Hibernating Lawn Mowers

Hibernating Lawn Mowers, originally uploaded by edrahe.

Sorry to make my blog fans await another post! I found this while on a walk today in Oskaloosa, Iowa. We are visiting my wife's side of the family for a belated Christmas celebration. More food, more walks in the morning and evening.

More junk at the farm

More junk at the farm, originally uploaded by edrahe.

After being around the farm for 40 plus years and watching a lot of junk come and go during that time there's always something to photograph. By come and go I mean mostly accumulate. But the old man has been hauling away a lot lately.

I finally bought PS Elements

tractorshed, originally uploaded by edrahe.

And Premier Elements while I was at it.

Updating the Blog

Untitled, originally uploaded by edrahe.

I have a degree in Journalism, but I don't really like to write. That itself is probably a good reason I don't work for a major media outlet, except for this blog. I think it is obvious I don't like writing for fun, evidence by my very infrequent blog updates.  Yet it does not stop me from saying a word or two about my manual typewriter collection.

While I don't like to write that much anymore it is in a way ironic  that the major subject of my writing these days is... obituaries. One might think that there's nothing to writing a good obituary and that would be a good job for a cub reporter. I can tell readers from experience at my first newspaper job I was not allowed to even think about writing obituaries. No sir, at that newspaper obituaries were serious and important news, and sometimes the only news in a particular week's edition. This was not a job to be left to a cub reporter. Anyone who has worked for a rural weekly newspaper anywhere in the U.S. with a readership base of Lutheran farmers  understands this. Eventually I was allowed to write the obituaries at the newspaper and that is how I learned how everyone was related to everyone in our end of the universe. Now I'm a funeral director and I still have to write a lot of the obituaries. I would say I'm pretty good at it now. Not bragging.

But I digress. The old tools of the trade have always fascinated me. Just like my affinity for a good old John Deere two-cylinder tractor I admire Linotype machines, old printing presses and old cameras.

Most news back in the day was written on manual typewriters, edited and handed to a Linotype operator for composition. I have in my collection three manual typewriters that I figure in this day and age might come in handy during the apocalypse if I have to write a letter or something. I don't know why I'd need to write a letter during the apocalypse, but who knows what will happen then. I learned how to type in school on a manual typewriter. Typing, now that's something I can do. I was once clocked at 60 wpm, which is on the slow side, but for my purposes that's about the right speed. One cannot rush an obituary.

This article recently appeared in our hometown newspaper about the growing popularity of manual typewriters among young writers. I have tried to write something on my manual typewriters, but since I don't really like to write, not much has come of it. During my recent medical sabbatical I had my wife go in the basement to dig out one of my old machines. Maybe I would pass the days laid up at home writing a novel or something, on a manual typewriter. Didn't happen. Nor did I ever update my blog when I had a lot of time on my hands. Just wasn't interested.

Then a few days ago something magical happened. I remembered telling my wife a funny incident that happened when I was a young boy growing up on the farm. Soon thereafter I was in the man cave and thought I'd write down the incident and what the heck, I'll use my typewriter. So I wrote up the incident. It was more like a news brief. And then I wrote another and then another. So now I've started writing my memoirs on a manual typewriter, and it is kind of fun. And a manual typewriter seems like a great thing to use to write them down.

I knew I kept those things for a reason.



 

Suburbs in the morning

Morning Breaks, originally uploaded by edrahe.

I was laid up after foot surgery for the whole month of September. I was able to get out and shoot this week. I didn't need to go much furthur than my frond door to find a picture.

Woe to the beginner photographer

Week one is behind me; week two has begun; week three looms ahead, and hopefully that will be it.  I'm stuck at home for the time being recuperating from foot surgery.  It gives me plenty of time to think about all the projects I could be working on but can't, and plenty of time to read the latest news and trends in the world of photography.

Being gainfully employed (and I must say it warms my heart when people from the office call to check on me and say "Hope you get well soon. When the hell will you be back?) and a schedule that cuts out every-other-weekend, it is virtually impossible for me to devote much time and effort to hustle photography. Of course its not like I ever hustled that much in the first place.

