Category Archives: Opinion

The Photogenic Moment?

Posted on December 23, 2009 by singraham| 3 Comments

North American Butterfly Gardens, Mission TX

My first Pic of the Day post

Just over a year ago I started a Pic of the Day project, sort of by accident. I was new on Twitter and Facebook at that time, and I began to post, just for fun, an image each day to TwitPics and to FaceBook. After a few days of that it occurred to me that it might be fun to make it a project, and I formalized my posting. My rules were simple: 1) any image I wanted to share, no matter when or where taken, and 2) one image per day, without missing a day.

That went on for about a month, but then it occurred to me (these things do occur if you let them) that people might like to know where and when the image was taken, how and why. For that matter, I wanted to know those things myself…when and where were matters of record (when is in the exif data, and memory generally serves for where), but the how and why mattered more to me, and I suspected would be more valuable to others…and they were much harder to pin down.

In order to share that information, I needed more space than TwitPics and Facebook allowed me, so it seemed natural to start another WordPress blog, and I did. Steve Ingraham’s Pic of the Day.

I knew from my experience here at Point and Shoot Landscape that the major beneficiary of the new blog would be me. Articulating what I have here about how I take pictures has been invaluable in helping me to refine my methods in the field…and recounting that daily, one image at a time, could only force me to learn a lot faster. I posted a brief repose on the anniversary of the Pic of the Day blog outlining some of that learning, and I will not repeat that here…but over the past few weeks I have noticed another change in my way of working which is significant and worth talking about here.

I don’t actually like to have to dip back into my archives to fill a day. I have thousands of images already posted to Flickr and Smugmug…certainly enough for several years of Pic of the Day blogs, but I don’t like to use them unless there is a particular reason. It always feels like cheating to me to go back to work I did several years ago…and certainly less interesting. I doubt, in fact that it matters to my readers, but it does to me. Occasionally, as when I was traveling in England this summer, it makes sense to me to revisit a past trip and post some of that work, as a kind of introduction the new work I hope to produce on this trip…to get both the reader and myself in the right mind-set for images of England. That’s okay. But just dipping back because I don’t have any new work to share…well, that makes me feel just a bit guilty.

It has served as a spur, more than once this past year, to get out and take some pictures already! I am not really comfortable unless I have a week’s worth of Pic of the Days in the can…processed in Lightroom, uploaded to WideEyed InWonder (my Smugmug site), and ready to be posted to Pic of the Day. And because of that, I have become a much more concentrated shooter on the days when I am out…and, I go out much more often with the express intent of filling my Pic of the Day stock.

Photography is not my job. I work full time, have a family to care for, other blogs to produce (Cloudy Days and Netbook Nights on cloud computing, netbook tech, and iPhone applications takes a considerable amount of my time), etc. My photography time is limited. Often only the fact that my PotD stock is running low forces me to make time for photography! It has inspired me to make time on business trips, even if it is only a few hours snatched between other obligations, and, perhaps more importantly, to shut down the computer and get outside…somewhere…anywhere…around home to find images to fill my PotD stock.

First Snow Morning

It forced me, after the first snow of the year, to find my boots and get out at sun-up. It forced me to don my winter coat and gloves and drive the miles on a frosty Saturday morning to Emmon’s Preserve the other day…just to see if there was anything there worth photographing that day.

During the Lunch break at Cloister in the Wood, Germany

It forced me, on a trip to Germany, to get outside on lunch breaks between meetings, camera in hand. It forced me to take my few rest hours in Germany between sets of meetings (I had half of a day on Sunday uncommitted) to walk the old town of Wetzlar and look for images…when I would, in many ways, much rather have been resting at my hotel. It has forced me, on Sunday mornings in Texas, when exhausted from a week of field-trips and talking to birders (my job), to leave my binos at the hotel and go look for images.

