Suburbistan

American success

2012-01-19T14:26:00.003-05:00

I wrote this about two weeks ago but didn't publish it then because it didn't feel very personal, today I'm pulling the lever anyway.

Sunset over Kodak III

By almost any standard Kodak has been hugely successful even if its present status is painful for current employees, like me, and investors. Kodak (for at least its first 115 years) grew from a small business into one the US's pre-eminent corporations. It is probably fair to say that George Eastman and his company built the modern city of Rochester. For the citizens of that city and the surrounding communities it provided good jobs for tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people. Mr. Eastman believed in research and development and for decades Kodak spent a lot of money on research, some of it commercially motivated, some "pure."

This is not to imply that there weren't problems; probably the largest that lingers is pollution from the first half of the twentieth century. Also for a long time there was discrimination against anyone that was not a white male, the only defense being that it probably was not unique to Kodak.

That said this is about successes. Kodak has been in existence since 1880. Studies analyzing the longevity of major modern corporations indicate that most last for a few decades before failing or being absorbed into another business. For most of Kodak's lifetime its stock was a solid investment paying generous and consistent dividends. It manufactured high-quality products used by discerning professionals in a variety of photographic fields. For much of the twentieth century any famous photograph or motion picture was probably made using Kodak products from film to paper to chemistry. The research labs consistently produced innovations in chemistry that helped Kodak create new products. If you wanted to do research in chemistry a job at Kodak meant access to first-rate labs without the need to deal with academic administration. Lately the story of Steve Sasson inventing the digital camera has gotten a lot of media attention and probably deservedly so, but Kodak's expertise in creating crystals and laying down lots of super-thin layers onto a substrate are probably its most important contributions to industry (and surprisingly relevant to manufacturing all kinds of films and flexible materials).

Philanthropically Kodak and its people have been a huge force in Rochester and around the US: George Eastman was an anonymous donor (until recently revealed) to MIT and other academic institutions. Without Mr. Eastman the University of Rochester, its dental school, The Eastman School of Music, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Eastman Theater either wouldn't exist or would be much smaller than they are today. Kodak's employees donated time and money to Rochester's United Way and many other local charities.

For those of us that work at Kodak and for prior employees the last ten to fifteen years have been very difficult. A lot of time has been spent inside and out of Kodak discussing who to blame for the decisions that have led to today's low stock price. But I have come to the conclusion that to a large degree Kodak's problems are photography's problems. In the early 1990s you would have needed amazing prescience to foresee how rapidly film would decline. The only popular digital media at the time was CD and those were for distribution of a heavily produced musical product, not a capture medium. Even as digital camera sales grew, changing to be a camera manufacturer would have been extremely difficult. Kodak only made cameras to sell film, and companies that made cameras often produced superior products. Kodak had imaging knowledge, but its R&D and manufacturing was oriented towards chemistry, not electronics (though it had some very smart people working on electronic imaging and amassed valuable intellectual property, e.g. the Bayer Pattern).

As of today the business and art of photography has undergone a very rapid and dramatic change. Photographers have a harder time attracting business and make less money from what they do get, often selling all the rights to the images, which would have been unthinkable 10 years ago. Some photographic manufacturers like Minolta have disappeared, put out of business by low-cost manufacturers in China and other parts of Asia. Even those manufacturers that still exist are under extereme pressure. Canon and Nikon make most of their moneu on low-end consumer cameras and those sales have been reduced because of mobile phone cameras. Probably the only businesses seeing growth in production are the manufacturers of phone camera assemblies, and I expect their profits per assembly are small.

So amidst all the bad news about Kodak it's worth remembering that Kodak did very well for a lot of people for a long time. I suppose that eventually businesses like human beings slow down and die, but we don't think of people as failures because they weren't immortal. We remember their vitality, and maybe even try to emulate their better traits. So I'd propose that despite the last ten years or so we remember that Kodak has been a phenomenal success.

P.S. This is not a eulogy for Kodak. I don't expect the company to disappear, but I do expect that the next Kodak will be very different from the one I grew up with and work for today.

Christmas Statistics

2011-12-28T19:52:00.000-05:00

Statistics for photo Christmas cards and enclosed photos that I received this year.

Prints per paper manufacturer:

Fuji: 5
Kodak: 2
HP: 1

Square inches of paper per manufacturer:

Fuji: 108.5
Kodak: 26.25
HP: 24

Retailer:

studio: 4
Walmart: 2
Walgreens: 2

The smallest prints were made by photo studios and these accounted for all the Kodak prints. The largest prints were greeting cards made at Walmart and were on Fuji and HP paper.

This is consistent with my anecdotal observations of the past several years. Most of them appear to have been made in a store rather than ordered online. Draw your own conclusions.

Smashingline

2011-10-17T23:40:00.000-04:00

I started working on Smashingline five months ago. Smashingline is a website that displays results from races. Most of the results are for footraces but there are some triathlons and a bike race or two.

For about two years I had wanted to build some sort of web property (a web site or a web app) as a way to demonstrate that I could build the frontend, backend, and an API to glue the two parts together. At the beginning of May of this year following a race that Sarah and I had both run we were discussing how tedious it was to download race results and create charts in Excel to get a better idea of how we did in the race relative to the other runners. I casually remarked that this seemed like something that would be helpful if it was online. As the thought formed I realized that this idea was a good candidate for the web site I was looking to build. I did a few quick searches but didn't find anything like it; I did turn up a variety of race results web sites, but at best they showed a table of results with a row for each runner. This presentation of data didn't (and still doesn't) give you any deep understanding of how you did compared to anyone else. A week later we were on vacation in Maine when I started putting the website together at the Maine Grind.

I made a few key decisions fairly quickly; first I chose to develop on Google's AppEngine. The reasons were entirely pragmatic: I already had the development environment including Eclipse and its AppEngine plugin installed and configured on my laptop. Second the project would be coded in Java. Since Java is very similar to C#, which I use daily at work, the learning curve was not very steep. In making these choices I had to balance conflicting desires: getting the website up and running as quickly as possible against learning a new language like Ruby or Python and an associated platform like Heroku or Amazon's AWS. In the end I decided that "shipping" the finished product was more important than academic pursuits. By the end of the vacation I had a working prototype.