Still, I'm fascinated by the notion that many folks eke out a living using their camera and talent even though from what I read and hear that is getting more difficult in the digital age. As a photo enthusiast who has had a paying gig or two, I know the extent of my skill. I also know with practice those skills will improve tremendously.

So every now and then I check out the "gigs" section of craigslist to see if anyone out there needs a shooter on an evening or weekend so I can earn a few extra dollars. Maybe to take my wife out for a nice dinner... or buy another camera gadget. But really, I would offer to take my wife to dinner. At the Burger King next to my favorite camera shop.

Once you sift through the crap, the majority of semi-legitimate photography gigs are offered by
 individuals and organizations seeking shooters for a variety of projects, and they come right out and say there is zero pay for the job. We are a concert promoter and we need somebody to photograph a rock concert. No pay! But the photo will look great in your portfolio and you get a back stage pass and the opportunity to hang out with a real live rock star (whom no one has ever heard of).

BFD

Next, ads from companies looking for someone to shoot products. Usually these people are specific about their needs, including specifying the type of camera you will need to bring, lighting, and the file format in which to deliver digital files. And for all this, they will pay $50.

And my favorite, blushing brides who will generously offer a "student" or beginning photographer the opportunity to shoot their wedding for $500, payment in full when you deliver the goods. And the wedding? It's next Saturday. Seriously? But the photos will look great in my portfolio. 
 I cheer out loud every time a frustrated photographer or graphic designer posts a snaky, sarcastic open reply to these people. My favorite, and I paraphrase here:  "Sure I'll work for free! I get my groceries, utilities and gas free because I tell those people, Hey! I'm a photographer. I work for free!"

And those poor blushing brides who bristle when someone publicly points out  that if they really want a meaningful photographic record of one of the most significant events of their lives to beware, because a photographer with even the most basic ability to shoot a wedding would not get out of bed to do the job for $500. 

I read these and think I'm glad I have a job elsewhere that pays the bills. Is this what an aspiring photographer has to do to break into the business? Work for free?

Several issues pop out here. People and business are cheap. Everybody is cutting budgets to the point that there's no more fat, or meat, in them. Last May the Chicago Sun Times announced it was laying off its entire photo staff and would rely on freelancers. Microstock is the buzzword these days. Everything auto camera technology, combined with Instagram and it seems like everybody is a photographer. As much as I've read blogs railing the "crap" people post on Flickr, one has to admit there's a lot of phenomenal stuff out there shot by hard working people no one has heard of yet.

What does the $500  bride expect for that amount of money? A whole lot. Just read the ads. I had the opportunity to shoot both of my nephews' weddings. I took the pictures, transferred to a CD and gave it to them. Both simple weddings, both eight-hour jobs. If they were paid jobs, would I have taken them on for $500. Probably not. Drinking, dancing and partying aside, it was a lot of nerve wracking work. My main objective was to do a good job.

If I was starting out today I wouldn't go the work-for-free-for-somebody-else route. No, I would work-for-free-for me:

Here are some things I would consider doing as one who is not a "student" photographer in the context of being enrolled in any photography courses taught by an instructor.

1. Learn how to take pictures. The "duh" factor of this is lost on a lot of people.
2. Learn how to use your camera. I thought I knew everything about my D-3200 until this week while I was on the couch reading the operations manual I found out a lot of things I didn't know the camera could do. Now I can't wait to get out and shoot video with it.
3. Its what you know and who you know. Network, network, network, with other photographers. You can learn a lot from them. Want to learn how to shoot weddings? Make friends with a wedding photographer, or many. Learn the craft from the. Yes, you might work for free.
4. Make your own assignments. Want to shoot products? Bake a cake, make it look nice, set up your equipment and take pictures of the cake. Put that in your portfolio. Likewise. I can scrounge up stuff I already have in the house to build a light box. Put stuff in the box and take pictures of it. Put that in your portfolio.

Somebody once said if you want to be a writer, then write. If you want to be a photographer, take pictures. Let somebody else shoot crappy pictures for cheap people.


.