Sunday morning in Old Town Wetzlar, Germany

And, on each outing, if forces me to be productive. It forces my eyes wide open, and my imaging sense into high gear every moment I am in the field. I am looking for images. I need to bring back the bacon every chance I get, and since that Pic of the Day just does not stop, I have to bring back as many good images as I possibly can. WideEyedInWonder is apt. Only now I can’t wait for the wonder to happen to me…I have to go out looking for wonder!

And what a difference that makes. From looking for photogenic moments, I have had to turn to making every available moment photogenic. It is a matter of focus and will…of turning the skills I have developed over a lifetime in photography loose in a hyper-intentional way every moment I have. As I write this, I am realizing that, while focus and will are accurate, so is the loose in that sentence. It requires a kind of relaxing…a certain restful confidence that the images are there, that I will find them…and that my skills, always growing, will rise to the occasion of capturing any and all images that offer, when I am consciously looking for them.

“You don’t take a photograph…you make a photograph.” Ansel Adams.

Over the past year I have really learned that lesson…I need to make images for Pic of the Day…and on outing after outing…I go out and do make images.

Winter morning at Emmons Preserve, 10 miles from home

Whether it is a winter morning at Emmon’s Preserve with nothing much out of the ordinary happening, or a winter morning at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, one of the most photogenic places I know of…there are images to be found…photogenic moments to be captured. I might come back from Emmons with 10 good images (10 Pic of the Day posts!) and I might come back from the DBG with 30, but I do come back from every outing with images worth sharing. And that is a very good feeling.

Winter morning at the Desert Botanical Gardens, Phoenix AZ

Okay, so good enough for me…but what do I have to say that might help you to achieve something similar?

1) set yourself a goal. If an image a day seems too steep, try for an image a week (much less than that seems, to me at least, to be too tenuous to hold on to). Just the process of looking closely at a single image you have made every day or every week will quickly make you better at seeing images wherever you look. And, if like me, it inspires you to take (make) more images, that is all to the good!

2) relax. Begin where you are. If your camera is still on Auto, shoot on auto. If you look at my blog you will see that 90% of my images are taken on Programmed auto…without any in-camera adjustments on my part (one of the lessons I have learned from the Pic of the Day blog, by the way…I had no idea how mundane my shooting habits are until I had to write it down every day). The Programmed there might mean that adjustments are possible…it does not mean that I often make them.

3) Look for patterns…look for patterns to fill the frame of the image. Big patterns, as in a landscape, and little patterns, as in a macro. It is all about patterns. Line and form and light…the way shapes are arranged to fill frame the camera is able to capture, just a little rectangle after all, and the way the light molds the shapes with highlight and shadow. The way the colors, which are the second aspect of light, fall within the frame. You are not photographing things or people. You are capturing patterns within a frame. The things (or people) that make the patterns may be more or less important, but their importance is controlled by where you place them in the pattern you have captured (composition…rule of thirds, point-of-view, etc. See The Really Strong Suggestion of Thirds, Point of View, Shopping for Color in Old Town Albuquerque, and Lupine Lesson: Point of View). It is the pattern that will make or break the photograph. It is the pattern that the photograph is really about. (I plan a blog entry about this pattern thing soon.)

4) don’t wait for the Photogenic moments…go out and find them…better yet, go out and make them. Pattern: line and form, light and shadow and color…pattern is everywhere. There are no unphotogenic moments. Photogenic is not, when it comes right down to it, an attribute of the world you are part of (though we generally use it that way)…it is, in reality, an attribute of your soul, your mind, your spirit…of the person you are in the world. You make the photograph. It is your eyes that find the patterns. Your hands that hold and point the camera. Your finger that fires the shutter. It is all you…all in you…trust your photogenic soul, feed your photogenic soul, fill your photogenic soul. Go wide-eyed in wonder and the whole world is full of wonder! If I did not know that before, I certainly have learned it through the Pic of the Day blog…and learned to trust it implicitly.