Unlike the weekend projects you can often find posted to Hacker News I have probably spent about 140 hours on Smashingline. That time includes both writing code and uploading race data. About two months in to the project and with several races on the website I realized that I needed to make major changes to the way that race information was organized in the DataStore (Google's version of a database). It was taking too long to get information out and Google was changing the pricing model for AppEngine which would raise the cost of Smashingline from $0 per week to about $10 per week. Once I successfully completed those changes the site was much more responsive and the costs fell well below AppEngine's free quotas. Since then other changes have been relatively easy: adding "Like," "+1," and "Tweet" buttons to the front page and the results page for each entrant so they can share them with friends. Adding Google analytics and opening webmaster accounts at Google and Bing. Settling on the name "Smashingline" buying the domain and configuring DNS. Creating a Smashingline page on Facebook and opening a Smashingline account on Twitter. Of course there's always bug fixing and a whole host of minor improvements like a feedback form so people can suggest races for inclusion on the site.

The biggest challenge to the site going forward is the continued availablity of race data. Right now most race data on the web is an HTML table or a table embedded in a PDF file. But some of the results are only available through websites that display information for a limited number of runners at a time and they require the user to "page" through the information if they want to see all of it. Race result data, acquiring and arranging it for use on Smashingline, deserves to be the subject of its own post.

For now I have a growing backlog of features to add and not enough time to do them. Beyond that if the site is to thrive I have to deal with a variety of issues: it takes considerable time to properly format race results so they can be added to the DataStore, if the site's popularity grows data formatting will consume all of my available time (and more). Also as site usage increases its costs grow. Currently there is no advertising but that can't continue when the site exceeds AppEngine's free quotas. If ads become necessary I'd like to keep them as unobtrusive as possible. There is very little publicity for the site. Improving the site's visibility is probably more important than almost anything else, even greater than implementing new features. There is definitely a need to build relationships with race directors and other people and groups that organize races.

It's been an interesting almost six months of code hacking on vacations, nights, and weekends. If it's really true that most web sites and applications become an overnight success in about two years then I only have 18 months to go!

ToDo

2011-09-06T23:20:00.002-04:00

I've heard that one of the keys to success is a todo list. This is mine, in no particular order:

Travel to South America

Travel to Antarctica (then I'll have bagged all seven continents)

Learn to play guitar

Learn to speak another language fluently (French preferred)

See a leopard and black rhino in The Mara

Create a trust fund to help educate more teachers and engineers that want to protect the environment

Get a better profile picture for Facebook

Have dinner with Sarah in that little cafe in Cassis on the Mediterranean coast of France enjoying a glass of wine as the Sun is setting

Write and publish a book

Publish a photo book of my own pictures (yes a coffee table book)

More blog posts for Deeloggee and Subv3rsicon (and better publicized)

First acquire hospital maternity equipment here in the States and second get it successfully to the Aitong health clinic in Kenya to save the lives of more mothers and their babies

Same for dental equipment. Right now their only treatment is to pull teeth.

Edit and print my backlog of "art" photos from the last twelve months

Use my meager software hacking skills to do something that makes the world a better place instead of just consuming resources

Take a wheel pottery class

Build shelves in the garage

My understanding of physics is pretty bad, need to improve it

~~Write a blog post~~

The danger of running

2011-04-03T23:16:00.000-04:00

"I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

- Henry David Thoreau

I was not a runner in school. I learned the danger of running later when I already had hardened habits and constricted thinking. The many physical hazards of running are well known: drivers who accelerate right into you without looking, snow hiding a sloped shoulder edge so that one misstep sends you crashing to the ground, a crowded race where it's easy to fall off an unseen curb tearing muscle and skin. But the real danger is more subtle:

Run one mile without stopping.
You can probably run two miles, and you do.
You run four miles. Most people tell you they can't imagine running so far.
Run ten miles then do it again but faster. If you can run ten miles what else can you do?
Run a half marathon. If you did that, who knows what your limit is?
You believe you can run a half marathon. It takes work but you do it.
You know you can do a marathon so you do.

This is the true danger of running. Because soon your life isn't framed by the words, "I can't do that." Instead it unfurls before you like an open road, or path, or trail, and you think, "What can't I do?" Open the door and go out; I've learned it's always a good day for a run.

For Sarah, who started me running. Racing in Kenya.
Photo copyright 2010 Mary Crockett.

Shooting the Moon

2011-03-21T23:49:00.001-04:00

"I'm in the wrong place!" I thought angrily. How could it be that after hours of preparation my photo of the "super moon" was probably not going to happen as planned? The modern technology I had employed to try to capture the best shot had failed me.

I started the day with a list of locations in Rochester that I thought might be good for shooting the moon. Each one was previewed and mapped out with Google Earth. The KML file with the locations was transferred to my phone and Dan O. and I went to each site in turn assessing it for a suitable foreground with the proper orientation. The first sign of trouble happened early when the phone's compass and sky map applications failed to calibrate properly. In the morning I had determined that the moon would rise at about ten degrees south of east but since the compass wasn't working it was difficult to visualize exactly where that was.

After visiting all the locations only one seemed to hold any promise, and we weren't really happy with it. In the end we decided to scrap the urban concept and photograph in Mendon Ponds Park. That afternoon I spent another two hours with Google Earth trying to find the most likely locations that fit our criteria: some sort of vegetation or other detail in the immediate foreground, water in the middle ground (but not a vast expanse) and hillside trees in the distance. Several places along the south west edge of Hundred Acre Pond seemed our best bet.

Dan and Sarah at the edge of Hundred Acre Pond in Mendon Ponds Park.

Dan, Sarah and I got to the park about an hour before moonrise and geared up to scout out locations. Along the way we were distracted by four deer running just uphill of us across the West Esker and a beaver swimming along the edge of the pond. After surveying the area I decided to set up my tripod at the narrow channel that divides Hundred Acre Pond and Deep Pond. Dan decided to try his luck further back along the edge of the pond.

Here I was waiting and wondering when the moon would finally rise above the small hill in the east when I realized that there was a definite glow about 20 degrees to the right from where, based on my jittery phone compass, I had expected the moon to rise. The view in that direction was blocked by dense tree growth. I grabbed up my tripod, Sarah got the pack and we hustled back to where I thought I could get a better shot, but it was too late. The moon was already off the horizon there and I had no foreground detail at all, I might as well have taken pictures of the moon from just outside my front door.

