# 6241-42 / landscape • common things ~ more important than sex

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”Don't knock rationalization; where would we be without it? I don't know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations. They're more important than sex.” ~ from the movie, The Big Chill

BACK IN THE DAY WHEN I WAS BUYING “REAL” (DIGITAL) CAMERAS, I always acquired “last year’s” model . That is, soon after the introduction of the latest-and-greatest updated camera model variant, the market was usually flooded with the prior latest-and-greatest version. At that point, I would acquire a new-to-me “upgraded” camera.

I pursued this approach to camera buying for 2 reasons:

  1. While I could afford the latest-and-greatest camera model upgrade, I thought it better to let the must-have-the-latest-and-greatest suckers-it’s an addiction-take the inevitable depreciation hit that would come soon enough with the next camera model upgrade.

  2. To be honest, since my ability to create photographs that end up on gallery walls is not dependent upon the particular tools I use to make my photographs, I probably could still today be using my first -acquired digital camera with the same gallery wall quality success rate.

RE: back in the day when I was buying “real” cameras - “back in the day” ended about 7 years ago when I last purchased a new-to-me “real” camera. I believe I can write that that purchase will be my last “real” camera-actually 2 cameras-purchase. That’s cuz those cameras still work, on those increasing rare occasions when I feel the need to use them. A need dictated by the need to use my 50-200mm lens (my now “real”camera “normal” lens).

An additional reason, perhaps the most important reason, that I believes drives my never-again “real” camera buying is, quite obviously, the iPhone. Simply written, it meets, and most often exceeds, most of my picture making needs. And, to date, I have had a number of my iPhone made pictures-printed to 20x20 inches-on gallery walls (in juried) exhibitions. There is also the possibility of a solo exhibition of pictures made exclusively with the iPhone-although the gallery committee is unaware of that fact, which is a testament to the quality of the prints.

All of the above written, I must confess to the fact that I have become a victim of the latest-and-greatest camera upgrade affliction…enter the iPhone 14 Pro. While I did skip the iPhone 13 Pro upgrade, there are just enough improvements-most notably (but not exclusively), low light picture making-in the 14 to justify (see the above quote) the upgrade. And, I am reasonably certain, since it just another iPhone, that the wife will never notice the difference.

# 6232-37 / commonplaces • landscape • rist camp ~ (pre) chimping

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“CHIMPING”, aka: a colloquial term used in digital photography to describe the habit of checking every photo on the camera display (LCD) immediately after capture, is very often used as pejorative in the picture making world. A variety of reasons have been offered as to why chimping is considered to be a bad thing but, whatever the case may be, I bring the word to your attention to lead you to the fact that I consider myself to be, in my picture making manner, a practioner of pre-chimping. I.E., using an LCD screen to see how picture will look before making the picture.

However, it should be noted that I have been pre-chimping for decades, long before the advent of digital cameras with LCD screens. That chimping was performed-in my commercial picture making days-with the use of Polariod film in a variety of Polaroid film backs-different backs for different film camera formats (I even had a Polaroid back for my 35mm Nikon cameras). That chimping was done for the edification of clients-art directors, designers, and the like-in order for them to see and approve how the final picture would look.

Of course, I didn’t need no stinkin’ Polaroid prints to know how the finished picture would look cuz, for a significant majority of my commercial work, I used cameras-view cameras and medium format cameras-that had large-ish viewing screens, most often called ground glass and/or focusing screens. Whatever you choose to call them, the point is I was not looking through a viewfinder.

What I was looking at was an image on a flat “screen” which presented that image in a manner similar to how it would appear on the flat surface of a finished print. That is to write, more 2d-like. Therefore, a much better manner in which to see form-the visual characteristic I seek to create / capture in my pictures.

