# 6757-61 / common places • common things ~ omphaloskepsis*

can you see the alchemist at work? ~ all photos (embiggenable)

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead-his eyes are closed.” ~ Einstein

I HAVE PREVIOUSLY WRITTEN THAT I AM NOT a fan of hi-def photographs. That is photographs which make obvious extreme fine detail and resolution. To my eye and sensibilities they often tend to illustrate everything but reveal nothing. A good example of such is in the comment made by a gearhead who wrote about one of his pictures…

…look closely at the fabric on the side of the hat. The detail is there.

Unless the picture was made for the hat manufacturer-fyi, it was not-then capturing the fine fabric is critical to the picture making mission. However, if the mission is to incite an emotional / mental involvement from the non-fabric obsessed viewer or, the non-photo technique obsessed viewer, iMo, who gives a crap about the fabric detail?

And, I might add, looking “closely”at a picture is a sure-fire recipe for missing what a photograph might be “about”. That’s cuz a good photograph is all about the collective visual sum of its parts, not the parts in and of their literal selves. iMo, in a really good photograph, when the sum is good, the overall effect can draw the viewer’s eye across the field of the print in order to investigate some of the parts - an activity that I label as experiencing a photographs visual energy.

All of that written, it explains why I have never been in pursuit of making photographs that exhibit ultra hi-def or, for that matter, photo technique “perfection”. That’s cuz I believe that the best photographs are those that have, albeit most often subtle, a sense of the mysterious. That is to mean, mysterious in the sense of being somewhat enigmatic, i.e. difficult to understand or explain cuz, ya know, some things are best left to a viewer’s imagination.

I know that I am successful in that pursuit cuz, at exhibitions of my photographs or when someone is viewing one of my POD books, the single most common comment / reaction I hear is, “Why did you take a picture of that?” (mystery #1). Followed by, “I don’t know why I like it, but, I do.” (mystery # 2). Reactions that are the result of the fact that my photographs are not stating the obvious. As in, ain’t pictures of beautiful things beautiful.

To be certain, my photographs are not in any manner in the same mystery league as, say, the grand mysteries of the universe. However, I do believe that I am exploring the little mysteries of how the quoditian, aka: everyday life, can mysteriously present, to those whose eyes are not closed, “quiet,” little vignettes that, when pictured with a sense of creating interesting form, produce prints of surprising visual beauty…

…a perfect example of the medium’s alchemistical ability-something of a mystery or is it magic?-to facilitate the nearly inexplicable or mysterious transmutation of the commonplace into the exceptional.

The fact that my eye and sensibilities are captivated by those seeming mysterious “presentations” is, believe it or not, after all these years still a mystery to me.

*aka: navel gazing - the practice as an aid to contemplation of basic principles of the cosmos and human nature

# 6749-56 / landscape • rain • kitchen life • sink ~ autumn drive with pie

SATURDAY PAST I TOOK A MEANDERING COUNTRYSIDE DRIVE TO a farm stand to procure some fresh apple cider, concord grapes, and some produce. The weather was absolutely enchanting with rain, mist, and a leaden overcast. The landscape provided a bounty of picture making opportunities.

The fall harvest bounty was put to good use. I made a grape pie with the concord grapes. On Sunday the wife made roasted acorn squash-cut in half to make bowls-filled them with her homemade beet borscht soup with dollop sour cream. Then served them for dinner with a side of pan fried kielbasa. All in all, it made for a great weekend during which we celebrated our 26 wedding anniversary.

#6741-48 / landscape • common things • autumn ~ good things can come in small packages

(embiggenable)

As always with the caveat of to-my-eye-and-sensibilities, I can write that I am quite satisfied with my Autumnal picture making. Virtually all of that picture making was accomplished while I was out and about dealing with various errands. Only a very few were made during an expressly for making pictures outing.

All of that picture making activity has resulted in a cohesive 30 (approximately) picture body of work which falls under the heading of Quotidian Autumn Color ~ without the screaming. The work, to my eye and sensibilities, is strong enough to warrant a POD book + limited edition-10 pieces-folio of 20 original INSTAX prints.

Re: INSTAX prints: I have become rather enamored, some might say obessed, with INSTAX prints. It would appear that, from what I have read and what I have experienced, FUJI has quite a hit on its hands with the INSTAX thing - both cameras and printers. Both items yield up prints; directly from an INSTAX camera or from an INSTAX printer. In either case, people-primarily non-”serious” snap shooters-are smitten by, a) instant photography, and, b) holding-and viewing-an actual print in the hand…another indication that photography is not dying.

