Sunday, April 25, 2010
Black & White or Color?
In a world of digital photography, images are usually captured in full color by the camera and, if desired, converted to black and white using software. Black and white images are common in portrait, wedding and architecture photography, but what is the place of black and white images in nature photography? If the goal is to capture nature's beauty, is there a benefit to full color over black and white (or vice versa)? Below are two images, identical except for the color. You be the judge.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The Kindness of Strangers
It could have been any other evening. Janelle and I were enjoying dinner at Parsley, excited to be seeing Trans Siberian Orchestra at DeVos Hall. We double checked the tickets to confirm the 7:30 p.m. start time. Janelle tucked them back in her purse, we cleared the table and walked off down Monroe Center to the concert. Upon arrival, we discovered the last thing we expected - our tickets were gone. Emptying out Janelle's purse in the lobby of the Hall confirmed it. No tickets.
While we re-traced our steps, Janelle called Parsley. The employee who answered checked the area we were sitting in and talked other customers to see if any one had seen the tickets, but no luck. We arrived back at the restaurant to find employees willingly digging through the trash cans in search of our tickets. They helped us look in any corner of the restaurant the tickets could have possibly landed. We thanked them for their help but left disappointed. No tickets.
Not giving up, Janelle called the DeVos Hall Box Office and told them our story. They told us to return to the Hall and they'd see what they could do. I had never heard of anyone losing concert tickets and still getting in. I was slowly and sadly resigning myself to a night without the Trans Siberian Orchestra.
At the Box Office, we told our story to the man behind the glass. Janelle had bought the tickets so she handed over her ID plus any credit card she thought she may have used for the purchase. He called over to another worker and the two began searching the system, but nothing was coming up. "Do you know what day you bought them on?" The exact date? No. We guessed at a range of dates. All were wrong.
Janelle and I bank at the same place, so I pulled up the bank's web site on my phone and asked her if she was comfortable entering her online banking information. She was and a few minutes of searching later we not only had the exact date of purchase, but had discovered that she had used a check and the bank's online system had made a digital copy of that check available. Showing it to the Box Office worker, we asked if that was helpful. Passing my phone under the glass to him, he handed it to the woman helping with the search. Her eyes lit up as she told us to wait and headed back to her computer. Minutes later we were handed back the phone, ID and credit cards and told to keep waiting. Then Arnie, the hero of our night, appeared with two tickets in her hand. She had found our purchase and reissued our tickets! We had tickets!
We were ten minutes late to the concert, but we made it in before it started. The helpfulness of the workers at Parsley and the determination of Arnie and the gentleman at the DeVos Hall Box Office was remarkable. No one ever told us no, had a bad attitude or refused to help. And at any point they certainly could have. After all, the entire situation was our fault.
It could have been any other evening. But it wasn't. It was the evening that five strangers helped rescue our nearly-disappointing night with a level of kindness and customer service that I won't soon forget.
While we re-traced our steps, Janelle called Parsley. The employee who answered checked the area we were sitting in and talked other customers to see if any one had seen the tickets, but no luck. We arrived back at the restaurant to find employees willingly digging through the trash cans in search of our tickets. They helped us look in any corner of the restaurant the tickets could have possibly landed. We thanked them for their help but left disappointed. No tickets.
Not giving up, Janelle called the DeVos Hall Box Office and told them our story. They told us to return to the Hall and they'd see what they could do. I had never heard of anyone losing concert tickets and still getting in. I was slowly and sadly resigning myself to a night without the Trans Siberian Orchestra.
At the Box Office, we told our story to the man behind the glass. Janelle had bought the tickets so she handed over her ID plus any credit card she thought she may have used for the purchase. He called over to another worker and the two began searching the system, but nothing was coming up. "Do you know what day you bought them on?" The exact date? No. We guessed at a range of dates. All were wrong.
Janelle and I bank at the same place, so I pulled up the bank's web site on my phone and asked her if she was comfortable entering her online banking information. She was and a few minutes of searching later we not only had the exact date of purchase, but had discovered that she had used a check and the bank's online system had made a digital copy of that check available. Showing it to the Box Office worker, we asked if that was helpful. Passing my phone under the glass to him, he handed it to the woman helping with the search. Her eyes lit up as she told us to wait and headed back to her computer. Minutes later we were handed back the phone, ID and credit cards and told to keep waiting. Then Arnie, the hero of our night, appeared with two tickets in her hand. She had found our purchase and reissued our tickets! We had tickets!