So, here’s a deal for you. If any of you are inspired to start a Pic of the Day, or Pic of the Week blog, I promise to visit every day/week and look at your work. Promise. And I will make, as often as possible, comments. How’s that for a deal? But you have to be faithful. A Pic of the Day blog means every day…never fail. Pic of the Week, ditto.

Photogenic moments? I am eager to see what moments you make.

Bend in the stream of time: photogenic moments around every bend...

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Posted in Opinion, aesthetics, inspiration, instruction

Working the Limits: Bosque del Apache NWR

Posted on December 1, 2008 by singraham| 2 Comments

Snow Geese Coming In

After my experience preparing a few photos for publication, outlined in the last piece (Pushing the Envelope), it took a place like Bosque del Apahce NWR to remind me of why I am still carrying an advanced P&S, and not a backpack full of DSLR bodies and lenses.

And, of course, from time to time I do wonder why. I know my image quality would be just a little better, at least in the extreme situations, with the DSLR.

Bosque is a place that is amazingly rich in photo opportunities. It is place where you have your camera in hand, or at least out and turned on, on the seat next to you, at all times. Some of the grand scenic effects will wait for you, but many, being created by the ever-changing light of the high Southwest, will not. And the creatures of Bosque: they wait for no-one. The only saving grace, if you are primarily interested in wildlife, is the sheer numbers of critters there. If you miss one opportunity fumbling the camera, there will be another. You can count on it, and believe me, after the first dozen missed shots, you will come to count on it.

And November light is especially wonderful at Bosque. Sunrise to sunset, always gentle, never harsh, with just enough angle to provide exceptional molding on everything it touches. The sweet light times stretch from dawn to 10 AM, and from 3 PM until sunset. Even the light of high noon will do for some subjects. I guarantee, if you love light, a November visit to Bosque will bring you back over and over again.

And Bosque is always the extreme equipment challenge. You are shooting sunrises, out before dawn, and sunsets, out until after dark. Worse, you are shooting moving birds at sunrise and sunset. You will want to catch the frost on the grasses, and tiny flower details from inches away. You will want a wide lens for the vistas and the great masses of birds, and you will want your longest tel to reach individual birds in the mass (or to portrait the occasional deer). Photo ops will come at you fast, with little or no time to change lenses, so a good zoom is a must, macro if possible. But you will want your long lens mounted at all times for the distant birds, so maybe we are talking a second body as well. And a tripod of course.

Or…you could carry a superzoom P&S.

Here are some examples. Shooting the dawn show:

Before sunrise, wide angle, low light

birds up and in the air: wide angle

seconds later, same flight, no time to change lenes: max tel

Or another situation calling for maximum flexibility. The Snow Geese mass at different locations during the day. In one of these mass settings, if the light is right, you can spend hours just framing interesting behavior, or getting exceptional portraits of individual geese and small groups. But from time to time The geese startle. It begins with a few geese here and there getting up and doing a loop over the mass. There is a tipping point where enough geese get up at one time so that the rest follow, in waves if the mass is large enough. Sometimes it happens in response to a predator (falcon or coyote at Bosque), or sometimes a passing plane with put them up, but at other times it just seems to be nervousness. It is quite unpredictable. When it happens, it is an overwhelming sight…and the sound of all those wings and the geese honking can not be imagined. It also happens really fast once it begins, and it is so easy to just stand there with your mouth open and the camera dangling until it is too late…all the best shots are gone.

massed Snow Geese in good light

pulling portraits or small groups: max tel

a few geese get up: max tel

very quickly thousands of geese are in the air

in seconds thousands of geese are in the air: wide angle

you will want your tel instantly for shots like this to capture the energy of it all

So, of course I am standing blasting away and not breathing much and I think, “Oh boy, I really need a video of this.” I think it at least three times before remembering that the H50 shoots video. This is a snippet, which maybe even says more about the intensity of the moment and the need for a camera that has maximum flexibility than anything I could write.