We are okay now

I've been thinking about an appropriate post to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the flood of 1993. I've started to write a couple of pieces but got bogged down. As one of those who was affected by the flood it comes down to the fact that 20 years later I don't know what to say. It was horrible, I never want to go through anything like that again. What is important  is we have overcome and moved past it. The Rev. David Riebeling of St. John's UCC in Valmeyer said it well.
Html : Valmeyer pastor remembers the Flood of 1993 : Stltoday

Confessions of a Leica snob

010, originally uploaded by edrahe.

On a trip to Florida in 1991 to see my old college roommate we stopped at one of the many outlet malls that dot the state. I bought a brand spankin new Kodak Super 8 film camera for $10. Twenty-two years later that still seems like a bargain. I shot two reels on the trip. When I got home I happened to find a fairly new Super 8 projector at a garage sale for $15. And like the camera, 22 years later that still seems like a bargain.

I don't know where you'd get super 8 film these days, let alone someone to process it. Today, one of the favorite features of my Nikon D3200 is 24p video. It gives you the same look and feel of movie film and with a little bit of post processing and turning off the sound during playback you can have that look and feel of old home movies shot on film.

Luckily black and white photography did not suffer the same fate as Super 8. It is an art form all of its own. You can read all over the internets about the virtues of shooting black and white photography, blah, blah, blah and blah. Some folks are vehement about it. I'll just say I like the look and feel of black and white pictures. It is as simple as that.

I was introduced to photography in college when somehow I landed in a photo journalism 101 class. Though I was a journalism major, I had no interest whatsoever in photojournalism and somehow got enrolled in the class through a computer glitch. Computers were not nearly as smart back then. At the beginning of each semester, if you got enrolled in the wrong class or decided to switch classes you had to wait in a long line or two, or three, at the registrars office to get things straightened out. That didn't appeal to me so I just took the class.

After the first day I was hooked, and I've never looked back. All black and white, all the time. To paraphrase the late TV painter Bob Ross: "There are no mistakes in signing up for college classes, just happy accidents."

And though I didn't realize it at the time it turned out to be a useful class. The first day on my first job out of college at my hometown weekly newspaper I was handed a camera. I would be shooting and writing. The late Bob Voris, the editor, was an excellent photographer and a master in the darkroom. I thought I knew a thing about news photography but he taught me some things.

The big thing: Get it right in the camera. Listen here, whippersnapper, when I started there was no such thing as PhotoShop, and there was the time factor, too. We were in the news business in at a small-town weekly; news meant fast. News was in black & white. Shoot. Develop. Print. No time to mess around fixing things unless we really had to.

While I didn't always meet that objective, I always strove toward it. Along the way I learned the nuances of black and white photography.

Shooting as a hobbyist now I take mostly color shots. For black and white shots I prefer using my Leica D-Lux 4 set on black and white.

I'll admit it, I'm a Leica snob. Even though I've read articles deriding the D-Lux as not being a real Leica, and save your money and buy a cheap point and shoot camera. I've also read that a any Leica camera in the hands of a crappy photographer still gives one crappy photographs. Listen up you D-Lux haters, it's the Leica magic. I think I'm a better photographer if I'm shooting with a camera sporting that distinctive red logo. And I'm not the only one who believes that.

Okay, so maybe the haters are right, just a teeny tiny bit,  but a lottery jackpot is the only way I will ever afford a real Leica. The D-Lux series is affordable - barely -- but if you spend some time with the camera and can master the clumsy manual interface you will get some good black and white shots. Color ones, too.

But as soon as I with the lottery I'm going to the camera shop to buy the latest digital M. Maybe two.

Reporting from Iowa

Nothing much has been going on the past week. We are visiting family in Iowa this week. Stay tuned for hopefully some good rural scenes. The weather is beautiful.

****UPDATE ****

This could explain why the American Queen was a little late departing this evening. Armed men stole luggage from porters on St. Louis steamboat : News

The American Queen Steamboat

*********BREAKING NEWS UPDATE********
Little did I know when taking photos and video that a few houses prior porters were robbed of luggage at gunpoint. See updated post above.

