243. Statue - February 11-17, 2018
Byron-
There are several statues in Palm Springs. The most accessible is the statue of a distinguished politician. He was mayor of Palm Springs and later became a congressman. He also dabbled in singing. His name was Sonny Bono. His statue is seated on the edge of a fountain at a very public intersection. Many people walk by and admire his likeness. I captured this image of two men that were friendly toward each other. As they approach the statue, one looks at Sonny's face with disdain. The other gentleman looks at Sonny's, um, southern hemisphere. That man looks disturbingly like Anthony Hopkins. Wouldn't you know it, in addition to the camera, I was carrying a bag of fava beans and a bottle of chianti. It freaked me out. Anyway, nothing bad happened.
ISO 1000, f8, 1/2500 sec, 23mm
There are several statues in Palm Springs. The most accessible is the statue of a distinguished politician. He was mayor of Palm Springs and later became a congressman. He also dabbled in singing. His name was Sonny Bono. His statue is seated on the edge of a fountain at a very public intersection. Many people walk by and admire his likeness. I captured this image of two men that were friendly toward each other. As they approach the statue, one looks at Sonny's face with disdain. The other gentleman looks at Sonny's, um, southern hemisphere. That man looks disturbingly like Anthony Hopkins. Wouldn't you know it, in addition to the camera, I was carrying a bag of fava beans and a bottle of chianti. It freaked me out. Anyway, nothing bad happened.
ISO 1000, f8, 1/2500 sec, 23mm
Darin-
I am going with this 1920's Indian. His left arm is outstretched and, in short, points to a natural landmark, Arrowhead Springs Natural Hot Springs (the source of Arrowhead Water). After the discovery of the hot springs, the Arrowhead Hotel and Spa was built and was a hotbed for the Hollywood movers and shakers. There were 135 rooms, plus 10 private bungalows owned by the likes of Lucille Ball, the Marx Brothers, Elizabeth Taylor, Humphrey Bogart and more. To be honest, I have never seen the hotel, although it still stands. This statue sits on Old Waterman Canyon Road, where I sometimes ride my bike. He stands by himself, at the entrance of a driveway that I believe is just a guard shack, protecting the hot springs for Arrowhead Springs Water Co. (I could be totally wrong. Need to investigate further). I believe the hotel is one road before the Old Waterman Canyon turn out, back in the canyon.
I am going with this 1920's Indian. His left arm is outstretched and, in short, points to a natural landmark, Arrowhead Springs Natural Hot Springs (the source of Arrowhead Water). After the discovery of the hot springs, the Arrowhead Hotel and Spa was built and was a hotbed for the Hollywood movers and shakers. There were 135 rooms, plus 10 private bungalows owned by the likes of Lucille Ball, the Marx Brothers, Elizabeth Taylor, Humphrey Bogart and more. To be honest, I have never seen the hotel, although it still stands. This statue sits on Old Waterman Canyon Road, where I sometimes ride my bike. He stands by himself, at the entrance of a driveway that I believe is just a guard shack, protecting the hot springs for Arrowhead Springs Water Co. (I could be totally wrong. Need to investigate further). I believe the hotel is one road before the Old Waterman Canyon turn out, back in the canyon.
Kevin-
Oh, my. “Statue," by definition, can be quite a narrow concept, for example “a carved or cast figure of a person or animal, especially one that is life-size or larger” is one definition.
Now in that sense there are plenty of statues around the Palm Springs area, especially if you want to photograph the statue of a star, like Lucille Ball, or Sonny Bono. Unfortunately the giant Marilyn Monroe statue is now gone, but one can also travel to nearby Cabazon and photograph the giant statues of dinosaurs, but I already did that in week 135 when the theme was, well, “Dinosaur."
Fortunately I was in Phoenix this weekend for the 65th birthday celebration of my friend Ed LaCroix (ELaC). While we were there Michelle spent a few minutes searching online for nearby statues, and amazingly found a sculpture that was also a statue, of a past Mayor of Tempe, AZ, Harry E. Mitchell who served in that role from 1978 to 1994. (BTW: Harry was also a member of the US House or Representatives from 2007 to 2011).
Created in 1998 this statue stands 35 feet tall and is titled Above the Crowd. In this statue Harry is portrayed as a stilt walker to emphasize his "heightened sense of potential, performance and accomplishment and the inverted pyramid in his hands symbolizes the Tempe City Hall."
Honestly I was worried about the very cloudy skies and whether enough detail would come through, but the dynamic range of the D850 is remarkable.
Nikon D850, handheld, 24-120mm lens set to 52mm, cloudy white balance, ISO 64, f/4 1/1600th of a second.
Oh, my. “Statue," by definition, can be quite a narrow concept, for example “a carved or cast figure of a person or animal, especially one that is life-size or larger” is one definition.
Now in that sense there are plenty of statues around the Palm Springs area, especially if you want to photograph the statue of a star, like Lucille Ball, or Sonny Bono. Unfortunately the giant Marilyn Monroe statue is now gone, but one can also travel to nearby Cabazon and photograph the giant statues of dinosaurs, but I already did that in week 135 when the theme was, well, “Dinosaur."
