Welcome to the rt tulley photography blogIt features photos, text, and poetry.February 28Signs
I am thankful for signs. Whether we like them or not, they lend order to our lives. They enable us to prevent horrific crashes, show us where to go, and when to go. We often face signs in our daily lives, generally these signs are put in our way as a roadblock to keep us from doing something we may want to do but shouldn't, guide us in a different direction, or to nudge us a certain way. Often, these are planted into our subconscious giving us the "direction" we may be lacking.
This is a composite photo of several signs and traffice lights pieced together in Photoshop.
In college, I once took a photo of a bent one way sign because I found the paradox funny. Sometimes our signs may be as unclear as this photo. It is shown below, resurrected after all these years. I've always loved this photo.
signs
the signs are clear there’s stop and then go there’s yield and no left turn there’s caution drive slow but you will have to forgive me if i should get a little bit confused if my brain switches the signs i claim dyslexia as my excuse. © rt tulley
February 27Curiosity
I am thankful for curiosity. Curiosity is that thirst for knowledge, that desire to know things, which keeps us trying to learn new things (or maybe it's just plain nosiness). Without curiosity, I don't think most of the world's important scientific discoveries would have been made. There can be scientific or factual curiosity, or just simple curiosity, as shown by the dog looking out of the window above. He just wants to see what is going on.
The photograph was taken outside my office window as my daughter's dog Oakley peered outside.
Sadly, the following poem is truthfully, at least partially, autobiographical and confessional. As a kid, I drove my parents crazy with questions (they always knew I would be a scientist, even when I didn't). As an adult, I do the same to my family and relatives. They tend to lose their patience with my seemingly endless interrogations. What can I say - I am just a very inquisitive person!
who what when why where?
so what is it about me why am i so inquisitive? when did i ever achieve this status of being so investigative?
it’s crazy i am not so positive except to say that every day i can recall with not a hint of disguise began with a question and ended thusly likewise
who what when why where my favorite words it seems with which to begin my subsequent sentence streams and from dawn until dark i then punctuate it at the end with a big question mark
simply to know a certain fact is not enough to assuage my lessoned intellect no, to dig deeper and deeper is required for the full impact
and with each inquiry the angry ones turn away “will you please shut up!” is everything they can say their faces grow red while the impatient ones they have long since fled those that stay they still say “why must you be so insistent irritating and obnoxious you know when you do that it is nothing short of noxious.”
“what is noxious?” i ask ever mindful of my obsessive task and they say “there you go again see what we meant? it’s a poison that can cause great harm like your endless questions and general lack of charm.”
but i tell myself never mind and pay no heed for how will I ever temper this burning need that’s most beleaguering in my quest to know everything
who what when why where the words i share for without the answers i know i know not how to go there
with each answer to a question of mine you would think i’d be satisfied you would think i’d be gratified but no with you i will share each response brings only another who what when why where. © rt tulley
February 26Bridges
I am thankful for bridges. Bridges allow us to get from one place to another, crossing depressions, waterways, or even obstacles. Thus, they allow people to move between places, and symbolically, close the gulfs between people, allowing us to become closer.
This photo is of the railroad bridge which spans Bayou Manchac next to Santa Maria Golf Course in Baton Rouge. Bayou Manchac is the waterway that flows from the Mississippi River to the Amite River, which eventually flows into Lake Maurepas. From there, it is possible to pass to Lake Pontchartrain and then to the Gulf of Mexico past New Orleans. The French explorer d'Iberville discovered it as a rapid way to get to the Gulf of Mexico from the present day site of Baton Rouge. It is interesting in that its flow used to depend on the level of water in the Mississippi River. When the Mississippi was high, the water in Bayou Mancac flowed away from it, but when the water in the Mississippi River was low, the flow was in the opposite direction. Now, since the construction of the Mississippi River levee system, Bayou Manchac is cut off from the Mississippi River, so it serves chiefly to drain water runoff from in and around Baton Rouge and into the Amite River. Two of my favorite Baton Rouge golf courses, the University Club and Santa Maria lie next to Bayou Manchac. A third, the Country Club of Louisiana, which I have played only once, also is situated next to the bayou. It's pretty amazing to me that three golf courses would be in such close proximity to a single bayou.
bridges
there are bridges over rivers and bridges that span over great chasms there are bridges that bring people together joining our collective protoplasms but the most useful bridges of all from dusk until the dawn are the bridges on our noses that keep our glasses on. © rt tulley February 25Louisiana
I am thankful for Louisiana. It is a state that I have called home for the majority of my life. The uniqueness of its people, traditions, and culture make it a very special place. Their love of life and their spirit of friendliness makes Louisiana a wonderful place to live. With the beauty of its landscapes, swamps, wetlands, and trees, how could anyone let little things like humidity and sweltering heat bother them?