Given my long standing practice of making instant pictures with various POLAROID cameras and materials-for commercial, editorial, and personal use-it should come as no surprise that I have taken up the making of INSTAX prints. That written, I believe there is a potential for INSTAX prints, as a distinct Fine Art medium, to start appearing on gallery walls - I already have a gallery commitment for an INSTAX print exhibition.

All of that written, in my next entry (or very soon) I will expound upon the idea of why I believe that the INSTAX medium is, or can be, an expressive medium for Fine Art Photography.

# 6735-40 / landscape • common things • rain ~ status is where you find it

all photos are embiggenable

WE HAVE HAD A 24 HOUR HEAVY RAIN EVENT which has created a number of picturesque opportunities:

• rivers are flowing at or above flood stage

• the overflow stack at the old mill is leaking

• lots of leaves have been knocked to the ground

iMo, good stuff all around.

Writing of good stuff, yesterday the wife and I drove out to a small gallery in the middle of nowhere to attend the opening reception of a 4-photographer exhibition, my son, the Cinemascapist included.

the cinamascapist + laurie (the exhibit organizer / director)

The turn out was impressive, about 40 people, considering the fact that the exhibit was in the middle of nowhere. Each participant gave a 15 minute talk about his/her work. The audience was able to ask questions and there was a great deal of interest expressed in the work and the picture makers themselves.

The experience told me that: 1. photography ain’t dead or dying, and, 2. even in the middle of nowhere there is appreciation of the medium and for those who practice it. It’s almost as if photography has some status.

# 6728-34 / common places / things • landscape • picture windows ~ fall without the screaming

(embiggenable) - as are all the pictures in this entry

WITH SOME VERY UNCHARACTERISTIC OCTOBER WEATHER-85F yesterday-I have been out and about making pictures as I go about enjoying the outdoors…54 holes of golf over the last week included.

Nothing much of note going on out there in the web-o-sphere. Although, Mr. Johnston just doesn’t seem to be able to get off the schneid, re: his idea that the status of photography is starting to decline:

“…hobbies tend to have more status the more rare or difficult or risky they are, and the fewer the number of people who have achieved some sort of mastery in that area…Maybe what's been happening to photography in the last two decades or so is that it's become something that far more people can do satisfactorily without specialized knowledge or experience, so its status is starting to decline.”

I just do not understand this status decline thing he keeps harping about. That’s cuz, in my experience, I am encountering a fair amount of evidence that, because of the vast amount of pictures that are being made, more and more people-those who have at least a modicum of aesthetic sensibility-seem to be recognizing that some pictures have more to offer than just straight off-the-cuff description. And this is especially true of those people regardless of whether or not they are “serious” or not picture makers.

In my personal experience..say…like when I am sharing my made-on-the-spot INSTAX prints-which look for all intents and purposes like mere snapshots of relatively unimportant moments-I repeatably hear comments such as, “You’ve got an eye.” Or, then there is the highest praise I hear when handing out an INSTAX prints, “This picture is going right on my refrigerator.” High praise, indeed.

I believe that this recognition of some pictures are “better” than others comes from the viewing of a zillion not so good pictures. Whether, in my experience, this recognition stems from the moment I capture or how I capture them-most likely a combination of both-is open to debate. However, I can write that when people see a picture they consider to be “special”, they do have respect for and appreciation of the medium and for the maker thereof.

So, iMo, I believe that despite that fact that far more people can satisfactorily make a lot of pictures, there are far more people making pictures that are far more than “satisfactory” than ever before. And, for those who can recognize the difference between shit and shinola ( the cream rising to the top), there is a growing / increasing appreciation for the medium and those who can make pictures with a bit of shinola.

# 6718-22 / landscape • kitchen sink • common things ~ there's no place like home

3 animals ~ (embiggenable)

Rist • the last PM ~ (embiggenable)

Rist • the last AM ~ (embiggenable)

10 AM ~ (embiggenable)

1 PM ~ (embiggenable)

BACK HOME AND WORKING WITH PS ONCE AGAIN. After nearly 7 weeks away from home and my desktop set up, I am realizing, now that I am back in the PS saddle, how much I depend upon PS to realize the full implementation of my picture making vision.

It’s not that I make any drastic / dramatic file processing procedures with PS. Rather, it’s a host of small, subtle adjustments that I feel significantly impact the look and feel of my prints. And, many of those adjustments are simply not possible to achieve with any mobile device software. I can come close enough-for web presentation-but not enough for the finished look and feel I want in my prints.

BTW, working from the iPhone RAW DNG files with the full PS software makes me really appreciate the file quality of those files. Really pretty amazing.

