Our Sanctuary at Easter, 6:00pm Mass…
photography
This week we had a workshop at the Abbey, called Good Leaders, Good Shepherds It’s put out by the Catholic Leader’s Institute.
It’s great, but I am exhausted.
The Abbey is beautiful and serene.
Er… maybe it was a bit too dark for photo ops.
Outside and in…
But aside from that, it’s a great program. Not that it being too dark for photos is a part of the program, but you know what I mean.
Off to play catch up!
{ 0 comments }
I finally was able to work with the photos of Fr. Jambons Farewell Mass.
What a wonderful day it was.
There are many differing opinions on taking photos during Mass.
Regardless, we sure could use a new censer.
Though it sure is put to good use!
In retrospect it was also an ode to the end of summer….
…and a thoroughly enjoyable day in the Lord.
{ 0 comments }
I love the Pioneer Woman‘s website, and learned a lot about Photoshop from her tutorials.
So, I offered a picture to one of her Edit This posts.
And here it is:
Well.
Subtlety.
It’s not my forte with Photoshop…
{ 0 comments }
I found this old photo of a wedding in the Church a few days ago. (I’ve seen copies floating around, but was glad indeed to find out we actually have the original.)
You could spend hours arguing any which way when it comes to Church remodeling and decorating. Many people do.
But here’s an interesting juxtaposition.
It’s pretty much the same view taken at Fr. Jambon’s farewell Mass a few weeks ago. Quite a difference.
I found quite a few old photos. So… until next time.
{ 2 comments }
I know you’re probably expecting something to do with the Queenship of Mary today. Or the election. Or any number of prescient issues aside from photography.
But I’ve had zero time to devote to photography lately and just have to get it out of my system, darnit.
And look at that river! And those clouds! And that sky!
Ah, the river… the clouds… the sky…. things to gaze upon and give thanks to God. And certainly to give thanks to him for the Queenship of Mary, who no doubt would gaze upon this peaceful scene quite lovingly, while perhaps being thankful that one of her Priests was photographing the scene for the enjoyment of others.
But, I’m concerned that I haven’t really made any strides in my understanding of exposure.
Hence this strange shot of the clouds.
One thing I do understand is that digital photos have a limited range of dynamic contrast, which is why some areas of this image are darker than they should be. The light is too strong in the clouds, and too dark on the river.
Still, because I had a fascination with the image when I took it, I tried to manipulate it in photoshop. But it never turned out right; it always turned out sort of like this. Well, perhaps not as strange, but I’m not out to win any contests here, just to demonstrate the dilemma of trying to work with a lousy photo which could have been, just hazarding a guess here, a very good photo.
Some areas of the clouds take on drama, and you can make out the storm in the background, but the river itself looks grainy, and the whole thing looks fake.
So sad.
Putting the whole thing in black and white… well, it’s the same issue ridden photograph in black and white.
Maybe someone with better photoshopping skills could get this to look better. But a better photographer would have taken a beter picture in the first place, and wouldn’t even be having this conversation because the photoshopping would have been at minimum, the picture would have been great, and that would be that.
Or, he or she would have just deleted the photo outright.
So, moving on from this, the photo itself seems like it could have been really cool, but I need to learn and practice, some more skills.
It’s either that or stick to flowers.
But hey, that’s what hobbies are for, to find some spare moments and spend them productively, learning and practicing something enjoyable. And, to have time to give thanks to God for making such a beautiful world for all of us to live in; it’s definitely worth taking more pictures and trying to get it right.
{ 0 comments }
“The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love; It signifies Love, It produces love. The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life.”
~ Saint Thomas Aquinas
“We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. Imitation is not a literal mimicking of Christ, rather it means becoming the image of the beloved, an image disclosed through transformation. This means we are to become vessels of God´s compassionate love for others.”
~ St. Clare of Assisi
“Patience attains All that it strives for. He who has God Finds he lacks nothing: God alone suffices.”
“It is love alone that gives worth to all things”
~ St. Teresa of Avila
I don’t know that these quotes have anything to do with these pictures, but they’re certainly great quotes, and they happen to be on my desktop at the moment.
St. Jane is a beautiful little Church, and it’s surprisingly not as small as it looks. And it’s a very loving and friendly community.
Off into the weekend ~~~ Pax Christi.
{ 1 comment }
Yes, you guessed it: I’ve been walking around with my camera again.
And then going for that startling, vibrant look which is so ‘in’ in photos these days.
Oh, wait… you’ve not been seeing startling and vibrant photos which look quite like these?
Well. On a separate note, we really need to do something about these power lines in front of the Church, like run them underground.
