Not much is going on today.  I've mostly spent it reading "The Last Dragonslayer" by Jasper Fforde.  I should have that finished tonight or tomorrow, at which point I'll talk about it further.  No news on the job front either.

So, here's one more Eiffel Tower photo.  This one was taken at the gate of the Tuilleries.  I saw the tower in the distance and realized that, with a little work, I could nicely frame it between the legs of one of the statues out front.

One thing I tend to find very amusing.  When I show this photo to people, the most common reaction I get is "Is that Paris?"  I would have thought that was kinda obvious from the image.

I enjoy seeing photographs that have been taken by other people.  It gives me a chance to see the world through other eyes, especially in how they approach subjects that I am familiar with.  The problem, though, is avoiding cliche.  It is very easy to be influenced by what others have done before, especially when you like the results.  The trick (and art) is building on what others have done and then creating something that is uniquely your own.

To demonstrate what I mean, here are a set of photos that I took of the Eiffel Tower (certainly one of the most photographed subjects in the world).  I was on one of Cynthia's photography workshops and she had arranged for us to visit a houseboat/barge that was berthed across the Seine from the Tower.

As I've mentioned before, my first shot is almost always a general image that shows the scene.  So, here's the Eiffel Tower.  It's not a bad photo, but doesn't really have any personality to it.

So, here's the next shot.  Take a step back and consider the subject.  In this case, frame the tower in a porthole.  The bright areas provide some focus and a more interesting composition.  The river in the foreground also helps estabilsh the location from which the photo was taken.

This next image was taken on the deck as I was sitting around and drinking some San Pellegrino and relaxing.  I saw the workman on one of the tower's legs.  Now you get a sense of scale and structure.  If this was taken using a digital camera instead of slides, I would probably recompose slightly to not cut off the right side of the image.  Still I like the scale and sense of the structure you start seeing.

The more I studied the tower, the more I was attracted to the structure itself.  It is a fascinating piece of construction.  The open and closed girders are wonderful (as in full of wonder).  This image was taken to try and show the aesthetic enjoyment I was looking at.  It is also a view of the Eiffel Tower that I hadn't ever seen before.  You often see the full structure, but never the details of that structure.

I would have been very happy that I had gotten something that felt uniquely mine at that point if I hadn't then sat back a little and seen the glass of fizzy water in front of me.  All of a sudden I had something special.  The tower was inverted and crystal clear.  I framed this shot to include the actual Eiffel Tower in the background with the clear reflection (if that's the proper term) in the glass.  I also knew I didn't want the background tower to be too sharp since that would distract from the image in the glass.  I love this image, partly because it is wholly mine.  I've never seen this affect in a photo (before or since).  My only regret is that I didn't then try it with a pale white wine which might even more epitomize France.

I'm not sure how many of John Grisham's legal mysteries I've read.  5-10 maybe?  They're generally good, enjoyable books on which to while away a day or two.

I just finished "Calico Joe", the third sports-related book by Grisham that I've read and felt all three were something special (the other two were "Bleachers" and "Playing for Pizza").  I'll try to explain why I enjoyed these so much, but it's not easy. 

First of all, they don't feel like they are written by the same person who writes the mysteries.  Maybe because the pace and plot requirements are different.  Maybe because they are much more character stories than action thrillers (or legal thrillers or whatever the proper term is).

Maybe it has to do with the characters themselves.  Bleachers and Playing for pizza center around football players who have the talent to excel but, due to circumstance or personality, don't, and about how they come to grips with this.  It's not easy to realize that you can't do something you love forever (except, hopefully for me, photography).  I remember playing baseball in high school and realizing that I wouldn't get the chance to play for the Yankees (although I still dream of the possibility).  So I can certainly empathise with

Calico Joe is a baseball story and is more about a person whose childhood dreams are built on or broken by others.  It alternate between modern times and events 30 years before when Paul (the main character) was 11, an age when you live and die with your favorite team and players.  A young phenom comes up to the majors and plays as well as every person who has ever dreamed of playing baseball would wish for themselves, breaking records with skill, grace and style.  Paul's father is a journeyman pitcher who has anger and drinking issues, feels unappreciated and that he's much better than his career has turned out.  When the pitcher and the phenom collide, bad things happen.  In the modern part, Paul's father (very much estranged) is dying of cancer and Paul feels things need to be aired between his father and the former phenom.

Go read it.  Read the others too.  They are wonderful.