Painting With Light

All in the Point of View

June 13, 2009

“Grand River After Dark” © R.L. Herron

I haven’t written much lately and I’ve been remiss in taking pictures, too. I guess I have a lot of other things on my mind. Being retired … early. GM going bankrupt (how will that affect my pension?). The economy.

However, all things considered, I’ve decided to quit worrying about it and get on with my business.

I’ve decided, like the shot above taken near the mouth of the Grand River in Grand Haven, Michigan, life is completely dependent on your point of view.

As I started setting up for the shot it was well after sundown. It seemed considerably darker out than the image you see now.

Most people looked at me as if I had grown an extra appendage when I took out my camera in that dark, set up my tripod on the boardwalk looking out at the lighthouse, and started taking pictures toward the mouth of the river where it empties into Lake Michigan at Grand Haven.

A couple walking by wanted to know if they would interfere with the shot. I told them no, and you can see their ghostly images on the boardwalk.

There were boats coming up the river, too. I imagine they were looking for familiar, safe moorings at which to spend the night. You can’t see them in this time exposure (about 10 seconds), but you can see their running lights.

Just like a lot of things in life, I wasn’t sure how this shot would turn out. Still, I went to a lot of trouble to set up for it and took it anyway, because I wanted to know what would happen.

The image is now one of my favorites. Which makes me realize, all over again, that life is for taking chances, learning from our mistakes and exalting over our triumphs.

Life, the cliche tells us, goes on.

And it’s true. My pension will be whatever it is going to be. GM will become whatever it’s destined to become. I will do whatever I need to do to survive.

In the end, things that matter won’t change very much. I can still count on the love of my family. The world will turn. I will write more stories, take still more pictures and continue to experiment with them both.

In fact, I think I will take the tripod out tomorrow night and set it up, just to see what I might see.

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Gears of Change

June 9, 2009

“Gears of Change” © R.L. Herron

Sad, Sad Times
How sad to think that a manufacturing giant like GM has to be forced into bankruptcy to save itself. A lot of us have known, for some time, that “the old gray lady” was just too bloated and heavy, and needed to resize itself.

Makes me think the executives I used to work for may not have known any better than I did how to manage such a beast!

Like the photo above, which is the rusty drive gear and chain of an old manure spreader, the gears of our manufacturing behemoth must have become rusty and clogged with too much of “this is the way we always did it” and it was too difficult to hear the clamor for change coming from both inside and out.

Or maybe it was heard, and ignored while they spread more crap, or things just moved too slowly to be of any use.

Sad indeed. But I have no doubt GM will be back. Leaner, and poised to take on the future once more.

Now, if I can only shake the lethargy that’s overcome me while waiting for the outcome of all this mess, maybe I can break out my cameras, both film and digital, download that new writing program, and get back to the business of taking pictures, writing, and going on with my life.

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Sanctuary

May 26, 2009

Today is a critical day in determining whether General Motors ultimately files for bankruptcy on Monday. GM bondholders must decide whether to accept an offer to swap debt for a ten percent ownership in the company.

It’s also the day UAW officials meet to hear more details about a new tentative labor contract. The union, being asked to exchange money owed to a retiree health care trust for a 39% ownership stake in GM instead, is expected to pass the deal.

That’s because there’s a general consensus that the union is between the proverbial “rock and a hard place.”

Despite that, many experts view Chapter 11 bankruptcy for GM as all but a certainty, saying they are doubtful bondholders will accept GM’s offer.

Which brings me around to the rest of us.

Is the general public going to take anything away in the form of better, safer, fuel-efficient vehicles? Or when all is said and done, and fuel prices drop, are they going to clamor for large SUV’s again and wonder why no one provides them?

Are the financial institutions, who are the real instigators of all the economic mess, finally going to start releasing funds for loans again? Where is the economy going? Is it all really a huge conspiracy to deprive and suppress the middle class?

It gives me a royal headache to read the news anymore. I think I’ll just grab my cameras, say a prayer or two, and look for some sanctuary of my own. Perhaps with my writing.