Part two: Photography and the Hunter. Inspirations.

                  Photography and what inspires a Hunter.Part 2.
                                     by Mark William Darus

                                          Part one of this entry.
                                               Cleveland Steel

                       This world of fire, heat and stench has been a huge part of my life on many levels throughout my life. My grandfather worked for Corrigon-Mikiney during the birth of Cleveland steel making. My father joined him when we was none as Republic Steel and my sister joined my father there. She has seen the Cleveland Works change many hands in 30 years there and survived one the mills darkest  periods in its fine history: The rise and fall of LTV steel.

LTV had many definitions over its term of life in Cleveland and Ohio in general. When I worked as a driver for ABAR MFG, I drove in and out the the Cleveland, Warren, Youngstown, Louisville as well as Alliquippa PA. In the span of five years, from an outsiders view, I witnessed the self destruction  and closing of quite a few operations and plants. To so many, LTV stood for Long Term Vacation, and my favorite, Liars, Vulcher's and Thieves.

            When I felt comfortable once again with camera in hand, I began to aim and shoot. Out of the several hundred taken, I thought these my best.

 

 

Above is the William G. Mather Museum. This decommissioned vessel is a museum. This grand ship once traveled the Great Lakes and brought needed raw materials up the mighty Cuyahoga river to the Mills. I believe this museum an amazing visit. Trust me, the lenghty tour does not disappoint.

 

Above shot: I have some clue about the  smoke released here is. Here are my thoughts on this. We can eliminate all sources of pollution and seem to have done so with such amazing ease that we have managed to  create a cleaner level of living.  

 

        With our 'not in my backyard' philosophy that many a great city has been brought to its knees and moved overseas due to mandated regulations, we have successfully killed not only tens of thousands of jobs, but have crushed Northern US manufacturing into oblivion.  Sure, many live longer nowadays, but at what level of living? With the loss of the very jobs that created Cleveland, it's as though we have forgotten how those jobs made it possible to put a child through college without having to take out school loans, that when paid, equal the equivalent debt of buying a hundred thousand dollar house.

 

Yeah, we have cleaner air, but at what cost was this created? I think it's nice we breathe easier, but what good is that while so many cannot afford to pay simple utility bills?

 

Sorry, I got a bit preachy. Before I close this, I am compelled to say this: Both my parents died of various cancers. They both passed at the age of 65.

 

As a child, driving with my father down I-77 North, I so remember seeing the sight of mill-fire. These flames were created for the burning off of polluting gases to make the air cleaner. Always watching with a sense of awe and its raw beauty, I always remarked to my dad: Wow, that's OZ! Right, daddy?

 

 

 

 

Part two of this entry: titled:

That's what dreams are made of.

Just spread your wings.

 

This was a shot taken in July 2012. My first gull shot in over twenty years. This was a starting point on the subject wings.

 

 

I find it most ironic that  my mind has always been held captive by things with wings yet how i have never left the surly bonds of Earth. Well, that is,  except for taking many a jump while downhill skiing, mostly ending in crashing as gravity caught my legs unprepared.

Oh well, live and learn. At least I never broke body parts with many a failed landing. Hmmm, maybe that's why I have never been on anything that parted any company of our planet with others...

 

Wings over us.

As the above aircraft, as she popped a strong wheelie, left me, I wondered where its passengers were going to, what they were leaving behind them, and what they felt, if anything.  As she headed to the clouds and other places far and away from anything I have yet to see and experience,  I remember getting many an odd glance and comment when I screamed "YES!"
             A well dressed woman with huge amounts of gold jewelry, sporting a highly hair sprayed blond hair-helmet asked me if I had ever seen a plane take off before. Personally, I love such condescending remarks from those displaying such higher status than I. I slowly turned my head toward her and said: "If you don't find such amazing, why the fuck are you wasting so much of your precious time for asking me that question as you see what I do?"
             Well, after about 5 minutes of  taking many other exhilarating shots, this ladies husband approached me. Obviously taking some flack for not immediately defending her, my sound peripheral vision catching him venturing into my space in an unfriendly fashion, I smirked and asked him if he'd like some beef jerky without changing my stance with right eye still in viewfinder. <Okay, I do take a great deal of narcissistic pride in my ability to throw people off guard with the absurd things I can say. Call it a well learned and highly astute defense mechanism, but I will always throw one off before they get physical with me. Knowing 'fight or flight', I was most prepared. I am not prone to flight.> I met him eye to eye as I stood in the shadow of a tree, catching him squarely. I knew very well he could not see my eyes.

