HULP! Need help for Turkey!!!

*Whee.... I've been invited to a Turkey writers/journalist conference for nine days in July (17-25/2011). Fly in on 7/17 then visit Istanbul (7/18-19), Antalya (7/20), Izmir (7/21-22), Cappadocia (7/23), Istanbul (7/24), Home (7/25).

*Scheduled sites:*
_Istanbul:_ Miniaturk, Topkapi Palace, Sulfaris Synagogue, Hagia Sophia, The Underground Cistern. Blue Mosque, Hippodrome, Sahara Restaurant, Suleymariye Mosque, Grand Covered Bazaar, a Bosphorus boat tour.

_Antalya:_ Ancient city of Kaleici, Aspendos, Perge,

_Izmir:_ Yamaniar Educational Institute, Ephesus, House of Virgin Mary, St. Jon Bascilica,

_Cappadocia:_ Open Air Museum of Goreme, Goreme National Park, The Underground cities. Dinner at a friend's home.

So? How's this look? Who know these cities? Is this a great photographic opportunity? Are there things my lens should *NOT MISS*???? Hulp. Suggestions?

Show Poster

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I've been invited to do two shows: one at a gallery, another in a grand public mansion.

Frankly, I dunno if I have another show in me. It is so much work. And they are expensive. I figure I'll need at least twenty prints carefully mounted and probably framed. And perhaps one or two will have to be of a large size. And for what? It was a terrific ego trip to do my last show a couple of years ago. And there were hundreds of people who passed through. Lots of them were friends who were previously unaware of my closet interest in photographic imagery. But, I'm not a professional. I make very little money from my work. I've not submitted to Canon's annual in the past two years. And as you can see from this blog, I've cut back my posting to about six a month or so. Oh, I've got a lot of images I haven't posted in a private stash. But overall, my art is an escape from the rewarding work I do in my day job.

Sooo.... to show or not to show? Or is this blogsite that's viewed by hundreds of people a month enough of a show? Heck, I still haven't repaired all the damage to this site caused by Apple's cancelation of my website service (see Rotten Apple in the column up there on the right for an explanation).

The larger show could be as early as December, but I don't think I want to rush all of that work in the next four or so weeks. Suggestions anyone?

ON THE OTHER HAND....

I am almost out of business cards for this blogsite. Maybe instead of poster for a show, this might make a useful image, full-bleed, for that card? Again, thoughts?

Restoration • YEA!

As you know (or can find out by clicking upon "Rotten Apple Explained" on the right-hand sidebar. See it?) a massive number of my blog's images were deleted as a result of the caprice of Apple, Inc. Sigh. Well anyway... I'm slowly but surely restoring hundreds and hundreds of postings and doing it by portfolios. So... I hope that you'll visit them as the come back on line by clicking on the appropriate portfolio there on the right-hand sidebar as they appear.

It's a lot of work gang! And I will really be in your debt if you'll visit some of them and let me know if all is coming into place? And of course, new comments on particular postings will especially warm my heart.

Thanks... Thanks... Thanks... Thanks... Thanks... Thanks... Thanks... Thanks... Thanks... Thanks... Thanks... Thanks...

Ted

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FALL COMES TO EAST DENNIS


THERE'S A PROBLEM
WITH FALL
IT LACKS
A HAPPY ENDING....

Anniversary Today

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On September 10, 2006 I launched ImageFiction. And I am not home today... nowhere near my images. So... so... since Apple managed to lose my original, first-ever, post... (See Rotten Apple Explained over there on the right)... I thought you might like, as much as I liked, "Heavy On Metal". Y'know, I'm still reeeeeely proud of this. Happy anniversary to me.. Tah-Dah!

Work In Progress

Friday marked a year for my recent training regime. 365 days.... A friend Bill Hayek used my camera to grab some shots. Here's a first take from the set outside of the gym in the morning light. There were big fluffy clouds that covered the sun and brought the contrast down. But we still picked a shady spot on the building's north side. We're having a hot July spell here in Lancaster County... Shirt-off weather. So....

It is really hard for me to work on a self portrait. I'll leave this up for a short period, until I come down with a bout of humility (they really do happen... honest). But anyway... here I am 45 pounds lighter than a year ago. Rita's worried that I've become too skinny. Time to start packing it back on I guess?

Just Ordered New Camera -WHOA!

