5787-5792 / flora•people•civilized ku ~ what did you do this past weekend?

May 24, 2021

OVER 46 HOURS THIS WEEKEND PAST THE WIFE and I drove 700 miles (round trip) to Rochester, NY to go the Lilac Festival in Highland Park* and to catch up with a few friends and family.

At the Lilac Festival I made a picture of the wife at spot where there was sign which stated that it was a perfect spot take a picture. I also enjoyed a refreshing $8.00 lemonade drink while the wife had a $6.00 Creamsicle smoothie.

FYI, I grew up immediately adjacent-about a 3 minute walk-to Highland Park, a beautiful setting, covering 150 acres (61 ha), of hills and valleys created from glacial deposits. Spent a lot of time in the park, skateboarding down the paved walkways, ice skating in winter, disappearing into the woods (overlooking the city) with my girl friend to watch the submarine races and variety of other activities.

On Sunday, during our return-to-home trip, we had a delightful late morning breakfast at the "famous" Keyes' Pancake House-a long time favorite of mine-in Old Forge in the south central region of the Adirondacks. We both had pancakes. Arriving home at 3PM, we spent a relaxing afternoon on the porch with the cat while imbibing a few drams liquid refreshment.

Kinda felt like old times, aka: pre-Covid, thanks to the vacines and a (majority) pandemic mandate abiding population in our state.

*Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to seem like a natural occurrence of trees, shrubs and flowers, Highland Park, a city park, is actually a completely planned—and planted—arboretum or “tree garden.” In addition to over 1200 lilac shrubs, the park boasts a Japanese Maple collection, 35 varieties of sweet-smelling magnolias, a barberry collection, a rock garden with dwarf evergreens, 700 varieties of rhododendron, azaleas, mountain laurel and andromeda, horse chestnuts, spring bulbs and wildflowers and a large number of trees. The park’s pansy bed features 10,000 plants, designed into an oval floral “carpet” with a new pattern each year.

# 5765-67 / flora•civilized ku ~ a picture is not a helicopter

May 14, 2021

Photoshop composite ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone — ***Photoshop composite*** ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

EXACTLY MY THOUGHTS ON THE Academic Lunatic Fringe crowd (wherein content is more important than the visual)

"The funny and sad thing is that photography is an art, but these guys have such an inferiority complex about it that all they do is tag on gold-plate words where they aren’t needed. If they’d only let it talk for itself." ~ Gordon Parks

# 5747-49 / still life•sink•around the house ~ familiar things made new

April 29, 2021

THREE OF MY CARVED-IN-STONE, BEDROCK BELIEFS, re: the medium of photography and its apparatus:

"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

"To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place.... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them." ~ Elliott Erwitt

"The two most engaging powers of a photograph are to make new things familiar and familiar things new." ~ William Thackeray

I also have a "warning"-a reminder of sorts-belief that I keep tucked in my back pocket for use in those occasions when I might be tempted to partake in the never ending prattling and nattering-re: gear, technicals and technique...

"Of what use are lens and light
To those who lack mind and sight?"

...a quote often used in in the context of photography conversations. It is derived from an inscription-written in Old German-on a Brunswick Thaler (coin) in 1589- which reads: ""Torch and glasses will not help the old man who will not help and know himself."

In any event, if a picture maker has "mind and sight", there is no need to get involved with stuff that is best left to those who would not recognize a good picture-or what it takes to make one-even if they were to walk face-first into it on a wall.

# 5720-25 / flora•around the house ~ inexhaustible invitations to deduction, speculation, and fantasy

April 14, 2021

PICTURE MAKING WISE, I AM, WITHOUT A DOUBT, A DEVOTEE OF facts clearly described...

"There is nothing as mysterious as a fact clearly described. I like to think of photographing as a two way act of respect. Respect for the medium, by letting it do what it does best, describe. And respect for the subject, by describing it as it is. A photograph must be responsible to both." ~ Garry Winogrand

...but, nevertheless, I believe that a clearly described fact, as described by a photograph, can, in the best of cases, introduce a fair amount of mystery. Even if the intial mystery is simply incited by nothing more than a feeling of, "it is a mystery to me why the picture maker made this photograph." However, once a viewer gets beyond that "mystery" (if she/he can), there remains the idea that...