All of the above written, you could (and probably should) assume that I was never preoccupied with the development of the digital camera EVF. Even with those digital cameras I own that have an EVF, I always make pictures with the use of the LCD screen, the only exception being picture making situations which feature fast action. I am not at all bothered by the perception of some, especially “serious” amateur picture makers, that I appear to be, when holding a camera out in front of my face, a lame / clueless snapshooter. Or, much less how, on the other hand, I am perceived when holding my Phone in front of my face while making pictures.

Needless to write, one of the reasons I really enjoy using the iPhone is that very nice viewing screen where upon form hits my eye like a big pizza pie. My only wish is that Apple would put all of their iPhone picture making goodness into the iPad cuz using an iPad screen for picture making would take me straight back to my 8x10 view camera days. Plus, I would no longer look like a clueless / lame , sappy snapshooter cuz I would mount the iPad on a tripod and use / hide under a view camera darkcloth to make my pictures. So instead, I would be perceived as the big-time, hot-shot picture maker that I really am.

# 6227 / rist camp • common places • landscape ~ looking around the place

made from my Adirondack chair on the Rist Camp porch ~ (embiggenable)

“Your own photography is never enough. Every photographer who has lasted has depended on other peoples pictures too – photographs that may be public or private, serious or funny but that carry with them a reminder of community.” ~ Robert Adams

WITHOUT A DOUBT, I CAN WRITE THAT MY own photography is never enough. Evidence of such is the amount of time spent, almost daily, wandering about the interweb looking for / at good pictures. That time is augmented by visits to galleries in order to view photographs. And, time spent viewing photographer monograph books should be thrown into the time-eater machine as well.

I spent all of that time viewing photographs simply cuz of the pleasure I get from doing so. That pleasure, for me, comes in 2 forms: 1) call it inspiration inasmuch as the shear diversity of POVs-how other picture makers see the world-encountered inspire me to keep on making pictures in the manner of how I see the world, and, 2) although I never thought of it this way, it is Adams’ idea of “reminder of community”.

I am not certain if Adams’ idea of “community” is photographer community based or humanity community based, Or, quite possibly, both. However one chooses to understand it, for purposes of this entry I am going with photographer-based community…

In my quest for finding and viewing good photographs, I find the the interweb is a very messy place. Doing searches based on the words “photography / photographs” most often yields up a lot chaff and precious little wheat. Instagram used to be useful but no much anymore. If you are into “groups”-usually very specific types of photography-flickr might be a good thing-but not so much for me.

In any event, let me suggest a method for getting right to the nub of viewing some damn good photographs…

Over the years, I have been submitting photographs to Photo Place Gallery themed juried exhibitions (with, I might add, a great deal of acceptance success). The themed exhibitions request for submissions are issued on a monthly basis and subsequent exhibitions are also presented on a monthly basis. Those photos which are accepted are exhibited online and on the walls of the gallery-in Middlebury, VT. And, get this, for a very nominal fee, the gallery will print and frame your photo for the exhibition. FYI, you can request the print (not the frame) after the exhibition comes down.

That written, I mention Photo Place Gallery for 2 reasons: 1) if you are at times running out of reasons to make pictures, it might be helpful to use Photo Place Gallery’s monthly themes as an exercise to get out there and make pictures, even if you do not submit the pictures for exhibition consideration. When the themed exhibition appears online, you can then see how other picture makers approached the subject, and, 2) re: the point of this entry, the online exhibitions have links to the accepted pictures maker’s websites.

Cuz the quality of the accepted photographs-30 for the gallery / online exhibition + 30 more for an additional online exhibition (selected from several thousands of submissions)-is very high*, using this website as a portal for the viewing, on the accepted photographer’s sites, of some very fine bodies of work is a no-brainer.

The number of viewing possibilities is, quite frankly, overwhelming. I think it possible that one could spend the better part of a year-with time out for coffee and a few naps-exploring the wealth of offerings.

*FYI, the jurist’s for the exhibitions, a different, single jurist for each, are nationally and internationally known photographers, gallery directors, or teachers. Hence the very high quality of the accepted photographs.