Did it! Got off the phone just now with B&H Photo in NYC. Bought a Canon EOS 7D digital camera body, a spare battery, two Kingston 8GB ultimate CFCs, and the three year warranty. Affordable thanks to the bucks I got for my faithful EOS 40D and vertical battery pack.

Question.... does anyone else share the thrill of opening a new photographic toy box? Do you hoard your old boxes? Do you get grief for hoarding your old boxes? Do you care about the grief you get for hoarding your old boxes?

At any rate, the thing comes tomorrow... Friday. The weekend weather report for Lancaster County looks chilly but not grim. Maybe... maybe... I'll be able to go out without freezing my pixels off? Sure hope this machine lives up to my expectations.

They are way HIGH!


With this machine I shall only take brilliant pictures. With this machine my artistic work will enjoy a quantum leap forward. With this machine I shall abruptly be discovered by every gallery and museum in the known world (along with some in the unknown world). And with this machine all of those critics who have panned my work will be overcome with an astonishing epiphany.... understanding what I do and discovering a here-to-fore missing brilliance in each new image.

Okay, perhaps my expectations are a tad high. But, a man needs a dream, right?

Sold My Camera!

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Yeah... I've been quiet here. don't have my Canon 40D anymore. I sold it a couple of weeks ago. Well, I've still got my G-10, but no camera body to use my lens collection. I also sold the the vertical battery grip. I figured this was the best time to get top dollar, but not the best time to buy a new camera body. See, what I want is the magical red button on the Canon 7D. It's a portal into a new whirled. And it will open through my total collection of lenses, filters and stuff.

I'm guessing that prices will tumble in January on the 7D. If they don't okay, I still got top dollar for my wonderful 40D (like new in the box with all the documentation). But it explains why I've been so quiet (in case you wondered about the quiet here and why I've been working some of my archives).

I think I mentioned that we are going to Peru in February, so I want that cool new red button access to a whole new learning curve. I did take the G10 out into the blizzard that passed through here last weeend. Oddly, I've not even looked at the images. I think I'm in a space between just now. Still reading about photographic ideas, and visiting all fo the sites (although pretty quietly for me).

BTW, recently I commented on a posted picture on the The Mindful Eye forum. I commented upon a post (which requested comments and suggestions) with a visual that I'd spent lot of time working upon to show how I thought it might soar. The artist was incensed that I'd made my comments by working on his image. Odd, I've nevre had that sort of criticism. After all, we are visual artists and comments are best made visually, right? He's made me gun shy. I haven't commented upon any images since. Guess it will pass, but for the moment at least I'm startled. In all of the years I've responded to requests for comments that way, this was the first burst of anger that's come back. Sigh...

Don't need it.

Any way... You all have a Happy Christmas, and enjoy whatever other holiday you celebrate this time of year. My best to you all and thanks for your support over the past years. When I get the new machine, I promise, I'll become a lot more active.

Ted

AlienSkin Feature!

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This is pretty cool. Jeff Butterworth the CEO of AlienSkin likes the stuff here on ImageFiction. So he asked if it'd be okay to mention it in his company's May 09 Newsletter Blast and here on the AlienSkin blog! And he reeeely liked our friend Steven Issell's work and even used his fighter plane as their cover image.

You know that I'm becoming convinced that pixels exist to be enhanced, right? So click here to see the AlienSkin page I've posted above along with a passel of enhancements!

2007 Awards Continued

Thanks a bundle for all of your mail and comments on other sites congratulating me for inclusion in The Canon POTN Collection Of The Finest Images of 2007. I hope I am not breaking any rules since the final announcements have not been made, but in reaction to your requests you will find the images which the judges selected if you click here.

Of course I'd appreciate any comments you'd like to leave on the images. I've collected this year's selections together with the three images of mine which were selected for inclusion in the 2006 Canon POTN compilation. I don't yet know when the book will go on sale (or come from the printer for that matter, since I was only asked last night to approve the copy which will be placed upon each of my images).

Again, thanks for your support.

YIPEE!! Awards!

I have just been informed that seven of my images have been selected for publication by Canon POTN in their Best Images Of 2007 for a Fall 2008 book. THIS IS HUGE! My images were selected from worldwide submissions by a group of distinguished judges and the votes of thousands of POTN members. As the publication date nears, I'll post links to the chosen images here. Meantime I am reeeeeeely psyched.

Isn't this cool? Last year I was overjoyed that three of my images were chosen for their first book of The Best of 2006 - but seven! There were only nine categories for which I could possibly qualify.... Seven of nine? YIPPEEEEEE!

