Missing Out on the Melancholy

Are you going to drink that or what?

I can't wait for the weather to get colder.  It is still so warm here in SoCal.  I missed my winter coat, my cowboy boots, and my quiet desperation.  Maybe I should move to Sweden or somewhere where I can be melancholic throughout the year.  Then I'll have a good excuse to drink whiskey all night long.  Or do the Swedes prefer vodka?

#melancholy #quietDesperation #AngstandUncertainty #iPhone6

Jane Doe

Are you dreaming my memory?

Wake me up when the election is over.

#existentialism #death #JaneDoe #RIP #allLivesMatter

The Ghost of Mary Poppins comes back

While in Thirsk, a small village in Yorkshire, I happened to observe a blue and yellow bike flying across a local tea room.  What was unusual about the bike was not so much that it was sailing by itself, but the bike did not have a chain to allow it to transport itself.  Perhaps, it was powered by some invisibly magical engine that nanny Mary Poppins rode years ago.  After all, the English had their own nutty inventions that they kept secret from the Russians.  I should ask Mrs Wiggs about that.  Assuming that she is available for some afternoon tea.  First, I had to document this phenomena.  Glad I had my iPhone 6.

#Yorkshire #UnitedKingdom #bike #teaRoom #Thirsk #MaryPoppins #iPhone6 #SimplyTrafalgar

St Paul shops in London

"Is this an Armani?"

Alternate Reality:  London's subway is cool.  They have shopping malls, restaurants and museums.  While sauntering through the concrete underground, guess who I saw? The inscrutable apostle to the gentiles.  St Paul trying out a fashionable leopard skin tunic in one of the shopping malls.  Or was that Kris Kristofferson auditioning for a new Mel Gibson movie?

Real Reality:  This figure is the work of Alonso Berruguete (about 1489-1561).  It was the monumental altarpiece formerly in the church of San Benito Valladolid, Spain.  It is now on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

#VictoraiandAlbertMuseum #London #SimplyTrafalgar

It is about time

Why quiet desperation is the English way. 

If Picasso was a photographer, perhaps he would have composed the York Minster Cathedral this way. His fascination with cubes, triangles, rectangles and circles presented in distorted perspective.  I suppose I am giving too much credit to myself.  That is because I am really digging this image.  If you search the web for images of the York Minster, I doubt that you will find one that is like this picture.   The inclusion of the a modern clock, the two brick buildings acting as borders, and the deliberate tilt would make one think that the photographer had been drunk, which would likely be the case, or he is a postmodern genius.  Take your pick.

York Minster is what it is commonly called for the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter.  The Minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second highest office of the Church of England.

Shot with the iPhone 6 on a great day blessed by the Creator.  Time was almost 4 PM.  In an hour, the church would hold its vesper.  Not the cocktail made of gin.  Although that would have been delightful.  But an evening of wonderful singing by the church choir.

Hope your day is going well.  Have a good weekend.

#YorkMinster #cathedral #CathedralAndMetropoliticalChurchOfStPeter #York #England #SimplyTrafalgar

Now I can shoot RAW images on my iPhone (Not)

City of Chester, England shot with iPhone 6.

I was very excited when I downloaded the apple IOS 10 when it came out as it promised support for RAW image files.  [A camera raw image file contains minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera.]  In my mind, this means that I would not have to deal with the lesser quality Jpeg compressed images that come out from my iPhone 6.  To my dismay, the RAW format can only be used on the 6s, 6s plus, 7 and 7s.  Waah!  So, for now I'm stuck with jpeg images on my iPhone until I upgrade.  

The image quality of the iPhone 6 is really not that bad.  With hard work and attention to editing details, the result can be pretty satisfactory.  As is the case with the image above.  Shot in Chester, England.   The weather cooperated so I was able to capture some clouds amidst the blue sky.  It was a great day to enjoy an IPA beer.


#iPhone6 #ChesterEngland #IOS10 #travel #cityscape #SimplyTrafalgar

Death of Man

"You sure this is the way it works?"