I worked my way over to Dan who had managed to find a location with cattails, water, and distant trees. As I muttered about my poor photographic skills I started to look around (always a good idea for a photographer) and I had a sudden revelation: with the bright light I could make some landscape photographs illuminated by the moonlight and with stars overhead.

Constellation Orion over Mendon Ponds Park lit by "super moon" light.

After a few experimental exposures I began photographing the pond with the Big Dipper hanging directly above. Right away I felt that I had something good here, maybe even better than a photo of the moon itself. After an hour or so of shooting with one final stop for a photo of Orion striding above the pond as though in pursuit of the deer we saw earlier, we piled our gear into the car and headed off to dinner. By the end it turned out to be a very satisfying evening of photography, nature, and friends. Next time though I'm bringing some ancient technology - a compass and a map.

The Shadows Will Be Behind You if You Walk Into the Light

2011-01-23T01:24:00.002-05:00

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

- Martin Luther King Jr.

With this morning's news of government employee malfeasance^[1] and the shamelessly brazen behavior of elected officials^[2] it would be easy to give free rein to winter darkness and the cynical feelings it breeds. After a brief renewal of my ongoing internal struggle with despair over the human condition I decided that rather than allowing small people to waste my time and attention I would concentrate it instead on someone who did something positive and improved the world.

Tom White was a founder and backer of Partners In Health. He died earlier this month. His friend Paul Farmer gave a wonderful eulogy that I encourage you to read in full^[3].

Tom was a great man by conventional criteria but mistrusted, most of his life, these criteria. He was, as has been noted far and wide, a successful businessman who mistrusted the trappings of wealth and served as a model for spreading it around. He was a Harvard graduate who by his own account didn’t study much; a decorated soldier who was at heart a pacifist; a successful businessman who relied on generosity and trust in all his dealings; a devout Catholic who acknowledged crises of faith and knew the sharp limitations of all human institutions; and a family man with a large family here in this city and, thanks to his family’s willingness to share him, scattered throughout the wide world. . . Nothing made him happier than fixing a problem, but there were some he could not fix, and he confronted these too. When he could not save a life, or ease a loved one’s pain, he was still left with his ministry of showing up.

One of the many examples I should learn from Tom White's life is that even if I can't solve a problem I can still show up. Even if the situation is difficult, or it's awkward and I don't know what to do, I guess I can hold a hand at least as as well as the next person and be there.

1 - Democrat and Chronicle (David Damelio charged $3,988 at N.Y.C. strip club)
2 - Democrat and Chronicle (State Sen. James Alesi suing over fall at unfinished home)
3 - Partners in Health (He restored our faith in faith itself.)

Kodachrome and Analog Obsolescence

2010-12-30T13:33:00.001-05:00

Perhaps you remember or have heard of film, specifically the film called Kodachrome? Well tomorrow is the last day to get it developed, and you'll need to get it to Dwayne's Photo Lab in Kansas to have it done. Starting January 1, 2011 any pictures taken on undeveloped Kodachrome film will be lost forever. This got me thinking about the angst over digital storage, when file formats become obsolete and unsupported the information in them will effectively disappear. This is the first time I recall that something similar is happening to photographic analog storage.

Black and white film or other color film has always been fairly easy to develop in a small darkroom at home but the Kodachrome development process is complex and requires very strict process control. There has never been a Kodachrome home development kit, and there never will be. In this way undeveloped Kodachrome film is like digital media: it requires a complex infrastructure to retrieve the image data. However unlike undeveloped film (with its invisible latent image¹) developed Kodachrome film is like any other photographic film, all that's needed to "retrieve" the image data is light. Magnifying the image helps too.

Of course there are many photographic capture processes that are no longer available. The difference between all those other processes and Kodachrome is popularity. Kodachrome was the first color process widely adopted by both professionals and consumers. It was also the primary media for capturing color images for decades. Millions, if not billions, of rolls of film were sold and I am fairly certain that thousands of rolls that were exposed but never developed exist around the world.

The well-known "Zapruder Film" of the Kennedy assassination was taken with a movie camera loaded with Kodachrome². If there is any undiscovered footage taken on that day in that location it was also probably captured on Kodachrome film. If such a film is found in the future it will be difficult, if not impossible, to see those images. And there is no chance of any such film being discovered accidentally simply because a roll of film was found in a drawer and developed.

There were earlier commercially viable color processes, but none were as robust as Kodachrome. For example if you see any color film or photos taken during World War II you are more than likely looking at very early Kodachrome which was only available to the military. Widespread adoption by consumers started after the war giving Kodachrome a lifespan of about 65 years. Any photographs captured on it during that time, but undeveloped will effectively cease to exist in two days. For photographers I think there is one obvious lesson: make prints. Regardless of capture media, film³ or digital, you should print any images you want to be seen in the future. I acknowledge that prints can fail as well, either through physical damage or fading. But if you use good quality ink and paper and store them reasonably the the prints have a chance of at least outlasting you. Just keep in mind that viewing prints doesn't require any complicated hardware or software, just light, and that's pretty much guaranteed to be abundantly available for the next five billion years.

1 - Encarta (http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861693039/latent_image.html)
2 - I just assumed that it was, but here's a citation: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapruder_film)
3 - Yes I know there are a few of you still using transparency film and that you don't need prints to see them but almost all exposures these days are digital, and should be printed.

"We were very excited. . ."

2010-11-22T00:01:00.000-05:00

". . .to see what you brought in to the show today. Where did you get this?

"I bought it at an estate sale."

"And how much did you pay?"

"Not much, a few dollars."

"Well a hundred years ago back at the beginning of the twenty first century, when disks like this could be had for a few pennies, pennies still existed then, digital photos could be stored on disks like this one. This disk happens to have the very best pictures of this noted photographer. Had you ever heard of him before?"

"No I hadn't."

