or just how much fun can an old man expect
I cannot do everything. That has been true all along, not just in old age. The limitations are different and the time remaining is significantly less. So, what are my priorities?
• Beautiful people. And this is the beauty that is but skin deep.
• Fighters. Often the same as the beautiful people.
• The heavens. Storm and astrophotography.
• Birds. Not as much as before, but when opportunities are available.
Beautiful People
This is the difficult one. First, finding beautiful people who want to be photographed. It can become a sticky wicket, as one might imagine. But the rewards are immense. Intimate visual and conversation relationships between the talent and the photographer.
Photographing models takes planning and money. Often involves makeup artists and hair stylists. Otherwise, why bother?
Fighters
Fighters want their photographs made during training and especially in fights. I am eager to gain a better entrée into that tribe. Once there, the stories pretty much tell themselves.
The Heavens
Such joy. So much I cannot control. The stars must align. Almost literally. The Milky Way is always around, off course. But the galactic center, the most photogenic part, only shows itself for about a fourth of the day. And then the moon. That most difficult of heavenly bodies can wipe out the light from the stars. So the availability of the galactic center and the brightness and location of the moon have to be considered. And then. And then the weather. Where a few moving cirrus clouds can add drama, overcast and heavier clouds can make the shoot impossible.
And storms. Finding a super cell for me to shoot? Hasn’t happened. Hundreds of miles travelled with no acceptable results. Not giving up.
Birds
Perhaps I’ll attend the Festival of the Cranes again in order to see bird friends and bird friends.
Walk well.
Walk well.