Um.... cough.. Okay... getting it together.... Calming down and.... YIPPPEEEEE!

New Computer Came!

If you will recall my rant back on January 25th over my MacBook Pro's capricious tendencies to break? You might recall my whining about Apple's reluctance to replace the machine even after two disk drive replacements by them in 90 days (click on the keyword "Apple" below)? Well again this month the thing began crashing and this time Mac agreed to replace it with the new, top of the line 17" MacBook Pro. Yippee. They didn't have to do that. I offered to pay for the difference between the value of my defective one year old machine and the new model. They insisted, and of course I reluctantly accepted a faster processor and a larger disk drive plus double the ram all running on Mac's new OS, Leopard. I'm easy.

So, while the process took a while, I'm pleased to say that my twenty some years of using MacIntosh machines exclusively will continue into the future. And now I'm pricing a new MacPro to replace this massive G4 I'm typing on now. Thats a couple of months of though (and hopefully some of my photography sales will subsidize that purchase).

But tonight and tomorrow I'm going to be working on the new machine that's just arrived today from Shanghai. So, I suspect I shall not post again until Thursday. It's too much fun to play with the new laptop and... and.... WHEEEEEEEEE!

It's over - Phewwww!

My show last Friday went fine. Hundreds of people passed through. At times you couldn’t move along the main hallway or get up the stairs (it sprawled over two levels, four rooms, and two hallways). I’d like to show you pictures of the mobs, but, um… well my two friends who took pictures thought I exclusively wanted pictures of my pictures set up, and so they left for dinner during the actual times that most people came to see the exhibit. So the result of all of the setup and marketing and hoping… that is the genuine crowds of people who came… well those are stored not on hard drives or flash cards… but in my rapidly dimming memory. Heck.

It was a nice evening. A lot of friends came by along with scores of people I’d never met. People seemed to crash through in waves. There’d be a quieter period when only a dozen or so wandered around, then… WhOOOMP! the doors would open and scores seemed to pile in. There was a free wine/beer/soft-drink bar on the second floor, elegantly matched with a range of finger food including a big bowl of cold shrimp.

How to gauge success? People said nice things. Some prints were sold. Some gallery people stopped by, but most were pinned down in their own shops along gallery row catering to the large crowds. There was a rock band across the street from us with people who spilled out into the street (which was not closed – Lancaster is a working city). Sometime I shall do a photo essay on a First Friday in the city. It attracts people who live way outside along with visitors from Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City.

How to gauge success? We were tired afterward. My wife, her sister Cathy, my friends Steve (particularly Steve - the enthusastic support from he and my wife, Rita, made this happen), Maria, Chris, Beth, and my partner Steve – all helped lug, tug, and set up. Tim Smedick along with the staff and volunteers at the Historic Preservation Trust were astonishingly supportive. I’m thinking they all had a good time.

I put out about six hundred cards re. my website. There were about two hundred left when we took things down. The Historic Trust people said that they’d never had as many people pass through.

How to gauge success? It was satisfying. But, I shall never, I think, put in that kind of work again. If someone else wants to show my work, I’ll supply it. But actually printing, framing, moving, hanging, and then schlepping it all out the same night… Whoa….

How to gauge success?

I’m smiling. And really appreciative of my family and friends – more than ever. Which is, after all, the very definition of success, eh?

But as for something to show you… Some images to display… You’ll have to take my word for the turnout… As for pictures to show you of the visitors….well... there weren't many. However my photographic team of Steve Cornibert & Maria Caridad did get a feeling for how the thing looked. Here... let me post a collage and I'll explain starting clockwise from the left hand corner which shows the view from the front door down the first floor hallway.


<- Click here You can see the stairs people took to get to the second floor. There are two rooms off of this hallway, the first to the right is the next picture w/ my Fulton image in the center. Note the small white thing to the left of that print? It's a paragraph of description.

The next room down the entry hall is the pictured next with the Cylo-Baseball series to the right and another display swept around to the left.

Farther down the first floor hallway is a small breakfast nook with large doors leading out to a veranda, which is where my large image of the twin spires was shown. to the lef of this were a number of smaller prints.

At the top of the stairs is another hallway... immediately to the left is a room, and at the end, you can see me entering the next pictured room, where the food and drink were served. See on the back wall behind the food table? That's my very large print of A.S. Groff's Hopes.