Pictured above is the Louisiana state capitol building in Baton Rouge. With 34 stories and 450 feet tall, it still stands today as the tallest state capitol building. It was built during Huey P. Long's administration during the late 1920's through the early 1930's during the depression and completed in 1932. It sits on the former grounds of Louisiana State Univesity, just north of downtown Baton Rouge. Each of the stairs to the main entry has one of each of the first 48 states name on it. Alaska and Hawaii were added to the top step after their statehoods were granted. This art deco building is loaded with symbolism and includes many statues and items depicting the history of Louisiana. Huey P. Long was assassinated in the building that he planned and built during his administration. He is buried on the southern grounds of the capitol.
This photo is a high dynamic range (HDR) photo consisting of a composite of three photographs, taken at different exposures, and joined together in Photomatix and then edited in Photoshop.
louisiana
can’t say i was born in louisiana can’t say i’m a native son can’t say we’re better than others can’t give that comparison there are many things we are last in but so few in which we are number one but i am a person who saw the light and is glad to be an adopted son. © rt tulley February 24The Little Things
I am thankful for the little things, those things in life that we usually take for granted but which we notice more in troubled times.
I took this photo to illustrate a poem I had written more than ten years ago when I had some health issues. This began with a kidney stone and led to a couple of bladder biopsies because of suspected bladder cancer following some abnormal symptoms and tests (which thankfully has never materialized up to this point). But I get to enjoy annual cystoscopes once a year, just as a precautionary measure. However, when I was afraid for the worse, I wrote the poem below.
I wanted a photo of leaves blowing, one of the "little things" I describe in the poem. It took nearly 100 takes to get this photo (95 to be exact). I set my camera up on the tripod, put it in self timer mode, then composed the scene. I first used a leaf blower to blow leaves into the photo, however the leaves appeared to be "shot" into the scene much too quickly. Fortunately, there was a mild gusting wind that day, so I finally ended up just waiting for a gust to toss the leaves into the wind. Synchronizing the wind with the self timer and guessing when to throw the leaves into the air was the trick. Some photos had no leaves, others had too many (I've got to get myself a wireless remote shutter release!). Having the leaves look like they were moving and not just stationary in the sky was another issue. But this photo was kind of what I had in mind.
it’s the little things
it’s the little things you cherish the most the things you never noticed before it’s the little things that mean so much more with the threat of goodbye
it’s the little things you lose in the trivialities of life when amidst nagging troubles of the day details hostility putting out fires sinking in the mire road rage and other signs of this age these have their toll on tranquility have their toll on life you forget to see you forget to hear you forget to touch you forget to be
it’s the little things that you cherish the most with the threat of goodbye a bird circling around another’s song a warm gentle breeze propelling the leaves in spiraling pattern the summer days, hot and long a necklace of stars adorning the moonlit sky diverting your attention away from the scars the midnight blue of dusk like a velvety indigo dress concealing the hidden treasures of her heavenliness and there’s more the whisper of the waves as they lap upon the shore riding amid a mattress of surf as you bob lazily in harmony with the sea emerald carpet leading to forest green above which rise the rock-strewn mountains up to the powdered blue of the sky pristine and clean
it’s the little things you cherish the most the things you never noticed before it’s the little things that mean so much more with the threat of goodbye a smile a wink a wave a comforting word someone in a moment of brave blinking back tears of pain a touch a kiss from someone you’ll miss a hug a caress loving someone more than yourself loving someone more when they love you less long goodbyes and longer hellos mean so much more with the threat of goodbye mean so much more these things you never noticed before it’s the little things you cherish the most. © rt tulley
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