Sunday, January 19, 2014

Time

Time is a strange thing that comes into play where photography is concerned as we possess the ability to capture moments of time and preserve them.  Moments captured for an eternity, or as long as the medium can physically last, that preserve our good times as well as our bad times.  As time marches forward in its unstoppable fashion, we can take a moment to look back at what has passed through the medium of photography.

This is one of the things I like about photography, that I can contribute to these memories both for myself and for others.  While we may not be able to see into the future, we can certainly see into the past and to a degree, bring it back into focus however fleetingly.

Yesterday I was in the Pearl District of Tulsa, OK.  This is one of the older neighborhoods of the city, close to the downtown area and from Centennial Park (6th & Peoria) you have some good views of the downtown skyline.  There is also an ornate, freestanding clock that always catches my eye.


Here it is, captured as a LDR Tonemap from a 9 exposure bracket set.  I took several sets from different angles but felt this one had the balance I wanted and also had minimal reflections and diffusion on the glass face.  And yes, I really was out photographing around the noon hour but then again I'm one of those that feels that the number 1 rule of photography is that there are no rules, only suggested guidelines.

Okay, back to the topic of this post - time.  Despite my ramblings, I did have a goal in mind for this post and its subject.  I wanted to dedicate this to someone for whom time ran out recently, my dad, Brian Mildon.  On Friday January 17th he passed away from a suspected heart attack at his home in Plymouth, England.

For us time meant not knowing each other as we had not been in contact at all for about 15 years, and previous to that there had been very limited contact.  We simply did not know each other very well.  Even while my parents were together, we did not or could not communicate.  To this day I do not know the reasoning behind our communication problems but I do know that everything that happened in our past has lead to this point right now and helped shape the person I am.  I don't even know if he knew of my photography work, and in turn this blog, that gives me the chance to communicate with countless people worldwide.

Time waits for no man, or woman, so don't let it go to waste.  Find love and happiness and make happy memories - maybe save them as photographs.