"But being in honor, he understands it not, neither knew his excellency, but willingly subjected himself to sin and consequently to death and the curse, giving ear to the words of the devil ... he has lost all his excellent gifts which he received from God."  - Article 14, Belgic Confession


Valour and Cowardice can be seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  Here Valour crushes Cowardice.  The plaster sculpture is the work of Alfred Stevens (1817-75).  This is a full size model for one of the groups on the bronze monument of the duke of Wellington in St Paul's Cathedral.


#BelgicConfession #BlackandwhitePhotography #VictoriaandAlbertMuseum #Angel #London

Huracan Revisited

Huracan by Sofia Segovia
Publisher: Random House
Country: Mexico

"Working with publishers all over the world, we’re always delighted to see our imagery included in brilliant designs across many languages and genres. This is a selection of book covers released this summer which use our images in ways we found particularly striking. We hope you’ll find it both interesting and inspiring to see how [...]" - Arcangel Blog

Summer Book Covers From All Over the World

#BookCover #Worldwide #Huracan #SofiaSegovia #Arcangel #ArcangelBlog

Building in London

Just another brick in the wall.

London's architecture is brilliant.  Sometimes one cannot tell if the building is historical or have just been built.  Such is this building.  It's a stone's throw away from our hotel.  It looks old but it's a newly opened office space.  Or is it a gym facility?  Or maybe it is where Dr Strangelove is making a more powerful version of the atomic bomb? Selah.

#LondonBuilding #PostModernArchitecture #SimplyTrafalgar

Ashley and Tristan

The Vow before the Kiss.

Blogger Kirk Tucker once wrote that photography is a young man's sport.  He is so right on.  Serious photographers have to haul all kinds of equipment - from lights, extra camera lenses, back up camera, tripod, light stands, spare batteries, and many more.  In addition, they should have the stamina to be running around to get the right angle, always alert to capture the moment, and yet be stealth as to not be in the way.  

I did a wedding photo shoot some years ago, and I told myself I would not do it again.  I feel I am really too old for that kind of gig.  Until, a couple of months ago, the youth pastor in our church recommended me to take pictures of the wedding ceremony of two struggling actors.  They are really nice people, working as waiter and waitress until they can find an acting job.  Hence, they don't have enough money to afford a serious photographer.  I couldn't turn them away when they asked if I could cover their wedding.  I didn't feel right to charge them what is normative in this gig.  So I basically asked them about a tenth of what others would charge.  I realized I was getting into something that was stretching my schedule.  I had to do multiple portrait shoots on that day, and still shoot the wedding.  It was a marathon for any other photographer.  For an old geezer like me, it was like climbing Mount Everest and coming back to do some yard work.  Was it worth it?  When I see the images I have captured, I cannot say it was not.  

Lots of work here but I felt blessed.  Praise God.  Selah.

#WeddingPhotography #YoungCouples #WeddingVow #Candid #LoveRules

With every breath you take, I'll be watching you

Who is out there?

Lately, I have been wary of posting pictures of people that are not very flattering.  I believe that we are all created in the image of God, and there there is dignity in all of us.  Yet we live in a fallen world, and so our image is distorted.  The world cannot be portrayed as perfect.  While there is life and happiness, there is also suffering and death.  This is truth that I feel should be told.  

#FilmNoir #fear #Uncertainty #LEDLighting #Unsuspecting 

Kainda: I love Dylan

Repost from February 10, 2014

Yo Juzno,

Wassup?! How in da world could I have missed dis album? You know what I'm talkin' 'bout - Desire by Bob Dylan.  Where was I, and what kind of chemistry was going in my head?  Don't answer dat.  Yo, okay, dat time but I thought it was un-cool to be listening to da music of a troubadour who wore white face makeup.  Folklore acoustic guitar and janky monotone yelps – gimme a break! Back den I was only listenin' to B. B. King and Muddy on da colored radio.  Den I saw da movie The Hurricane.  You know, with da brother - Denzel Washington playing Hurricane Carter.  You remembuh boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, who was wrongly imprisoned for murder?  How dare dem leet crackers canned da brother.  But back to Dylan - All of da sudden I was having a whoa experience.  Man o man.  I came away listening to Desire with da bitter sweet feeling of melancholy realizing how flow off da wheezy dis was.  It is pure dope.

Lemme know when you gonna invite me again to your soiree.

Peace out.

Your Beautiful Sista,

Kainda