauna, and pretty much anything that gets in front of me. I upload the results to my Flickr account.
I have a full blown case of what is known as Flickritis. It’s curable, but I would rather be sick.
Flickr has, as part of its structure, Groups, administered by participating photographers, that focus (photography pun) on certain subjects, and Flickr members can post their photos of that subject in that Group. Kind of like a giant Flickr filing system… all photos of cars go here, all photos of flowers go here…you get the idea.
There is a large presence on Flickr of groups that deal with Rust. Yes, Rust.
I had no idea rust could be so cool. This is not your run of the mill rust, like old abandoned cars or hinges that squeak. This is some highly Sophisticated Rust. Rust as Abstract Art. Rust as Social Commentary.
Well…there is not much rust around my house. I was feeling all deprived and inferior about not having any rust to photograph. No urban decay or blight here. For one thing, the humidity level, or lack thereof, in Tucson is not conducive to rust formation. You need water for that. There is just precious little of that stuff lying around making rust. Dust, yes. Rust, no.
Yesterday morning I decided that I needed to make desultory broom motions in the garage to discourage the accumulation of said dust. I moved the metal drip pan from the middle of the floor where it had been placed to catch the occasional motor liquid drips, and to my great delight, I was rewarded with the motherlode of all rust spots, Rusty The Flea.
Seems that the auto air conditioner drain was spilling a goodly amount of water each evening when my husband would park the car in the garage, and enough of that water found its way to underneath the drip pan, and formed…ta da… Rust.
I did a little goodygoodygoody dance, ran and got my camera, and spent the cool morning hours confusing the dog and taking lots of Rust photos.
Some of which are quite Sophisticated, I must say.
Leslie
Of course you knew that I, too, would like rust, too.
(My favorite tv quote from when I was in elementary school — stop-action animation in the fashion of Monty Python; it must have been about history???? — at the end of each episode, the “announcer” would say “And you, too, were there. Too.”
)
I had just been taking pics of a rusty bridge when that little insufficiently-supervised idiot ran into me with the bike last summer…..
And I have a lovely image of a garbage-can lid … the circular ridges……………………
I think my fave here is the Klimt (with the blue nicely contrasting with the nice rusty orange), and also the last one, with so much value contrast………………….
I have never been able to embrace flicker. It is just so … s l o w . . . .
Comment by Vicki in Michigan — June 18, 2009 @ 4:43 am
It’s nice to see a representational artist show her abstract facets. I agree with Vicki about the blue Klimt. Thanks, kiddo.
Comment by Yodood — June 18, 2009 @ 6:33 am
Vicki,
I, too, remember all the wonderful purple and green color hues and values you were able to photograph, too …that would be your bruise, not the bridge…too…
When you say ’slow’ about Flickr, do you mean the upload time? It seems to be pretty snappy for me.
I like the Rustav Klimt, too. Also.
Comment by leslie — June 18, 2009 @ 8:34 am
Yodood!
Glad to show you my…er…abstract facets.
Comment by leslie — June 18, 2009 @ 8:36 am
Okay, that’s pretty interesting, but I am a little worried about that one with some green in it… none of it has mold, does it? Be very careful with mold, that can be dangerous stuff.
I know, the chances of mold in Tucson are slim, but all the same. YAY rust, but watch out for that other bad stuff!
;o)
Scarlett & Viaggiatore
Comment by Wanderlust Scarlett — June 18, 2009 @ 10:37 am
Scarlett,
The green is likely something more sinister than mold…photo manipulation!
Comment by leslie — June 18, 2009 @ 11:13 am
Yes, flickr very slow to load.
Maybe it’s better just lately?
Or maybe it’s soemthing about my location? I don’t know, but here it has always taken f o r e v e r to load, in comparison to blogs, say…………
Comment by Vicki in Michigan — June 19, 2009 @ 9:20 am
Hmm….I’d never heard of Klimt before, but yes, very obvious.
I rather like the one next to last, with the river running through a boar’s face.
Makes me long for my Microdot days.