WARNING semi-gear stuff: Even thou I have not used it much lately, I have not completely abandoned my µ4/3 gear. However, I do haul it around on trips and shorter get-a-ways just in case I want to make a picture of something that is to far away for the iPhone reach. At which point, I mount up my 50>200mm f2.8-100>400mm eq.-Zuiko lens on my E-P5 and snap away. FYI, that large lens on the small E-P5 is truly a case of the tail wagging the dog.

That written. my E-P5 is getting rather long in the tooth and prudence dictates that it just might be time for a replacement. At this stage of my life it would most likely be my forever camera. However, replacement wise, I have been far less than enamored with the available candidates.

I have no interest in the multi-thousand dollar Olympus wunderbar cameras. That’s cuz, in large part, I don’t want a DSLR form-factor camera. I much prefer a rangefinder-like form-factor. But that’s a form-factor that the Olympus Systems camera maker has seemingly abandoned.

So imagine my surprise and delight upon discovering that a new rangefinder-like Olympus Systems camera, the E-P7, has been introduced. It is, essentially, an E-P5 upgrade or, depending on your perspective, an Oly PEN downgrade (Oly PEN minus a few that-I-don’t-care-about features).

The only problem is that it is not available in the US. However, it is showing up for order on some e-bay and used camera sites. And, at a very reasonable price - $600-700USD range. On the other hand, my son is currently in Japan for a 2 week vacation…hhmmmm.

# 6709-12 / landscape • kitchen life • people ~ a time for reckoning?

(embiggenable)

(embiggenable)

RECENTLY A GREAT DEAL OF INK HAS BEEN SPILLED (or keyboards pounded) on TOP and VSL, re: what am I doing here? That is, the respective authors thereof seem to very concerned about their very raison d’etre, blogging wise. So I thought I might chime in on that topic but not on the comments section on those sites cuz, in both cases, the comments are fan-boy inspired I-love-everything-you-do, don’t change anything, I think you are absolutely fabulous.

Right off the top / outa the gate let me write that I do not consider either of these sites as to be about the medium of photography and its apparatus (conventions and practices, not gear).

In the case of VSL, there is never any content about the medium itself. Rather, it is all about-elevated to the level of fetish-the tools of the medium. The author seems to think that he can show us-literally, with pictures-the rather subtle difference in sensors and lenses even though he readily admits that the medium of the interweb, image display wise, pretty much obliviates those differences. Sounds to me a lot like a fools errand.

In the case of TOP, while there is a reasonable amount of content, re: the medium and its apparatus, there is an ever-increasing amount of off-topic content that strays pretty far afield from that of photography. Add to that situation the fact that the blogging platform used by TOP is absolutely unsuited to the display of photographs and what you end up with is a very compromised photography experience. But…

…iMo, the real problem with TOP-for me-is the fact that the author’s first love is the act of writing, not the act of making of photographs. In a sense, he loves to”hear” himself write. Not to mean that he does not enjoy the making of photographs but, I suspect that, if he were to be required to choose between writing or picture making, all his photo gear would be listed for sale on ebay in a NY minute.

I also believe that the author is hindered from creating a more photography-centric blog by his self-professed doubts that; a.) is photography…ending? and, b.) everything to be written about photography has already been written. 2 ideas that I believe are; a.) ridiculous and, b.) even more ridiculous.

In any event, to certain extent, I believe that both authors are old coot hidebound and therefore rather unimaginative, re: how to carry on in the blogging sphere. In a very real sense, they are trapped in a blogging paradigm of their own makings. Nevertheless, it might be interesting to follow where this all ends up inasmuch as it can be amusing to watch a potential train wreck in the making.

BONUS CONTENT - Re: is photography…ending?

(embbigenable)

(embiggenable)

FIRDAY EVENING THE WIFE AND I WENT DOWN the driveway to a restaurant / tavern for dinner only to discover that it was OPEN MIKE NIGHT. Except , quite fortunately, the hitch was that is was open mike for musicians, not for any drunk wanting to sing.

As it turned out it was a lot of fun and very entertaining. The musicians performed individually, in pairs and, eventually all jamming together. As is often the case, I had my INSTAX printer with me so I commenced to making pictures (and prints). Primarily of the musicians but also of the audience.

Just for fun, I had a waitress hand the pictures out, as I made them, to the person pictured. The point was to create a sense of confusion about where the hell these pictures were coming from. Eventually the cat was out of the bag and, when, at the end of the night, the crowd was applauding the various musicians, one musician suggested a round of applause for the guy making the pictures. The crowd turned to me and gave gave a rousing all hail and hardy applause and a few tips of the hat.

I am certain they did that only cuz, ya know, photography is…ending.