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A Tribute to Rutt (Long Post)

DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
edited October 4, 2005 in People
Well, I'm sure I won't do as well as Rutt in posting a narrative/image post outlining my experience yesterday, but here goes:

So, yesterday my wife said she wanted to go to the World Festival of Sacred Music closing in Santa Monica on the beach.

We didn't know exactly where we were going, so we ended up for a brief stay on the Santa Monica Pier.

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But luckily, there was a guy who offered us directions (to the wrong place, but at least he was helpful!)
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On the walk, we weren't the only ones who found the sites interesting.
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My beautiful wife:
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Many were enjoying the beautiful afternoon.
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Or sharing common interests.
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You were supposed to wear white to the festival. These women were performing in a processional drumming/dance going down to the water.
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The costumes were great.
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These flowers later ended up on the shoreline.
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One ceremony ended with traditional outrigger canoes being sent out into the ocean.
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People really enjoyed themselves.
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This performance included pulling several colorful scarves out from this women's dress.
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Many just enjoyed the beauty of nature.
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Some of the flowers that were offered.
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We had a great time.
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EDIT: Here's the gallery. Anyone who visits, please leave comments on shots that stand out (if any!)
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    Yuri PautovYuri Pautov Registered Users Posts: 1,918 Major grins
    edited October 3, 2005
    Congrats on such a wonderful day, full of joy and happiness, lucky all these can be found in your great photos!
    Spasibo (Thank you)
    Yuri
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    AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited October 3, 2005
    great set of shots, and, your wife is beautiful
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    DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited October 3, 2005
    Thanks for the comments. I shot ~190 frames, kept 67 and had to figure out which 20 summed up the experience. That alone was good for me, culling through all of them and making critical choices.
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    ehughesehughes Registered Users Posts: 1,675 Major grins
    edited October 3, 2005
    Great set of pictures, looks like a great day...

    Ed
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    ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited October 3, 2005
    Great shots of the dancers in costume with the masks/headresses. Love the acrobat on the jungle gym. It all works together to tell the story of a fun weekend outing. I can almost smell a Southern California brunch.

    Weaving together a story from pictures like this can enhance both the story an the pictures. I find there is a real tension between picking my best shots and telling the story best. Sometimes I need to fill a hole and have to dig more than I would like to get a shot to do it. Sometimes the best shot is off topic and either the story has to change or the shot has to be omitted.

    Hope this isn't your last attempt at this. It takes some extra time to think of an outing this way, but I find it very fun and rewarding.
    If not now, when?
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    DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited October 3, 2005
    rutt wrote:
    Great shots of the dancers in costume with the masks/headresses. Love the acrobat on the jungle gym. It all works together to tell the story of a fun weekend outing. I can almost smell a Southern California brunch.

    Weaving together a story from pictures like this can enhance both the story an the pictures. I find there is a real tension between picking my best shots and telling the story best. Sometimes I need to fill a hole and have to dig more than I would like to get a shot to do it. Sometimes the best shot is off topic and either the story has to change or the shot has to be omitted.

    Hope this isn't your last attempt at this. It takes some extra time to think of an outing this way, but I find it very fun and rewarding.


    Thanks, Rutt. It was rewarding. And the shot of the two ladies looking at the muscle guy--I almost passed over that one, but the story and the image worked well together, IMO.
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    4labs4labs Registered Users Posts: 2,089 Major grins
    edited October 3, 2005
    David I really enjoyed these. I hope you and Rutt started a trend. It really makes looking at photgraphs so much more enjoyable when there are stories behind them.
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    DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited October 3, 2005
    4labs wrote:
    David I really enjoyed these. I hope you and Rutt started a trend. It really makes looking at photgraphs so much more enjoyable when there are stories behind them.


    Thanks. I had a great time there shooting, at the computer processing, uploading and constructing the story.

    If it's a trend, Rutt gets the credit. But I do hope that others start to do it as well. I really do enjoy it. I may make a journal gallery of this. That'd be fun, too.

    EDIT: Thinking about it, Greaper's blind post is a good example, too.

    Here.
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    JnicholsJnichols Registered Users Posts: 223 Major grins
    edited October 3, 2005
    Looks and sounds like you had a wonderful time! I love the costumes - very elaborate. I really enjoy following the storyline - I hope this trend catches on...
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    DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited October 3, 2005
    Jnichols wrote:
    Looks and sounds like you had a wonderful time! I love the costumes - very elaborate. I really enjoy following the storyline - I hope this trend catches on...


    Thanks for looking, Jen. We did have a wonderful time.
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    DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited October 3, 2005
    andy wrote:
    your wife is beautiful


    I sure think so!
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    pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,697 moderator
    edited October 3, 2005
    Nice series, David.
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
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    DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2005
    pathfinder wrote:
    Nice series, David.