But I don't think its steam powered anymore. My mother-in-law had rotator cuff surgery on Tuesday so my wife and child are in Iowa taking care of Grandma, leaving me to my own devices. I looked forward to getting out to shoot photo and video. The problem is it was so (chose your favorite explicative) hot this week that I chose to stay inside in the cool. It finally cooled down today with the trade-off being stormy and cloudy skies.

The American Queen before departing for points south on July 20, 2013. St. Louis, Mo.

-- Ed Rahe Photo

I drove downtown after work and was surprised to see the American Queen moored at the levee. It is the only passenger cruise boat cruising the western rivers since the Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen are no longer in service. The Queens normally departed port at 7 p.m. more-or-less, so I went home, ate supper, fed the dog, etc., and got back to the riverfront at about 7 p.m. The boat actually departed somewhere between 7:30 and 7:45; I did not look at my watch. It headed upbound to the Eads Bridge and made a wide turn and headed back South. I got this shot as it went underneath the Poplar Street Bridge. Though there would have been plenty of time to catch another shot at JB Park or Cliff Cave Park downriver it started raining as I started to drive that way. It was getting dark, and did I mention the lighting? Not good. So, better shots some other time.


I've been reading about shooting stock video and it sounds like something to consider. This clip though isn't up to snuff. The big problem is my Nikon D3200, while it has a nice built in video feature for capturing home movies, does not shoot in true HD. Secondly, I was stabilizing the camera on a monopod which is not as good as a tri-pod. Thus the shakey video. Still its good enough for my personal archive. And, as I always say, it will hopefully be more interesting in 20 years.

Get me a picture of an Alpaca!

la la llama, originally uploaded by edrahe.

I'd like to imagine there's a frazzled art director out there who really, really needs a portrait of a white Alpaca, who looks slightly irritated. Hopefully said art director, if they really, really, really need such a picture wouldn't mind that a brown alpaca is photo-bombing the background. I think a skilled Photoshoper could take care of that though. Need an alpaca picture for a project? I have it.

Follow-Up on the Boat Photo Museum

My audience is growing! Word got back to Dan Owen that I did a blog write up on him and I got the following email message on Wednesday:

"Thanks for the publicity on your blog. Actually in a few weeks, I will hit the 60,000 mark.

Jeannette says no matter how many filing cabinets I have to get to store the photos, she is NOT giving up her sewing corner down here.

Dan"

 

Which reminds me I forgot to mention Dan's wife Jeannette! She puts up with Dan and all those file cabinets in the basement filled with boat photos. Give her a round of applause.

Anybody can take flower pictures.

071713 001, originally uploaded by edrahe.

Taking pictures of flowers is not a challenge. So I don't take very many of them. Flowers are naturally photogenic Point your camera at the flower and hit the shutter. That's it; you have a picture suitable for framing and hanging in your dentist's office.

Sometimes if luck is with you, the lighting is right, you find some interesting flowers and you forget your camera is set on black & white exposure. Another mistake that is actually a happy accident.

Cooling thoughts

The old farmstead in winter, originally uploaded by edrahe.

We're in the middle of July. Is it hot enough,for you? Blog visitors will recognize this as a winter shot of the house depicted on my blog masthead. Actually that one is a winter shot, too, minus snow.

I hope you have cooling thoughts while enjoying this photo.

That's what I'm Talking About

Gulf Coast 2013 013, originally uploaded by edrahe.

One week last month the family unit relocated from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast of Alabama. Orange Beach to be exact. Readers can find many articles online extolling the virtues of vacationing in this part of the country. I agree with all the positive reviews.

This morning's post is a photo that sums up the essence of our vacation: Sit on the beach, take in the beauty and majesty of the vast Gulf of Mexico, and say, "wow!"

Let me know if anyone recognizes the couple in the pic. I'd love to send them a copy.

Towboat Photography

Virtually an unseen industry to many Americans, even those who live close to a navigable waterway, the U.S. Inland Waterway System moves millions of tons of cargo in the American Heartland every year. Coal, steel, grain, iron ore, road salt, petroleum products, livestock feed, scrap metal -- and large amounts of it -- are moved by water on almost a daily basis. From places like St. Paul, Minnesota, St. Louis, Mo., Memphis, Tenn., Nashville, Tenn, Pittsburgh, Penn., and Tulsa, Okla, to anywhere to which you can push a barge.  Its a huge interstate transportation system right under our noses, but on water.