"Well I'm not surprised most of his work was stored digitally and it was one of those pockets of information that was lost during the 'Great Data Conversion' of 2054. Unfortunately we don't have any of his pictures to show but according to accounts his pictures of evening landscapes have the most beautiful colors, like a Parrish painting. The composition and control of contrast in his photos are stunning though the digital screen images lack the punch of his prints. His photos of people from around the world increased their understanding of each other. He was a true master of the art but he rarely printed anything.

Now until recently we had a player for these disks but unfortunately it didn't survive being beamed here from Earth, a few of its atoms got scattered across space.

If you had brought in one of the few surviving prints made by this artist we'd be talking about some serious money right now. The disk does have a few condition issues -"

"We used to play with it as kids, rolling it down the stairs and such."

"OK, unfortunately with no way to actually view the pictures on it it doesn't have much appeal to collectors. What do you think it's worth?"

"Well I, I have no idea I've never had it appraised - er, no one has looked at it. That's why I brought it in."

"OK. Well after consulting with my colleagues, and we had quite a bit of discussion about this, I would estimate it's value to be about the same as the recycle value."

"And that would be?"

"Worthless."

"I'm sorry did you say priceless?"

No, worthless. The disk is authentic and the pictures are certainly stored on the disk but all the value is in the images, not in unviewable binary representations of them. But thanks so much for bringing this in, it was a real treat to see it. Thanks!"

Backyard Autumn Reading and Bird Report

2010-10-24T23:07:00.000-04:00

Having exhausted my tolerance for electronic distractions and finding that the air was warm and the sunlight had a golden quality that only happens when it is filtered through autumn leaves I decided to spend late afternoon outside with a book. I completed the scene with a fire, but since it had rained the night before I built a damp steaming blaze then got down to reading.

At a quarter to five a flock of Robins suddenly arrived in the yard; they worked their way from one side to the other in a rough line. Making a loud rustling noise all out of proportion to their diminutive size they turned leaves over and charged one another in their search for dinner.

A second avian wave commenced about fifteen minutes later. Chickadees, White Breasted Nuthatches and a pair of Cardinals arrived at the back feeder. For a short time the female cardinal defended the feeder against all interlopers until she had eaten her fill and flew off. Then the chickadees and nuthatches, with the sound of fluttering wings and quiet chirps, made repeated trips, each time taking a single seed in their beaks then flying to a nearby tree. All of this activity was interesting in itself but I became part of the act when one chickadee flew from the feeder to the roof of the house, then the table next to me, then the top of the baseball hat I was wearing. I imagined that I would be an amusing sight to any neighbor that looked out and saw me reading my book with a bird perched on my head. After a few moments it flew off.

For ten minutes or so the backyard's airspace was busier than a major international airport with departures and arrivals. Eventually the birds' appetites were sated with only a few latecomers appearing sporadically. I waited a little while to let the fire burn down then decided it was time to forage for my own dinner.

Rant About Buying a Photo Backpack

2010-08-20T23:24:00.000-04:00

I'm convinced there is no perfect photo backpack, only almost-but-not-quite-right packs. This explains my growing collection of photo-gear lugging-gear. Each backpack seems to have at least one flaw that prevents it from achieving backpack nirvana. Also I'm not into the giant packs, I really need about 715 cubic inches of space (W11" x D5" x H13") plus a pocket for a laptop. I'm using the pack to transport my photo equipment by car or plane; on arrival I'll unload chargers, cables, laptop, etc. to use it for an eight-to-ten-hour day of shooting and I'll be carrying it for about a third of that time.

So I'm looking for a new backpack and have decided this is what manufacturers need to show their customers (people doing online video reviews should do the same):

The very first photo should be of someone who is 5' 10" in height wearing the backpack so I can get a feel for the size. Printing the exterior dimensions with a photo of the pack sitting on a white seamless background isn't good enough.
The next photo should show the same person wearing the pack with the waist straps in use. Far too many packs have useless waist straps because they are too high above my hips (and I'm average height).
While you're at it hook up the sternum strap.
Are the eyelets of the zippers big enough so that a TSA sanctioned lock will fit through them to secure the pack?
Show the pack with a tripod that extends to 60" (without the centerpost being raised) clipped into place. Three or four leg sections, your choice.

Of course show the obligatory pack laden with glittering lenses picture, but everyone can do that, I mean, it is a photo backpack right? And if it isn't obvious the features mentioned in the list above are almost required for me to buy the pack (but I'll probably compromise, see paragraph one above about fatal flaws). Lastly, if you want to delight your customers ship each pack with a pocket for a water bottle, and a bottle, that would be perfect!

Economy

2010-08-09T00:04:00.001-04:00

In the not so distant past when the only food available was what was in season the act of canning food in the summer for use in the winter was probably undertaken as a necessary chore. I imagine that most people today, if they are aware of canning at all, think of it as pointless work since almost all fruits and vegetables are available year round. But there is a deep satisfaction that comes from making food (preferably from produce grown in your own garden) and storing it away for the future.

Jars of pizza sauce cooling. Happiness and contentment.

Canning is not an easy task, there is preparation to be done including picking, washing, cutting, and maybe cooking. There is lively discussion, "Is that Basil or Parsley?" "Should the water be boiling when the jars go in, or just simmering?" And finally waiting for that tell-tale pop from each lid that indicates a jar is sealed, and that all the work that went into it was successful. The best part about canning is the feeling of satisfaction. Satisfaction that you have filled a basic need. Satisfaction that in the dark and cold of February you can open a jar of pears that you canned in the fall and those pears remind you that spring must come again and it is not so far away.

When the canning is finished and the equipment washed there is a contentment and peacefulness found in contemplating the jars cooling on the counter. Canning is a positive act that engages the best human characteristics: nurturing a garden, caring for living beings, patience as the plants grow, skilled work processing the produce in the jars, storing the food for the future, and finally enjoying the hard work when a jar is opened. In closing I must thank my parents for my introduction to canning; even the memory of those days when I came home from school and the house was filled with an almost over-powering smell of vinegar because relish was being canned has not been enough to prevent me from doing the same (canning that is, not making relish).

