Framing the Sound

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  • Valentine’s Day

    He was a saint it’s said. I guess if you were around back then you probably would’ve been very lucky to have him as a friend. After all, love is kind of related to St. Valentine and the day named after him. Christian folk are especially familiar with St. Valentine, but as is the case with a lot of traditional holidays, the meaning behind it often gets lost in candy and toys.

    I often overlook the meaning behind Christian holidays. I’m guilty of wanting this or that for Christmas instead of giving serious thought to what it’s really all about – the birth of Jesus Christ. I’m guilty of forgetting to give thanks at Thanksgiving, I instead load more mashed potatoes and turkey on top of what’s already on my plate.

    I forget the meaning of Easter shortly after sunrise, and before noon I’m grabbing a handfull of jelly beans in one hand and several candy marshmallow bunnies in the other. Washing it all down with my favorite hazy IPA. Halloween is another holiday that for me has lost all meaning except for how many candy orange slices I can eat before having to clean out the melted sugar that gets stuck to my gums and teeth.

    I should probably make a few changes and try to remember the “why” behind those holidays. But at my age that just doesn’t make much sense. Or if it does, I’ll probably forget what it was.

    Valentine’s Day

  • When Winter Ends

    And the warmth of spring begins that’s when my brain slowly but surely signals the rest of my body to start preparations for another new gardening season. It also tells me to start planning for a new photography season as well. Let me explain…

    I’m not a cold weather photographer, never have been and probably never will be. Me and cold don’t get along at all. I might brave the cold for a short walk with my camera to where my back yard meets the tangled woodlot after the first snow, and after Old Man Winter decides to slack off for a while.

    A day or two after that first snow melts, Nature reveals the tangled, cold, wet, soggy woodlot behind my house. Maybe I’m just a cynical old man when it comes to trying to be a winter photographer. But I always lose my cynical outlook when spring returns and I hear the first chirps of tree frogs, and robins with their confusing but pleasant song of “is…it…spring…or…still…win…ter?”

    If you’re wondering what helps get me through these forever lasting northeast winters, it has six strings and the wood it’s made from might just be related to those trees in that woodlot I mentioned.

  • Before I Leave

    As each year comes and goes I find myself wondering when it’ll be my turn to depart this Pale Blue Dot? Along with that open-ended question, I’m sure you’re familiar with this one too: “Why am I here?” And this one: “What should I do with my life?” There are no easy answers for such existentialist ponderings.

    68 years ago, Act 1, Scene 1

    Someone told me several years ago that “it’s all just part of the movie.” Are we all just actors in the same movie? Kind of an interesting way to look at life isn’t it? Instead of trying to figure out why I’m here and what should I do with my life (or what I should have done) it’s much easier and less stressful to play the part.

    You might ask what that part is. I think it’s just being a good human. Nothing more, nothing less.

  • Artistic Vision – A Creative, Critical Thinking Exploration

    I think I mentioned before that I’m a member of an online photography group. It’s one of, if not the best photography investments I’ve ever made. This is my second year and the journey this investment is taking me on has become something of a phenomenon.

    One of the first things I did as a member was take a course titled “Discovering Your Vision,” by Blake Rudis, the founder of the group. I was kind of overwhelmed by some of the course content as I’m not at all familiar with how my brain can help me take better photos. Which has led to the journey I’m on now – discovering my vision.

    A few other f/64 members and I decided to retake the “Discovering Your Vision” course together. We formed a discussion group to help us better understand what this journey entails. Of course this journey of discovery will be quite unique for each of us.

    We’re in our first week of “the journey” and one very important thing I’ve discovered so far is that I better start taming my somewhat cynical attitude towards Artistic Vision. If it is a part of who I am, and if it’s always been there, undiscovered, I want a more personal relationship with it.

  • Sounds Need Framed

    Determining what design to use for a website/blog that’s about photography and music isn’t as easy as I’d like it to be.

