The Secret of the Sea

 

The Secret of the Sea

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(from Seaside and Fireside, 1850)

Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me

As I gaze upon the sea!

All the old romantic legends,

All my dreams, come back to me.

Sails of silk and ropes of sandal,

Such as gleam in ancient lore;

And the singing of the sailors,

And the answer from the shore!

Most of all, the Spanish ballad

Haunts me oft, and tarries long,

Of the noble Count Arnaldos

And the sailor's mystic song.

Like the long waves on a sea-beach,

Where the sand as silver shines,

With a soft, monotonous cadence,

Flow its unrhymed lyric lines:—

Telling how the Count Arnaldos,

With his hawk upon his hand,

Saw a fair and stately galley,

Steering onward to the land;—

How he heard the ancient helmsman

Chant a song so wild and clear,

That the sailing sea-bird slowly

Poised upon the mast to hear,

Till his soul was full of longing,

And he cried, with impulse strong,—

“Helmsman! for the love of heaven,

Teach me, too, that wondrous song!”

“Wouldst thou,”—so the helmsman answered,

“Learn the secret of the sea?

Only those who brave its dangers

Comprehend its mystery!”

In each sail that skims the horizon,

In each landward-blowing breeze,

I behold that stately galley,

Hear those mournful melodies;

Till my soul is full of longing

For the secret of the sea,

And the heart of the great ocean

Sends a thrilling pulse through me.

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Leica M9 35mm Summicron

@ 2014 Photo Pro - Jeffrey P. Hopp

Of Time, Long Past

The Gift of Time

The Gift of Time

It is a mystery what we call Time: 

A little space of day which turns to night; 

A little span of sorrow and delight: 

Of tearful dirges and of joy-bells’ chime.

And yet its calm, slow-moving, noiseless feet

Can lead to glory-even thru defeat, 

Enclose the wicked within their self-made bars, 

And lift God-fearing souls beyond the stars! 

O but foolish, blind, ungrateful souls are they

That, heedless, see no gift in each new day.

(Based on “A Jubilee Ode” by Mary Elizabeth Blake)

Leica M9 35mm Summicron

@ 2014 Photo Pro - Jeffrey P. Hopp

Charleston in the style Impressionistic

Calm, Peaceful, and Untroubled: "An Oasis of Serenity"

The Impressionists found that they could capture the momentary and transient effects of sunlight by painting en plein air. ( French expression which means "in the open air.") They portrayed overall visual effects instead of details, and used short "broken" brush strokes of mixed and pure unmixed colour—not blended smoothly or shaded, as was customary—to achieve an effect of intense colour vibration.

Here, I've employed the use of mixed media to create the effect of a photograph inside of an impressionistic painting. I find that pre-visualization really inspires some very interesting imagery. Creating photographs that include 'the experience' is quite rewarding.

Tools used in this session are a Leica M9 camera with a 35mm Summicron lens. Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, and the plugin Pixelbender.

  @ 2014 Photo Pro - Jeffrey P. Hopp

Waiting

 

  

Get lost when traveling. Don't have expectations. Be receptive to the environment.

Leica M9 35mm Summicron

@ 2014 Photo Pro - Jeffrey P. Hopp