# 5484 / Rist Camp•natural world ~ dead, lifeless pictures

September 17, 2020

OK, OK. I JUST MAY HAVE GONE OFF A LITTLE BIT OVER THE TOP on Mssr.Johnston in yesterday's entry. However, the fact is that I do not feel very bad about doing so cuz...

...yesterday's ire, while it may seem to have been primarily directed toward the stupidity of Johnston's assumptive and un-informed pronouncements, it was also directed toward the long-held but gradually overcome idea that the making of a picture is "just" a mechanical process. To wit, the camera makes the picture. All the human does is press the shutter.

Now this idea was dismissed in the higher levels of the art world quite a while ago. So, it distresses me to encouter, in this day and age, a substantial cadre of "serious" picture makers who seem to be intent on turning back the clock. They are obessed by the idea of technical / mechanical "perfection" in both gear and processing. And, by extension, the only good picture is one made with the most perfect of picture making instruments and processed to highest technical standards-an obesession with the "numbers"-attainable.

The result of the pursuit of perfection is pictures with no soul, Cold, clinical and lifeless pictures. But, of course, never let it written that they are not "perfect".

# 5481-83 / RIST CAMP•LANDSCAPE ~ stupid is as stupid does

September 16, 2020

BEEN WAY UNDER THE WEATHER FOR A FEW DAYS so my posting as been sub par. However, I awoke today only to read yet another flat-out stupid / ignorant / mis-informed Mike Johnston statement, re: the iPhone as a picture making device is...

"...not quite there from a technical standpoint. It's perfectly adequate for taking pictures to be viewed on...itself. And for emailing and texting. (And for putting on the blog, maximum width 800 pixels.) But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be as happy with it if I were making even small prints."

He then goes on to write that "Although I should try that. I also don't own the latest thing in iPhones; mine is a 7+, released almost exactly four years ago."

So, he hasn't made any prints from his 4-year old iPhone but he's pretty sure he would not be happy with them if he did. So, by that lupey logic, next time he is given a new camera to review, he should instead obtain a 2 generation older model of the same camera and just paste and copy his impressions of that camera into his review of the new camera.

STUPID. IGNORANT. UN-INFORMED.

There. I wrote it. Now I can go back and take another rest.

And, PS (to Mike) re: pictures made with the iPhone are "perfectly adequate for taking pictures to be viewed on...itself. And for emailing and texting.". Actually sir, in my experience, my iPhone pictures are more than perfectly adequate to viewed on gallery walls, printed to 24x24 inches and larger. Maybe you need to get out more and see what's going in the world of photography.

#5476-80 / landscape•rist camp ~ one thing turns into another thing

September 11, 2020

THANKS TO ALL WHO LEFT COMMENTS ON MY LAST entry, re: comments. I really appreciate it.

The pictures in this entry are what I would label as "vacation" pictures. Not that such pictures can not be included in my "art" library, cuz some can be so included. However, it is my wont to convert my vacation pictures to my classic snapshot look. Unfortunately, I did not bring a copy of my master snapshot file so those conversions will have to wait until my return to home.

However, here's the thing about what appears to be casually-made vacation "snapshots". To my eye and sensibilities, I find that, once the pictures are assembled into a printed photo book, and based upon the strength of the total body of work, the pictures start to be perceived as "art".

Although, it might be more accurate to write that the photo book itself is perceived as a piece of "art". Assuming the photo book has a simple / elegant design-in my case, 1 photo per page with a generous white surround-it can be viewed and appreciated as a precious artifact.

# 5473-75 / landscape / Rist Camp ~ things come, things go

September 9, 2020

RE: THE DECLINE OF / INTEREST IN PHOTO BLOGS....

It is quite possible that one of the tidbits which Brooks Jensen wrote about in his Things I've Learned About Photography list contains some insight into the current photo blog decline....

For the first several years one struggles with the technical challenges, making sure and steady progress - a learning curve and growth process that is rewarding, stimulating and self-renewing. But, eventually every photographer who sticks with it long enough arrives at a technical plateau where production of a technically good photograph is relatively easy. It is here that real photography starts and most photographers quit.

One of my takes on that idea is that there was a period of growth, photo blog wise, that accompanied the emergence and growth of digital picture making. There were lots of picture makers-newbies and "old-timers" making the transition from analogue to digital-who were looking for info and advice on equipment and technique. And, as gear sales moved from the realm of real camera stores-thus ending the over-the-counter chat with a knowledgeable sales person-to the realm of the virtual camera store where nobody knows your name, the search for advice moved to the blog-o-sphere (no youtube yet).

That written, once the quest for info, together with the significant decline of the new gear sales and the emgerence of youtube, was satiated, the long slow decline of photo blog readership began. I would also suggest, re: the Brooks Jensen thing, that there was a significant decline in the number of "serious" amateurs-those who had reached the point where real photography starts-who lost whatever "passion" that they may (or may not) have had.

In any event, here I sit still doing my thing since blog post # 1 posted in January 2007. My heyday was 200-300 daily page views, with lots of comments, for quite a number of years. Most of those comments revolved around the medium of photography and its appartus (aka: conventions). Amost never about gear and/or technique. Today, the blog has a consistent 70-80 daily page views but, unforutnately from my POV, very few comments.