Some folks may think of the river exiting as it did during the time Mark Twain wrote about in the Life of the Mississippi. Some traditions from that era are probably seen on the rivers (but I can't think of any offhand), but they're still there. It Mark Twain's time the steam paddlewheeler was the king of the river, hauling cargo and passengers from places they were to places they needed to be.

Today the king of the river is the sleek, modern towboat with diesel engines capable of producing upwards of 10,000 horsepower needed to push 15 to 25 barges laded with hundreds of thousands of tons of goods. Towboats are home away from home from the people who work on them. Each towboat includes a captain, watch pilots, deckhands, engineers and cooks who live where they work for about a month at a time.  The work may be hard but the people doing it get attached to the river and their big boats.

Like some people enjoy collecting and taking pictures of diesel locomotives there is a hale and hearty group out there -- and out there is not easily defined in this case -- who collects towboat photos.  They are the ones who work on the boats and take pictures of passing towboats. Or it is the retired towboater who spends his or her time on the riverbank, taking pictures of boats and being reminded of their days working hard on the river. And there are people like me, who used to work in an allied river industry, got too close to a boat bug and caught towboating picture disease, as I like to call it.

Dan Owen of Maryville, Illinois, curator of the Boat Photo Museum is really into collecting boat photographs. In his youth Dan worked as a deckhand on Ohio River towboats. He was an early "boat spy" for Capt. Fred Way, editor of the Inland River Record.  The Record as it is simply known among river people is a book that lists the name of each towboat operating on the river; the name of the boat, year built, engine and gear specifications and owner. In the late 1960s Dan moved his family to the St. Louis area to take over editing duties of the Record when it was bought by The Waterways Journal.

Dan relied (and still relies upon) on a network of what he called his "boat spies," individuals who worked and or lived on the river and reported to him when they spotted a newly-built boat, or one that was sporting a new name, paint job and company logo. Every year Dan sends boat surveys to get official updates on a towing company's boat fleet, but he still heavily relies on his collection of eyes and ears on the river for some of his information.

Through the years Dan has added to the towboat photo collection by taking his own pictures and soliciting contributions to the Museum's collection. The boat photo museum is, by the way, house in the basement of Dan's house. About eight years ago he had 30,000 boat photos in the collection and it is probably grown a lot by then.

Dan already has photos of many of the boats I photograph. Once in a great while, and it doesn't happen often, I'll catch a photo of a boat that Dan doesn't have. That always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. And I'm always glad to deposit at copy in the boat photo museum. Such was the case with the MV. Shirley P. Settoon, shown here. I posted it in the towboat flickr group and it wasn't long before I got an email from Dan asking me to send a copy to the boat photo museum

MV Shirley P. Settoon. Ed Rahe Photo

In addition to photographing each boat I've started shooting 20 to 30 seconds of video of the boat underway. Just because. Like most photo and video shot today, it may become more interesting and valuable in 20 to 30 years.



What is interesting to you?

041505 006, originally uploaded by edrahe.

I like taking pictures of things being built. The bigger the better. Between 2004-2006 I worked in Downtown St. Louis while a new stadium was being built for the St. Louis Cardinals. Several times a week during lunch hour I walked the few blocks from my office in the Security Building on 4th St. and took pictures-- lots of them. Soon enough I had a hefty collection of construction pictures taken from the point of view of an observer from the street. Three thick three-ring binders hold the collection which is backed up on CD and various places online. As for now they are stored in my basement, aging like fine wine. And what does that mean? 

The photo in today's post is one of my favorites because it was the best shot I could get using public access showing the old-dilapidated, used up Busch Stadium side by side with its replacement. To me that tells the story. The rest of the 1000 or more shots aren't that exciting. But maybe in 40 years someone will find them ans say "Wow! This is really cool."  That is my hope at least. For now, they remain in a cabinet in the basement.