We were ten minutes late to the concert, but we made it in before it started. The helpfulness of the workers at Parsley and the determination of Arnie and the gentleman at the DeVos Hall Box Office was remarkable. No one ever told us no, had a bad attitude or refused to help. And at any point they certainly could have. After all, the entire situation was our fault.
It could have been any other evening. But it wasn't. It was the evening that five strangers helped rescue our nearly-disappointing night with a level of kindness and customer service that I won't soon forget.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
What's Old is New Again
What happens when a museum is moved? Does every artifact go with it? And if not, what happens to those items left behind?
Until last Friday night I had never given a thought to what might be in the old Grand Rapids Public Museum. In 1995, the Museum moved into its current location on the banks of the Grand River. And it turns out that in the 15 years since the move, not a lot has changed with the old space.
Grand Rapids area college students and faculty decided to take on the old Museum and what they've turned it into is nothing short of amazing. Michigan - Land of Riches seeks to re-examine the old Grand Rapids Public Museum and in doing so has turned it into an art museum. Working along side the materials that were left in old Museum for over a past decade, what was unveiled on April 16 is a display of history, creativity and imagination that will only be on display for one month. "Michigan - Land of Riches" runs until May 15 and is not to be missed.
Photos from the opening reception:
Until last Friday night I had never given a thought to what might be in the old Grand Rapids Public Museum. In 1995, the Museum moved into its current location on the banks of the Grand River. And it turns out that in the 15 years since the move, not a lot has changed with the old space.
Grand Rapids area college students and faculty decided to take on the old Museum and what they've turned it into is nothing short of amazing. Michigan - Land of Riches seeks to re-examine the old Grand Rapids Public Museum and in doing so has turned it into an art museum. Working along side the materials that were left in old Museum for over a past decade, what was unveiled on April 16 is a display of history, creativity and imagination that will only be on display for one month. "Michigan - Land of Riches" runs until May 15 and is not to be missed.
Photos from the opening reception:
Saturday, April 10, 2010
"Last published on Sep 23, 2009"
Cobwebs are in every corner of this blog. Time to dust things off and get back up and running.
"Last published on Sep 23, 2009." Thanks for the reminder Blogger. That was nearly seven months ago, at the start of ArtPrize 2009. Now that event is history, the phenomenal winning entry on display at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, and I'm contemplating my entry for ArtPrize 2010.
I don't like new year's resolutions. They always seem made to be broken. But something about the end of the holidays and beginning of a new year inspires reflection. So as 2010 began I made goals instead of resolutions:
To Do:
The unintentional consequence of all this? The complete abandonment of this blog. So now I'm adding a fifth item to the above "to do" list: Updating my blog on (at least) a weekly basis. Maybe no one is reading this but me, but that doesn't mean I should give the cobwebs a place to hide.
"Last published on Sep 23, 2009." Thanks for the reminder Blogger. That was nearly seven months ago, at the start of ArtPrize 2009. Now that event is history, the phenomenal winning entry on display at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, and I'm contemplating my entry for ArtPrize 2010.
I don't like new year's resolutions. They always seem made to be broken. But something about the end of the holidays and beginning of a new year inspires reflection. So as 2010 began I made goals instead of resolutions:
- Learn more about photography and continue to grow my business.
- Meet more people and expand my circle of friends.
- Get more involved in my city.
To Do:
- Attend more events in my city, camera in hand - even if that means going alone.
- Start using social media as a way to connect with new people, not just those I already know.
- Keep the Pine Photography Facebook page up to date with weekly posts - which means taking photos worth posting at least once a week.
- Maintain the full time day job in order to continue paying the mortgage.
The unintentional consequence of all this? The complete abandonment of this blog. So now I'm adding a fifth item to the above "to do" list: Updating my blog on (at least) a weekly basis. Maybe no one is reading this but me, but that doesn't mean I should give the cobwebs a place to hide.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