That’s a joke by the way.
On the right side of the choir loft is a little belfry type room with windows; the first Pastor used to spend his nights there. I guess he more or less lived in the choir loft, which no doubt made for an interesting life. (I used to do that, but I was an organist.) The little room is about ten feet by eight feet, at the most.
And that’s no joke.
The rain here has been amazing. The dry, dry earth from the past few years has been soaking it up, and everything is green as could be and beautiful. Lots of dramatic clouds, too.
One of my seminary friends (now Dr. Jerry Harrington,) took up the photo a day contest that I bailed on recently, which inspired me to get back to it. Why not give it a try… what could happen?
Px, out.
{ 0 comments }
As you recall, I’ve been transferred over to St. Jane de Chantal, in Abita Springs; which has been taking up a lot of my time. Which is a good thing, of course, seeing as I’m the new Pastor.
But yesterday I decided to drive around the Parish to see what territory we have… talk a bout a large land area! We include parts of the Bogue Chitto, and the Pearl River.
So, whilst driving over the Pearl I got out and snapped his shot from the bridge near Bogalusa (since it’s the only bridge that crosses the river anywhere near here.)
A few things about that:
- That bridge is very high, and no one stops on it to take pictures.
- The view down to the water is terrifying.
- The river had a very industrial and muddy look right below the bridge which made my stomach churn.
- The thing’s I’ll do for a photograph are starting to amaze me.
- I’d do it again in a flash.
- It’s been so rainy, it’s like living on Venus. And this captures some of that Louisiana cloudy, dreamlike, dark green, and watery landscape that we have so much of, and that I love so much.
On that note, the time has come to head to retire for the eve. Splash, out.
{ 0 comments }
Awhile ago I came across this very old picture of our Church here, as it looked almost 100 years ago in 1917. That’s during the time of WWI, the Russian Revolution, and all of the amazing things that happened in that year so long ago.
Here it is…
St. Mary Magdalen Church, Metairie - 1917
Then just the other day I decided to check out the very same view as it looks now…
St. Mary Magdalen Church, Metairie - 2012
Fascinating I tell you.
{ 0 comments }
Because there’s nothing else to do with these random photos — it’s either delete them, have prints made so they can sit in a box on a shelf, or store them on yet another hard drive — I’ve decided to share them with you.
These type of demanding, cutting edge editorial decisions need to be made daily here, to keep this website spinning like a top.
These cool cats were the hit of the Bacchus route in our neck of the woods. I asked to take their picture, and one day that spread could make a great photo essay just watching the changing group dynamics
Winning smile, wonderful costume.
It was a pretty relaxed morning…
My good friend Adele.
The Japanese Magnolias were in bloom again… Such a strange flower, suitable to any occasion.
There’s a story here. I think these costumes are great for many reasons. I posted the pic on a Facebook page, and someone said “What’s so great about this?” Then I second guessed myself, un-posted it and curled into a ball and sucked my thumb for twelve hours. But I’m perfectly fine now, thank you.
The Creole Queen… It’s such a beautiful boat. Years ago a friend dragged me onto this boat to play the slot machines. I had a quarter on me, and walked out with $31 and was on top of the world.
We hit it off immediately, and nodded knowingly as we passed on the street.
And this is St. Joseph’s Church, which I post pics of every now and again. It’s grand and beautiful, but it needs a huge pipe organ way back there. Still, it makes me glad to be Catholic whenever I walk in.
Well, it re-affirms my gladness… it… you know what I mean.
And that’s it for now… but exciting things are happening, and it’s all good.
{ 0 comments }
It never occurred to me until the other day, after I had taken this picture, that orangutans earned their name by the color of their fur. So, I looked it up over at dictionary dot comand found out that ‘orangutan’ is actually from pidgen or ‘bazaar Malay’ and means ‘forest man’. So there.
And with the cooler weather, all the animals were in great moods, so it seemed.
That was over at the zoo the other day. I had bought a membership right after I bought my camera and then never got around to going. So I headed on out and diligently learned a bit more about photography. (I played around with fill flashes. Speaking of which, National Geographic has a Guide to Flash Photography which has some beautiful photos in it.)
Beautiful Sunday today; I’m working on getting that Homily up here. It wasn’t a priority today (to post it here, i.e.; it was a huge priority yesterday in the making…), but I’m working on it! Wisdom and shalom.
{ 0 comments }
Just in time for cooler weather, here are some of the Photos from the Fair!
Ansel Adams I’m not.
But what can I say? I don’t live anywhere near Yosemite and all it’s natural splendor (though I’d love to spend as much time there as Ansel Adams did.)
