World Exxpress

World Exxpress, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

One stop shopping for all your essential needs.

Fish Truck

Fish Truck, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

New possibilities...

I've been testing some new camera equipment, and it's amazing how digital imaging technology keeps moving forward.  I would have never attempted trying a shot like this unless I planned on doing some HDR conversion at home on the computer.

The camera can handle all of that with a single click and a brief wait for it to process.  It call also do in camera pano stitching, 3D, HD Video, and much more.

This post isn't about the specific camera I'm testing (for right now), but more about the possibilities opened up in shooting.... more time in the field... less time behind the computer.

Exciting.

Say cheese

Say cheese, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

My iPhone is getting me to explore new possibilities, and probably impacting photography as much as the DSLR did...

Smile for the camera!

Technology is changing how we view the world, and the world itself.... some for the better, some not.

We've now got tools that are always with us... we can tell stories only limited by our imaginations.

Economic Outlook

Economic Outlook, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

you lift me up
then drop me again
you fill me
I runneth over again
lifetimes have seconds
to be reborn and then die
you're a turn of succession
before winters cry
so stirring
it's autumn again...

...things aren't looking good

Merged and wet

Merged and wet, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Who says you can't take photos on a rainy day...  You might have to get a little creative, but there's no reason to put your camera away.

Look out the window of a coffee shop of people walking down the street with their umbrellas, or find a relatively dry spot to set up your camera and shoot reflections from passing cars on wet streets at dusk.

Next time it rains, look around....  the possibilities are boundless.

Empty Cart

Empty Cart, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Anyone who thinks the economy has recovered isn't paying attention.

We've been sold vapor and lies....  empty words, the rhetoric of failure.

Ghosts In Colour

Ghosts In Colour, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

we, so tired close our eyes
and cast our nets out
for some dreams

We meant something once

We meant something once, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

you wrote it down to show the world,
a declaration of our love...
letters carved in a tree,
words that haunt me...
no solace or comfort from above,
just painful reminders
for all to see....
We meant something once.

Showing some Spring

Showing some Spring, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

from you came the spring
and the waters to nourish a soul
came the season to heal and grow

Urban XX

Urban XX, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

the great and wonderful things we were to do...
they never came to pass....
just hollow promises and seductive lies...

Where we used to meet

Where we used to meet, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

You'd get the chicken,
I'd get the beef,
We'd watch the sunset,
Where we used to meet.

Echoes of mercy

Echoes of mercy, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

He spake well who said that graves are the footprints of angels. 

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I'm not one who's big on causes.  I've seen too many of them get hijacked and corrupted.

That being said, events in my life, and in the lives of those that have meant much to me, have weighed heavily upon me.

As we get older, death becomes a bigger part of life.  That's a natural circumstance of aging.  Some folks sit each morning reading obituaries with their coffee and feel blessed for another day of living.

Ignored are the stories behind the obituaries.  The anguish and suffering that we force upon those we love.

This isn't something we'd normally do, but in the final stages of a person's life we do.  Why is that?  It's cultural, and selfish, and I believe we need to think about this as a society, and make some difficult decisions and change.

My uncle passed away this past year.  Just before Christmas.  It was difficult, to say the least, for the family.

He had a heart attack in July, but survived, and was recovering nicely.  But it turns out that a much more serious health issue had caused the heart problem.  Terminal cancer, but by the time the doctors realized this, it was too late.

There was really nothing that could be done.  My uncle decided he wanted to be home with his family for his remaining days.

Those days turned into weeks, lasting from just before Thanksgiving until the middle of December.  He basically starved to death.

The good part of it was that he got to spend some time with his family, and had some time to say goodbye.

He was a good and gracious man, who gave to me my love of music.  He played boogie-woogie piano which I just could never get enough of when I was a kid, and still can't.

He raised three daughters, and was a wonderful grandfather.

But the end was hard for the family.

He couldn't eat, and there was no Thanksgiving dinner as the smell of food in the house was too much for him.

My cousin shared precious moments of the last days with him, siting on the porch in the afternoon sun listening to the birds, and enjoying the quite as the breeze wrestled the leaves of the trees.

They'd sit quietly, and he'd comment "nice day" every once in a while.

Make no mistake he was suffering, and would ask "why is it taking so long?"... to die.

He passed in his sleep, and his suffering finally ended after weeks of being ravaged by cancer.

Looking back, it might have been better to have died from the heart attack.

His family didn't want him to suffer, but that was the only option they had.

A year or so prior to this, another person very dear to me was also suffering from the ravages of cancer.  In his case, he'd gone through very aggressive surgery, chemo and radiation treatments to no avail.  He was dying and the drugs weren't helping him with the pain.  He suffered greatly.