# 6214-17 / camp daze ~ staying close to home

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SETTLED IN TO RIST CAMP FOR OUR-including our cat-5 week stay. All of my conflicted Jersey Shore vibes have been washed away by the falling rain.

Some of our neighbors in our small Adirondack hamlet question why we vacation within the Adirondacks a mere 50 miles, as the crow flies, from our home. The answer is simple enough…cuz when you live in the Land That Time Forgot-the largest park east of the Mississippi in which all of the public lands are protected “as forever wild” in the NY State Constitution, a region larger than the state of Vermont in which there is but one McDonalds, one Dunkin Donuts, one national chain hotel, a region in which the towns and hamlets are committed to preserving their traditional, aka: rustic, character, and in which, at Rist Camp, we listen to the loons calling day and night, the coyotes howling in the night and watching eagles, hawks soaring overhead and osprey diving for fish, what’s the point of going to…say…the Jersey Shore?

#5767-70 / landscape (rist camp)•kitchen sink (rist)•kitchen life•civilized ku ~ back to my regular routine

our last evening at Rist Camp ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

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my kitchen ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

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BACK HOME AGAIN. SITTING AT MY DESKTOP WORK STATION for the first time in 7 week. Lots of image files from recent travels to copy / organize.

However, my biggest task is ongoing work-started at Rist Camp-on an entry in which my intent is to articulate, ultimately for my own satisfaction (and for anyone else who might care to read), why I make pictures and how I see the world (which is the foundation on which my vision is based). This exercise might read something like an artist statement but I think of it as a life of picture making statement.

Don't know when this exercise will be completed since I am taking my time cuz I want to get it right. In the meantime, I will keep on posting entries on a more regular timeline now that I am back home.

# 5762-66 / civilized ku+weird civilized ku•rist camp ~ grasping at straws

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from a Taxidermy exhibit at the Adirondack Museum ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

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AS IS USUALLY THE CASE, AS OUR TIME AT Rist Camp is soon coming to end, Autumn color is heading toward peak color. By our departure at the end of this week color should be at or around 70-80%.

In any event, I recently came across the following call for submissions...

As an artist, I have always been intrigued with the invisible – seeking out connections between science, environment and human behavior. Yet the world has transformed exponentially. We are experiencing a change....where invisible threats have become illuminated within our global society. Through visual art, how does one explore, engage, or connect in the midst of such intensity and turmoil? Has science effected your perspective of the world, either physically or emotionally? Has your perception been altered? Do you feel you’ve gained new insight? Within loosely interpreted boundaries of Art + Science, I ask you to consider themes for this call that are a result of your shifting perspective, placing emphasis on the Heart of the Matter.

...a call which left me perplexed and struggling to decipher exactly-or even approximately-what kind of picture I might make (and the judges might like) that would illustrate "the invisible". I mean, how the hell can someone toil in a visual medium-that is, one connected to the "real" world-and make pictures of the invisible?

Which is not to write that it is not possible to make pictures of intangibles, aka: a concept. Considered the "concept" of love....I have never been able to touch love but I have felt a lover's touch-an act which can be pictured. Such a picture, when made with insight and sensitivity would stand a good chance of being perceived as an illustration / illumination of the the concept / idea of love. But, then again not always cuz, given the medium's amibguity, some-dependent upon a viewer's emotional, mental state and life experience-such a picture might be viewed as violation of personal space or, in cases, as pornography.

re: the medium's ambiguity - because the idea of what a picture might mean is primarily dependent upon what a viewer brings to the the viewing thereof, a picture is often accompanied with a caption / title. iMo, the simpler the caption / title the better, inasmuch as the medium is a visual art, not a literary art. And therein is my ptoblem with the aforementioned call for pictures...

It should be obvious to most who follow this blog that the call for pictures was issued from the within ranks of the Academic Lunatic Fringe school of picture making. A school of picture making from which, to my eye and sensibilities, I have rarely ever viewed a picture or body of work that is truly visually interesting. And, in fact, a picture that is not accompanied by a 1000 words-artpspeak + narcissistic pyschobabble-or more in an attempt to explain what the picture or body of work is about.