But I do live here, where we have great fairs!
It was a lot of fun.
We all had a beautiful time.
I’ll have to reorganize the gallery at some point in the coming week; I wanted to post the pictures for our fair workers, but I’m sure someone will say “What in the world is my picture doing on the internet!?”. But seriously, it’s 2011 already!
So head on over and check out our fair. It’s a great blessing to the community here, and worlds of fun!
{ 0 comments }
I hope you’ll forgive me for posting Ansel Adam’s photographs. But, when you ponder upon the beauty of creation, and then see his photographs of said creation,… well, it does a soul good.
No harping about megapixels here. He knew about his camera, his exposures, his natural subjects, lighting. And being a musician he knew that timing was everything, it’s said he waited patiently, sometimes hours for the right shots.
He produced some 40,000 photographs during his lifetime. The old fashioned way, by developing each one individually, cropping and processing as needed.
Practice, practice, practice.
I feel better about photography with that in mind. When I look at photos I took a year ago I think about how much better they could be. And I know that by next year I’ll be thinking the same about some of the photos I’m taking right now. (I hope.)
But, it does a soul good to ponder upon the beauty of creation. And artists who help to lift our minds and our hearts, are truly gifts from God.
{ 0 comments }
It occurred to me yesterday that I had written about the ‘great shots’ I got from the Natchez. I’m nothing if not optimistic. Still, there’s something I like about night shots.
And let’s face it, not everyone sees this view everyday; especially not me.
The wind was incredible last night, and the temperature is dropping into the 40′s here overnight.
Night shots have a freaky aspect that I like.
And the colors get a bit bizarre.
Although, river boats sit alarmingly close down to the water.
I thought today a lot about John de Brebeouf and Isaac Jogues, and companions, the Canadian Martyrs with whom we pray today. I envied them for having lived in simpler times, and in a time when spiritual lines were much more clear. Then I grew in envy of them for living in Canada, where it was undoubtedly so much cooler, since I love colder weather. My silent resentment built when I thought about how they had died a martyrs’ deaths so nobly, when it was clear that it may very well happen.
And then, I thought about all of my silly resentments, and prayed for the Truth to be shown to me.
And I fell in love with life all over again.
{ 0 comments }
Cleaning up my computer here, and came across some pictures on my hard drive which I’ve never posted.
Before Archbishop Hannan’s funeral a group of us dined at Muriel’s. I had the grilled swordfish, and it was great.
Here’s the rustic cabin I stayed in in Natchez (or technically, right outside of Natchez…)
I have this strange phobia about staying out in the middle of nowhere all alone after it gets the dark, but thankfully there are other cabins not far away. I’ll have to delve into that phobia at some point, because it’s… well, it’s ridiculous at times.
Every now and again I write about Bayou Gulch, or the Black Lagoon, a Fishing Camp across the lake. I was stunned one day to see this steam by in the river.
Just when it’s looking most like the Black Lagoon, it turns into the African Queen.
Though actually, it probably doesn’t really look like either boat. Hmm. Maybe if I put on a fish suit, and swim over and spraypaint “Rita” on the boat and… well, er… never mind.
Which reminds me of a strange story about a man a few years before us in seminary who, during his final internship, dressed up as Superman, in a full regalia, real deal, legit adult Superman costume, and started spying into the windows of the Rectory one night. He was swiftly, and mercifully, asked to leave.
My bike.
Last week I went out for a bike ride and was determined to find a way from the heart of New Metairie into Uptown New Orleans, without having to drive my bike over to the levee in my car, and then ride in that way. I will never do that again. Metairie, and Jefferson Parish in general, is not for cyclists unless you don’t mind traffic whizzing by at 30-40 mph a foot away while you occupy a third of their traffic lane. Some people love it; it’s just not my thing.
To make a long story short, I cut up a side street to get out of a very high traffic situation, and in the middle of a sidewalk that looked all clear, ready to go, was a 6-7 inch concrete curb which had no shadow in the mid afternoon sun. It was like when, the night the Titanic sank there was no moon to see icebergs, and the sea was very still so you would not even have seen the waves lick up against the bottom of the berg.
I crashed full speed into the curb, went over the handlebars and crash landed unpleasantly on my elbows and head, and bent my steering tube to the tune of about $400.00
Life goes on.
I call this one “Candelabra”.
And as we all know, I have this thing for clouds.
If you ever see me looking at the sky, and have to guess, I am probably looking at the clouds and wondering what shape they are making, and thinking about how God provides us with such incredible beauty wherever we go.
