Virtual Brush Box

Blogging About Blogging

Awareness of the outside world. ANC: Players mourn loss of Alabama pool hall where everybody knew your name, McKinney, July 29, 2022.

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[Digital Has Replaced the Darkroom, Portrait of A Photographer In Post Production, Guest Photo] 2019, photo by Meg McKinney

Getting back into photography with the big camera, for all the reasons stated previously: self-improvement, diversion, professional development & and so on.

Plan is to split Friday posts between fitness & photography. I’m sorta running out of things to say about walking around the pasture but I’m not ready to commit to four photo posts a month. Two, I should be able to handle. Maybe?

Completely, blatantly using the blog as combination carrot & stick to motivate me. This has worked for improving my graphic design skills on Sunday posts, less well with fiction on Saturdays. I’ll find out where photography falls on that spectrum.

This post is for your amusement & my reference, as the blog has become my external memory.

Past Classes

Tutorials with Meg, 2014-2017 [Archives, subsection Photo Classes & Advice Posts]

OMSP Nature 2017
[Foto Friday: Spotted at Oak Mountain State Park] water
[Foto Friday: Bird at Oak Mountain State Park]
[Foto Friday: Spotted at Sunset]

Samford Academy of the Arts Photography Classes
Know Your Nikon 2018 [Foto Friday: Photo Class Without The Photos]
Basic Photography 2018 [It’s All Grist for the Mill, Spotted at Kymulga Grist Mill]
History in Plain Sight 2018
[Spotted on the Vulcan Trail]
[Spotted at the Birmingham Mural]
[Spotted Spots Ghost Ads]

Sloss Color & Shadow 2019 [Color & Shadow & Spotted]

Past Photo Posts, not cited above

So, I came home and thought about why I photograph.

Self-Improvement
It’s good to learn new things, right?

Self-Expression
Making the blog more visual.

Self-Employment
I used to be paid to take photos. Someday someone might do so again. Would be good if I remembered how.

[Foto Theory]

2015 [Camera, The Rest of the Story]

2016, photo by Meg McKinney [Foto Friday: Sloss Furnaces]

2016, photo by Meg McKinney [Foto Friday: Sloss Furnaces]

2019, photo by Meg McKinney [Portrait of A Photographer]

Onwards!
Katherine

Fit To Ride

Awareness of the outside world. APM: Mary Peltola becomes first Alaska Native elected to Congress, Ruskin & George, August 31, 2022.

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Partway back to status quo ante prior to tweaking my ankle. [Bored]

Lots of walking. Getting back on bicycle. OTOH, have not tried Tai Chi yet. So many of the moves involve standing in one place and twisting. I’m probably fine, but keep finding reasons to delay it.

Places are walks, one mile unless noted.

New Places

UAB, outside
Update, UAB = The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Walmart as indoor gym. Member of household was shopping, so they got $ from us. Did twice.

Blount Cultural Park, Montgomery, Run For The Zoo Virtual 5K, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago. Update [Puttering Around The Park, Walk Report, LPZ Run For The Zoo Virtual 5K 2022]

The Summit, semi-new. Walked behind buildings on return. [Inside and Outside, Lots of Walks]

Repeat Places

Limestone Park [Der Spaziergang, New Park Old Park]

UAB, inside. UAB hospital walking trail [Following The Signs]
Update, UAB = The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Heardmont Park [Strolling Along The Edges]

Unnamed corporate park [Another Lakeside Stroll, Corporate Bronze]

Local park

Pasture

Virtual Places

Australia, biking, finished virtual tour. [Biking Virtually, Great Ocean Road, The Sequel]

Minnesota, walking & biking. [Biking and Walking Virtually, Mississippi River, Part One, Minnesota]

Kentucky, walking, above. [Der Spaziergang, Walk Report, The Strudel Sprint Virtual 5K, BreyerFest 2022]

Chicago, walking, above.

Data Dump

Walking – 21 days

Biking – 4 days

Riding – 3 lessons & 2 horses shows, which do not preclude exercise but tend to wear me out. Lesson more than horse show. Usually wired after a show.

Nothing – 5 days, ’tis the season of afternoon thunderstorms.

Doubles – 5 days, one-mile stroll secondary to bike or riding.

Onwards!
Katherine

Blogging About Blogging

Awareness of the outside world. A cute Wordle story. Braymere Custom Saddlery: O-L-I-V-E, Monday, April 25, 2022.
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Text of the new Now page. [Archive]

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As of 1 September 2022

After taking most of last month off, horses are back in work. (Crosses fingers.)

Milton is lungeing preparatory to maybe hitching again.

Rodney is going for gentle walks.

Till next month.

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Onwards!
Katherine

Riding, Vicariously

Awareness of the outside world. The Hoof Blog: Farriers at the Herning 2022 FEI World Championships: Who was minding the forge? Saturday, August 27, 2022

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No lesson last week, barn at Louisville.

[The Illustrated Month, August]

SSF entry picks up a ribbon. You can see Coach Courtney’s smile from here.

Helmet Watch

By my count, five helmets out of 18 in class 26 Hunter Country Pleasure. The rest wore huntcaps.

Helmets placed 2nd, 3rd, & 5th. So, no obvious helmet prejudice. OTOH, less visible difference between helmet (with harness) and huntcap (same shape, no harness) than between helmet and bowler/top hat (traditional ASB wear), or helmet and no hat.