Squelch Kings of Maine

2010-08-04T00:18:00.003-04:00

They have been burning rubber in Maine as long as I can remember. My grandfather called them "figure 8s." My Maine cousins called them "squelch marks" (written English does not even come close to conveying the proper pronunciation of "squelch," to say it properly involves copious amounts of air and saliva). Squelch marks should never be confused with skid marks; skid marks are caused by braking so hard that the tires lock up. Squelch marks happen when the tires of a vehicle get spinning so fast that they heat up and melt. As a tire becomes softer from the heat it begins to grip the road enough to drive the vehicle forward, but it still spins faster than the vehicle is moving so it leaves a layer of rubber behind. As the vehicle catches up with the tire there is less slipping so the tire cools, and eventually the squelch fades out. The other thing to note in this squelch tutorial is that with the rear tires slipping they tend to also move sideways as they push the heavy front of the vehicle. As the driver steers to correct his course (if he can) it causes the marks to wander back and forth often forming a gentle sine wave. It is common to find two marks made near each other weaving back and forth, if done with skill the two marks will cross each other, appearing like two twisted threads or a series of 8s strung together. Now you understand the basics of burning rubber.

The longest and darkest squelch marks I can recall. These were not created at the same time.

We drove to Maine earlier this summer and arrived in Blue Hill very early in the morning, still it was light enough to see that there were some very recently laid down and impressive squelch marks. It occurred to me that they might make an interesting series of photographs. I remember thinking two things about how the photos should be made: they should be black and white, and the light should be thin overcast, not direct sunlight. By the time I was able to schedule the shoot I had limited time and the light was alternating between direct noon sunlight and shadow caused by a passing cloud. I made a loop of routes 176 and 172 looking for the best marks and I photographed four different ones that day, but only two resulted in pictures worth displaying. I've learned that the best pictures have the road converging on the horizon with two marks. Of the two rejects one has very good light and the road converges with just a slight curve but there is only a single mark and it is to the side of the right lane. When I took the photo I stood far off the center of the road and the picture looks unbalanced. The other photograph was made on a curve and the road arcs from one side of the scene to the other. The resulting picture looks like a rather pedestrian photo of a road.

These marks were created at the same time, both rear tires are spinning which is unusual with modern vehicles.

All of my "fine art" pictures are heavily manipulated, though they don't often look like it (I'm ambivalent about this result, I spend a lot of time trying to get a print that matches how I previsualized the scene, and in the end it's difficult for a viewer to see the work that went into the image). These images have had local and global contrast changes. Some regions have been lightened or darkened, but the marks themselves have not been specifically altered. I've had the prints on display for two days at work and often the first question is, "what did you do to the skid marks?" After I explain that they are not skid marks (see paragraph one) my answer is, "nothing." They really were this dark.

Now I think that each year I will have to do a squelch mark survey of routes 176 and 172 to keep adding to my collection. Maybe someday there will be a squelch retrospective in the Surry Community Hall. I like to think that a fabled Squelch King will recognize his handiwork and proudly claim it as his own, and on that day I can ask the question that has been on my mind many years now, "How can you afford to wreck tires like that?"

Gorham Mountain Under the Stars

2010-07-21T23:45:00.002-04:00

It is difficult to understate the beauty of Maine's Atlantic coast. This thin strip of land at the continent's frontier winds along for thousands of miles. Where the tide rises and falls much of this ever-changing line is defined by a meeting of water and rock. Not far east of where the Penobscot River nearly divides the state's coast in half is Mount Desert Island, here the waves unfurl against pink granite. The island rises steeply out of the water and is divided into a series of glacially sculpted north to south running mountains separated by valleys. Gorham Mountain is on the east shore of the island, its pine-forested ocean-side flank runs down to Frenchman Bay where many of Acadia National Park's most well-known natural features are found.

Of Mount Desert Island's eminences Gorham is unlikely to be listed among the most well-known peaks. It is far from the tallest mountain, Cadillac towers above it by more than a thousand feet. It does not have any trails with challenges like Champlain's Precipice Trail or The Beehive's south face trail. However, while it is difficult to quantify its panoramic beauty, there is no doubt that the vista of forest and ocean that can be seen from just south of the summit is among the best places to experience what makes Mount Desert so unique. From where the summit begins to drop away in a series of jointed steps the eastern and southern sides of the island where the mountain disappears into the sea can be seen including Sand Beach, Otter Point, and Seal Cove.

But the view is only part of what makes Gorham Mountain an ideal place for nighttime photography; on summer evenings the Milky Way is in the south over the ocean. The peak, behind and to the north, casts a long dark shadow where the lights of Bar Harbor and Ellsworth are blotted out. The distance from the nearest parking to the summit is not far and takes only minutes to hike.

Gorham Mountain Trail starts at the Park Loop Road and proceeds up the south ridge of the mountain. This same ridge with a trail riding it continues on from Gorham's summit where it joins with The Beehive. From this point the ridge pushes north to the height of Champlain Mountain. If Cadillac Mountain is the king of Mount Desert then Champlain is its powerful queen. Champlain commands the north and east sides of the island with its challenging trails to the summit and an all-encompassing view of Frenchman Bay.

The sun is just setting as we begin to head up the trail. From the parking lot the trail ascends over ledges and eroded dips, at the bronze Bates marker it splits into parallel trails that merge back together near the summit; we take the upper trail. As we get near the summit the trees become more scattered and shorter, we are entering the typical approach to the bare peak of a Mount Desert Island mountain. The granite here is scoured and undulating, low spots accumulate sand, pine needles, and water. In other places a thin layer of sandy soil, home to wild Blue Berries and small Pitch Pines, perches atop the stone.

Near the peak at the edge of a small ledge I begin scouting the terrain looking for the best location to make a long exposure photograph of the Milky Way; it needs the right balance between foreground granite, middle ground forest and water, and distant sky. I try to envision the trailing glow of the Milky Way arching overhead in the dark however I am distracted by the inauspicious fog that is pushing north up the bay and beginning to climb into the sky. The fog, rising like a breaking wave, smashes the original plan; the Milky Way will be hidden tonight behind clouds.

Turning from the southeast to the west the sky is clear and dark blue now that the sun is well down. Only thin wisps of cloud float like streamers. Saturn blazes near the horizon and the brightest stars are making their appearances. I decide to try to photograph in this direction; I compose the image of coniferous trees and azure sky then begin making test exposures. After half an hour the lingering twilight has evaporated into the black of night and I start the camera operating on its own. Now there is only waiting.