"What did you just say to me?" he said as his approach decreased in speed like the Jets and turbo-props landing before me as I cocked my frame toward him.

Lowering my voice so that his woman could not hear, I inquired, "Got it rough, ain't ya? Sorry, but she had it coming, man. I asked you if you wanted to beef jerky." I then walked from my Fuji and Slik tripod toward my Trailblazer and opened the drivers side door. I kept this man in side-sight, and he stopped fast, startled. Taking into consideration, had this man been a hard-core, he would have reacted quicker than five minutes to my counter at his woman, I knew I'd be okay. I grabbed my a bag of Sweet Baby Ray's and offered it to him.

"Whoa, I thought you were gonna shoot me." His voice, almost spoken in a wispy voice like that of Amy Grant.

Stepping from shadow to clear light visible for him to see me, "why would you think that?" I ask such things for reasons I'll keep to myself when people make snide remarks aimed at me and send others to confront me.

"I don't understand what you mean?"

Aligning myself between he and his leash holder, head turned slightly to the left, I told him firmly how to save face, and just maybe, how to get layed by her tonight. "Just throw your arms about. Yell at me, call me an asshole, threaten me." However, I did caution him to not call me a son-of-a-bitch. My mom was not a bitch, and I will get physical with any man that fires this at me.

Wow, this man possessed such a slow learning curve I felt he must be either a lotto winner or one that inherited a fortune to have the woman covered in gold and frozen hair in such a high wind.

Took a bit of prodding, but he did do what I suggested and promptly whispered an apology to me.

I gave him a gentle smile to leave. I also changed my smile, baring my teeth like that of predator, and physically sent him a message to get her the fuck away from me. He most quickly did, hopefully saving face with her, perhaps getting his boat on a trip to tuna town.

Got long winded once again, but that is what happened about that shot.

The above capture. Caught by its hard banking and screaming engines, I jumped up and down like a child. Loving roller coasters, g-forces, i cannot imagine what those feel as this event courses through them.

 

About this: Yeah, way grainy and though it clearly does not say this, I did see this. At first glance, to me, I saw: "OH NO!"  I can be do 'out there,' at times.

 

One this one: First time I was granted the splendor of a bird in flight as it called out to others.

 

Got this one during the Cleveland Airshow 2012 from Clark Field. What these pilots can do as they dazzle others with is phenomenal at such high rate of speeds. As they passed above me, my body pounded by the thrust of their mighty engines miles away, take my grounded spirit soaring higher.

The Wright brothers created another life for humanity to achieve further with their beliefs. In time, their thoughts of flight would much further still...

                                           
                                              Part Three of this entry.
                                                       Our Moon.

This was my first digital entry back to the moon. I liked this one, if for no other reason, the trees in the foreground.

 

Loved this one! The first time in over 15 years I saw craters. Not too bad for a camera with only 24x zoom, great manual setting ability and a fantastic Slik tripod to hold her steady with a long exposure times. When I uploaded this to my HP, I gasped.

                                        Blue Moon in overcast skies.

 

What can any of us say about the moon? Apparently, many are governed by its presence strolling across the astral plains with us.

 

Part four.

Walking with Strangers.

I walked many paths the last  three months. Winding, rising, falling, twists and turns, meeting many a person that stopped to share as well as many on bikes that merely said 'passing left', 'passing right' and the occasionally asshole that hit me. I know how to tumble with impact as decades of skiing taught me this. I always stood to the sides of paved trails. Too bad these morons that struck me had not to same skills as I. Yeppers, they cartwheeled and in two cases, tomahawked as they left their bikes. They blamed me for their striking me. Why? Because I had a camera. I truly believe there is no end to man kinds stupidity.

There are so many areas we can explore, wondrous sights to behold if we'd just get off our asses and take a walk. C'mon, what's left of thoughtful, emotional humanity, and just throw on a pair disposable or water worthy Gators and take an hour in a single month of time and see what I see.

                                      
                                    To the shot below this statement. I know fully well this is neither vibrant nor solid for photography sake, I did enjoy this shot. When i saw it full sized on my HP, I was most contented. I walked this trail on a rainy day and caught another blue hereon that stood most proudly. I covered my Fuji in a Sav-a-Lot bag and hoped for the best. <<this days shoot, i was only trying to make another book cover possible by its authors desire and grace toward me>> I caught a few pathway photos this day of chill and rain.                             