Fortunately I was in Phoenix this weekend for the 65th birthday celebration of my friend Ed LaCroix (ELaC). While we were there Michelle spent a few minutes searching online for nearby statues, and amazingly found a sculpture that was also a statue, of a past Mayor of Tempe, AZ, Harry E. Mitchell who served in that role from 1978 to 1994. (BTW: Harry was also a member of the US House or Representatives from 2007 to 2011).
Created in 1998 this statue stands 35 feet tall and is titled Above the Crowd. In this statue Harry is portrayed as a stilt walker to emphasize his "heightened sense of potential, performance and accomplishment and the inverted pyramid in his hands symbolizes the Tempe City Hall."
Honestly I was worried about the very cloudy skies and whether enough detail would come through, but the dynamic range of the D850 is remarkable.
Nikon D850, handheld, 24-120mm lens set to 52mm, cloudy white balance, ISO 64, f/4 1/1600th of a second.
Paul-
I took some liberty here. If “statue” was the theme, surely statuary and statuette would be safe to work with. (I hadn’t considered statuesque. I will be interesting to see if any one runs with this one.)
But I was too clever for my own in good in that I didn’t take into consideration the difference between a “sculpture” and a “statue”—and there is one, look it up—until it was too late. I unwitting took a picture of a sculpture, not a statute.
Statues are generally considered to be life-sized or larger. Fortunately—though I recognize I’m still on a slippery slope here—the casted sculpture I shot has a significantly larger version of itself as a permanent piece in front of the Library in which I work. Unfortunately, it is not quite life-sized.
So…oops and sorry. I’ll try not to make this kind of error again.
Still, I’m satisfied with what I did submit. I wanted a slightly out-of-focus background and no harsh lighting. But, more than that, I moved the piece (with both hands) to a position in the Library where I hoped it would look less like something behind a case to peer at, and more integrated into the surroundings. As if, with a little imagination, you could see these three visitors tuck away their books and stroll away.
Statue? Why, yes it is.: (9:18AM) Nikon D5200; aperture priority; 18-55mm lens focused at 18mm; ISO 1000; 1/30 sec. at f/7.1; center-weighted average metering; Auto WB. I braced myself against something or other since the camera was hand-held.
I took some liberty here. If “statue” was the theme, surely statuary and statuette would be safe to work with. (I hadn’t considered statuesque. I will be interesting to see if any one runs with this one.)
But I was too clever for my own in good in that I didn’t take into consideration the difference between a “sculpture” and a “statue”—and there is one, look it up—until it was too late. I unwitting took a picture of a sculpture, not a statute.
Statues are generally considered to be life-sized or larger. Fortunately—though I recognize I’m still on a slippery slope here—the casted sculpture I shot has a significantly larger version of itself as a permanent piece in front of the Library in which I work. Unfortunately, it is not quite life-sized.
So…oops and sorry. I’ll try not to make this kind of error again.
Still, I’m satisfied with what I did submit. I wanted a slightly out-of-focus background and no harsh lighting. But, more than that, I moved the piece (with both hands) to a position in the Library where I hoped it would look less like something behind a case to peer at, and more integrated into the surroundings. As if, with a little imagination, you could see these three visitors tuck away their books and stroll away.
Statue? Why, yes it is.: (9:18AM) Nikon D5200; aperture priority; 18-55mm lens focused at 18mm; ISO 1000; 1/30 sec. at f/7.1; center-weighted average metering; Auto WB. I braced myself against something or other since the camera was hand-held.
Jerry-
Well, if some of you think that you took liberty with the subject – I ventured into a complete fantasy land. I will let the photo speak for itself. Camera was the Sony A6300 with 16-70 zoomed to 30mm, f13 at 1/250, ISO 200. I thought I had set it to f16 but must have bumped a dial to get f13. When I first thought about our subject I was not very excited but as I let go it became much more fun.
Well, if some of you think that you took liberty with the subject – I ventured into a complete fantasy land. I will let the photo speak for itself. Camera was the Sony A6300 with 16-70 zoomed to 30mm, f13 at 1/250, ISO 200. I thought I had set it to f16 but must have bumped a dial to get f13. When I first thought about our subject I was not very excited but as I let go it became much more fun.
Don-
This is Moonrise over Mexican.
Focal was a 24 to 70mm set to 70mm.
Exposure was 8 sec; f/2.8; ISO 250; camera set to Manual.
I shot this in our front garden.
The moon is a globe I ordered off Banggood. I had the option of setting it on white or orange. I
liked the orange. The level of brightness is also adjustable.
This is Moonrise over Mexican.
Focal was a 24 to 70mm set to 70mm.
Exposure was 8 sec; f/2.8; ISO 250; camera set to Manual.
I shot this in our front garden.
The moon is a globe I ordered off Banggood. I had the option of setting it on white or orange. I
liked the orange. The level of brightness is also adjustable.