"Photographs, which cannot themselves explain anything, are inexhaustible invitations to deduction, speculation, and fantasy... The very muteness of what is, hypothetically, comprehensible in photographs is what constitutes their attraction and provocativeness. ~ Susan Sontag

All of that written and getting back to "facts clearly described", I have always believed that the medium of photography and its apparatus are inexorably and intrintically linked to the real. That idea fits nicely into my concept of the real - I see it, therfore, it is. However, when I make a picture of "it", followed by the making of print of "it", then viewing that "it" in a photograph of "it", I sense a change going on. A change something along the lines of...

"Instead of just recording reality, photographs have become the norm for the way things appear to us, thereby changing the very idea of reality and of realism. ~ Susan Sontag

In any event, I do not want to go too far down this rabbit hole. So, just let me write that, to a certain extent, it is all a mystery to me.

# 5692-93 / kitchen sink•flora ~ out with the old, in with the new

March 27, 2021

GOT A SURPRISING TEXT FROM THE WIFE which read "I need a new phone." It was only slightly more surprising than her text from 4 months ago ... "Let's get that new car you've been talking about." Both texts were a break with her long-held position on both items which is was to hold on to both then-owned items until they broke. So, being the dutiful husband that I am, her text wish was my command.

Off I went to the phone store. After obtaining the object of the wife's desire-an iPhone 12 Mini-I explored the possibility of my desire to acquire the new iPhone 12 Pro Max. That desire was driven solely by the introduction of a new/bigger sensor(s?) (physical size not more mp). An improvement that moves the iPhone camera module closer to being a "real" camera...or maybe even a "serious" camera.

In any event, the possiibility of acquiring the 12 Pro Max advanced into the category of actually acquiring the 12 Pro Max. As a result of my visit to the phone store, not only did the wife and I have our phone desires satiated, but so did my good friend, who accompanied me to the phone store.

While my friend did not seem to harbor any desire for a new phone, as I was faced with making a decsion, re: to trade in my 11 Pro Max or pay off the balance of payments on it and keep it, he piped up with the idea that he could pay off the balance and then he could could keep my "old" but, nevertheless, new-to-him phone. Sounded good to me, so....

....everybody seems to be-whatever their individual phone desires-iPhone happy.

# 5549-51 / flora•kitchen life•kitchen sink ~ is it out there waiting to happen?

October 28, 2020

ARGUABLY, ALTHOUGH iMo UNARGUABLY, THE LAST BIG THING in the picture making world was the emergence of the New Color picture making movement. And quite a number of "big name" picture makers rose to the fore during that era.

Names such as Eggleston, Meyerowitz and Shore (amongst many others) who not only pioneered the use of color picture making in the fine art photography world but also made manifest the idea that any thing was suitable as a referent for picture making. For decades to follow, the work of those pioneers inspired / influenced a generation or two of picture makers who, with their own variations / vision, stood firmly on the shoulders of the earlier pioneers...Mossimo Vitali, Edward Burtynski and Andreas Gursky as examples.

Within the borders of any thing goes, there was a minor movement of straight photography minicry which was actually staged tableau vivant...Gregory Crewdson, David Hilliard, Jeff Wall and Aaron Hobson (my son) come to mind. Lots of interesting work to been seen in this genre.

In any event and all of that written, I have been increasingly struck by the fact that there has not been, nor can I see one on the horizon, another / next Big Thing, picture making wise. One could suggest that the emergence of smartphone picture making is a Big Thing, and it is, but it is more of a change in how pictures are made rather than a change in how picture makers see the world.

On the other hand, it could be argued that smartphone picture making has truly embraced, like no other movement, the idea that any thing and ever thing is, indeed, ripe for picture making thereof. Within that picture making world is the selfie. A genre which is loaded with picture making trash but, nevertheless, in which there is a significant amount of gold.

Who knows? Maybe a major art instition will, as MOMA did with the New Color Photographers, mount a ground breaking exhibition of selfie gold and, as a result, launch the next Big Thing.

