Destination: Big Bend on a Whim
Film Awakening
by T. Mackay
2y ago
There is an uncomfortable flatness to Texas. In the Lone Star State, this lack of vertical variance turns mounds into mountains---hills into Everest. During the spring and summer this flatness is bearable. With spring come the wildflowers. Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes adorn the rolling hills of central Texas. As spring makes way to summer, scrub oaks dangle Spanish moss and the springs and rivers invite the locals to float and dive to their heart's content. Fall, although not as beautiful as spring and summer, brings some interesting elements like minor foliage changes and dense morning ..read more
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Roll #69: A Dying Flame
Film Awakening
by T. Mackay
2y ago
During the night a miraculous fog sashayed through the countryside---eventually sinking its teeth into the earth. Trees, landmarks, and people, faded into nothingness. Like a magnet, the fog pulled me until I was enveloped in a straightjacket of grey. A soundtrack of crunching of leaves, snapping branches, and flapping wings accompanied me as I ventured into the nothingness. With time, imagery began to appear---heavy shadows in the distance---splotches of dark grey on a canvas of smoke. The amorphous presence slowly revealed itself with well-defined edges. A fortress of brick mingled with door ..read more
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Destination: Big Bend on a Whim
Film Awakening
by T. Mackay
2y ago
There is an uncomfortable flatness to Texas. In the Lone Star State, this lack of vertical variance turns mounds into mountains---hills into Everest. During the spring and summer this flatness is bearable. With spring come the wildflowers. Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes adorn the rolling hills of central Texas. As spring makes way to summer, scrub oaks dangle Spanish moss and the springs and rivers invite the locals to float and dive to their heart's content. Fall, although not as beautiful as spring and summer, brings some interesting elements like minor foliage changes and dense morning ..read more
Visit website
Roll #69: A Dying Flame
Film Awakening
by T. Mackay
2y ago
During the night a miraculous fog sashayed through the countryside---eventually sinking its teeth into the earth. Trees, landmarks, and people, faded into nothingness. Like a magnet, the fog pulled me until I was enveloped in a straightjacket of grey. A soundtrack of crunching of leaves, snapping branches, and flapping wings accompanied me as I ventured into the nothingness. With time, imagery began to appear---heavy shadows in the distance---splotches of dark grey on a canvas of smoke. The amorphous presence slowly revealed itself with well-defined edges. A fortress of brick mingled with door ..read more
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Roll #67-68 (Part II): The Fog
Film Awakening
by T. Mackay
2y ago
The morning he wore his wetsuit and got radical from one wave to another his employer called his cell and shouted "DELINQUENT!" and he said, "I QUIT" so he was cut from payroll and asked to pick up his things. That very afternoon on the beach, a fog crept in and in- and in, until the sand disappeared and the fog became the world all around and the tide came forth pulled him out to sea and he drifted through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the righteous waves are. And when he came to the place where the righteous waves are they roared their terrible roars ..read more
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Roll #68-69 (Part I): Life on Mars
Film Awakening
by T. Mackay
2y ago
Rusting, reaching, crawling, creeping. Rock and sand forever meeting. A grain, a stone, or size unknown. A world of its own---for many, a home. To live, to die, to succeed or try. A novel. A beginning. A tragic end. An expanse of hills, of grass, of thrills. Light and dark, a test of wills. Flashing, blending, clashing, fleeting. Water and earth's friendly greeting. A ripple, a wave, an arch, a cave. An echo rolling near and far. The dreamer awakes to a life on Mars. Branches, roots, trunk, leaves. Filtering through---the light, it cleaves. Twisted, mangled, reality tangled. Camera: Canon ..read more
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Roll #66: Exposed
Film Awakening
by T. Mackay
2y ago
Double exposing is like composing music. Just exchange the notes for frames. The composer (in this case, the photographer) takes two or more frames and combines them in an attempt to make a harmonious image. Like most music, the resulting images can be hit or miss but the failed attempts are an essential part of the creative process. Blindly the double exposer juxtaposes light and dark, the plain and complex, the novel and banal. It's a study in geometry and architecture but it's also a game of luck. Multiple exposures, like multiple seasons intertwined. A summer's heat browning the autumn l ..read more
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Deep Thoughts: The Power of Being Present
Film Awakening
by T. Mackay
2y ago
Yesterday, for the first time in a very long time, I took my DSLR with me on a walk around the neighborhood. It was a walk I'd done thousands of times before. Each of these thousand times I was carrying a camera (by way of cell phone) however the urge to capture the moment, never came to pass. Recently, as I began implementing a morning walk before work, I started acknowledging some of the unique sights in my path. Maybe it was the morning light. Maybe I was still waking up. Regardless, I couldn't deny I was becoming more appreciative of my surroundings. During my lunch break I headed out, cam ..read more
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Destination: Land of Enchantment
Film Awakening
by T. Mackay
2y ago
New Mexico doesn't' get much love but it deserves it. Up until 2016, New Mexico was just a state I drove through on my way between Texas and California. Even then, there was something that intrigued me. Maybe it was the mysterious Native American culture, the vast open landscapes, or the towering Sandia Peak. All of which I conveniently saw from my car as it hurdled down I-40. As fate would have it, I was offered an internship in Albuquerque. Aside from the traditional weekends, I also had every other Friday off. More time to explore. I skimmed blogs, Instagram, and local magazines to help fue ..read more
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Deep Thoughts: There's Something Missing in Your Life and It's a Leather Wrist Strap
Film Awakening
by T. Mackay
2y ago
I know what you're thinking---a bit presumptuous of me to assume I know what's missing in your life. But hear me out. For decades, like myself, you've likely toted your camera around on a neck or cross-body strap. Regardless of the setting, you sling your camera to the side. It dangles off your hip like a six shooter. However, unlike a six shooter, it takes time to power on a camera, frame things up, nail your focus, and take your shot. That transition from hip to hand could take seconds and seconds could be the difference in you getting the shot you want---and not. But let's take a step back ..read more
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