Courtenay 31 October 2023

As I wait for my oblivion, I now understand that I am a writer (be I a good one or not, is not of any importance) and that since my Rosemary died on December 9 2020 most of my blogs are about my grief for her loss. She is a form of inspiration. Writing every day is a purpose to keep on.

For all my 52 years with Rosemary, she nagged me (gently most of the time). I have a friend called Courtenay who reminds me of Rosemary because she nags me, too. In a different way, in that beginning in 2019, when she first contacted, me she is constantly asking me to take her photographs. Rosemary was always behind me telling me to photograph our daughters or granddaughters. So I have few photographs of Rosemary (but some good ones).

It has come to the point, that Courtenay in her insisting, has made me try out all kinds of photographic methods so we can keep on.

In our last session this past 31 October, I shot 52 photographs and I can assert that 50 of them are awfully good. Can something that good be that easy?

It must have something to do with her.

But then, I am using techniques that so many photographers disdain.They want everything sharp, and the detail all there to be discerned completely. I am getting swirls with a slow shutter and pushing my digital camera to fantastic failure.

While I no longer have the two pushy (nagging?) art directors Rick Staehling (he died) and Chris Dahl (working as an artist), somehow they are in my mind pushing me to do stuff differently, to escape the tried and true.

The two techniques here are:

1. Gross underexposure with my Fuji X-E3

2. A half a second exposure moving my camera from up to down during the shutter being open with that Fuji X-E3.