Donald Traxler's Poetry

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Selfie - VI

अहं निर्विकल्पो निराकाररूपो

विभुर्व्याप्य सर्वत्र सर्वेन्द्रियाणि ।

सदा मे समत्वं न मुक्तिर्न बन्धः

चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम्‌ शिवोऽहम्‌ ॥ ६ ॥

ahaM nirvikalpo nirAkArarUpo

vibhurvyApya sarvatra sarvEndriyANi.

sadA mE samatvaM na muktirna bandhaH

chidAnandarUpaH shivo'ham shivo'ham. 6

I am without change, I am without form.

Permeating the basis of all, I am everywhere and behind all the senses.

I am always in equilibrium, and have neither liberation nor attachment.

In the form of blissful consciousness, I am Shiva, I am Shiva.

Selfie - V

न मे मृत्युशङ्ग्का न मे जातिभेदः

पिता नैव मे नैव माता न जन्म ।

न बन्धुर्न मित्रं गुरुर्नैव शिष्यः

चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम्‌ शिवोऽहम्‌ ॥ ५ ॥

na mE mrityushangkA na mE jAtibhEdaH

pitA naiva mE naiva mAtA na janma.

na bandhurna mitraM gururnaiva shiShyaH

chidAnandarUpaH shivo'ham shivo'ham. 5

I have neither death nor its fear, neither caste nor its distinctions,

nor have I father or mother, or any birth.

I have neither relations nor friends, neither guru nor disciple.

In the form of blissful consciousness, I am Shiva, I am Shiva.

Selfie - IV

न पुण्यं न पापं न सौख्यं न दुःखं

न मन्त्रो न तीर्थो न वेदो न यज्ञाः ।

अहं भोजनं नैव भोज्यं न भोक्ता

चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम्‌ शिवोऽहम्‌ ॥ ४ ॥

na puNyaM na pApaM na saukhyaM na duHkhaM

na mantro na tIrtho na vEdo na yajñAH.

ahaM bhojanaM naiva bjojyaM na bhoktA

chidAnandarUpaH shivo'ham shivo'ham. 4

I am neither virtue nor vice, neither pleasure nor pain,

neither mantra nor holy shrine, neither scriptures nor sacrifices.

Neither am I enjoyment nor its object, nor the enjoyer.

In the form of blissful consciousness, I am Shiva, I am Shiva.

Selfie - III

न मे द्वेषरागौ न मे लोभमोहौ

मदो नैव मे नैव मात्सर्यभावः ।

न धर्मो न चार्थो न कामो न मोक्षः

चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम्‌ शिवोऽहम्‌ ॥ ३ ॥

na mE dvESharAgau na mE lobhamohau

mado naiva mE naiva mAtsaryabhAvaH.

na dharmo na chArtho na kAmo na mokShaH

chidAnandarUpaH shivo'ham shivo'ham. 3

I am not affected by aversion or attachment, I have neither greed nor delusion,

neither egotism nor jealousy.

I have no duty nor objects of desire nor desire itself nor liberation.

In the form of blissful consciousness, I am Shiva, I am Shiva.

Selfie - II

न च प्राण संज्ञो न वै पञ्चवायुः

न वा सप्तधातुर्‌ न वा पञ्चकोशः ।

न वाक्पाणिपादौ न चोपस्थपायू

चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम्‌ शिवोऽहम्‌ ॥ २ ॥

na cha prANa saMgyo na vai pancha vAyuH

na vai saptadhAtur na vai panchakoshaH.

na vAk pANi pAdau na chopastha pAyU

chidAnanda rUpaH shivo'ham shivo'ham. 2

I am neither to be understood as prana nor as the five kinds of breath,

nor the seven materials nor the five sheaths;

neither am I the organs of speech, elimination, motion, grasping, or procreation.

In the form of blissful consciousness, I am Shiva, I am Shiva.

Selfie - I

मनो बुद्धि अहंकार चित्तानि नाहं,

न च ष्रोत्र जिह्वे न च घ्राण नेत्रे.

न च व्योम भूमिर्न तेजो न वायुः

चिदानन्दरूपः षिवोऽहम्‌ षिवोऽहम्‌

mano buddhi ahaMkAra cittAni nAhaM,

na ca Srotra jihvE na ca ghrANa nEtrE,

na ca vyoma bhUmir na tEjo na vAyuH.

cidAnandarUpaH Sivo'ham, Sivo'ham.

I am neither mind nor intelligence nor ego nor memory,

neither ears nor tongue nor nose nor eyes.

Neither am I the sky nor the earth, nor fire nor wind.

In the form of blissful consciousness, I am Shiva, I am Shiva.

Monday, January 24, 2022

My Return to Film Photography - VI

Over the last few days I've put the Canon EOS Rebel 2000 through its paces. It has also put me through my paces. I ran two rolls of film through it: a 24-exp. roll of 400TX, and a 36-exp. roll of Fujicolor Superia X-tra ISO 400 (which I developed in b&w chemicals). I would have ended my tests after the roll of Tri-X except for one thing: in examining some of the frames with a loupe, I discovered what I at first thought were film-transport scratches. This would have meant that I could not use the camera, because you can't use a camera that scratches your film. That is why I continued my tests, running a 36-exp. roll of Fuji Superia, ISO 400 color print film through the camera as well. I'm glad I did.

I remember saying that I would never love the EOS. That, however, was before I had used it. I put it down for having a polycarbonate body, but in use, the lightness this affords is very welcome. You do, though, have to get used to this camera. For example, you can fire off single shots, or you can shoot continuously. Several times I took two or three pictures when I only wanted one. I had to remember to lift my finger.

The camera does not have a cable-release socket; you have to use the self-timer. If you use the self-timer in the "P" mode, you are not forced to use the internal flash, but if you use it in the mode that is represented by a small rectangle, you are, indeed forced to use the flash if conditions warrant it. There are a lot of little things like that to get used to. That being said, exposures and focusing are right on the money. The camera allows both aperture-priority and shutter-priority auto-exposure, and the autofocus system is the same one that Canon used on their much more expensive Elan 7 camera.

I tried different exposure modes, and the various focal lengths of the 28-80mm zoom lens, and everything worked perfectly. I would say, though, that at 80mm the negatives seemed to be a bit thinner and less contrasty.

By the time I started shooting the color film, I knew how to operate the camera, and it was a joy to use. Shooting is very fast when all you have to think about is zooming to frame the picture the way you want it. Shooting so rapidly with an SLR made me feel a bit like David Hemmings in Blow-Up. But of course, this camera didn't exist in 1966,

Anyway, to make a long story shorter, the Fuji color print film I developed in D-76 is quite usable (and I paid half what TX would have cost me). I developed it at 105°F, but I really had no idea what the time should be in D-76. I kept it in the developer for 6-1/2 minutes, but I clearly overdeveloped it somewhat. I think six minutes would have been better. Here are a few sample shots:

Just by way of comparison, here is a digital shot using the same setup and light source:

The digital image appears flat. It does not have the pronounced shadows (see the shadow behind my shoulder) or over-all depth that the film pic has. Here are a couple more:

I'll definitely be using this camera again, but preferably with real, black-and-white film.

(to be continued)