Ann-alog, a Pixel Remix, where Ann Torrence blogs about photographing for a book on U.S. Highway 89, the greatest road trip route in America. Photography tips, locations, trip reports, and real life.

Lost in time - an irreplicable scene

The last time I visited of my favorite project locations [above], I noticed that my subject has been falling apart. The right-most panel has tumbled off, more surely to follow.

My proposal sits with a publisher, a good one, one I would love to work with. While it sits, in that slightly comfortable limbo, I have been asking myself, "why do I want a publishing relationship NOW?" as opposed to next week/month/year. I've been self-motivating, self-directing, self-financing this project for so long, so why now? And I realized I have eight concrete reasons to formalize my project:

I just updated at.com with a post on useful photography stuff from the outdoor store .

The spinning neon sign at the Maddox Ranch House, Perry Utah

I'm surprised at how many people in Utah don't know about the Maddox Ranch House because we were sent to eat there within a few weeks of our arrival in 1993. It's a bit of a drive for a meal, but not a photograph.

Three or four exposures in the multiple exposure mode, letting the d2X calculate each of exposures and controlling the overall effect by using the exposure compensation settings in aperature priority. Oddly, the EXIF data doesn't seem to record the number of shutter openings on the ME setting. I also tried 9, 7 and 5 exposures, but this one retains a sense of legibility to the letters that I like. I've got some more fodder for a possible remix, and a story for the book project that will have to wait. It'll be worth it, trust me.

The tricolor is the French name for their national flag

Shot on the Peugeot showroom floor on the Champs Elysee in Paris in 2003. On film. Uploading it now to anntorrence.com - more progress on the Getting Things Done next actions list.

People either love or hate this one. How about you?

A joyful bundle of things gotten done

Monday was my three week anniversary on the Getting Things Done program. I can see the great things that are resulting from my changed behavior. HOWEVER, there are some nasty surprises David Allen doesn't mention in his book:

Sunset as metaphor for a happy ending

This is a story about how a business can win a client. Or lose one.

A favorite explosion

Hello explosion seekers from Google, Yahoo and beyond,

The word "explosion" ranks among the most popular search terms for traffic to my site. I'm not really sure why so many people are interested in explosions. Since these images aren't representative of my main work, I wondered if I should take them down, but I decided instead to move them here. If you like fires, you might also like the What Lights Nate original and remix.

Look around, and then would you do me a favor and click on the Technorati faves? Make a link to my site. Or leave a comment and explain the mystery - why are so many of you looking for explosion pictures?

Thanks. AT

Updated 2007.03.20 - if you reached this page from an Omerta user's page, please leave a comment or send me an email with that person's username. Thanks.

My monster from Japan

I brought this fellow home from Japan in either 1997 or 1998. I kept him in my office at the UofU and brought him home last year. He sits peaceably next to the pink elephant and the Virgin on my Artist Way shelf. I bought it as souvenir of all the great monsters of Japan, mythologic and cinemagraphic; only when I got home did I realize that the tag (which he still sports) said "made in China." I think the tag looks like a cape in this photo.

I long known of the "pink elephant in the living room that no one talks about" as metaphor for denial, so imagine my surprise when I brought home this little guy. Sharon took me on a shopping trip to acquire the Feng Shui'ing necessities for the Year of the Pig (I bought lots of green bamboo). The table of plastic elephants kept calling my name, and this one was the best, even if pink. Sharon says elephants are symbols of good luck in the Feng Shui paradigm. So the pink elephant sits on my Artist Way shelf, alongside my glow-in-the-dark Virgin Mary from Lourdes.

The real problem with this Getting Things Done system is eventually you finish organizing and then you have to actually do some things. Especially the things you've been procrastinating on, because they are new, uncomfortable, risky. And those items are staring you in the face on the "Next Actions" list. Day after day. Ok, only for 5 days since I got set up, but I have a low tolerance for that kind of structured pain.

I heard a great line today: "if at first you don't succeed, ask for help." I've been making cold calls for the project, 3 in the last 2 days, asking people I don't know to set up specific images I want to put in the book. Lucky pink elephant must be working, because everyone has been so kind and helpful. I'm thinking that the magic/metaphor isn't the elephant itself, but whether I talk about what's important, and ask for help when needed.

The best thing about my elephant isn't the color - it's the circus ball. Because this is fun - there's nothing I like better than talking about my project, telling all the stories I'm collecting, inviting people to the party, making the pictures. And if it takes a lucky pink elephant to get the job done, I'll be the first one to laugh at the mixed metaphor.

Bill Barnes in Ogden invited me to come shoot his newest baby at the first car show of the season. I met Bill at Bonneville last year, and we hooked up again at Peach Days last fall, so when he called, I knew it would be worth my while to go out in the snow and take a look while they were setting up the show.