It’s one of my favorite pastimes.
I also experiment with different lenses, and snapped this hawk atop the Church steeple. They say the little guy is here every year to winter, which is fascinating to me.
And here, alas, is a tart I made.
This clearly has a lot of potential, and it tasted fantastic.
It does not particularly bother me that decorating is not my forte.
Still, I’ll have to revisit this one day.
What did bother me, tonight, is this:
I was asked to play the organ for a wedding in town, which I had agreed to do as I had the evening free and I’m obviously capable of doing such a task, as I did it for 30 years, working in very good circles of musicians.
A former spiritual director said the wedding, so afterwards I told him hello before I left. He looked at me and said “That sounded great!”
But, he didn’t say it as if to really compliment me. Rather, he sounded completely amazed and mystified that it could have possibly sounded great.
I guess there’s no telling what’s on people’s minds sometimes.
At any rate, hasta la vista baby. See you guys manana.
{ 0 comments }
Fresh on the heels of our astoundingly successful Parish fair, come the wake services for Archbishop Philip M. Hannan, may God rest his soul.
His body arrived at the seminary this evening at 5:00p.m. The location of the seminary is easy for many to get to, and the Chapel and grounds are conducive to large public gatherings. He will lie there in state until Wednesday, and members of the public are invited to come and to pray.
In addition to the strong showing of clergy present, a lot of the Archbishop’s family from the D.C. area are in town for the funeral as well.
He will lie here, in state, through Wednesday.
Edward Cardinal Egan is in attendance as well.
Evening Prayer form the Office for the Dead was chanted, and sung.
It was a beautiful occasion.
The Archbishop’s family was telling a few stories; one is that every Christmas without fail, after Midnight and morning Masses were finished, he would fly straight to Washington D.C. and spend the evening visiting with every family member. (And they have a fairly large family!) He never missed a family Baptism, Wedding or Funeral, either.
Outside, tributes are already starting to grow. Many people hereabouts loved this man, and the work he did.
Réquiem ætérnam dona eis Dómine;
et lux perpétua lúceat eis.
Requiéscat in pace.
Amen.
{ 0 comments }
We had a great fair this weekend.
The best Parish Fair I’ve ever been to, as a matter of fact. (WIth all due respect to the many great Parish fairs I’ve been to!)
It was a perfect confluence of weather events, televised sporting events, other civic events, all combined with the lousy economy so that people just wanted to go out and have fun.
I guess. Really, what do I know?
All I know is that people come for miles around to go to our fair, and fly in from out of state to help set up and work.
And, it was so crowded at some points I couldn’t even walk around with my camera!
It was downright charming at times.
And the Top Cats closed us out last night.
This tall ride fascinated me. I have a thousand pictures of it, in some way shape or form.
Well not literally a thousand. Probably closer to ten thousand. Although actually I’m moving on my initial ‘take as many photos as possible and see what works’ phase. Who has time to go through a lot of lousy photos? So I’m trying to get better photos right off the bat. This is a step in the right direction!
The rides were great…
…and provided lots of opportunities for quasi artsy shots.
And Fr. Bob Massset closed out the Fair with a rousing thank you, thank you thank you!
{ 2 comments }
My new book, Storm Clouds of the Deep South, will be a fascinating retrospective of the amazing storm clouds which always seem to be gathering around here.
Ok, just kidding. Fair Setup continued all day today with the setup of the rides. Later in the afternoon this storm started blowing in.
These guys were taking it in stride; they really enjoy this setup business.
They were also probably enjoying the cooler air which was flowing down from the tops of the storm.
I’m always amazed by cloud formations. I’m also amazed at the ride setup, but look at those clouds!
I know I’ll be riding the Ferris Wheel all weekend long. (Actually, and to be honest, it would break. My car would plummet down mercilessly from the heights as those below me cursed my ongoing diet.)
Fair Setup is an interesting process, everything has to be leveled out, and tested over and over again.
Which is certainly a good thing of course.
The great news is that all of this is just a front: the weather will be cool and clear for the fair this weekend.
Should be a great time!
{ 0 comments }
In between Masses (4), Funerals (1), Fair Set-Up (All Day Saturday), and Organizing a Petition for Sainthood (1), it’s shaping up to be a busy weekend. In fact it’s shaping up to be a busy month.
So that’s why I was out snapping pix of an orchid this morning. I think it’s a small dendrobium, but what do I know?
Next a good bike ride (20), to get some air.
A friend gave me this a few months ago, and it’s coming along nicely, don’t you think? St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian, pray for us!
{ 0 comments }