Stars Over Gorham Mountain

Sarah and I lie on the rock by the edge and look straight up into the starry sky. The bell buoy marking The Thrumcap rings out a muted warning as it is rocked gently by an unusually placid ocean. A separate beat is played out by the legato rasp and then staccato thump of waves breaking on the sloping granite below. The crash of each wave can be felt, as much as heard, through the ground beneath us. I press a hand flat against the rough surface. The granite is comfortably warm, emitting the heat it absorbed all day under the sun. Overhead the stars circle imperceptibly and I consider how it is that of all the light that has left their surfaces these tiny amounts have travelled from distant space and deep time to form the beautiful night sky I see above me. My perception of Gorham Mountain, of its enormous size and solidity changes, and the mountain shrinks becoming infinitesimal. My view of the universe has become boundless and I feel as if I will float off of the mountain into space if I don't hold on tightly.

Finally all the pictures that can be made tonight are finished. Reluctantly we get out our lights and I pack the equipment, putting away the camera and collapsing the tripod; I slip my arms into the straps of the camera pack and we start descending. With headlamps we can only see a dozen or so feet in front of us. On heavily trafficed rocky ground it can be difficult to be certain where the trail is, so we stop fairly often to locate a cairn or blaze to be certain we have not wandered off course. Below the treeline it doesn't feel as if the warm air is moving at all, and the forest is absolutely quiet, the only sound is from our boots scuffing the ground. At last the sign marking the trail head comes into view; we haven't encountered another person the entire time, and our time spent with ocean, mountain, and stars is ended.

away from here

2010-06-18T23:19:00.002-04:00

where the setting sunlight is filtered across the hillside sloping away,
treetops, and tall grass until all their green is replaced by yellow and red
where you know a white pine not by counting five needles,
but by the way the wind soughs through it
where the distant sound of small waves
lapping the shore wakes you with its sigh
where contented red sunset silhouettes murmur, sip coffee,
while the cries of loons echo
when the stars wheel coolly above and the fire has consumed cares
and burns smokily low and the fading embers reflect redly in your eyes

Evening Dispatch from the Lion of the Genesee

2010-06-02T22:28:00.001-04:00

It is a popular activity in this part of New York to complain about living here. If you ask a local to describe how they feel about residing here you will most likely first hear about "high taxes." It seems that a flood of ink has been spilled over taxes in Upstate New York, enough to drown all other considerations of the region's overwhelmingly exceptional benefits.

Fortunately those of us that live here and are paying attention know the truth; if you don't spend your time grubbing in the till you will discover yourself in one of the the most idyllic places on Earth.

While our current home is no Walden, either in size or quiet solitude it often has a transcendental beauty in the evening. Long shadows thrown across the yard by the low sun; Gold Finches chirupping quietly to each other in the trees while Baltimore Orioles cackle.

In the vegetable garden beans and corn have sprouted, breaking out of the earth. With simple tending they will turn sunlight, air, water, and soil into food. We are partners with them - we provide them sustenance and they will sustain us. Fortunately in the Realm of the Genesee there is usually just the right amount of rainfall and sunlight. If there is ever a growing season without enough rain, the largest freshwater lake ecosystem on the planet is nearby.

A Blue Jay visits the nearby cherry tree inspecting the crop. The Jay hops from branch to branch turning the clusters of green cherries over to see if any are ripe. The cherries aren't near ready yet, but a variety of species remain vigilant. If the Jays don't take all of them before they are ready a small flock of Cedar Waxwings will make a rare visit, to gorge on what is probably more than their fair share.

Spring flowers are now several weeks past, but early summer flowers are at their peak. The petals of Red and Pink Peonies are translucent in the ruddy evening light. The sun's last rays are caught in the top branches of the Poplar trees, leaves turning gold; with the lengthening days come long evenings. Night doesn't fall, rather twilight steals in on cool air. The stars appear stealthily as the indigo sky darkens. Now the Poplar leaves twist and flicker in the slight breeze.

There may be more beautiful places than here, but not this evening. It's a shame that so many of the region's inhabitants won't see the beauty around them; their blindness imposes a tax on their lives far greater than any monetary value.

Sunday Editorials Amok!

2010-01-10T13:20:00.000-05:00

Many of you will not be surprised at my slowness, but I have only recently come to the realization that many of the authors of editorials on the D&C opinion page don't know more than I do or write better than I can; their crucial talent is convincing a newspaper's opinion page editor that they do.

Today's examples are from George Will and Cal Thomas. Mr. Will's premise is that "California is 'on the verge' of becoming something without an American precedent — 'a failed state.'" (perhaps it could be argued that several failed states occurred in the middle of the nineteenth century, but I digress). Mr. Will then settles in to gnaw that old conservative bone; taxes are causing the smart people with all the money to flee.

"It took years for liberalism's redistributive itch to create an income tax so steeply progressive that it prompts the flight from the state of wealth-creators: Since 1990, it's estimated that 3.4 million more Americans moved from California to one of the other 49 states than moved to California from another state."

This number looks impressive, if read quickly it implies that California is losing more population than any other state with the phrase "49 states". Of course all that's really stated is that 3.4 million more people left California than moved there. It's certainly possible that other lower taxed states lost an even larger percentage of their population to other states. Mr. Will conveniently fails to provide any comparisons.

"California, which between 1990 and 2007 lost 26 percent of its factory jobs and 35 percent of its high-tech manufacturing jobs, ranks behind only New York, another of liberalism's laboratories, in the number of outward-bound moving vans."

No doubt the people that lost jobs in factories and manufacturing were important to California's economy but normally Mr. Will doesn't classify those jobs as "wealth-creators". That designation is usually reserved for the barons of Silicon Valley. I note here that the City of San Jose's population rose by 14.4% between 1990 and 2000 and has continued to grow since then. The metropolitan area grew about 12%.

To summarize: 3.4 million people left California, 26% of factory jobs and 35% of high-tech manufacturing jobs in the state were eliminated. Conclusion, high taxes are to blame. This editorial is so full of rhetorical weaknesses that a high school forensics team would be embarrassed. To whit, if you don't have facts make comparisons with different units: a count of people leaving versus percentages of jobs lost. Also fail to define your terms: what is considered a "high-tech" manufacturing job? Finally ignore any other reasons for people moving (older population retiring?) or jobs being lost (lower wages of overseas workers in manufacturing jobs?).