 

I have something to say about the photograph below this.

Just take a walk up natures stairway before you. Touch the moss, smell the brisk autumn air caress you, feel the leaves fall upon you. Can you just silence your cellphones for a few moments?

As babies begin to crawl, learn to walk and eventually run, can all of us just take a few moments from horrendously busy lives to just simply 'be' in the here and now?

 

 

              Authors Note on Photography and what inspires a Hunter.

Part 2.

 

There is so much for us to share.

 

Over the decades, I'd like to believe I shared such wondrous things with my children, my nephew and many others not related by blood/DNA.

Over the years, especially in the last several, I believe I failed on this. I so crashed and burned helping them almost losing myself in the process.

 

This did not bother me as I did the best I could.

 

They so cling to phones and text when they could so talk to those mere blocks from them. If not fallen to technology, they seem to be so caught in depths of immediate desperation for feedback that no matter what beauty I can point out, they shut themselves down.

 

I think via F-book and this blog, perhaps I have some redemption. Globally,  I seem to make some infinitesimal  sense to others with both with written thoughts and photos.

 

 

                This is the end of part two of  Photography and what inspires a Hunter.Part 2.

 

It is with my hopes you found this something meaningful in your lives.

 

Take care of you and your corner of the world,

Mark William Darus

 

Photography and what inspires a Hunter. Part One.

                                            
                             Photography and what inspires a Hunter.
                                                     Part One.
                                          By Mark William Darus

　

　

I had a rebirth of my fondness for photography this past July 2012. I have no clue where the impulse came that had me purchase a 49 dollar Kodak EasyShare camera from Big Lots. Within an hour, I took over a hundred shots, came home, excitedly planted them into my HP and was once again transported into the realm of capturing life on many angles.

This occurred roughly a month and week before Progressive Insurance canned me for a single error. Nice!

Painfully, slowly, many a stumble fallen with smashing nose, smallest of baby steps attempted, I found out how to post them here in my ever growing Brain-Child: Psychopathy: Another Life.

After posting these on F-Book, albeit with the ignorance of an absolute beginner, I began receiving so many positive responses I was most completely flabbergasted.

In time so short after strolling once again in the lands of Cleveland Ohio, capturing my tiny corner of the world as I saw it, I was asked for permission to use one of my photographs for a book cover by a great author of poetry. Once living in the USA, she then resided in Thailand, currently heading toward another life in Beijing China. She shared with me how her publisher was somewhat hesitant in using a shot from such an unknown shot-taker like me. I understood this fully, and was grateful for her consideration. Know this: Who in their right mind, or in my case, a odd mind, would think it could possibly happen?

A word on my ‘odd mind’ statement: I have always been labeled ‘different’ than others by girlfriends, friends, coworkers and others parents over the decades. Based on my thoughts and viewpoints that so clearly walk a separate path from them. I usually alienated many in short spans of time that I learned to accept it as merely a matter of course. <pardon this small pun, but many said I was very coarse. Some further said I was like that of 20 grit sand paper attempting to caress an exposed thin-skinned forearm.>

Without further delay, please accept the words behind these photographs.

<<<click on the photos for full view.>>>>>

                               

                        This was one of my favorite shots in the first 24 hours of going digital. I was sent the FLO (Prog promo BS, with the name ROADKILL) Granted, she had a view of me that accepted my way of thinking, but took the time to not only give it a nic, but to have a major company print it and make a magnet for it. How friggin' cool is that? I had set the objects in this pic many months before my psych-leave. < I was diagnosed being bipolar and another aspect of mental difference.>  I've always loved rhino's since my youngest daughter took a liking for my Brunswick Rhino-Pro bowling ball back when. From that point, nearly everyone gave me rhino's. The crayon coloured part in the lower left was from someone i worked with: Her tag was BOBO. The rest of it, well, tell me how Rhino's don't rule.

            This caught me. It graced me with several colours and sharp clarity. Off center, I was drawn into the lower left, ascending to its center.

                          This was the first of my photos to have a title: naming this after a Missing Persons song: Noticeable Ones. I labeled this: Notice me!
Taken in Solon Ohio on a deck in mid July 2012, this one holds a special place in my minds eye.

