Ruminator

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography I have been both inspired and uninspired lately.  Along with that has come the emotions of both joy and sadness. Beginning with the inspired, I have made real progress in my therapy sessions and it was quantified this week by my doctor.  I have been seeing here biweekly for a while now, and we both agreed that my handle on my anxiety has vastly improved, so I will now be seeing her monthly going forward. In our last session, we went over each area that seems to cause me the most stress and discuss what I am feeling and how I am handling each one.  I began with finances.  Marcie and I have been working the Dave Ramsey plan for a while now and though we still have a mountain to climb, we (or I) can see the top now.  Part of this journey has allowed me to purchase a new vehicle, put a large down payment down on it, and form a strategy to pay off the five-year loan in under two years.  The car buying experience was much more relaxing than ever before and I

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography Here is # 6 . Technical aspects: Camera – Fuji X100F Aperture – F/5.6 Shutter Speed – 1/0.8 sec. Focal Length – 23mm ISO – 200 Film Simulation – Classic Chrome Location – Gatlinburg, TN ( https://goo.gl/maps/hiES4ccAV3LvH5Cj6 ) Date – April 24, 2019 @ 6:41pm. As the saying goes a picture paints a thousand words.  This particular one, for me, told me a story.  I am not sure if it is the shot itself or the experience that landed it in my top ten. We left Indiana on April 24 th around noon for our trip.  We headed south in the yellow Jeep swapping stories and chatting about what things we would be seeing over the next few days.  As we reached our first destination, we stopped had dinner, then made our way to the hotel to check-in and drop off our belongings.   From there we took a short drive to the destination of this shot. Mark had been here before and stated a few times along the drive “it is just right up here”.  This, of course, was all based on his

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography Here is # 7 . Technical aspects: Camera – Fuji XT-2 Aperture – F/5.6 Shutter Speed – 1/125 sec. Focal Length – 18mm ISO – 200 Film Simulation – Acros+R Location – Mt. St. Francis – New Albany, IN ( https://goo.gl/maps/rSyKLFbKmXDAY7sh9 ) Date – November 25, 2018 @ 9:57am. Today’s image was one I noticed in an instance, snapped the shot but it didn’t hit me how symbolic it was until I got home and looked at it closer.  The irony is why it made my top ten. As I often do in the autumn, winter and very early spring, I went for a hike at Mt. St. Francis.  I had a few days off around the Thanksgiving holiday and began my normal 3-4 mile hike.  Today was a bit different.  I generally have a few routes I take, either going one direction or the opposite, and sometimes take a side trail to mix it up.  This day I decided to go an offshoot I had never been down before and it was worth it. As I was completing my trek for the day I was taking trail 6 towards my car

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography This week has been an emotional challenge for me.  I was hit much more than I am used to but honestly I dealt with it much better than normal. First, let me begin with last weekend.  I decided to buy a new vehicle, so I went last Saturday to view the two trim levels I had narrowed down too.  My wife went with me, we sat in two vehicles twice, and crunched the numbers.  We spent about 45 minutes there and then headed home.  On the way home I waived the benefits of both vehicles I looked and made the decision.  I arrived home, called and put a small hold deposit on the car.  I then told the salesman I would return next weekend to make the purchase. A few days before I was contacted late one evening by my mother.  She called and said I just had this recliner delivered and I need it moved.  I asked if she had said anything to the guys that delivered it and of course the answer was no.  She stated it was too heavy and wondered if I could come over and move

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography Here is # 8 . Technical aspects: Camera – Fuji X100F Aperture – F/5.6 Shutter Speed – 1/1900 sec. Focal Length – 23mm ISO – 400 Film Simulation – Acros+R Location – Beacon Heights Overlook – Linville, NC ( https://goo.gl/maps/tuEy7ZynMTgXtow7A ) Date – April 27, 2019 @ 7:59am. On the second to last day of my recent trip, we had the goal to climb Grandfather Mountain before making our way back home to Indiana.  The weather did not allow it, but we were able to get a short yet steep hike before getting the bad news. This morning my legs were feeling the after-effects of two days before.  Mark and I had hiked a lot and I got over 18,000 difficult steps that day.  In normal situations or if I was younger today would have not been that bad of a hike but it was rough. As we drove toward Grandfather Mountain on the Blue Ridge Parkway we made a stop at the ever so famous Linn Cove Viaduct to grab some shots.  For the first time on this trip, I was cold.  It wa

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography Here is # 9. Technical aspects: Camera – Fuji X100F Aperture – F/5.6 Shutter Speed – 1/210 sec. Focal Length – 23mm ISO – 320 Film Simulation – Classic Chrome Location – Burnsville, NC ( https://goo.gl/maps/16DUvp3cAjsqdQGM9 ) Date – April 26, 2019 @ 1:00pm. This shot was taken on day three of my trip through Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, then back home to Indiana. I posted previously about this trip but wanted to discuss this shot and why it made my top ten. Due to the bad weather, we could not go on a specifically planned hike so Mark and I decided to take a drive up to the Mount Mitchell overlook. We turned off the Blue Ridge Parkway onto NC-128 and began our windy ascent to the overlook. A few miles up the road the thin fog we had been driving through became so dense and thick we could not see more than ten feet in front of the Jeep. We decided it was unsafe and began creeping slowly back down NC-128 toward the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Photo by: Jamie Chance As with most of the photographers I never met, I discovered Jamie by researching information about photography, and in this case Fuji specifically.  I found him through a Google search but have followed and admired his work since that day.  I hope you will as well. As mentioned I was looking up potential settings for my Fuji camera when I stumbled across Jamie’s settings .  As I was still defining my ‘look’ (and still am), many of the settings I was using or at least trying he listed in the article.  I experimented with some of the settings and adopted some to fit my needs.  Some I emulate others I don’t, but the article was very educational to not only see what he uses but why he uses what he does. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and again with some research, I discovered he wrote another article on travel and shooting with Classic Chrome .  As many of you know my preference is monochrome shooting but if color is warranted (in my mind), then I only use Classic C

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography As part of my therapy, I was asked to make decisions and live with them.  Dr. Erin said when making decisions or choices “ Don’t try to explain why, justify your decision or waiver over it, just make it.  Above all don’t second guess the decision after the fact .” With those choices or decisions (or even how I view myself as a person) look for things I do, say or think as good or “ good enough ”. “ If you obsess over whether you are making the right decision, you are assuming that the universe will reward you for one thing and punish you for another. “ The universe has no fixed agenda. Once you make any decision, it works around that decision. There is no right or wrong, only a series of possibilities that shift with each thought, feeling, and action that you experience.” – Deepak Chopra After a lengthy discussion of my photography (with the good doctor) I am going to deeply challenge myself to choose 10 of my best photographs (at the moment).  Those w