And finally if you'd gone immediately left at the top of the stairs, you'd have entered this room (in the very center of the collate) where I'd displayed largely images of Lancaster County. However, as the evening went on, people casually moved images from room to room - mixing the all up. Odd, but interesting.

Something else you can see ... is that I am NOT a graphic designer and the collage is pretty primitive, but it gives you a feeling for the intent of the night. Thank goodness for the air conditioning. The night was moon-struck and humidity struck. It was a tropical evening in South Central Pennsylvania. There was no need for any of the fireplaces which are built into each of the Trust's rooms.

Manipulator

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Okay, said I was going to be off until late this weekend, BUT... As it turned out I felt I had to deal with the charge of, "Manipulation!" which many of us hear monotonously from the Organic Photographic movement. Like many of you, I've frequently heard people speak of my images.... "Hey! That's not photography!"

I know I've dealt with that here before, but I decided to head off the controversy at the show tomorrow night by making this poster I've posted tonight. Hope it stops some repetitive questions. It's just not.... not... PC... to charge "Manipulation!"

Right? Right?

48 Hours To Go... YIPES!

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I guess the graphic speaks for me as well as itself. To find the rest of the show details click on the label 'Ted's News' below. And if you're in the neighborhood of 123 N. Prince Street in Lancaster... come by between 5:00 and 8:30 Friday evening and say hello. PLEEEESE!!!

The prints really do sparkle - especially the BIG thingeees.

Biggies

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Okay... I am too preoccupied with the show which I will have exactly two weeks from tonight. Thanks for humoring me through this thing. Today the four LARGE images arrived from Dave Beck at Studio FX, Inc (104 Wheatland Park Lane, Lancaster). THEY ROCK! Whoa. So before you ask which I decided to blow up, I thought I'd pull them together tonight with some info. But then I figured that since I was going to do this for the blog, why not go a tad farther and create something I can attach to a media e-mailing? So, here's what I came up with. They have all been printed on canvas, coated, and stretched on wooden frames in a "gallery wrap" format. This pulls the edges of the images around the wooden rectangle support and as a consequence they do not need additional framing for showing.

From the top: The red image is of the The Fulton Theater and measures 24" X 20". Below it on the left are the Orange St. Twin Spires and they measure, 34" X 52", to the right the Trinity Spire which measures 32" X 50" and on the bottom is the largest print, a horizontal of the ghostly A.S. Groff Hardware building that measures, 66" X 28".

Dave did an astonishing job capturing the colors from the monitor to canvas. The saturation and vibrancy of the prints are eye popping. While I've seen my prints in all sorts of media over the years, I've never had them truly enlarged. The sharpness of the Canon lenses resulted in details I didn't know existed. For example: the weather vane atop the Trinity Tower has the word "West" clearly imprinted upon it. No way I knew that from the monitor. And there is considerable room to make the images even larger. In fact, I'd originally ordered the print on the bottom to be 8 feet on the horizontal edge! All of my advisors talked me out of it. The wimps!

I have no idea how to price these things. Or any of my images for that matter, and it will be a major focus for discussion among friends over the next two weeks. If you have any suggestions... lemme know, either here or send me an email.

Oh My... Just Three Weeks To Go...

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My show's scheduled for September 7, three weeks from tomorrow! I'm nervous about two things. The first has to do with all of the details remaining. I've ordered the four big prints on canvas and expect them to come from the mounter sometime late next week. Most of the twenty or so prints I plan to display in 16" X 20" frames are printed, but I think I'll print another five or six this weekend before I make the final decision re. framing (which I will do next weekend). Early this week I got the idea to print maybe ten on 8.5" X 11" paper and mount them in 11" X 14" frames. I bought the frames, but haven't started that job yet. Perhaps I'll only do five. Decisions... decisions. And I have to send out a press release to all of the area media. I already sent out a large email blast, and want to send out a reminder perhaps on September 1st.

Oh yeah... We ran a large ad for the show in my magazines in this August's issue which went to some 30,000 business executives in the region.

And I designed this graphic for both that second mailer and as a limited small print that I could display at the trust and maybe five or six other places around the area. Perhaps I should attach it to the media release, which I will also distribute by email?


Oh.... Oh.... My friend Steve was laid up with foot surgery a couple of weeks ago, so he insisted that he design and execute some Apple Books of my images and the came yesterday and.. and... WHOA! Apple does a magnificient job, and Steve did a magnificenter (Sp!) job laying the thing out. THEY ROCK! I can leave them out and show off about two hundred images to any masochist who comes by and needs a fix of pain.