# 5538 / natrual world•flora ~ sorta same as it ever was

October 19, 2020

ON A RECENT ENTRY, # 5532 / Here we go again, A COMMENT WAS LEFT by Markus Spring...

"Hmm, AI in image processing doesn't really attract me..."

Markus went on to explain why AI image processing does not attract him. ASIDE my rsponse to Markus is in no way to be considered as a rejoinder / contrarian response cuz it is not.END OF ASIDE.

Since my dawn of picture making time, I have avoided any thing that might be considered as an "automatic", aka: not controlled by me, function or accoutrement. As an example, from day one, I always used a handheld light meter, normally with a spot metering attachment. None of that who-knows-what-it's-doing in-camera metering for me.

When I adopted digital picture making, I continued to be a control freak ... RAW format only (none of those crappy JPEGS for me). As I worked my way up the ever-improving sensor capability's ladder, I worked my ass off processing my image files to obtained my desired result. Not because I wanted to but cuz, given the shifting state of the art, I had to.

So, my embrace of Ai-based picture making-together with an, at first, skeptical embrace of JPEG image files-could be considered by some who know my history as a rather strange development (might be a pun there).

But here's the thing. I have come full-circle to a point of same-as-it-ever-was, picture making wise. To wit, back in the analogue days,you chose your poison (color film / paper), made an exposure, took the result into the darkroom and made a print, using the very limited range of control available to do so, and lived with the result. Which is not to write that the result could not be a very nice color print cuz, most often it was.

Compare that to my current picture making M.O. I have picked my poison (an iPhone), make an exposure (Ai hard at work), open the jpeg in my "darkroom", make a few minor adjustments (work-arounds, side-steps, "tricks", flat out ignoring some conventional processing wisdom), make a print and live with the result. Which is not to write that the result could not be a very nice color print cuz the result is always> remarkably close, if not not perfectly matched, to my desired result.

And, have no doubt about it. My desired result, print wise, conforms to a very high standard. Back in the analogue days, my C prints were very often perceived to be dye transfer prints-in large part due the fact I printed with condenser-head enlargers, not diffusion-head enlargers.

My digital era prints are produced to mimic the best qualities of analogue era C prints. Soft detailed highlights and deep but detailed shadows with smooth tonal transitions and "clean" natural color. Prints are sharp but not state-of-the-art (so called) eye-bleeding sharp. In short, a pleasing / easy to look at picture.

CAVEAT All of the above written, it should be understood that, while it might seem that I just breeze my way through some quick and easy picture making steps, especially at the prcessing stage, that is simply not the case. I bring 30 years of Photoshop image processing skills and experience to every image file I process.

There is no question that the iPhone Ai gets me remarkedly close to where I want to be (90% of the time), it still requires a significant amount of applied skill and knowledge, Photoshop image file processing wise, to achieve my desired end result. To be sure, it is not rocket science level wise but most certainly it is not click the button / move the slider wise simple.END OF CAVEAT

# 5508-19 / still life•kitchen life•flora ~ re: the shallow end of the gene pool

September 30, 2020

AS I WADE THROUGH THE AUTUMN COLOR SEASON OF WRETCHED EXCESS, picture making wise, I am reminded of a few of Brooks Jensen's 100 Things I've Learned About Photography...

• If you want to sell a lot of photographs, use color and lots of it. If you want to sell even more, photograph mountains, oceans, fall leaves, and animals.

• We are fast approaching critical mass on photographs of nudes on a sand dune, sand dunes with no nudes, Yosemite, weathered barns, the church at Taos, New Mexico, lacy waterfalls, fields of cut hay in the afternoon sun, abandoned houses, crashing waves, sunsets in color, and reflected peaks in a mountain lake.

• Finding great subject matter is an art in itself.

I mean, seriously, there is much more to Autumn than standing by your car on the roadside, pointing a picture making device at a hillside covered with autumn color, then printing or posting online the resultant picture with color saturation pushed to 11 (on a scale of 1-10).

Or, on the other hand, maybe not. After all, 50% of people (including picture makers) are below average.