Then there are the little scenes that play out all during the day.

just a catch shot

up close and intimate

quite moments with the vista

think fast!

You need to remember that all these images were captured with one small, take anywhere, camera, with a long fixed zoom lens. I could have gotten them all with a DSLR and at least 2, maybe three zoom lenses…but honestly, I just would not have carried that equipment all day long at Bosque. For now, the advanced P&S super-zoom, despite its noted shortcomings, is still the camera that I have the most fun with, the one I carry all the time, and the one that, time after time, brings home the images I enjoy.

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Posted in Opinion, inspiration, instruction

Tagged Bosque del Apache, H50, Point and Shoot, Sony, Sony DSC H50, superzoom

Netbooks for Traveling Fotogs??

Posted on November 12, 2008 by singraham| 11 Comments

Compact Dell 13in laptop with Aspire One Netbook on top.

(Ed. Note: For an update on this piece, with a review of the HP Mini 311 with ION graphics from a traveling photographer’s point of view, see Take Two on Cloudy Days and Netbook Nights. For more on the Netbooked/Cloud Computing Mobile life in general, check out the full blog at Cloudy Days and Netbook Nights.)

Netbook: a term coined by Intel to describe a small, relatively energy efficient, relatively inexpensive, laptop or notebook-like-device primarily intended for email and web-browsing. They not only coined the term, they produced an integrated chip set around the mobile Celeron processor that made building the devices pretty much a problem of assembling the appropriate peripheral components. Since then, Intel has introduced the Atom processors which are even more efficient and several times as powerful.

Asus was the first out the door, just over a year ago, with a viable commercial version in the EEE PC (there is a logic behind the name…just not good logic). The first Netbook, living up to Intel’s vision, came with a simplified user interface built on the Linux operating system, with email and web applications, along with some basic programs for word processing and light graphics, etc., on a tabbed desktop. There was no easy way for the user to modify the interface, or to install new programs. That was part of Intel’s, and Asus’s, vision.

Of course, many early adopters either worked their way around the simple interface to run a Linux desktop that is somewhere between Windows and Mac, and just as functional as either, or they installed a stripped down version of Windows XP. The demand for Windows versions was so great, as more manufactures entered the Netbook market, that the first XP versions began to appear within 3 months of the birth of the Netbook. Demand was so great, in fact, that it was a major factor (along with the generalized poor reception of Vista) in forcing Microsoft to extend the life of XP. Technically XP is only available on Netbooks from here on out (until the introduction of Windows 7, which will apparently have a dedicated Netbook version).

Once you have a full working Linux OS or XP, then you are free to fill your limited storage space with any programs you choose, including image management and image editing aps.

There have always been small compact laptops, of course, 11-12 inch, but they were incredibly expensive, often twice what a comparable 14-15 inch laptop cost. The Netbooks, on the other hand, are available beginning at around $300, for Linux versions with smallish (4GB or less) Solid State Drives for storage (SSDs), and going up to about $550, for XP versions with greater storage, even Hard Drives up to 160GB. These units weigh between 2 and 3 pounds, and are the size of a portable DVD player.

Acer alone shipped between 5 and 6 million Netbooks in 2008. Asus shipped another 4 million. There are now more than 35 models from more than 20 different makers, including all of the major names but Sony and Apple. Best Buy just added a Netbook category to its web-site and a Netbooks fill many of the top ten seller spots for laptops at Amazon month after month. Industry analysts expect the market to be in 35 million units range by the end of 2009.

So, what does this mean for the traveling fotog? It means that for the first time you can afford to own and carry a really small portable computer, capable of downloading the daily take of images certainly, but also capable of running Lightroom, Lightzone, Photoshop Elements, etc. and, as Intel envisioned, the email client and web-browser of your choice (and some generic office suite that reads Micosoft Office formats for those of us who think we will actually do some work on the things). You can download, post process, and upload to Flickr or Fotki or Smugmug, or post to Facebook or your blog, all without carrying around a 6-10 pound laptop.

