the new snapshot # 149 / infared-ish # 9-11 ~ how much fun can you have with an iPhone

desk lamp ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

Au Sable Chasm bridge ~ in the Adirondack PARK (embiggenable) • iPhone

food truck ~ Near Chaffeys Lock, ONT. CA (embiggenable) • iPhone

dune path ~ near Ardara, Ireland (embiggenable) • µ4/3

FYI, the infared-ish pictures are made using the BW>Infared filter found on the PS Express app together with additional processing using the Snapseed app. After the Snapseed processing the pictures are then run through the Polamatic app with the Polaroid 600 film effect applied. The source pictures are made with the iPhone 7 Plus camera module.

iMo, the resultant pictures are more like high-key BW than infared in appearance. Though, without a doubt, there is a somewhat infared look to the pictures but I would place them at the extreme edge of the infared neighborhood, look wise. Hence, I call them infared-ish.

Whatever one might call them, I like the look and, while making them, I am having more fun than a barrel full of monkeys.

FYI, the infared filter in PS Express works best-for my intentions-with pictures which have a lot of green in them and not too much saturated yellows.

civilized ku # 5106 / infared-ish (the new snapshot) # 5-8 ~ the angry gargoyle

things on my desk ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

infared-ish ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

infared-ish ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

infared-ish ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

The gargoyle depicted in this entry is a reproduction of a gargoyle which adorns the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. The gargoyle's expression reflects how I feel about the Las Vegas shooting massacre.

One of the first things that came to my mind upon reading about the Las vegas massacre was the 1966 University of Texas Tower shooting. In that event, for 90+ minutes the shooter rained rifle fire down upon people, killing 17 and wounding 30 more.

The 2 events are remarkedly similar with one notable exception. The Texas shooter did not use automatic weapons which thankfully resulted in "only" 47 casualties. Contrast that with the Las Vegas shooting in which the shooter was armed with multiple weapons which had been converted to automatic firing capabilities. That difference resulted in 58 deaths and 500+ wounded IN LESS THAN 11 MINUTES.

My anger, re: the Las Vegas massacre, is not directed at the shooter but rather at the (primarily) GOP members of Congress who refuse to address the issue of automatic weapons for just about anyone who wants them. Those weapons are the weapons-of-choice for every mentally unstable perpetrator who seeks to commit mass carnage.

Some simple facts - the US has 50% of guns in private hands in the world. The US has a gun-related homicide rate that dwarfs the rest of the world combined. States with more guns have more homicides than those with fewer guns. States with more guns have higher death rates for law enforcement personel than those with fewer guns.

There are those who claim that guns don't kill people, rather that people kill people. However, the fact is that people with guns kill people. The 2 factors-guns/people-are inseparable. They are inextricably linked and, since we can't eliminate people from that equation, that leaves guns as the only component of that equation which can be addressed.

To do nothing in the face of 1,518 mass shooting since the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting-(1,715 deaths/6,000 wounded)-is nothing more than a criminal act.

FYI, to be absolutely clear on the matter, I do not suggest that gun ownership should be eliminated. I suggest that gun ownership needs to be subjected to common sense regulation.

kitchen sink # 42 / (the new snapshot) infared-ish # 1-4 ~ taking/making

coffee cup / reflected light ~ (embiggenable) • µ4/3

infared-ish flora - (embiggenable) • iPhone

infared-ish Hudson River - (embiggenable) • iPhone

infared-ish pine - (embiggenable) i• Phone

Consider this:

If a medium is representational by nature of the realistic image formed by a lens, I see no reason why we should stand on our heads to distort that function. On the contrary, we should take hold of that very quality, make use of it, and explore it to the fullest. - Berenice Abbott

Now consider this:

Writing as a picture maker who has been, for the most part, a committed practioner of straight picture making, I whole heartedly endorse the preceding quote. However, inasmuch as I have recently strayed from the straight (and narrow) I have had a few thoughts, re: straight picture making. FYI, rest assured that my commitment to straight picture making is as secure as ever. However ...

... the thought has occurred to me that one of the photo medium's problems in being considered as an art form is, in fact, the very idea that a photo is just a realistic image of real-world referents and nothing more. While the statement, That's a beautiful picture, is often heard, that statement is directed, more often than not, at the depicted referent as opposed to the picture as a thing in and of itself.

