Veterans Day

Image 1: Okinawa, Damaged plane graveyard, 1945
Andrew Selep is on the wing on the right side of the plane

Veterans Day has special meaning for me this year.  My father, a World War 2 veteran, passed away in October 2010 at the age of 89.  He lived a long, full life, accomplished many things, and loved his 9 children and 17 grandchildren.  He almost never mentioned WWII, and never brought it up.  Maybe once a decade he would answer questions about World War 2, and only when specifically asked.  

Image 2: Andrew Selep, 1942 - 21 years old

Looking now at photos he had from that time, I remember again the millions of people who did not survive World War 2. Americans have many blessings and freedoms today, and we owe our veterans, both the ones who came back and the ones that did not. 

These photos are worth a thousand words.  Dad was stationed in Okinawa at the end of the war.  He is 24 years old and sitting on the right airplane wing in Image 1 above.  Damaged planes where pushed to the side of the runway and used for parts to keep other planes flying. (Image 3 below.)

Image 3: Okinawa, Damaged plane graveyard, 1945

Like a kid he posed in the wreckage of these planes on Okinawa Island in 1945, reminding me of a adventuresome curiosity and interest he had all his life.  He was 21, and only 139 pounds when he enlisted in August of 1942.  By the end of the war he looks older, had significantly less hair.  He doesn't look like he weighed much more then he did in 1942.

Image 4: Andrew Selep - 24 years old, in damaged plane, Okinawa, 1945

The photo below shows him posing by a sign in Okinawa that someone had made that said "The $64 ?"  I won't go into the history behind the phrase, "the 64 dollar question", but I wonder what that phrase meant to the soldiers, and what soldiers thought the question was near the end of the war (They wouldn't have known the end of the war was around the corner.)

Image 5: Andrew Selep with $ 64 ? sign, Okinawa, 1945

My dad was definitely happy when he did get to leave Okinawa.  This photo shows him packed to leave Okinawa.

Image 5: Andrew Selep leaving Okinawa, 1945

Click on the images to see them enlarged.

 

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I am linking up to these memes:

Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingies Thursday (I was entry 49 of 52). 
Brambleberry Cottage for Time Travel Thursday (I was entry 21 of 24).
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration (I was entry 21 of 66).
Faded Charm for White Wednesday (I was entry 120 of 121).
Romantic Home for Show and Tell (I was entry 28 of 235).   
Jessica for Favorite Things Friday (I was entry 23 of 136).

High School Senior: Dramatic Black and White

I am very excited to see the entries for this weeks "I Heart Faces" challenge. The theme for the week is "Dramatic Black and White". Photographers are to submit a photo with at least one person's face, that shows "dramatic, sensational and/or moody" Black and White. Conversion and editing technique is important for this theme.

I have been studying Black and White photos (and conversions) over the last decade. My "style" for Black and white conversions comes from classic film and vintage photography. In the pre-digital photography days, photographers carefully considered backgrounds, textures, and contrast. Photographers thought out and could plan out what areas of a photo would look dark and what areas would be light. Colored filters with black and white film could be used to control what colors "looked" the lightest in Black and White.

Color photography doesn't remind the photographer to remember what a background will look like in a photo - will the greens look dark or light compared to the subject. Will the blue sky look darker then the skin, or lighter? Some photographers strove to make the skin (of a Caucasian) look creamy and light, a point sometimes overlooked when converting a color photo into Black and White today. Today's photo kiosk Black and White conversion frequently leaves skin looking too dark, which the eye perceives as gray. These details are the reason some people are vaguely disappointed when converting a beautiful color photo into a black and white photo.

My current philosophy (tendency) in converting a black and white photo is somewhat classic - make the skin one of the lightest components in the photo (again, for a Caucasian subject). When you have a bride or subject in a white dress, make the white dress the lightest (but still show fabulous detail in the lace and beading); and then make the skin light, but significantly distinct from the dress.

The High School senior image I choose for the challenge shows my current philosophy of black and white conversion. The result does not feel vintage - with the relatively modern white backdrop paper, I believe the look is contemporary and stunning.


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I am participating in these memes:

I Heart Faces (Week 13, 2010)
Click here to see the winners. 
(I was entry no. 6 out of more then 1250)
I think this is a record for the number of entries to I Heart Faces.

I Heart Face No. 7

My daughter was wondering - What's an outtake?



Well, honey, it's when a photograph doesn't turn out as the photographer hoped for or wanted when they were trying to get the picture they envisioned. Sometimes they end up with something else; and sometimes that something else is pretty funny. Here, I wanted to document my beautiful young family, on our once in a generation vacation to Washington DC, with the capital in the background lit by the sun, gleaming in the distance with the green lawn in front. What I captured instead was the real life memories - squinty eyes and non-cooperation from some in the family as they made the several mile long walk back to the car after a long day of touring. We would only pass this way once, the shot was now or skip it, and a photojournalistic moment was captured.

(Note: After finding out I could have more then one photo, I added the Washington DC photograph.) The I Heart Faces challenge is featuring photos of hilarious outtakes this week.