Lawrence A.
Hall of Famer
- Location
- New Mexico
- Name
- Larry
I'm 76 y.o. next birthday, and know exactly how you feel, Peter, for many different reasons, but the same outcomes.Well, well....who'd have thunked it? I made it to the grand old age of 68. That's my benchmark. My Grandfather Leon died at the age of 67 from cancer. He saw 2 great wars and fought in one of them. He was in the retreat from Mons, an "Old Contemptible".
Now, I look back on my years and how I feel, I realise that 67 was no great age. He saw a lot in his time, but never saw the best of it. I feel a bit like Djokovic waiting for his record breaking grand slam. Another 2 years to 70 and I will have cracked it. But then I could be knocked over by a No.9 bus tomorrow (as the old saying goes). Worryingly, we do have a No.9 bus here in Billericay. I wonder if one has my name on it. I take no comfort from the fact that you don't see a bus for ages, then they all come along at once. So it might be f'dump f'dump f'dump as they each have a bash. Anyways, I don't feel like 68 in my head.....the body is a different matter entirely. I feel like it's put together with box string and glue. I have had a heart attack, now have Parkinson's. I have fractured both legs in recent past, can't feel my legs below the knees, smashed my face into a brick wall, knocked myself out in London after a fall, and at about 4am every morning I stumble like a cripple from door frame to door frame as support in a life or death race to the loo. So far, I have won each time. I can still lift a camera and I am still quick on the draw in street photography thank goodness. I have a wonderful wife who keeps me alive and a wonderful family. Life ain't bad at all. Here's to the next 32yrs and a telegram from King Charles? King William?, King Andrew ?View attachment 365011(OMG)!
Congratulations. Aging can at times be trying. I'm 71 and time is starting to say, "I told you so", but I plan on being around for a while yet. For "I have promises to keep/And miles to go before I sleep." At least I hope so. Being able to lift a camera goes a long way.Well, well....who'd have thunked it? I made it to the grand old age of 68. That's my benchmark. My Grandfather Leon died at the age of 67 from cancer. He saw 2 great wars and fought in one of them. He was in the retreat from Mons, an "Old Contemptible".
Now, I look back on my years and how I feel, I realise that 67 was no great age. He saw a lot in his time, but never saw the best of it. I feel a bit like Djokovic waiting for his record breaking grand slam. Another 2 years to 70 and I will have cracked it. But then I could be knocked over by a No.9 bus tomorrow (as the old saying goes). Worryingly, we do have a No.9 bus here in Billericay. I wonder if one has my name on it. I take no comfort from the fact that you don't see a bus for ages, then they all come along at once. So it might be f'dump f'dump f'dump as they each have a bash. Anyways, I don't feel like 68 in my head.....the body is a different matter entirely. I feel like it's put together with box string and glue. I have had a heart attack, now have Parkinson's. I have fractured both legs in recent past, can't feel my legs below the knees, smashed my face into a brick wall, knocked myself out in London after a fall, and at about 4am every morning I stumble like a cripple from door frame to door frame as support in a life or death race to the loo. So far, I have won each time. I can still lift a camera and I am still quick on the draw in street photography thank goodness. I have a wonderful wife who keeps me alive and a wonderful family. Life ain't bad at all. Here's to the next 32yrs and a telegram from King Charles? King William?, King Andrew ?View attachment 365011(OMG)!
Likewise, made it to 68 this year! There was a time when I was a young man that no one could convince me any of us would make past 40.Well, well....who'd have thunked it? I made it to the grand old age of 68. That's my benchmark. My Grandfather Leon died at the age of 67 from cancer. He saw 2 great wars and fought in one of them. He was in the retreat from Mons, an "Old Contemptible".
Now, I look back on my years and how I feel, I realise that 67 was no great age. He saw a lot in his time, but never saw the best of it. I feel a bit like Djokovic waiting for his record breaking grand slam. Another 2 years to 70 and I will have cracked it. But then I could be knocked over by a No.9 bus tomorrow (as the old saying goes). Worryingly, we do have a No.9 bus here in Billericay. I wonder if one has my name on it. I take no comfort from the fact that you don't see a bus for ages, then they all come along at once. So it might be f'dump f'dump f'dump as they each have a bash. Anyways, I don't feel like 68 in my head.....the body is a different matter entirely. I feel like it's put together with box string and glue. I have had a heart attack, now have Parkinson's. I have fractured both legs in recent past, can't feel my legs below the knees, smashed my face into a brick wall, knocked myself out in London after a fall, and at about 4am every morning I stumble like a cripple from door frame to door frame as support in a life or death race to the loo. So far, I have won each time. I can still lift a camera and I am still quick on the draw in street photography thank goodness. I have a wonderful wife who keeps me alive and a wonderful family. Life ain't bad at all. Here's to the next 32yrs and a telegram from King Charles? King William?, King Andrew ?View attachment 365011(OMG)!
I think we can all tell it's you Walter.Hope we don't shy off all the cam-youngsters ... but with 72 springtides almost behind me I'm in the same pigeonhole.
And I can tell you I'm looking younger than ever.
View attachment 365168
Beam me up, Scotty !
This portrait was taken in b&w by a professional photographer who introduced us to dark-room techniques. It was a course offered by the urban youth center. After he had taken a shot of each of us, he let us develop the prints ourselves according to his instructions. So this was the best of my first dark-room experiences. The slight sepia tones show that at that time (early seventies) there was no UV-protection yet.I think we can all tell it's you Walter.
and was the photo taken in '72?Hope we don't shy off all the cam-youngsters ... but with 72 springtides almost behind me I'm in the same pigeonhole.
And I can tell you I'm looking younger than ever.
View attachment 365168
Beam me up, Scotty !
Well, thinking about it, that must have been sometime between '70 and '72 .and was the photo taken in '72?
Using the voice assistant to trigger a selfie is a great little, simple hack that had never occurred to me. I'm not of the "selfie-generation" so on those rare occasions I take one I end up contorting my finger or thumb to try to hit the shutter button while also trying to keep things in frame. This typically results in subpar photos where I appear to be having an aneurysm.I asked Google Assistant to take a selfie and it opened the camera on its own, chose the front camera out of 4 (total) cameras (letting me to focus on holding the phone steady enough
A very pleasant edit. Nothing over the top, which I struggle to avoid when editing on the phone.View attachment 366507
I edited the picture in the stock editor and used a few "extra" features, like UnBlur (Neural Net based sharpening) because the shutter speed was 1/8th sec,Magic Eraser (Photoshop like Content Aware Fill), Portrait Light (adaptive extra light source that can improve light mood), Blurr Background (not particularly effective or to my taste so I used only a tiny bit).