    Thanks, PF. Thanks for looking.
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    NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2005
    Nice series, David!
    Looks like you had an awesome weekend day:-)
    Good shooting, good place, good company.. Man, you deserved it:-)thumb.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
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    DRT-MaverickDRT-Maverick Registered Users Posts: 476 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2005
    Nice series of photo, and great coloration. I hope when I go and shoot Apple Hill, my photos turn out as good.
    Pentax K20D 14.6mp Body : Pentax *ist D 6.1mp Body : Pentax ZX10 Body : 180mm Sigma Macro EX lens : 18-55mm Pentax SMC DA Lens : 28-200mm Sigma Lens : 50-500mm Sigma APO DG EX lens : Pentax AF-500FTZ flash : Sigma EX 2x Teleconverter.
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    GREAPERGREAPER Registered Users Posts: 3,113 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2005
    I enjoyed them it is well, Thanks for taking us with you.

    PS, they are right, your wife is beautiful.
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    gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2005
    Now thats a good series of shots mate...thumb.gif

    cheers

    Gus
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    DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2005
    Nik, DRT, Greap, Gus,

    Thanks for looking.

    DRT: thanks for the coloration go to : my 70-200f4L, which I think has fantastic color and contrast; LAB, which may not have done any better than correcting in RGB for these, but I certainly cotton to it and find it the easiest and fastest way for me to correct in, and finally: a great day, beautiful light, beautiful costumes and many beautiful women.

    Nik: we should go down there and shoot some. It was a blast, Festival or no.

    Greaper: my wife IS beautiful, and I'm so glad with these shots because she can photograph really poorly sometimes. She tends to get bored posing, so I get a lot of half blinking eyes, looking away, uncomfortable looks. But when she shines on camera, she really shines (at least I think so). Plus, she's so damn nice, too!

    Gus: Glad you liked it.
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    aurafloraauraflora Registered Users Posts: 471 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2005
    Nice series and nice narrative, David. Thanks for sharing.


    Michal
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    DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2005
    auraflora wrote:
    Nice series and nice narrative, David. Thanks for sharing.


    Michal


    Thanks, Michal.
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    ginger_55ginger_55 Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2005
    Gee, David, you sound positively happy! They are really nice photos, well done color, looks like you had a great day and your wife is good looking.

    I am beginning to think I am reading from Lake Wobegon, or whatever. I bet,well I know, the kids are all good looking, too.

    They are good shots, saw them yesterday. Lurked a bit. I remember really liking a shot of a man swinging from a something. I was super jealous of that one. Not that I wouldn't like to look even close to like your wife again: I did for one year, rolleyes1.gif . I am only 65, maybe I will get another yr, my last one was when I was 41.

    We are supposed to rain into the foreseeable future. Just hazy now. Gorgeous sunset last night. I was nowhere without a camera. Walking my dogs.

    ginger
    After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
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    DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2005
    ginger_55 wrote:
    Gee, David, you sound positively happy! They are really nice photos, well done color, looks like you had a great day and your wife is good looking.

    I am beginning to think I am reading from Lake Wobegon, or whatever. I bet,well I know, the kids are all good looking, too.

    They are good shots, saw them yesterday. Lurked a bit. I remember really liking a shot of a man swinging from a something. I was super jealous of that one. Not that I wouldn't like to look even close to like your wife again: I did for one year, rolleyes1.gif . I am only 65, maybe I will get another yr, my last one was when I was 41.

    We are supposed to rain into the foreseeable future. Just hazy now. Gorgeous sunset last night. I was nowhere without a camera. Walking my dogs.

    ginger

    Thanks, Ginger. Yeah, I'm happy.

    So what is it about the guy on the rings?

    It's interesting to me because I look at that shot I just wonder how I could have made it better--better angle, maybe closer, etc.

    I put it in because I thought it helped to give a sense of the place, more than I thought it was a fantastic shot. It was a story-telling shot, not a shot I was particularly proud of. But people seem to like it. I'd love to know why? What is it about that shot that works?
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    ginger_55ginger_55 Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2005
    Love it, Action, Framing, strong foreground, background sets place.............

    It is a type photograph I have always wanted to perfect. I could do closeups. I think they are easy. Some people don't, but I do. I can do them with any lens I own from 17 mm to 400 mm, have done closeups a lot. Maybe because I started with photographing my kids. Didn't want a lot of extraneous stuff in there, just the main player/players.

    But I see a shot like the guy swinging, I don't "recognize" it. With all the years I have had to learn that shot I still wait until it is too late. I think the background people are in my way, or that I have to get closer to the guy swinging.

    However, I have seen those shots in magazines. It is not really, but kind of on the style of Annie Liebowitz, but there are a couple of men that it reminds me more of. All of those people incorporate more than I seem to be able to want to, in their photos. I try, sometimes people say they look like snapshots. That is one reason I object to derogatory usage of the word snapshot. Anyway, you get one well done, and to be honest, I don't see that many guys swinging on bars in the foreground, but I know I miss those shots all the time...............in the waiting, or the closing in.

    So, I particularly appreciate one that someone else gets. Like your first photo, I could have taken that easy. But I probably would not have gotten the swinger.

    As I said, I am young yet. I have a yr of beauty left,rolleyes1.gif , and many more years to work on my "snapshots" ala Liebowitz (sp), Freelander (I think) and whoever else.

    ginger Cool photos, and I love that one. I just told you what it is about the photo! Top Drawer!
    After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
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