You might be tempted. I was. I bought an Asus EEE PC running Linux last November, soon after they came out, while still in short supply. Since then I have owned an Asus EEE PC 900 16Gb with Windows XP, and this post is being composed on a Acer Aspire One with the new Atom chip set, a 120GB hard drive, and XP. Of course, internet (and information) junky that I am, I read the blogs and surf the forums (two dedicated intirely to the Netbook phenomenon and several others dedicated to one brand or another) and read the Netbook news that appears regularly on my Technology tab in iGoogle, so you might say that I am earning my qualificatoin to advise my fellow photographers on Netbook purchases.

What are your choices?

In reality, almost all of the Netbooks on the market are built around the same Intel chip set, so they tend to be a lot alike. That reduces the options greatly. Still there are decisions to be made.

Operating System:

I really like Linux. However, since none of the Adobe Photoshop family runs on Linux, XP would have to be the OS of choice for fotogs. I, personally, tried to live with the image cataloging programs and image editing aps available on Linux. Cataloging: nothing that really works. Editing: Gimp and LightZone. Both fine programs, but not nearly as powerful as the Elements/Lightroom combo (and both Gimp and LightZone have Windows versoins if you must. LightZone is definitely worth having on your hard drive for dramatic landscapes. See Dramatic Landscapes: Lightroom vs. LightZone)

(And two more reasons to use XP: 1) you can’t legally put Mac OS on anything not made by Apple, and 2) iTunes does not run on Linux!)

Aspire One running Lightroom in Catalog mode

and in Develop Mode

Storage:

Choices are Solid State Drives in the 4GB to 20GB range (higher capacities coming), or conventional Hard Drives in the 80 to 160GB range. SSDs have the no moving parts advantage, which make them potentially more stable in a mobile device, however, for image processing, you are going to want as much storage (both for programs and files) as you can get. Elements takes up the better part of half a Gig on your hard drive, on top of a Gig or more for the OS. You might fill a 2 Gig memory card in a heavy day of shooting. You get the idea. Furthermore, XP was not designed to run efficiently on a SSD, and neither were any of the programs you will be using for photography. Lightroom, I am pretty sure, killed the SSD on my EEE PC (after it had already killed a 16GB SD card). So. For photography, hard drives in the 120-160GB range are perhaps the better choice.

Screen size and quality

It is more about quality than size. You can edit images on a 7 inch screen, if the screen is good enough. The limitation here is that 7 inch screens run a 800×480 resolution. Most programs find that cramped. 8.9 inch screens with 1024×600 resolution are better. Some are really amazingly good. The Acer Aspire One screen, because of its crispness, continuously impresses me as being bigger than the same sized screen on the Asus 900, and I find it completely adequate for image processing in Lightroom, etc.

Of course there are a lot of 10 inch screen Netbooks coming out now. Unfortunately they still run 1024×600 resolution, so I don’t really see the advantage. Personally, I like the compact size that a 8.9 inch screen allows overall.

Remember, it is more about screen quality than it is size. To assess the screen quality you need to see the Netbook in operation. Fortunately stores like Staples and Best Buy, even some Walmarts, are carrying a few Netbooks now, so you will be able to check out at least a few models.

Photoshop Elements on the Aspire One

Keyboard and trackpad

You won’t be spending all your time editing and uploading photos. You will want to be able to type on the Netbook. I thought my Asus 900, with an 8.9 inch screen, had an adequate keyboard, until, that is, I bought the Acer Aspire One. The One has a keyboard that is about 3/4 inch wider than the Asus. Doesn’t sound like much, but it makes all the difference in the world. The keyboard is the major advantage of the 10 inch Netbooks.

Just 3/4 inch bigger, but it makes the Aspire One much easier to type on.