For all the past details on the show CLICK HERE!

I said there were two things which have me nervous. The second? Will anyone come? Arrrrgh! Maybe I should buy a bullhorn and stand on the sidewalk that night pleading with passersby to come in? That seems to work for the strip clubs on Bourbon Street in New Orleans and on The Strip in Vegas. Hmmm.....

Any suggestions? I have really appreciated all of your previous input and nerve calming. Odd, I do photography as a therapy to relax... but now I know why so many artists drink. Sheeesh....

The Sehner-Ellicott-von Hess House circa 1787

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Meriwether Clark worked on his great expedition to find the Northwest Passage in this house. Rumor has it that Mason and Dixon calculated their great survey to separate America's North and South in this place as well. Now it houses the Lancaster Historic Preservation Trust at 123 N. Prince Street in Lancaster's downtown in the heart of the art district and gallery row.

Here's where I'm going to show my work on September 7th. If you think the outside of this mansion is exquisite, wait until you see the inside when you show up for the show. Or when I show you pictures of people who do come. Um, that is if people come at all. But that's another issue that I'll confront later. While I have a certain reputation in the city, it is not for photography, so it will come as a surprise to many who know me, that I know anything about making images.

And since I do not do organic photography, well my work is anything but historically accurate - an acquired taste at best, eh? I sent off a large emailing yesterday, but it is mid summer and I received an automatic response from so many telling me that they were away just now. Hope they'll go back over their mail when they get home. Oh, wudda heck, I'll nag them with a reminer in a couple of weeks.

Which I hope won't alienate... And make them stay away, leaving me to roam the halls with the ghosts of Lewis, Clark, Mason, and Dixon. Sigh....

GEEK STUFF: Three different shots in this tryptic all taken with my Canonn D20 and all with the Canon EF-S 10-22mm (f3.5-4.5). I took them this afternoon around 3pm (8/11/07). Oh yea, I used a polarizing filter. Beyond that... much differs. Wuddaya think of the tryptic? Any thoughts?

Ego Thingee & Show News

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Wheeeee! I've found the ultimate self portrait camera. Huh? Nope, this isn't a mirror shot. Not a reflection. My MacBookPro comes bundled with an application utility called PhotoBooth. What's cool is that it takes images with the light from the monitor. The thing flashes in your face as the, um, shutter opens. Hmmmm... I guess this thing's got a shutter, right?

You know how I run GEEK STUFF with all the tech info after images? Wonder how you do it with this image? I just looked at the metadata in PhotoShop... it give me nuthin! No shutter speed, no aperture, no focal length. It is a mystery. This brings a whole new meaning to "box camera", huh?

Whudaya think of the portrait? Huh? Huh? Izzit art?

GEEK STUFF: MacIntosh MacBookPro: ISO ?: Focal Length ?: Metering Mode ? - Wuddever.

SHOW NEWS

Many of you know that I'm going to have a one man show on September 7 at the Lancaster Historic Preservation Trust. I've decided to show about two dozen images printed mostly within 13X19" dimensions and hung in 16X20" frames. Thanks to all of you who suggested your favorites. Most of them made the cut.

HOWEVER

I decided to get four substantial enlargements. And one I wanted to be a BIGGIE! My print-guy found that three of the four I chose could be exploded to BILLBOARD size. Hmmmmm... Okay... too big. But I'm a man. Men like BIG things. So I chose one horizontal image and ordered it blown to EIGHT FEET along the horiizontal!!!

Then all of my friends... in chorus screeched, "You did WHAT???" And my wife refused to let me bring it home.. and.. and...

Sigh... I called the Printer-Guy and I've wimped out, dropping it back to five and half feet on the horizontal....

But in my dreams I see it ... GORDO! Image eight by four feet!!!! Can you imagine? Never mind that we lack a wall in our house large enough to hang it. Never mind it won't fit into my car. It's the idea of the thing. BIG-TIME MAN-LY

They'll be ready in two weeks. Oh, BTW, they're going to be printed on canvas and stretched on wooden frames. Hope they'll be crowd pleasers.

Um, hope there'll be crowds. Could get very lonely standing there by myself.... ULP!

Any crowd inducing suggestions? No, naked models are not an option: my wife also frowned on that idea. Sigh....

My Fall Show... HULP!

