This is a Trachyphyllia geoffroyi. It has a common figure 8 shape, but comes in a variety of other shapes.
The header shot links to other images of the project I`m working on. I have included detail crops of the larger images, to show the expertise of the artist`s craft. The planes in these images are B-17`s. The image called "Final Approach" is of my friend`s plane. After completing 26 missions over Germany in WW2, he was shot down, & wounded. He spent the remainder of the war as a POW.
He is now 80+ yrs. old, & I`m documenting a lot of his files for history`s sake.
The images are taken from three sources. One is a small photograph (Final Approach) that is 3.5x4.5 inches.
I shoot a photo of it at high res. then enlarge it.
In that image, you can see a detail of a man on a bicycle, smoking a pipe, & wearing a reddish brown jacket & a fedora.
The other image is a color transparency of the same size as the first one. For that one I used a Light Tray for slides, but I got a better result by paper clipping it to a sheet of paper & pinning that to the wall, next to a window in my office, with the subject & it`s paper backing, extended into the sunlight streaming in the window. Both of these images are of paintings in oil, by Merv Corning & commissioned by my friend. I think the paintings are exceptional in their color & the cicumstances depicted.
In "Wounded On Board", the light on the farmland & the details in the image do not distract from the seriousness of the situation. The plane is limping back with one engine out, another spitting up chunks of hot metal, & there are two seriously wounded men on board. I`ve read a lot of the mission reports & feel like I almost know some of the men that were with Dick during those times. He was just over 20 years old at the time. I`ve only known him for 25 years but It`s like I`ve always known him.
21 comments:
Hi Head.
Wonderful shots all the way around. I wasn't sure if the muscle shot was plant or animal at first.
I like the paintings also. FDad was in WWII, but I was too young or too just caught up in myself at the time to ask him about it before he passed away. I do remember him talking about the ship he was on in the pacific, and how a kamikaze had hit his ship and how close it was to him. He always said he was very lucky he wasn't a few feet over, and very very lucky to have come back home alive.
I just kept looking at that and thinking that's the prettiest intestine I've ever seen -- which probably indicates I should reconsider commenting on Monday mornings.
Those are my favourite colours! Vibrant pinks, blues, greens ... :)
My gramps was in WWII -- in the Navy. I've never thought of documenting artwork in this. Thanks for explaining your technique here Head.
Off to explore.
... in this way.
:)
andif,lol. Looks like a Slinky to me.
What were those old candies that were perfectly round, pastel colors, thin, crunchy, came in a roll? Something like decco? Used to be sold at the movies, I think? I couldn't find them under that name on the web. Anyway, this reminds me of those, too. :)
Thanks FM,
Any shots from my tanks are animal, although you didn`t have any way of knowing it came from a tank.
It seems that during war, everybody who was there & who came back, did so because fate interceded, on their behalf.
Andif,
That makes me sick to my stomach. I didn`t think you had the guts to make that comment.
Thank god you did qualify it with "Prettiest".
( I`m kidding)
It is strange what people see at first glance. I had a young lady who took offense when I was showing her some of the specimens in that tank. When she came around to that side & saw this one, I think she though I was a "broujos". She looked at me as if I had insulted her & walked away from the tank. I never found out what she thought. I had the idea at the time, she must have thought I had put a fake female body part in the tank. I don`t know why that thought came up, but I`m pretty good at scoping out people. That was one of the strangest reactions though.
Olivia, between you,FM & myself, we all have a connection to the sea it seems.
With a little experimenting, one can usually figure out how to get acceptable results.
At least now, I can provide my friend with large prints of images that could only be seen as a negative, a color transparency, or a small proof shot.
T`est bienvenue.
Off you go.
Olivia,
"...in this way." ?
It`s my way or the highway. hah
Nancy p,
A pinky Slinky.
I like it.
Nancy p,
If you let them melt in your mouth, the center would melt through. Right? Wrapped in cellophane?
Wanna go to the movies?
Yes, those candies! I'd forgotten all about the center melting through. Let's go to the movies and sit on the front row and eat red licorice sticks and chocolate covered raisins and whatever those things are called.
Nancy p,
The raisinettes, then the gummy bears. The malt balls were also cool.
Who cares what the movie is, right.. right?
But how`s about the balcony.
Slo-Pokes were really my fav.
Balcony, of course.
Front row. Feet up unless it blocks somebody's view.
NECCO WAFERS!!! Since 1847.
Nancy p,
Good memory.
Necking Neccos, that`s them.
Teenage days & nightmoves.
Ah, and the Silver Bullet Band. Good times.
All this, from a pretty intestine. :)
Nancy p
Yes it`s amazing what comes up at times of "Remember when..."
Have a great day. Nice talking, Ms. Nancy p
That beastie is gorgeous! I immediately thought of the rucked velvet edging of a jacket my great-grandmother had. I never saw her wear it (she died when I was about 3), but the velvet rings, faded from red into my favorite magentas and purples. . .I'd be a little kid leaving nose marks on the glass, just to take in that velvety color.
The plane painting reminds me of my dad - also a WWII flyer, but in the Pacific. The light in the painting, and the detail, is wonderful.
Far surpasses the more typical "picture of military plane" that makes the context kind of irrelevant. In your picture, the setting tells much of the story, of people, not a weapon.
Kidspeak,
I`m glad you have memories of your grandmother. This is a very sensuous looking speciimen.
You could not have done better, in conveying my thoughts on the paintaings. The details in the paintings are not of a military nature, but of people & emotion. The man on a bicycle stopping & wondering about his future hanging in the hands of these young men, perhaps. In the other painting, the light gives a feeling of hope even as there are wounded on board. But life goes on as the green fields attest. I love the lighting in both of these paintings. I have more of them I have to work on. I`ll post them when I get to those.
Not only do I see the paintings but I also read the mens` thoughts & the newspaper clippings of the progress in locating them in different POW camps.
My friend Dick Sawyer, was shot down Dec.31st, but his family found out he was still alive, in April.
I`ve read the original notification, to his mother, by telegram, of his being shot down over Germany. I`m very pleased you saw the paintings in the same light I did. Thank you.
I was thinking of "Kidspeak`s Flight" a few mins. ago, as it`s a full moon, & it will be in eclipse in a few hours. Hopefully I`ll be able to get some shots of it.
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