Comment by bulletholes — June 19, 2009 @ 12:58 pm
Vicki,
I have only been playing with Flickr recently, so I have to say…recently, pretty snappy uploads. You’re not holdin’ yer mouth right…
Comment by leslie — June 19, 2009 @ 1:14 pm
Bullets,
You know Klimt. You just don’t know you know Klimt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Klimt
I’m just riding along on the flashbacks…
Comment by leslie — June 19, 2009 @ 1:15 pm
“snappy uploads. You’re not holdin’ yer mouth right…”
Please send photo.
Comment by Vicki in Michigan — June 20, 2009 @ 6:15 am
Oh, and it is downloads that have been slow (from flickr to a pc)……
I always think of upload as “from a smaller device to a larger one” and vice versa. So anything that comes from out on the net to my pc I think of as a download, where as something I send out to the web is an upload.
Camera to pc = upload.
Not sure what I think I should call it if I move things from one pc to another. “Copy” I guess.
Comment by Vicki in Michigan — June 20, 2009 @ 6:17 am
Nice shots, leslie. I’m afraid I am not very good about being on Flickr. Like any other social networking site, it really takes work to have a presence and create community. I don’t know how people do it, but I’m glad they do. Then the rest of us can enjoy their obsessions.
Comment by ybonesy — June 21, 2009 @ 8:15 pm
ybonesy,
Who are you calling obsessed? Moi??
Playing with the camera rather than all the time it takes to draw is a fun way for me to recharge.
Comment by leslie — June 22, 2009 @ 4:22 pm
Nothing rusty about those shots. They’re inspired.
Comment by Ian Lidster — June 23, 2009 @ 9:06 am
Who would have thought that rust could be so pretty.
Comment by Dan — June 26, 2009 @ 12:17 am
Oops, did I call you obsessive??
I find that playing with the camera is a nice break, too, from drawing, and especially for blogging, when you want to share images, it’s so much more efficient. Plus, you have the eye for it, given that you are an artist. Loved your cactus macros on flickr. Those are amazing.
Comment by ybonesy — June 28, 2009 @ 9:05 pm
Vicki…I do not have a photo of snappy uploads holding yer mouth right. Sorry.
And “uploads” is Flickr’s term for when I move photos from my computer to their website. And I ~know~ they have a bigger computer than I do…
Comment by leslie — June 29, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
Thanks, Ian… Inspired, but Rusty.
Thanks, Dan… Pretty Rusty.
You boys just know how to flatter a girl, dontcha?
Comment by leslie — June 29, 2009 @ 12:41 pm
Ybonesy…You did it again!
I am not obsessing about being obsessively obsessive. I am not!
hee hee
Comment by leslie — June 29, 2009 @ 12:43 pm
I’v ebeen drawn to photograhong rust, aslo. It’s really beautiful up close, like an abstract painting.
Comment by secret agent woman — June 30, 2009 @ 5:48 pm
Thanks, Secret Agent Woman. I had no idea how interesting it can be. What I find more surprising is that there ae so many people photographing rust! Who knew?
Comment by leslie — July 2, 2009 @ 5:40 pm
Hey, I love your rust! If you play around with layers in Photoshop, these would make a nice layer. I found your daytime lightning shot on Flickr and followed the link to your blog (isn’t technology great?). I too love what rust looks like in photos. It is nature’s way of making ugly man things look better.
Comment by kinoshaman — July 11, 2009 @ 2:39 pm
Thanks, Kinoshaman!
I appreciate your comment on my daytime lightning shot. I have to say, it was one scary storm! But that’s just one more reason that we love Tucson, right?
Your lightning shots are the best. I am pleased to ‘meet’ someone that does them. I am in awe.
I intend to take some larger pixel file pics of the rust to see about having them made into framable art, or canvases.
I don’t own Photoshop, but feel the need to invest, eventually.
Glad you snooped around and found the blog. I tried to be obvious about it!
Hope you take some time to read a bit!
Keep doing the monsoon dance….
Comment by Leslie — July 12, 2009 @ 6:14 pm
Surrounded by sea on three sides I live in rust central but I have never seen beauty in disintegration before!!
Comment by Minx — July 28, 2009 @ 3:01 pm
Hullo, Minx!
Some of the best rust come from shipyards and harbours, with the combination of colorful paint and figurative rust. I am envious of your decay…no, wait…that’s not what I meant…:)
Hope you are well. I miss visiting your blog. And I certainly need to write a bit myself.
xoxoxox
Comment by leslie — July 29, 2009 @ 8:51 am