Not all trackpads are created eqaual, and, while you will be using a mobile mouse most of the time (of course), there will be times when you have to use the trackpad. Look for one that allows gestures: two finger scrolling being the most important. The tactile feel is also important. The EEE PC had the best trackpad I have encounted in my limited Netbook experience. Nice traction. Gesture enabled. Good buttons. The Acer on the other hand, took some getting used to (and the download of a little ap to enable some gestures). I use it now, and am comfortable, but is was trial at first.

Trackpads: EEE PC 900 and Aspire One

(Speaking of which: sliders, like those in Lightroom or LightZone, are the bane of trackpads. Ever try to slide using one finger to track and another to hold the button down. Not fun. Both Lightroom and LightZone understand, however, that if you click on the pointer of a slider (sometimes it takes a center click, or wheel click, of the mouse) and then scroll you really want the program to move the slider. With gestures enabled on the my Aspire One, I can tap the trackpad with three fingers (to simulate a wheel click), and then scroll with two fingers on the pad to move the slider. Pretty slick. That means I can edit images on the tray table on an airplane without getting out my mobile mouse.)

Memory (system memory: RAM)

XP is supposed to max out at 1GB on a Netbook, but some will take 2GB of RAM. Avoid Netbooks which have only 512MB and are not upgradable. Adobe programs want more. LightZone wants more. For that matter, Firefox wants more. Get, or upgrade, to at least 1GB.

Processor

For the foreseeable future the vast majority of Netbooks will ship with the Atom 270 processor, clocked at 1.6G. Lightroom, LightZone, Firefox, Java, Elements, Office (and its clones) all run fine on the Atom. A dual core Atom is promised. Don’t wait for it, but you don’t buy a Netbook for another year (bad idea) it should be showing up by then.

There are a few other processor makers out there playing in the Netbook market, but none have a product to equal the Intel offering yet.

Flickr site on Firefox on the Aspire One

What else?

If you go for a Netbook, while the Hard Drive will be adequate for running programs and on-the-fly storage, you will want to purchase an inexpensive external hard drive with higher capacity for storing and backing up image files. 250GB drives are readily available for less than $100.

Conclusion

Based on my personal research, there are several Netbooks that might make a traveling fotog happy. I can recommend the Acer Aspire One, with XP, and either the 120 or 160GB drive without reservation. It runs Lightroom, Elements, LightZone, Faststone image viewer, and Thinkfree office flawlessly and relatively fast. Firefox 3.x flies. Thunderbird/Lightening is a great mail client and appointments calendar and works well. At $349 for the 1GB model with 120GB drive and XP, it has to be the best buy. (PC World rated it the Best Buy among Netbooks tested in the December 2008 issue.)

The Lenovo Ideapad S10 looks like very nice machine as well, but I have not seen the screen. Likewise the Samsung NC10 is getting good press. The Asus EEE PC 1000H, with a Gig of RAM and a 160GB Hard Drive looks good too. All of these have 10 inch 1024×600 screens and XP and are going for about $100 more than the 8.9 inch Aspire with a similar configuration.

For the complete low-down on Netbooks, check out the Liliputing blog. Their database makes comparison of models easier. Another great site for geneal Netbook news is Netbook Tech. Either site will have links directly to the manufactures’ websites for more info.

With prices in the same range as a high tech cell phone (iPhone, Blackberry Storm, etc.) and almost all of the functionality of a full sized laptop, the Netbook has captured me. It is an essential photographic tool, only second to my camera, on every trip. You might want one too. Just don’t blame me when talking to your spouse about it!

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Posted in Opinion, Reviews

Tagged Acer Aspire One, Asus EEE PC, MID, mini-notebook, Netbook, Netbooks

The Ethics (or is it aesthetics) of Post-processing

Posted on September 9, 2008 by singraham| 17 Comments

from the camera, just resized

I have run into two photographers over the past two days who have expressed the opinion, one way or another, that the untouched digital file, just as it comes from the camera, is superior to the post-processed version of the same image. Not technically superior. Not superior in overall image quality or emotional impact. That has not entered the discussion.