Nevertheless, I carry on and will do so for the foreseeable future.

# 5470-72 / Rist Camp • week of... ~ one thing leads to another

September 5, 2020

IN MY LAST ENTRY, I MENTIONED THE PASSING of a couple photo blogs and that I thought it typical of a trend of similar end-of-the-line happenings. While I am quite certain there are many reasons, personal and global, for this trend, I also believe that there is one reason that is seldom mentioned...

...many a photo blogger has forgotten or, in reality, never understood that the best photo blogs, iMo and that of many others, are about offering forth photographs-exempli gratia, actual pictures. You know what I mean, as opposed to nattering and blathering on about this vs. that, camera / lens / software / technique / et al wise. From a creativity point of view, I can not imagine anything more mind numbing than a head full of that stuff.

And, in my experience, why is it-like, say, where there is a steam locomotive, there a coal/water tender attached-that photo blogs featuring the aforementioned stuff and "standard" run-of-the-mill pictures go hand-in-hand?

Wait...don't try to answer that question cuz I already answered it in the paragraph preceding it.

# 5466-69 / rist camp • kitchen sink • landscape ~ into the sunset?

September 3, 2020

AFTER BANGING AROUND TRYING DIFFERENT METHODS OF COLOR>BW CONVERSION, I have discovered / come to the conclusion that the Sanpseed app BW conversion tool is very good. And, surprise, surprise (not), just the mere selection of the tool does the job...no sliders / adjustments / diddling around, the default conversion, aka: neutral, is the just easy-as-pie ticket. And, with a tiny bit of after the fact fine tuning, it looks good to me.

ASIDE "AFTER BANGING AROUND TRYING DIFFERENT METHODS OF COLOR>BW CONVERSION", it felt rather like banging my head against a wall.

On a different topic, I will mention in passing (pun) that 2 long-time photo blogs have folded up their tents and are passing into the great beyond. Those would be The Visual Science Lab-which should have been more accurately named, My Cameras and Gear Obsession Blather and Ming Thein.

Neither site will be missed by me. Re: The Visual Science Lab...even though I did visit it on a fairly regular basis, it was more a matter of idle curosity cuz the site never offer much in the way of good pictures but, on the other hand, you had to give the author credit for being sucessful in making a good living. No easy feat over the long run. Re: the Ming Thein site...I have never been interested in sites that peddle / sell advice on the topic of making good pictures. So, it never caught, much less held, my attention.

That written, time marches on and a once thriving scene of good photo sites has slowly started to fade into irrelevance or flat out disinterest.

#5460-62 / Rist Camp • landscape ~ a monkey on my back

August 31, 2020

dormer ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone — ***dormer*** ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

IT HAS BEEN QUITE A WHILE SINCE I HAVE DONE a gallery crawl. That is, a day spent walking around a gallery district-one with a concentration of photo galleries-and viewing lots of photography.

Most of my gallery crawls were had in NYC. However, the district which at one time housed quite of number photo galleries-enough to fill at least a day of crawling-has been re-developed into condos. That situation added to the shake-out of the last recession and there ain't a whole lot left to see. Now there's the pandemic and there ain't much of any thing happening in the gallery world.

I am really jones-ing for the opportunity to view real live pictures.

FYI, the dormer picture above is of my morning wake-up view from my bed at Rist Camp.

# 5452-54 / rist camp • landscape ~ little acts of intimacy

August 27, 2020

A RAINY DAY AT RIST CAMP IS AS GOOD as a sunny day most anywhere else. Although I suspect our cat might not agree.

On Sunday of last week I made a photo book which, surprisingly, was printed and delivered to my post office by Friday. When I awoke that Sunday, I had no intention of making a photo book but, while having my morning coffee, I received an email notification that offered a make a free 8x8 inch photo book, offer good until Sunday midnight.

As happenstance would have it, I had recently been ruminating about re-embracing my former fondness / preference for small prints. To be precise, prints sized from 8x8 inches-with an image of 5.5 inches-up to 24x24 inches-with an image size of 16x16 inches. So, given that scenario, I went to work and made a "free" 8x8 photo book.

The book is entitled small prints. The image size is 3.5x3.5 inches on the 8x8 inch page. The "free" book ended up costing $29USD after my add-ons ... matte cover, 6 ink color printing, a few extra pages and the removal of the Shutterfly logo (replaced with my logo). In any event, the book looks great and the pictures "read" really well.

My fascination with small prints is rooted in the fact that,in general, I like small things. Don't know why. I just do. Seemingly forever, I have associated being small with being precious.

That written, I do, in fact, consider small prints to be precious things. A feeling which may issue from my fascination with the classic snapshot. That is, I would guess that many people-myself included-who are lucky enough to have family snapshot albums, going back a generation or two, consider those albums to be precious. Little treasures, so to write. As opposed to how they might feel about, say, an Stephen Shore print hanging on their wall.

The other characteristic of a small print is the fact that the viewing of a small print is a more intimate experience from that of viewing a very large print. And, perhaps, therein is why I connect small to precious ... intimacy, which can insigate sensuality.