    Do you have any suggestions? I would certainly be most appreciative if you could share a few.

    Comment below and tell me what you know!

  • History Repeats Itself

    And I decided to return to WordPress for hosting tcconner.com. I will delete my Blogger blog, and I would appreciate your feedback on my new website here.

    Thanks!

  • Hello World!

    Welcome to WordPress! This is your first post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey.

  • Unscheduled Events

     I have no schedule for writing a blog post. Whenever something comes to me, in whatever method that something chooses, that’s when I’ll write. 

    I’ve been getting a “good word of the day” email from alphaDictionary for many years. The words that speak to me (hmmm, isn’t it neat that I’d use that phrase?) I put in a folder. I need to go through that folder one of these days and make a list.

    Today’s good word is opsimath, which means “a person who undertakes study late in life.” That word spoke very loud to me. Here’s why…

    I didn’t have very many chances during my childhood to do much learning. I’ll not go into detail, but suffice to say it wasn’t a normal childhood. Before I knew what was happening I found myself enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and I was only 17-years old. 

    The learning I did back then, for the most part, was strictly for getting through a phase of my life that I didn’t have much control over. Sometimes I wonder how I made it through, but I did. 

    Thanks to today’s good word I am pleased to call myself an opsimath. A pro-hobbyist photographer and musician too, and both tie in quite nicely with being an opsimath. 

  • The "Oh Well" Generation

     I know there’s a lot of folks who’re scared and worried about what might happen during the next four years. President Donald Trump and his unorthodox method of doing things is certainly a cause for fear and worry. We’ve not had (in my Baby Boomer lifetime) this type of leader in the United States before. I’m not a presidential historian, but if you were to make a comparison between President Trump and those that have came and gone before him, you’d probably not see any resemblance of what we’ve come to know as President of The United States of America. 

    I watched a video recently and this fella was discussing his take on the pardons issued by President Trump of those who had been arrested and imprisoned for the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The person in the video was concerned about there not being enough of an uproar about those pardons. He said that our attitudes about it were “oh well.” As in, oh well, what will be will be, or it is what it is, or oh well, we can’t do much about it anyway. 

    I guess I’m guilty of thinking “oh well.” Does that mean I don’t care what happens during the next four years? No, of course I care what happens. But deep down inside I know I’m just a bystander, watching from the sidelines trying to stay up to date on what’s happening. I can’t change what happens in the White House, so I guess I’ll just hang out here in my house, and mumble to myself as I watch the latest headlines: “Oh well.” 

    Planet of Political Perdition?

      

  • A Vision of Becoming an Artist, or Something

     There’s all kinds of information out there regarding “portfolio worthy” images. And if you’re anything like me (which I kind of doubt) it might have you wondering what the critieria is for such an image.

    I think that photography for folks who shoot for fun, again, folks like me, is a completely subjective art. Which brings me to another matter – is photography an art? 

    I should make a list or a chart or guidelines or … or … something to refer to when I’m out with my camera. On the other hand, I’d probably never refer to it. I never think before I shoot. Take the image below. I saw a couple of doves hangin out, I thought they were pretty, I made a photo. 

    A couple of years ago I joined a photography group on the internet. Members pay a yearly subscription fee and I did my homework before signing up and it’s been a highly beneficial investment. It’s teaching me how to be an artist, or rather, the founder of the group has given us permission to call ourselves artists. 

     He’s also created many courses on all things photography related that are available to members. I’ve competed several and they have helped me become a better artist. 

    One of the courses I completed is “Discovering Your Vision.” It’s been the hardest course for me to comprehend and I’m hoping to retake it soon with a another member of the group. I’m uncertain if I’ll ever discover my vision within the timeframe I have left on this Pale Blue Dot. 

    And if I don’t, and you happen across a photo or a piece of music with my name associated with it, I’d appreciate it if you studied it a while and created your own vision for it. Because I probably didn’t.