They are implying that the untouched image is superior in what amounts to a moral or ethical sense…perhaps an aesthetic sense as the word applies to the artist as opposed to his or her work…as though those who achieve their results totally in camera are practicing a higher art than those who stoop to post-processing.

To me that seems like telling Ansel Adams that his attention to darkroom work made him a lesser artist than someone who took only direct positives…or who, maybe, contact printed all negatives. It is like holding up slide film as the higher art because all manipulation had to be done in camera, forgetting that most slides taken by professionals ended up printed, very often on an offset press as part of a magazine…and the original photographer often hand little control over the printing process. When he or she had any control at all, it was at best a collaboration with another professional (the printer) that produced the final image we saw. And if that isn’t post-processing I don’t know what is.

The fact is, every medium has it limitations. No image capturing system yet developed captures the world in all its glory. And, of course, no medium can accurately capture what you see in the world, at least not consistently, without active intervention…intervention which requires a high degree of skill on your part.

Digital is no different. The physics of how the image is recorded and stored effect the outcome. If you shoot jpeg then the mathematics of the camera’s internal software routines has a great deal to do with how the image looks. Even if you shoot raw, you still have to process the data down to a format that can be displayed or printed using a limited range of tones and a limited color pallet. It is all a compromise: An attempt to compress the full glory of creation down into a form that can be stored and reproduced. Something is always lost in translation.

One of the things, in my opinion, that has always separated the true photographic artist from the snapshot shooter is that the artist understands the limitations of the medium, and works within those limitations, often, in fact, making creative use of those limitations, to produce satisfying images…images with emotional impact, aesthetic appeal, and true artistic integrity.

Digital has a known set of limitations. They can not all be compensated for in the camera. And they certainly can not all be creatively manipulated by the artist in the camera.

To me, the range of possibilities available in today’s image processing programs are as much a part of the digital imaging process as the camera itself. The software is part of the medium. Without it, we are just shooting negatives and making contact prints.

When I take an image with the camera, I already know, for the most part, how I am going to process it. I don’t save bad images, or correct in camera mistakes, by post-processing. The available post-processing techniques are part of my image capture while I am still looking at the image in the viewfinder…part of the decision making process involving exposure values, light balance, color balance, focus point, framing, etc. etc. that happen before I click the shutter button. When I get the digital negative on my computer, I continue the process of creating the image…of bringing out what I saw…of recreating the emotional impact, the aesthetic appeal, and the artistic integrity that I envisioned when I looked through the viewfinder…or even when I was simply confronted with the scene.

Of course, there are always surprises when post-processing. Sometimes you see a new possibility that you had not seen until you looked at the image on your computer screen. Sometimes a new tool comes along that completely revolutionizes what is possible, and therefore makes you look at every image you have ever created and wonder if you could do better now. But that too, that spontaneous discovery of new possibilities, and often of new tools, is part of the process of creating art, of being an artist.

Post-processing, as far as I am concerned, is part of the digital art. It makes no sense to me to deny it’s place in the process. I want to create images with emotional impact, aesthetic appeal, and artistic integrity. I will use whatever tools I can find. In the end, I would like to be known as an artist (: of vision, and as one who knows how to use every tool available to create his art (:.

Take a look at the image at the top of the column. Not a bad image, but not what I saw. The limitations of the recording medium, even doing my best with the camera, mute the emotional impact and dull the aesthetic appeal of the scene I saw with my heart, mind, and eye.

But I knew when I pressed the shutter release that I could take the file into Lightroom and produce the image below. This is what I saw when I pressed the shutter release, with heart and mind and eye. The post-processing is an aesthetic choice…it is part of the art .

employing the post-processing possibilites

employing the post-processing possibilities

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Posted in Opinion, inspiration