The magic hour

DSC00117, originally uploaded by edrahe.

I planned to go for a drive tonight during the magic hour -- avid photographers know what I'm talking about -- and then the Junior Family Associate asked, "Dad, can we wash your car?"
There's always time to take pictures, and maybe I missed a masterpiece tonight, but if the Jr. Is eager to was a car it is more wise to capitalize on his desire to work. So we washed the car.
And sometimes the best shots are right under your nose. Today's shot is from earlier this spring taken in our back yard after a rainstorm.

You never know what you'll find in the river

After posting a few photos from our river excursion yesterday today we learned that authorities recovered from the river, not all that far from where we were, the body of a missing woman who tragically fell off the Golden Eagle ferry a few days ago.

The Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge

I am often reminded that I married the right woman. It was obvious the Junior Family Associate -- so called because too many bloggers spend too much time blogging about their children -- was obviously not going to take a nap. Remembering that I had mentioned wanting to go on an afternoon river excursion a couple of weeks ago my wife suggested we do that. I never pass up a chance to get out in the river to take towboat photographs, so off we went. Long story short: We were along or on the river for a good hour and half and nary a towboat in sight. The trip was uneventful but enjoyable. I did get several shots of the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge under construction and scheduled for completion sometime in 2014.

Ed Rahe Photo

 There is one section left to be completed and the bridge will be connected to Missouri and Illinois.

Ed Rahe Photo

In early 2008 I was privileged to be at a press conference for the Monroe County Independent  where then-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (Now in prison) and then-Missouri Governor Matt Blunt (who managed to avoid prison) signed a ceremonial agreement to build the bridge. So, its nice to see how things have worked out for the bridge, at least. I am a little surprised that the Illinois side of the span was not named the unindicted co-conspirator bridge.

Zoar United Church of Christ

036, originally uploaded by edrahe.

Zoar United Church of Christ located near the unincorporated village of New Hanover, Illinois, was founded in 1844. The present sandstone sanctuary was completed in 1863, and the brick bell tower in about 1894.  I grew up in this church with its picturesque rural setting and it is often easy to take this subject for granted. I first saw this shot in April while driving back to the cemetery for a burial service. Unfortunately I didn't have my dslr with me, and the light wasn't that good anyway. It took a couple of months, but I returned one summer evening and got the shot.

Now, where was I?

I think I was a "Journalist" when I first started this blogging stuff. It was all the rage back then. At the time I was at a trade magazine covering the business of inland river transportation -- the Mississippi River, towboats, barges, and all that stuff. There my interest in photography was reawakened because there's lots of stuff to photograph when you're on the river, from natural wonder to the big heavy machines of industry and commerce. Those would be mainly towboats. So maybe I would blog about towboats and the largely unknown yet popular activity among some rivermen of collecting photographs of these vessels. Ok, that might work. Growing up on a farm certainly gives me a unique perspective on the rural culture. And now that I have moved to the city I see the value of promoting urban agriculture. For me that involves planting green beans and carrots in the back yard. One realizes there are plenty of farm and garden blogs written by folks that do it much better than I. Four years ago I changed careers. Somebody told me when I changed careers I really changed careers. Went to mortuary school and became I funeral director and licensed embalmer. I cold blog about that. Funerals are really expensive and more and more people are turning to cremation. One problem with that is the first rule of an undertaker is to be discreet. I could tell you stories about the living and dead that would curl your hair, but it wouldn't be proper. When it comes to discussions about cremation vs the "traditional" funeral, there are enough bloggers out there contributing to the conversation. Other Blog-tastic possibilities Sasquatch -- I'm a big fan of that show Finding Bigfoot. They never find Bigfoot, but I watch every time its on. The News -- I'm still a news and politics junkie. But who has time to aggregate the news on a blog when you have a fulltime job? The possibilities are endless, but I'm not an expert on anything and know just enough about some things to be dangerous. Such as how to properly smoke spareribs. I certainly don't know enough about anything to fill a blog. So, like the popular television show that ended almost two decades ago (can you believe that?) this will be a blog about nothing.