In the end, as his wife was talking with a hospice worker in the living room, he shot himself in the bedroom. They didn't connect the muffled sound from the other room at first.  Needless to say, it was a shock when they found him dead.  In his mind, that must have been his only option.

Another person that was also close to me also shot himself after suffering from a long illness.  He was was alone when he died, and wasn't found right away.

All of these people were good men.  Served their country, and communities.  They loved their families, and were loved.

I miss them.

All of this gets me to my point.  We can do better for those we love.

It's time we start to talk about Death With Dignity and do right by those we love.  We need to make a cultural shift.

Angels descending, bring from above,

Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.  
~ Fanny J. Crosby

Your last vacation

Your last vacation, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

This sights came in....
tomorrow hard to understand...
nothing left to pursue, all was here
in the palms of our hands...
every spoken word was true,
the world glowed an honest hue.
Disaster has faded away,
beyond memory, all is eternity
corruption fallen to harmony...
all is as it should be...
we put the past away today,
leaving it there to stay,
and stopped running around in yesterdays...

Trapped

Trapped, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Sensitively broken like the walls
and the lines between them...
click, click, click

The fallen

...and it all goes back to the roots of time,
suffering, suffering
shambles of the past.

We ran out of war and disease,
we ran out of love and hate,
we ran out of everything...

Nobody knows how it happened,
there was nothing we could do,
so we sat and waited.

Our future, smoke and ashes...

On the wet streets

On the wet streets, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

City turns around when no one is looking
Mother stays busy with sewing and cooking
City turns around when the lights are out
Father stays busy with beer and a TV bout
City turns around while the Pastor preaches
President stays busy with politics and speeches
City turns around while children sleep
Shepherds keep busy tending their sheep
City turns around as the sun sets
Loan sharks keep busy collecting their debts
City turns around as music plays aloud
Police keep busy controlling a restless crowd
City turns around....
While we all face the ground...

Anger Management

Anger Management, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Headline fight
calling for attention
wrong or right
from arid desert
to arctic zone
war won't leave us alone
sustained on misleading information
forgetting the burnt red
the innocent charred bones
everyone's a Jones
without name or face
until apology letters
reach waiting homes

No one around

No one around, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Can't think of anywhere else I'd like to be right now,
but here in the sand, in this third season of the beach.

Employee Zero

Employee Zero, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

little old men,
bending from weary backs.....
spending their days in hours,
of seconds...
taking apart their life and dreams,
bit by bit, piece by piece,,,
until the worms come along

The red umbrella

The red umbrella, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Soft light shines through the window pane to reveal the morning, cold.
Slowly raindrops hit the dark pavement reflecting back the occasional white line from the wet road.
It's quiet, these last moments we share before you depart.
The goodbyes are said,
you catch your flight...
Until we meet again my friend,
you're in my heart.

Fenced off dreams

Fenced off dreams, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

The result of our own neglect. We've been living with our heads in the ground.

Kids today

Kids today, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Time stood still when we were young...
that all changed with age,
as did emotions, from love to rage.
Clocks began their double time,
dragging us forward,
pushing from behind...
by the time we stop to catch our breath,
we're staring at the face of death...
Kids today play a different game,
though the results will be the same....

How I forget

How I forget, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

On a single plain,
time to transcend...
there and back again.
I've seen the world,
from beginning to end...
I've known the remote past,
from breath first,
and see the future,
until breath last...

Forked

Forked, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

I went to a garden party to reminisce with my old friends...

On Ramp

On Ramp, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

I've always liked street photography, and slice of life photography too. Just scenes from the everyday....

They've got stories to tell too, and can be just as interesting as anything else...

We just seldom listen to what they may have to say.

Watching you fade away

Watching you fade away, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

He goes, he tries
to claim his prize,
he tries...
slightly, slowly pries...
unsure, she cries
so slow, so slow
he needs a sign
she says "GO"

Ground

Ground, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Lately I've taken an extra interest in the everyday world around me.

Mostly, because I've not been able to shoot much, but also to step back and look at the stories they're telling.

It's interesting, compelling, and some nonsense all at the same time.

Still trying to find me

Still trying to find me, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Cold tracks roam
passing jagged beams
no one's home
The receiver cries relentlessly...
burning embers,
crackling company...
Together we wait
you falling away used,
and I in expectation...

Keeping Secrets

Keeping Secrets, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Cut off their tongues
and bombard them with noise
soon they'll forget about that
little voice in their heads...

They'll have no words,
no thoughts to express
just dying memories
once dreams have fled...

Meshed

Meshed, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Sometimes things just fit together...

Deli Girl

Deli Girl, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

She puts it all together,
and keeps me on the run.