Black and White

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Doing the dishes is never a chore, though the process is often interrupted for photo taking.

As there is no timetable, that is not a problem.

Remember the Black and White Whisky advert? This is the skunk version.

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There is something to photograph around every corner.

Even while waiting in Hannaford’s parking lot where sumac caught my eye.

Like so much else, it is prolific this year.

I like the shapes and the way the leaves were lit up.

It is surprising I got through so many decades of life without the compulsion to capture images, something I might regret if there was any point to such an emotion. It would be nice to have more photos of times long past and places now forever changed, but until quite recently there was no such thing as digital photography, so taking pictures was an expensive pastime, as well as cumbersome.

My father, who was a professional photographer, used monochrome unless he wanted coloured images when he used slide film. Those were kept in large containers commandeered from my mother’s supply of biscuit tins that were intended to be used for her baking. Even sealed up as they were with silica gel, the Asian humidity soon caused them to deteriorate.

Luckily, the black and white photos expertly printed in Phnom Penh in 1957 still survive.

Washing dishes yesterday, I noticed curious lines in the clouds. I’m not sure, but I think they are the shadows of contrails.

We had to go to Albany again. The day started out like this…

Which wasn’t very inspiring.

Approaching the state capital, the sky opened up a bit.

As we started back, there was still a good deal of cloud but they were far more photogenic.

And once clear of the city, we enjoyed the landscape.

In summer configuration now.

Meadows of waving grass.

Roads lined with wildflowers.

Crops sprouting. In many places corn is already several inches tall.

That lone tree is often photographed.

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