 

As the man made quite often defies nature, I was given this chance when I fell leaving work on 07-19-2012. Falling was solely on my part as I failed to step over a fire hose. Looking up, this is what I saw. Remembering an LP Cover by YES: Going for the One, albeit dizzy, I snatched this one. This was a shot of the marriage of happenstance and some insight I will never understand.  I believe this 'marriage' would follow me, grace me, take me in its arms and guide me.

 

Often enjoyed what I have often referred to as 'God Paintings', I have always looked to the sky in awe. Know this: Every time you look to the clouds you will NEVER see a picture just like it.
              Be your god, Allah, Atheism (Where you are your own God.) Baptist, Buddha, Calvinists (a church a great American, Stonewall Jackson was a member of), Catholic Church and its leader, The Pope. The Church of Bob (the Subgenious), Emperors (to many a fine Country that believe this person Divine in their leadership and God.) Flying Spaghetti Monster (also know as Pastaforians by its followers), Frisbee (and it's mystical spinning), Jehovah Witnesses, Judaism (and when you, Christians, talk down about the Jews remember this, wasn't Jesus a Jew by birth?  , KKK (and their unique twist on Christianity,) Mormon, Neo-Nazi's (not so unlike that of  the KKK, they have yet another spin on the word of the Christ.) Satanism (so unlike Christianity, they just are with no subdivisions i know of.) Wicca (a church, if you will, that Enya and other so-called Pagans are called.)

            Call me pointless after the above paragraph, but in my opinion, all of us have some form of higher power we look up to.

             Allow me to present to you the wondrous grace of images that are so freely given to all of us each and every day of our lives.
              All the cloud photos are untouched in any way, shape or form.

 

I sent this shot to a few people. Asking them if they remember Highlights magazines, most seen in dentists offices in the 70's, how many things can you name in this pic.  When I planted this on my 'puter and enlarged it, I was amazed by what i did not see when i took it.
  All i saw when I aimed the camera  was the laser-like beams. I took this one in 'AutoMode'. This occurred a few weeks before I felt confident to go complete 'manual mode'.

 

 

 

 

From clouds, which I will always look to every minute of every hour whenever I walk this Earth as I raise my eyes to see their splendid paintings, I went to things I could never grow yet always marveled at their glory......... I ventured to flowers. Yeah, this caught a few off guard with my interest.

   What caught my eye was simply this at first: Like the myriad of snowflakes that landed on my glasses while skiing, no two ever looked the same. So very similar to humanity with its subtleties, grace and frailties, each with its importance and place around us, individual and needed sharing a common ground as it lives.

This was taken July 21 2012. I was taken by the variance of colours, the veins in the leaves and darker blue sky going lighter going to the bottom left of the frame. ( this was the beginning of patience on my part. I took roughly 75 shots of this and had one i liked.)

Granted, this capture is not so one of flowers and nature. I found this while strolling a path with a highly loyal woman in my life. These flowers sitting on a bench struck me like a sledge hammer crushing a foot.  Before I took this one of three shots, i had to ask myself what were the thoughts, reason, emotions given by someone that placed them here?

 

Were these placed as a memorial of a lost romantic loved one?  Did someone miss a passed parent that shared this beautiful place them as they grew up? Did some guy proclaim his love to a woman that did not share his sentiments?

I'll never know, but I had a sense/vibe that someone should take notice and give it some justice or memory. Above this shot was a grand canopy of green leaves and skies.

Someone placed or tossed them there. I am thankful for this.

 

 

 

 

                           While strolling our fantastic and free Metropark system and Riverside cemetery, I met many an inhabitant. In their village it was I that was the stranger. Stealing both my mind and spirit by their unyielding fear of me treading on their soil, I began to fire off shot after shot. Insects and animals, no different than any of us as we  share this planet with them, I hunkered down. Funny how allergic to bees I am and my fear of them, that is, unless i hold a camera in my small hands.
                  We share this place with so many species. What we all have in common is the desire to survive and raise our children. To not be destroyed and crushed and placed into oblivion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                          This last is what I consider to be my best living life shot to date. I was fortunate enough to catch a bird, lower left, going for food.

                             This is the Closing of part one. The next segment, which will be placed here this coming Sunday, will have what I call violent seas, threatening skies, Cleveland Steel, shots of humanity loving, praying and simply walking away. It will also comp shots as I saw them.

                Til then, be at peace and the splendor around us.


                With Milk and Kisses,
                 Mark William Darus 10062012