New gallery - Steam Engines

Finally finished a gallery of the black and white shots I gave you a preview of last week.

Take a look HERE.

Black and White...

Took this shot back in August when the Union Pacific ran its steam locomotive thru Omaha. I normally don't shoot much in black and white, but I felt that the it would make for some interesting shots...
More later this week...

Edit... Added one more shot for good measure

Last Gasp of Summer...

I decided to post one last summer picture, seeing how the weather here in Nebraska has been decidedly un-Fall like. I know i spent a lot of time the last two days sneaking out of the office to bask in the warm sun, and enjoy the glorious mid 70 degree days. Heck I figure by this time next week, we will have ice and snow, and we will all be longing for those warm sunny days...

If you like this shot, or any of my other shots, please leave me a comment and let me know!

Strange Dreams...

The other day the wife and I were watching a show on where a team of scientists, doctors and normal people do some investigations into life after death experiences (hey it was around Halloween) and were trying to validate some of these experiences. There was a section about dreams and one specific type called lucid dreams (read the wiki article if you are interested in learning about this, but basically you are aware that you are dreaming and have some small control over the dream) which intrigued me as I have always been fascinated by dreams, and some of the workings of the subconscious. I also have a bit of an interest in this as I have very vivid dreams, and regularly talk and walk in my sleep (let me tell you my wife loves this!) I routinely try to remember the dreams I have, even in the past getting up first thing and writing down what I remember on paper.

One of the interviewees they had on this show had mentioned that sometimes when they were dreaming, they also had an out of body experience (or a feeling of something similar. The wife rolled her eyes and says that everyone has those kinds of dreams every now and then and that’s no big deal. I start thinking back about some of the weird dreams that I have experienced and remember, and I started telling her about one of the weird ones I experience quite regularly. I don’t know if I fully explained it to her, but I have been thinking more about this dream and would like to now share that dream with my readers…

Usually I start out dreaming that I am lying in bed, aware that I am asleep and dreaming. The view is from my own eyes, which snap open and I can see my surroundings clearly even though it is dark (those of you that know me should see this as strange, as I am quite near sighted, and no glasses equals one big blur.) The light is almost the kind you have on a cloudy early morning, dim and cool, dark shadows with patches of light intermingled. At first it looks like an old film noir scene, with an absence of color, but as the dream progresses, colors that can be seen in the splashes of light are bright and saturated, almost more so then colors in real life. I notice a movement, and it is me moving, but at the same time I am not moving. I can feel the bedding pulling away, and feel the cool of the night fill the void, chilling my skin. A complete copy of my body is sitting up in bed, separating itself from my prostrate form, and slowly and drowsily moving to get up. The copy stiffly swings its legs out from the covers, and stands, beginning to move away from my view. I feel a yearning to see where my copy (me?) is going, and suddenly the view changes. No longer am I seeing the scene from my own eyes, but now I am seeing it from the perspective of a third person.

I find myself aware of what my original body and my copy body (not really sure how to provide nomenclature for the two bodies, so bear with me) are both doing, and can see both in a weird wide angle view. As the distance between each body increases, the distance of my view point from both bodies increases. Walls and objects obstructing my view become indistinct and even nonexistent, as if some giant cut away drawing has been performed so I can see everything.

My original body is still sleeping, usually very still and quiet, while my copy body continues on with some normal task. Sometimes I am loading the dishwasher, folding clothes (okay at this point when the wife reads this she will roll her eyes and laugh, as my folding skills are quite rudimentary,) preparing a meal, or even taking a shower and getting dressed for work. Sometimes I even find my copy body outside, pulling weeds, pruning, watering plants or repairing something on our home, though I do not seem to be limited to the area that my original body is located at. I find myself aware of the smells and sounds one would experience while doing these tasks, both sensory inputs seem very rich and clear, no matter the distance my viewpoint is from the body that is performing the task. I hear an odd soft rushing sound, almost the sound of a light breeze blowing thru leaves, which envelops the background and prevents the scene from being truly silent.

Sometimes at this point I will notice other people in the dream, people walking along the sidewalk near our house, a man driving a car nearby, the neighbor watching TV in the house next door. I can’t interact with them, but I can see them, and am aware of what they are doing, and of their presence in the view. They are not as clear and distinct as my two bodies, but are silent, colors are muted and details are blurry, almost as if they were slightly out of focus. I do notice that people I am familiar with or am emotionally bound to are nearly as sharp as my two bodies. I however, feel no need to communicate to them, but I do take an interest in where they are.

I am aware that time is passing, as the minute hands or digits on the clocks change, but when I try to view the hour, the hour hand is missing, or the hour digit is blurred. I feel no sense of urgency, and have many times watched my body do tasks for hours (I see the minutes on the clock go by.) I do not grow bored, but feel almost like a detached observer viewing the scene.

At some point, the rushing noise gets much louder, and I notice a chill come over my original body. Suddenly my copy body is there and is standing over myself, looking down at my original body, but not making any motion to join it. At this point I feel a great pressure and an feeling of anxiety and then suddenly my view point shifts back to my own eyes, first person, and I watch my copy body suddenly dissolve, like a fog burning off when the sun hits it. The pressure and anxious feelings disappear and suddenly I am warm again. I find myself staring upwards at the ceiling and hear nothing but my own breathing and the sound of my heartbeats in my ears. I close my eyes, blinking for the first time since the beginning, and when I open them, I find I am awake, and am no longer dreaming.

I am curious what your feelings and opinions are about this dream. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.