Today topped out at 25F here, and the low was -8. The pipes leading to the washing machine froze, rendering it unusable. It has gone 11PM here as I write this, and it is already down to 3F. Teh furnace upstairs will be out till we can get it serviced. Meanwhile, everyone is sleeping downstairs where Missus has heat in her craft room via electric wall panel or in the dining room/entry hall where the woodstove is. Strangely, it is only down to 66 upstairs and a mere ten degrees warmer down. They could all go up and sleep well while I could stay down to load the stove with more wood when it gets cold. I guess they like the adventure. No bother.
And now in other news.
I watched the entire Masterclass by Annie Leibovitz this evening. It was interesting for sure. What I found quite amazing is that the closest she came to addressing the technical was when she said that a key light should fall about one stop lower than ambient lighting. The rest was more of a lecture in approach to different aspects of the art while assuming that the skills are already mastered or not really necessary at all, when one considers how specific her skillset actually seems to be. It was weird. It was as though she doesn’t really know the craft while she produces amazing results. Obviously, she knows the craft. She just approaches it as though she is technically weak, while effortlessly getting what she wants in the camera most of the time. I suspect where the difficulty lies is somewhere between her learning in film and her current working in digital, however.
A lot of what she offers is the approach to shooting, to subjects, and to sets or scenes. She has got an amazing style and has photographed everyone from Lenon and Ono, to Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the Queen of England.
It was encouraging enough to dig up the camera batteries and charger and get the camera ready to work for a bit and get to my favorite medium. Watch this space.