While a similar statement-change "picture" to "painting"-could be made, a painting, however, is almost always considered by a viewer thereof to be art (good, bad, or indifferent). Whereas a photo is most always considered to be just a picture of something. And, as we all know, anyone can take a photo but it takes a "real artist" to make a painting.

Since the beginning of time, picture making wise, many picture makers (Photo Division) have been devoted to making "art" by veering away from the straight (and narrow) and lathering up photos with a lot of art sauce, re: visual effects - especially effects which are part and parcel of the painting genre. The new world of digital picture making has only added to that proclivity. In most applications, the effects are intented to negate the relationship of the picture to realistic representation.

Other picture makers have come to the conclusion that they can make "art" by picturing only "spectacular" referents. And in doing so, they typically add as much art sauce as possible by making those pictures in the most dramtic manner possible ... warm directional light, wide angle / telephoto lenses, ND filters to make dramatic skies, and other dramatic picture making techniques.

All of that written, now consider this:

The coffee cup / reflected light picture in this entry. If it were a painting, most viewers would consider it to be art. Afterall, it is a painting, made by an artist. As a photo, most viewers would consider it to be a picture of a coffee cup and inquire, Why did you take a picture of that?

FYI, the above commentary should not be understood to be a complaint nor a rant. It is just an observation in the cause of creating some food for thought.

civilized ku # 5105 (kitchen life) / the new snapshot # 146-148 ~ vice versa

kitchen reflections ~ (embiggenable) iPhone 7 Plus camera module

Monopole music ~ (embiggenable) µ4/3

Monopole bartneder ~ (embiggenable) µ4/3

Monopole ghost ~ (embiggenable) µ4/3

In a switcheroo, picture making wise, today's civilized ku picture was made with the iPhone 7 Plus camera module and the new snapshot pictures were made with µ4/3 gear. The reason for that is simple ... the µ4/3 sensor is far superior to the iPhone camera module sensor in very low light picture making situations.

the new snapshot # 143-45 ~ seriously

family in a tree

morning reading with coffee and feet

canoes and garden

Ths entry will be an attempt to explain / write about my "serious" intentions, re: the new snapshot pictures. It is not an artist statement but will undoubtedly be the basis for one.

When I first set about to make so-called snapshots with the iPhone camera module, my intent was to see what kind of picture quality the camera module was capable of and to mimic the traditional snapshot aethetic. In addition to those goals, there was a vague notion of making a statement-rattling around in my head-about the idea of people using their phones to make billions of digital-era snapshots. Hence my project name, the new snapshot.

Along the road of this experiment, I discovered that the iPhone is capable of making good quality pictures and that I slid into the snapshot aesthetic like a fish to water. And, much to my surprise, I have really enjoyed making pictures of people with an emphasis on friends and family. Low and behold, I found that making "snapshots" can be fun and rewarding.

It should go without writing (to anyone really looking at them), that I continue to make my the new snapshot pictures with the same eye and sensibilities as I have been doing with my more "serious" ku / civilized ku pictures. At first, I tried to be more casual about picture making things such as framing and other "correct" ways of doing things but I could just not get there.

Consequently, and while my the new snapshot are seemingly about what is depicted (and they are that), my intention to "sneak" in visual things like are found in my "serious" pictures. Things like interesting framing, relationships of shapes / lines, light and dark and colors, et al. BTW, it should be obvious that the traditional snapshot drugstore border, the dirt and scratches and the attenuated tonal range are all visual slight of hand elements which; 1) reinforce the idea that the pictures are "just" snapshots, and 2) thus allowing the viewers to approach the pictures in a relaxed manner-pay no attention to man behind the curtain-there are no art things here.

Eventually, I came to realize that, with the picture making capabilities of the new snapshot cameras - aka: phones, non-serious picture makers were, in fact, making much improved snapshots than were made in the snapshot camera film era. A large viewing screen which shows exactly what is in the frame, amazingly good auto exposure / white balance capabilities and nearly endless DOF (due to the small sensor) all contribute to the ease and success of making pretty damn good snapshots.

All of that written, my most interesting discovery was that snapshots are truly timeless in their appeal. Whether they are viewed the day after they were made or many years down the road, they have an immediacy, intimacy and a universality to which viewers can relate even if they have no connection to the people, places or things depicted in the pictures.

