ku # 1435-38 / civilized ku # 3499 ~ my tacks ain't so sharp

(embiggenable) • iPhone

(embiggenable) • iPhone

(embiggenable) • iPhone

(embiggenable) • iPhone

Hard to ignore the extended conversation, re: sharpness, over on T.O.P. So, here's my 2-cents plus change....

In the long-gone, for me, days of analog picture making, I expended considerable time and effort making (and printing) my personal/ so called fine art pictures with an 8x10 view camera + color negative film. I did so for a couple reasons, not the least of which was that it was very in vogue amongst the New Color Photography cadre. That aside, the primary reason I did so was because I really appreciated, what I would label, the smooth, "liquid" and essentially grain-less color and tonal quality which came from using large format color negative film. And, yes, the resultant prints looked very sharp.

However, sharpness wise, the level of sharpness was considerably less than what is possible, even "normal", with digital capture and printing. Back in the day, if I were to want the sine non qua of sharpness, I would have had to use, and occasionally did, 120 (medium format) Kodachrome roll film. Now that was a truly sharp film.

Fast forward backwards (is that possible?) to my early testing of the waters, digital domain wise. I was surprised at the level of sharpness that seemed to be inherent with the digital process, even with a modest 4-6mp sensor. Certainly, sharpness at level beyond what was the norm, color negative wise. However, what I also noticed, digital v. analog, was that the smooth, liquid look/quality that I treasured was not so much in evidence.

Consequently, I set to work in Photoshop in pursuit of emulating a smooth liquid color and tonal look. Long story short-after quite a bit of experimentation with Gaussian Blur, I found that, amongst a few other adjustments (to include subtle contrast reduction), a sukoshi, aka "skosh", of Gaussian Blur moved things in the desired direction.

To this day, even with my iPhone files, I follow the same Gaussian Blur processing routine. In doing so, I find that my prints have a very similar look to those C prints I made from color negative film back in the day. Unforunately, that is a look that is almost impossible to replicate with online viewing. Blame down-sampling and who-the-hell-knows what monitor calibration (or lack thereof) is being used to view the work online.

Re: the pictures in this entry. If anyone thinks they should be sharper, they just ain't paying attention to what I am "saying" with these pictures.

ku # 1434 / civilized ku # 3697-98 ~ happenstance and the learning curve

early evening ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

just after sunset ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

cat puke and lip liner pencil shavings ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

Back home from our 5 week hiatus (from "regular" life) at Rist Camp. In the last 2 days of our stay, I was gifted, by nature and a puking cat (our cat), 2 picture making opportunities.

First was a rather dramatic early-evening-until-sunset light show as seen and pictured in the 2 pictures in this entry. The visual event was instigated by the fact that a stormy weather front was moving out of the area and giving way to rather clear sky conditions to the west, which means that the actual sunset is out of sight, hidden by trees, which also means that the view is side-lit as opposed to seeing a view of the sunset.

FYI, it is worth noting that I reduced the color saturation, as rendered by the iPhone, of these 2 pictures. Believe me or not, the result is very close to the actual scene.

I came upon the second picture making opportunity when I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth just before retiring for the night. Turning around for a towel, I was presented, in the toilet, with a rather visually appealing arrangement of, as I later learned, blades of grass our cat had puked up and a few lip liner pencil shavings. I could not resist the opportunity.

Credit where credit is due .... kudos to the wife who threw the blades of grass into the toilet, where the shavings already were, and suspended her normal impulse to flush the toilet because, if I my suspicion is correct, she knew-learning from my years of making pictures of the contents of the kitchen garbage can and the kitchen sink-that I would be drawn to the making of a picture of the resultant arrangement.

Ku # 1433 / civilized ku # 3694-96 ~ off topic (ala T.O.P wise)

(embiggenable) • iPhone

(embiggenable)•iPhone

Hudson River ~ North Creek, NY (embiggenable) • iPhone

It was a rainy morning at Rist Camp so I took the Abarth on a fast 25 mile twisty bits trip in the rain to the grocery store in North Creek on the Hudson River. Fun, fun, fun.

The Abarth is the text book definition of a "pocket rocket".

(embiggenable) • iPhone

Civilized ku # 3693 / ku # 1431-32 ~ all the world’s a sunny day (not)

(embiggenable) • iPhone

(embiggenable) • iPhone

(embiggenable) • iPhone

I live in a forest preserve, most commonly called the Adirondack Park. It is larger than the state of Vermont and bigger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier and Great Smokies National Parks combined.