In these classes, there is always one rider who looks to me that they do non-ASB activities on the regular. That pair never places well. When I’m feeling curmudgeonly, I fuss that a real-time jumping horse should do well in HCP. When I’m feeling reasonable, I recognize that it is a matter of different criteria. HCP is more about ASB Country Pleasure while wearing hunter tack than about being an AHSA hunter. Yeah, I know, I still think of it as the AHSA.

Everyone in Junior Roadster had a helmet, which I suspect is a requirement.

Two of seven in Amateur Roadster Under Saddle, but they looked like juniors. Juniors riding in amateur classes? Adults who just look young to me?

Mask Watch

One on gatekeeper.

Diversity watch

A few more Black and Asian faces sprinkled among the riders. Saddle seat always has more boys than hunt seat does. A few stout physiques. However, the overall paradigm remains thin, white, and female, at least among the kids and amateurs.

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Also watched the USEF/AVA Vaulting National Championship on USEF Network.

Vaulting victory gallop. After the ribbon presentation, the lunger & horse walk off quietly while the vaulters, on foot, run around the ring.

Onwards!
Katherine

Horsekeeping Prior to Riding

Awareness of the outside world. Vox: Anyone can fall for online scams — even you. Here’s how to avoid them, Morrison, Jun 29, 2022.

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In which we reintroduce the concept of work to the horses.

Brushes located.

Tack dusted off.

The above applied in requisite order.

Milton lunged.

Rodney walked from mounting block to ring. Played couch while Milton trotted a handful of circles.

Gold stars all around.

May this be the beginning of a fruitful autumn.

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In related news, how can a month with two horses shows suck so much pond water?

Background.

Saturday 6 August, horse show. The excitement of tiny proto-jumps only lasts so long. [Doctor Whooves Plays In The Pony Ring]
Sunday, easy recovery ride.
Monday, becomes obvious that we are in dog hospice mode. [Celebrate Dogs]
Tuesday, Rodney’s leg blows up. [It’s Always Something]

Sunday 14 August, ASB horse show. Distraction not working as well as it used to. [Red Queen Reprise]

Meanwhile back at the ranch, cue three week sabbatical.
[Rodney’s Foot Saga Continues]
[What About Meeeee? Milton Update]
[Feets Update]
[Taking a Splinter to the ER, Rodney Visits the Vet]

Sunday 28 August, deferalization.

I know one is not suppose to wish one’s life away, but Come on, September! [The Illustrated Month, August]

Onwards!
Katherine

Horsekeeping

Awareness of the outside world. “The uncrewed Artemis I mission … is targeting liftoff on August 29 between 8:33 a.m. ET and 10:33 a.m. ET from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.” CNN: How to watch the Artemis I mission lift off to the moon, Strickland, August 28, 2022. Emphasis mine.

Update. CNN: Today’s Artemis I launch has been scrubbed after engine issue, Strickland, August 29, 2022. Phooey.

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The Diagnosis, a play in one act.

Us: Rodney’s heel is swollen & sore. It’s minor but taking forever to heal.

Vet, pokes & prods: Yup.

Us: Do you need to … sedate … block … ultrasound?

Vet: Nope.

Us: Well, okay then.

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I jest, but we were closing in on three weeks. It was time for expert eyes. Bottom line. His heel is annoyed. It will get over itself. Eventually.

Well, okay then.

Onwards!
Katherine

Images

Art of the outside world. The Met: Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color. Check out the tabs for Visiting Guide & Exhibition Objects.

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X, History of a Color by Michel Pastoureau, Princeton. Had Blue & Black. Splurged on the rest of the rainbow. Hence the shiny covers. They are sitll in plastic. White has been pre-ordered for next year. In honor of this, I went through blog photos looking for color.

[My First Show, Sorta]

[Blue At The Barn]

“Whenever I see blue duct tape, I think of you.” [What Makes You, You? A Blog Hop.]

Black & white photography. Photo by me. Post-processing by McKinney Photography. [Foto Friday: Morning Mist]

Photo by Ginni Bush. [The Return of Doctor Whooves, FCHP Schooling Show, April 2021, Guest Photos II]

[Green Horses on the Wall, Lisbon, Portugal, Guest Photo]

“Seeing what I could do with a single color.” [An Exercise in Green]

“BTW, the green ribbon measures 41 inches from crown to tip.” [Putting The Show In Showmanship, Show Report, Alabama Charity 2019, Riding]

[Foto Friday: Red Queen]

[Milton SitRep, Saddle & Supplements & Success]

[The Canadian Horse & The Red Queen Take Second, Show Report, Alabama Fun Show #1 2018, ERA Stables]

[Yellow Associations]

[Signs of Summer]

[Show Report: Important Questions from NACHS 2014, Part 2]

[Speaking Of Ribbons]

What I Learned

Finding color photos – Easy.

Finding photos where the color was significant – Hard.

There are 11 years of blog photos to chose from. Aside from a few arty shots, all of them are in color. Most of the time the color was incidental.

Pastoureau’s examples are mainly paintings, which are a) the historical option & b) where each element is a choice.

In day-to-day life, we may wear a shirt because it is the requisite level of formality/informality, comfortable, &/or clean. Color is secondary, at least in my life.

Similarly, unless one shows Palominos or Paints, horse color is incidental to attitude, performance, level of formality/informality, comfort, and so on.

So I ended up with 1) ribbons, where the color of the object is part of the meaning of the object. Change the color, change the object, and 2) team shirts & saddlepads.

Onwards!
Katherine