Whether or not California will become a failed state isn't really addressed. Such a scenario probably has more to do with the state's political insanity known as "propositions" which allow voting minorities to grant themselves any ideological boon they can dream up (from restricting property tax increases to mandating eduction spending). Today George Will isn't in need of a fact checker so much as a logic checker.

Cal Thomas defends Brit Hume and takes offense at being part of the religious majority. In his premise Mr. Thomas is either ignorant of Christianity or dissembling.

"In a day when some extremists employ violence to advance their religion, it is curious that many would save their criticism for a truly peace-bringing message such as the one broadcast by Brit Hume."

Jesus may have redeemed the human race, but he acknowledged that his message was not peaceful. In Matthew 10:34 he said, "I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword". While it is very unlikely Jesus was encouraging his followers to take up arms he certainly acknowledged that his message would cause strife. In another aside I note that Mr. Thomas's implied separation of Christianity from other religions by its alleged peacefulness fails; the history of Christianity (and also the present day), is also full of extremists advancing it through violent means.

While I doubt that Brit Hume needs Mr. Thomas's defense, his public preaching to Tiger Woods is startling as Mr. Hume seems to have no qualifications for such counseling, his noted accomplishments to date are a history book, memoir, reading from a teleprompter, and a willingness to express his opinions.

Here Mr. Thomas briefly diverts confusingly into a rant about those who take Jesus's name in vain and how that would never be tolerated if using the name of Mohamed.

Finally Mr. Thomas arrives at the reason Brit Hume's comments have caused consternation for some commentators.

"Christians like Hume are not trying to impose anything on anyone. They know the difference Jesus has made in their lives and want to share His message in the hope that other lives will be similarly transformed.

When he was president, Jimmy Carter shared his faith with South Korean President Park Chung Hee as the two rode in a limousine on the way to the airport."

What Cal Thomas fails to understand is that sharing your personal faith in private (as President Carter did) where the recipient may respond with some freedom, is different from calling out someone in public during a personal crisis and imposing on them to respond. If Mr. Hume was a close friend of Tiger Woods and he chose to share his beliefs in private it would be hard to object, to offer unsought advice as a publicity stunt is just rude.

flickr Gratification

2009-11-14T23:33:00.000-05:00

As a photographer there are a lot of good reasons for using flickr. The most important being that your work can be seen by a lot of people. The social networking aspects of flickr mean that your friends and family can be notified about your new pictures automatically. More importantly however, by joining a "group" and then submitting an image to that group it will be seen by a large number of group members beyond your personal contacts.

"untitled" - latest, or so, picture posted to flickr. Honestly, what do you think?

It's possible for viewers of images to leave feedback in comments and to also use a box on the image itself to make notes. This is a powerful combination for getting critical feedback about what a photographer is doing well, and what might need improvement. Unfortunately this most powerful capability is almost never used effectively. Why? Because there are almost no critical comments of posted photographs.

Selecting one of the most interesting pictures (determined by flickr) will probably reveal a lengthy list of adjective-based comments: "Great!", "Nice!", "Awesome!" Along with a large number of invitations to add the picture to some group or other, probably a group that uses emoticons and multiple "!" in the name. (Incidentally, I have observed that even pictures with a banal subject, uninspiring light and a poor choice of framing will get fawning praise if they have over the top image processing and a black border applied) There will be very few comments that focus on specific aspects such as, "The catch-light in the eye really makes it pop." that help the photographer know what they are doing right. There will be no critical comments pointing out failures in the picture. Of course criticism is more helpful, because it helps the photographer identify areas that need improvement, or avenues of artistic exploration that are dead-ends. I know many people are initially hurt by critical comments, especially if they have spent considerable time working on a picture, but I think that eventually an artist desires critical feedback, because it's the only way to decide if what they are doing effectively conveys their message to an audience.

I myself have been guilty of leaving simplistic comments, though I usually attempt to articulate what I like about a picture. But isn't it time for considerate honesty? If flickr members aren't critical in their feedback of one another, then a large part of flickr's promise (to become a better photographer) goes unfulfilled. Personally, if you're going to leave a comment for one of my photographs explain what you do or don't like about it, just don't use "Awesome!"

Contemplating Murder

2009-08-01T22:59:00.000-04:00

For several months now I have been weighing what to do about a Red Maple (acer rubrum) that has been sickly since it was transplanted to New York. Originally the maple sprouted then grew for the first several years on the coast of Maine. About six years ago it was moved here by me.

The Red Maple exhibiting yellow foliage and new growth that has died.

Last year I investigated why it is faring poorly, while a Sugar Maple (acer saccharum) of about the same age that was transplanted at the same time is thriving. I learned that while Sugar Maples will tolerate a range of soil pH Red Maples need acidic soil. The Maine coast is very acidic, the chances are good that the Red Maple would have done very well where it was. Here along the coastal plain of Lake Ontario the soil is decidedly neutral to alkaline. An online tree forum had a question posted which described a Red Maple with the same symptoms: yellow leaves and new growth shriveling in summer, the poster wanted to know what to do. The response was to remove the tree. While the maple might be temporarily helped by the addition of elemental Sulfur, ultimately it would weaken and die because it had been planted where the soil pH was not favorable.

So now I prevaricate between removal of the tree immediately or a long futile battle with the same ultimate result. Reduced to grimy pragmatism, digging out the tree means the loss of six years of poor growth and the price of some soil amendments. However my thoughts quickly turn, time and again, to the real failure: I should have determined if a Red Maple could survive here before I transplanted it, should have known better, should have been a better caretaker.

Occasionally I am side-tracked into thinking that this is an example in miniature of what now seems to be humanity's great accomplishment (altering the environment) and failure (fear of stopping alterations that have long term negative effects for us and nature). I didn't know, didn't even care to find out, what the maple needed to survive, I just went ahead and did what I wanted. Prior to understanding the web of ecosystems that support life on Earth, humans populated the planet, released millions of years of stored Carbon into the atmosphere, and poisoned many of the resources we need to survive. Now that I understand something about Red Maples isn't it incumbent that I try to discern and do the right thing?