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Spoke with the exec-director of the Lancaster Historic Preservation Trust today. He confirmed the specifics for my September 7th show (see details in the column on the right). It's flattering to be asked - but now the real work begins. I suspect that I could easily show a couple of a dozen prints. I just checked my records and I have about sixty prints available - many, if not most - on topic. I'm also thinking (not too seriously) about getting one huge blow-up made, perhaps as large as 50" X 36" but that's an area where I could use some advise. Anybody got any? Last year I saw a similar print on canvas sell for a bundle of money at a local gallery. It was a Lancaster City image. And I thought... Hmmmmm.... I can do that. Now the question is, should I? Hmmmmm....

I'm also wondering which of my prints to exhibit. I know that it will be best to limit this show - so I thought I'd choose exclusively from my Lancaster City images.... hence the name of the show on the ad above. Incidentally the ad will appear in my own magazines in August. I think a half page should do it. Plus I'll attach it to an email blast, along with PR releases to all the area media. But which of my Lancaster City prints to show??? There are a bunch here on this site, and clicking on the keywords "Lancaster City" below will distill them out. If anyone wants to point me toward a favorite which might make a particularly good impression (just let me know the date - OK?).

First Fridays are a big deal here in Lancaster along our Prince Street gallery row. Thousands of people will show up on a nice evening. And the first Friday in September... following Labor Day... that should be a monster. The Historic Preservation Trust mansion is right in the middle of the action - so I hope that the expected foot traffic will be useful.

Now, a word about selling. The Trust will allow me to sell my prints at the show. Of course I shall give them a percentage as a donation. But I don't sell my work as a rule, although I'm tempted to see if I can subsidize my hobby a tad at this event. But that will mean doing a price list... which will mean numbering everything and cross referencing it.... sigh.

Which brings me to another point. I frequently donate prints to distinguished non-profit organizations where they are auctioned. I originally got them framed as part of my donation, but learned that the buyer, after paying a good amount of money, usually wanted to have her own matting/framing done to match her decorating needs. And that meant throwing away the frames. So since then I've simply bought very inexpensive 16" X 20" frames in bulk which have virtually invisible black plastic borders that clamp a piece of glass against the print. They're very simple to use and bring a uniform look to my prints on 13" X 19" archival paper. I've got about thirty of them in a closet here and thought I'd use them to show the prints.

Suggestions?

Last point... a friend recently returned from Italy and used the Apple service to compile a very attractive book of his Italian images. He's urging me to do the same thing for my Lancaster City images - each coded with a number, so that it can be displayed at the show along with a price and order list. Hmmmmm....

As you can imagine though... all of this will devour my time... and crack my piggy bank. Hmmmmm.....

Suggestions?

Ancient? & Yet More News!

LOOK! MORE BREAKING NEWS!!!

It's official. I've been offered, and I've accepted an invitation to mount my first one-man show. Yeeee-Hah! The Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County has extended me the chance on September 7 to show my work in their grandly restored Sehner-Ellicott-von Hess House (circa 1787} in the City of Lancaster the site of planning for both the Mason-Dixon survey which forever drew the line between America's North and South - and for the Lewis & Clarke expedition which opened much of the American West (immortalizing the Shoshone woman Sacagawea).
It's about time that I finally tried to put together a cross section of my work, I just haven't decided what to print BIG as opposed to normal. I think I'd like to have at least one grand eye stopper measured in feet instead of inches. Just can't decide what. Perhaps for this audience it should be from my Lancaster City or County collection? I'm open to suggestions. Hmmmm....

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Speaking of history, this masoned stone sits atop the marble stairway leading into my home. I found it last year when repairs on a nearby street unearthed it. It's quite heavy. As you know, stones like this were used for ballast on the great sailing ships that came to the Americas empty where they were tossed into great heaps when the hulls were filled with product from the colonies. They were later used for cheap paving and lie under most of the central streets of America's colonial towns.

This is the first of a two part series of images I've taken over the past few months, the most recent which I took last week will get posted tomorrow. My point is... who quarried them? Were they a specific product created in Europe specifically for the boats? Or were they actually torn from the ancient and abandoned roads in the Old World? Am I looking at a Roman or Greek artifact here? Or is it older than that? Apparently they have a significant value today... as you'll see tomorrow. Oh and incidentally... This image was strongly influenced by Andreas Manessinger's cool eye for found design. If you haven't visited Andreas' daily photographic explorations, you have a treat in store.