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Flying into the Future
A Plane Ride into the Past – and Future On August 5th, I snagged a ride on a PBY-5a “Catalina” flying boat, one of the classic “warbirds.” This particular plane, #9767, “The Princess of the Stars,” played a significant role in WW2 – it was one of only 25 or so PBYs that sank a sub in…
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Morning Morse
I turned on the radio right at 5:30 AM – 30 M dead. Just a few noise bands running down the waterfall… Solid S3-4 noise otherwise. Typical. But there was this one hint of a trace… a smear. A few pixels. What could almost be a trace in the waterfall… I tuned over and listened close – sure enough,…
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Transitions – Entries from my 2009 Photography Blog – “Still Learning How to See.”
May 2024: The purpose of the blog hasn’t changed all that much since 2009 – the focus has shifted from photography to Morse – they are but differnt chapters of the same book. x-x-x-x-x-x 2009: The motivation behind this blog is pretty straightforward; I wanted a place to explore ideas and topics that come up;…
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Prop Wash – Staten Island Ferry
Prop Wash – Staten Island Ferry Originally uploaded by chris_rutkowski 1.2 sec at f/3.5 No photography for quite a while. Life’s other duties called and call still. But perhaps I’ll have a few efforts to share. This was taken from the fantail of the ferry while riding across with my other daughter, Laurie and her…
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Adventures in Paradise
Adventures in Paradise Originally uploaded by chris_rutkowski Adventures in Paradise is something of a visual departure for me; especially for a “beach shot” during a storm. It is very high key – blown out highlights all over the place; barely a dark dark to be seen. But I processed the look in what felt like…
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Holiday Beach Crowds
Holiday Beach Crowds Originally uploaded by chris_rutkowski The beach was elemental. That’s what I told Judy – it was elemental out there. Earth, water, fire and air, thrown in a blender, shaken and stirred. There is nothing like a storm in the face – a bit of the old Ride of the Valkries – to…
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Woman in Red
Woman in Red About the Photo: Each maker of digital cameras goes through a lengthy and complex design process producing the image sensor and the software that converts image signals into picture files that can be shown on a screen and/or recorded on a memory card. One consequence of this complexity is that the images…
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Sablet Sunset
Sablet Sunset Originally uploaded by chris_rutkowski Sunset over the Rhone Valley as seen from our gite (vacation cottage) overlooking the village of Sablet. Fog spread across the valley, spilling higher into the foothills where we were staying. The exposure was made 3 years ago during a trip to the South of France. The processing was…
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Runes – aka "Fishes with Weeds"
Trail Marker – Klipsan Beach, WA 20+ Miles of sandy beach – dunes and grass as far as the eye can see. Where’s the trail you came in on? They all look the same… keep you eye out for a trail marker – and remember which one is yours…. Runes are characters used in…
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The Wreck of the Jeanie O
The Wreck of the Jeanie O Originally uploaded by chris_rutkowski In the Port of Ilwaco, WA. Barbed wire waves, St. Elmo’s fire glowing electric in the rigging, the stain of neglect on her bow; run aground on reefs of time: there she sits, high and dry. My son said, half-jokingly, that he’d like to live…
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A Cautionary Tale (Chapter 947 of “Don’t do what I do.”)
I ran into yet another in my long list of “Doh!” moments after a shoot at the beach last weekend. Reviewing the shots later, on the computer, I noticed that a whole series of shots were badly lacking in contrast and saturation. The post-storm light on the beach was very bright and flat to begin…
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Storm Surf – Ocean Park, WA
Storm Surf – Ocean Park, WA Originally uploaded by chris_rutkowski We had breakfast this morning in a little cafe in Ocean Park, down along the beach access road. Anyway, I walked out after a last cup of coffee and spotted the distant suff down the road and in a flash this shot jumped into my…
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Truth in Sending,