I don't want to kill the tree; At heart I am a lifer, a conserver, a nurturer. I move toads fleeing the lawn mower, and wince when I drive worm-covered streets following a prolonged rain. Life is too difficult and precarious to throw away in a cavalier manner. Too often the fate of a living thing seems to depend on the whim of a dim, ignorant, and capricious universe. I believe the greatest thing a twenty first century human can do is to learn about, appreciate, and defend the lives of all creatures on Earth.

For the Red Maple I have discovered no unambiguous right answer, just thoughts like an Ouroboros going around endlessly: worth of the tree compared to the weed I pull out unhesitatingly; do nothing and hope that the tree will strike an unknown pocket of alkaline soil; it's my fault for moving the tree anyway; maybe it will just die quickly on its own; repeat with variation… Yet in a dry, antiseptic, sterile region of my mind bores the grubby unhappy answer. To paraphrase: is this a round-pointed shovel I see before me?

The Maine Grind

2009-07-18T13:21:00.001-04:00

It seems that even our trip to Maine will be dogged by the wet weather that has dampened the Northeast all summer. As we traveled East in New York on route 90, we slowly overtook, then remained under, a monster thunderstorm that hammered the Albany area. Rain and hail alternately took turns tearing at the car. Lightning was all around us lashing the ground. Fortunately, by yesterday morning the rain and clouds were dissipated by warm air, and we enjoyed clear, rain-washed skies. When we drew near the coast streamers of fog were carried inland from the ocean by a cooler breeze.

Today is overcast with occassional light rain. However, for those of us "from away," this weather presents a welcome opportunity for silent contemplation. If you are fortunate to find yourself standing quietly in a Maine mist-filled forest without the slightest wind you soon learn it's subtle beauty. Droplets collect on the fanned branches of Balsam firs, and the only sound is of water dripping from the tips to the needle-blanketed earth. By the coast the scent of resin and salt is inescapable. All around, green pine and fir branches lace together, broken by the peeling white of paper birch trunks. Perhaps in time the clouds will shred and roll away under a high wind; rays of sun wax and wane creating a pulsing display of glittering beads. Yet often enlightenment comes with the understanding that eventually the exceptionality of this moment will fade. Chaucer wrote, "Men seyn that ‘over-greet hoomlynesse engendreth dispreisynge’." Familiarity breeds contempt. It's possible that being from away has its own blessings.

Another less contemplative option is to catch up on the latest Ellsworth happenings at the The Maine Grind and enjoy coffee, art, and (eavesdropping on other people's) talk. Currently on display is a great photo by Gifford Ewing titled "High Tide, Bar Island." It's captured on 5x7 AgX film, printed at about 36x48" (huge!) on AgX paper and selenium toned. Gorgeous black and white.

Where was God?

2009-05-24T23:36:00.000-04:00

Today I came across a reference at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting to the media's reaction to African (read Somali) pirates. The article describes the responses in editorials, blogs, comments, etc., "people have called unequivocally-often in blunt, colorful language-for killing Somali pirates." This reminded me of a letter to the Democrat and Chronicle that I have been pondering for weeks now.

The letter writer attempts to use the capture and subsequent rescue of Captain Richard Phillips as proof of God's universal love (brief recap: Phillips was held hostage by Somali pirates. On Easter Sunday snipers from the U.S. Navy shot and killed his captors). The letter entitled "Capt. showed love for crew" opens with, "This Easter was a remarkable message of God's love for us all." Note that the writer wishes to impress upon us that a message of love for all people was delivered to the world by God.

The writer goes on to quote John 15:13, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." The choice of Phillips to remain a captive so that his crew could go free is certainly noble.

The letter concludes with, "How awesome that Phillips was rescued on Easter Sunday — the day when Christians celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior." It was wonderful that Phillips was rescued, I however have to question the hand of divine providence (at least Christian divine providence) in the whole affair. While it troubles me that someone would consider what happened to be a meaningful message of God's love, what is most disturbing is that the writer never mentions the fact that to successfully rescue Phillips three people were shot and killed.

So, was the rescue of Phillips a message of God's love for us all?

It certainly wasn't for the three pirates who died violently. Perhaps those three pirates were unloved by God, perhaps His love excludes some people. If we examine Jesus's teachings we find he spent a large part of his time with prostitutes, tax collectors, and other undesirable people of his day. In this case tax collectors warrant more attention. In the classical world of Caesar Augustus tax collectors were government employees (Julius Caesar had ended the practice of tax farming); tax collectors were often corrupt and oversight lax so that they were able to "shake down" the population for as much money as they could get and keep whatever was left over after the taxes were taken. They often used intimidation and violence to extract money from people. You can imagine that the poor and powerless, the same group that made up most of Jesus's adherents, were especially victimized by the tax collector. Yet Jesus invited tax collectors to join him, and he even went to stay in their homes. If Jesus didn't exclude thugs who harmed and terrorized his followers it seems unlikely that any humans are outside his, and by extension God's, love.

There is more evidence that God's love extends to all people; one of Jesus's most oft-quoted sayings is, "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27) After Jesus affirms his belief in this ancient teaching from Leviticus a lawyer, looking for a loophole asks, "Who is my neighbor?" In answer Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. The point of the parable is that every human being is your neighbor. Here also it seems hard to reconcile the killing of three people with Jesus's endorsement of the Golden Rule.

It seems to me that had Jesus met the Somali pirates he would have had no qualms about breaking bread with them at table.

So was the killing of three people and the rescue of an innocent captive really a message from God? Perhaps, but if there is a message it's probably not as simple as many, including the letter writer, would like. It might involve things like, understanding: why do these people choose to commit piracy? Does it have anything to do with the crushing and deadly poverty of Somalia? What about the destruction of the Somalian fishery by wealthier countries taking advantage of the lack of a real government to protect the fishermen and their way of life? Or maybe the message is that we are our brother's (and sister's) keeper and it's time to stop ignoring the suffering that goes on in many parts of the world.

I have a hard time believing that a just and loving God would view the sad conclusion of the situation as anything but a single epsiode, in a long and ancient history of human beings failing to love and tolerate each other as he would have them do.

And I wonder why it seems so few other people see it that way.