All of that written, I will not be answering the call for pictures. However, if anyone out there has any ideas about a suitible referent for the making of a picture about the "invisible", feel free to leave a comment.

# 5758-61 / kitchen sink (rist)•landscape•rist camp ~ the king is dead, long live the king

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OVER THE PAST 2 DECADES, AS the analog photo world was being swallowed whole by the digital photo world, there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

The clatter, of course, was all of the caterwauling, re: the sky is falling and/or the end of photography as we knew it. To be certain, for some-think KODAK-the sky did indeed fall. However, for the picture makers in the crowd, well...the fact is, we just kept on making pictures.

Sure, sure, you might venture, but there was a change. Sure, sure, I would venture but adding, the more things change the more they remain the same. You know what I mean...for example, be it analog or digital, a "real" camera still has aperture, shutter speed, and focusing "mechanisms". Hell, even a cameraphone module can have the same via photo apps.

And, sure, sure, the sky fell for the analog photo lab industry but virtually every "serious" picture maker I know, print making is alive and well. And, much of that output ends up 0n gallery-or the like-walls. Hell, even the wonderful, "dumpy" little diner pictured in my last entry had 5 20x30 inch prints for sale on their walls.

So, all of that written, when I encounter / read crappola like the following-via VSL/Kirk Tuck...

Photography as I practiced it ten, twenty and thirty years ago is pretty much dead now. Frequent shows of prints in galleries, and print sales to individuals seem absolutely passé....Images are now a consumable and not a physical collectible, object.... [cuz, according to Kirk] it all gets crunched down onto a screen.

...I feel like I have to respond.

With all due respect to Mr. Tuck-anyone who has made a steady, good living in the commercial photo world deserves respect-I 100% disagree with his sentiments as quoted above inasmuch as I practiced photography (commercial and personal) starting 50 years ago and, from my perspective, the making of pictures has not changed one tiny bit. That is, unless one is concerned gear and technique. But even then, the one constant-the most important concept-has not changed at all...gear and technique never made a picture, it is the picture maker who makes a picture. As you know, hopefully, cameras do not make a good / great picture any more than a typewriter (or the modern equivalent thereof) makes a good / great novel.

All of that written, I also disagree with Kirk's notion that...

Cameras have superseded photography as "the" hobby. So we long time practitioners will find it hard to give up the pursuit of gear.

I understand that sentitmnet coming from Mr. Tuck inasmuch as I believe his picture is in the dictionary along the definition of "gearhead". However, gearheads have been part of the photo world seemingly since its inception, especially so in the "serious" amateur world. Most pro picture makers, myself included, found the gear which they needed to suit their picture making and they tended to stick with it throughout their entire careers. The exception being those whose careers spanned the analog to digital eras.

All of the mentioned specifics in this entry aside, I guess my ultimate bitch is with nostalgia that is based upon specious / false / "romanizied" rememberances of things past, aka: the good old days.

# 5751-52 / landscape ~ thinking of Thomas Cole

Hudson River School homage ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

Hudson River School homage ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

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IT STANDS TO REASON THAT SINCE I AM at Rist Camp, within a 1/4 mile of the Hudson River-the mighty Hudson is 20 feet wide at this point-that I would make a Hudson River School like picture.

FYI, I detest the ubiquitous blazing sunset, cliche sunset picture. When confronted with a blazing sunset my standard SOP, if I am inclined to make a picture, is to turn 90-180 degrees away from the sunset and look for a more subtle expression of the event. Fortunately for me, Rist Camp is oriented to the north at about 90 degrees away fron the setting sun.

That orientation means I do not have to get out of my Adirondack chair (on the front porch) to make a Hudson River School like picture (when nature presents such a visage to my eye and sensibilities).