So, let me sum up by writing that I believe my the new snapshot pictures are as "serious" and "genuine" of intent as any of my so-called "serious" work. In fact, they may represent a visual culmination of sorts of everything I have seen, heard and learned about the medium of photography and its apparatus over my 50+ year involvement with making pictures.

civilized ku # 5103 / the new snapshot # 140-42 (triptych) ~ serious intentions

direct light / reflected light ~ Rist Camp • Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK (embiggenable) µ4/3

late day porch light ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK (embiggenable) iPhone 7s camera module

Last evening, as I was sitting on the porch, it occurred to me that, in yesterday's entry, my response (re: John Linn's comment) might be misconstrued as a criticism of John's comment. Especially so considering that I put the word genuine in quotes.

To be perfectly clear, John's comment was much appreciated inasmuch as it addressed an issue about which I have been thinking - the seeming contradition between my "serious" picture making and that of my the new snapshot picture making.

As most would know, I have been a long time advocate of / for straight picture making. What most don't know about is the soft spot in my picture making heart for crappy camera-Holga, Diana, Lomograpghy, et al-picture making. Now, it could be written that making pictures with crappy cameras is, in fact, straight photography inasmuch as the resulting pictures are straight out of the camera without any subsequent manipulation. And, more to my point, early simple snapshot cameras were, by today's standards, crappy cameras.

In an ideal picture making world, I would be making my the new snapshot pictures with a crappy snapshot camera-Kodak Instamatic and/or the like-but 2 considerations make that rather impractical. 1)The availablity of film and processing (or lack thereof) and 2) the cost of film and processing which, at the rate of my the new snapshot picture making-500+ pictures in the last 4 months-would be astronomical. So, for my money, that leaves me with the iPhone camera module as a somewhat ideal alternative to a crappy film camera.

Of course, the iPhone camera module is a fer piece down the road from a crappy camera. Consequently, I indulge in some "creative" post picture making processing in order to emulate the snapshot look, in essence, taking them out of the straight picture making genre and into the genre of manipulated pictures. But, here's the thing...

After much rumination I have come the realization that my the new sanpshot picture making is as "serious" as my "serious" picture making. With the exception of consciously focusing on making more people pictures, my picture making eye and sensibilities / vision / propensities haven't changed at all. And, truth be told, I have "serious' intentions, re: my the new snapshot picture making (much more on that in my next entry).

ku # 4020 / the new snapshot # 138-39 ~ quid est demonstratum

the gloaming / Rist Camp ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK (embiggenable) µ4/3

interesting house ~ Madrid, NY (embiggenable) iPhone 7s camera module

interesting porch ~ Madrid, NY (embiggenable) iPhone 7s camera module

John Linn wrote:

I am enjoying your "snapshots" but have missed your straight pictures... they just seem more genuine to me.

my response: Knowing that many visit my blog for my straight pictures, I have been including, along with my the new snapshot pictures, at least 1 straight picture in nearly every entry. I do so for that reason but also for the reason that I continue to make straight µ4/3, aka: "real", pictures in addition to my the new snapshot pictures.

That written, I have, beyond any reasonable doubt, been quite obsessed with making pictures with my iPhone and trying to do so within the parameter(s) of the snapshot aesthetic. I am doing so in order to make pictures which will be made into small prints which will fill shoe boxes and/or be placed into picture albums. It is my belief that, after I'm gone, it will be these "snapshot" pictures which will be viewed by family and friends as "genuine" pictures which more accurately tell a story about me and my life than any of my "serious" / "art" pictures.

quid est demonstratum ~ "album" book from Shutterfly / 5.5" prints from Parabo Press

ku # 4016 / the new snapshot # 135-137 ~ a walk on the wild side

Yesterday I got off of my porch monkey butt and took a walk through the iForest at the W!LD CENTER in Tupper Lake. The W!LD CENTER is an internationally known / acclaimed - visited by people from all over the US and 30 other countries - science-based nature center with a 54,000 sq.ft. museum and 81 acres of forested outdoor installations to explore.

iMo, if you are in the neighborhood, the W!LD CENTER is a must visit experience. If you are not in the neighborhood, the W!LD CENTER is well worth the trip to in the neighborhood.