Within the Blue Line-the original boundaries of the park were drawn in blue ink-there are approximately 130,000 residents residing in 102 villages and hamlets (15 residents per sq. mile). 50% of the park is privately owned. The rest is state owned and is protected as "Forever Wild" by Article XIV in the NYS Constitution.

When I moved to the Adirondacks-20 years ago-I was quite excited by the possibilities, picture making wise, afforded to me that came with full-time residency. That written, I arrived with the determination to avoid slipping into the cliched practice of making variation-on-the-"standard" and ubiquitous Adirondack landscape picture. That is, Hudson River School Painting like romanticized pictures dominated by dramatic vistas and light.

In fact, avoiding that practice required no real effort on my part inasmuch as that which pricks my eye and sensibilities, aka: my Vision, is very different from such referents.

If one were to look only at pictures of the Adirondacks featured on calenders, posters, note cards, picture books and tourism marketing, one might be lead to believe that the Park topography is comprised of people-less high peaks and large lakes. When, in fact, the high peak region of the Park makes up only about 5-10% of the area of the Park. One might also think that every morning and evening is a saturation-to-the-max color spectacular. And, don't even get me started on the Velvia-esque saturation-to-the-max fall folliage picture extravagancias

As has been said, looks can be deceiving....

....especially the people-less part. With 7-10 million visitors a year, people are not in short supply and the high peaks region is high on those visitor's must-see list. That is why I have never hiked any of the 46 high peaks-3,500>5,300 ft. elevation-during the spring, summer or fall. I have only hiked them in the winter, preferably in 5F or below temperatures.

All of that written, picture making wise, I prefer to make pictures of leaves on an erratic and leave the sensationalism to others.

(embiggenable) • iPhone

Civilized ku # 3684 / ku # 1428 ~ a nattering nAbob of negativism

at Rist Camp - in the Adirondack Park ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

at Rist Camp - in the Adirondack Park ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

There is a blogger out there whose raison d'etre seems to be that of promoting a very dark and foreboding notion, re: the current state of the photography medium and its apparatus.

In the admittedly short time I have been checking in on said blog, said blogger has announced that, amongst a number of things, straight photography is dead, photos are no longer printed and hung on gallery walls, art no longer imitates life / life imitates art and, most recently, that said blogger is "pretty much sick of it" ("it", aka: photography).

That "sickness" has been brought on by a "plague of images". Images which, ih/ho, are "vulgar, banal and stupid." None of the images have "enriched my life", nor are any of them "rare and beautiful" nor do they have "a value which that transcended their aesthetic worth."

Said blogger's deduction from the aforementioned? The most dumb-ass statement yet:

"Now, nothing can have that value any more"

Seriously? Nothing? Maybe this blogger is going through a depression episode and has not taken his meds. Or, maybe said blogger is that type of person who is just disposed to not stay on the sunny side of life.

Or, perhaps said blogger has such a narrow bandwidth for things which prick his/her eye and sensibilities that the good picture pickings are very slim. To be absolutely certain, that proclivity is very valid for his/her outlook, photography wise. However ....

...stop already with the broad, declarative statements without including the caveat / phrase, "for me"*.

All of that written, let me make a relatively broad statement of my own .... iMco, and to my eye and sensitivities, there are a goodly number of pictures out there which are very capable of enriching one's life, which are beautiful (using a very broad definition of that word) and which have a value beyond their visual aesthetics.

To deny that is to engage in a form lazy-ass "blindness". Yes, it may take a bit more "digging" to find the jewels but for those who do engage in the act of digging, there are plenty of pictures of value to be found.

* said blogger does use the word "I" a lot in the lead up to his/her overly broad statements so I guess I should cut him/her a bit of a break on that score. But not too much, cuz I couldn't have as much ranting fun otherwise.

Civilized ku # 3682 / ku # 1427 ~ this magic moment

sunlight ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

(Embiggenable) • iPhone

Back in 1969 Jay and the Americans released their version of This Magic Moment, a Top Ten / Golden Record recording. It stuck in my head long enough to think of it when I was reading a blog post suggesting the need for artist statements.

I have written my fair share of artist statements. For most of them, the words have flowed from my penny pencil like water from a ruptured damn. However, there have been a few for which the words were harder to find than a black cat in a coal bin. Perhaps, if I had taken a graduate course in artspeak writing and or narsissistic introspection, those hard ones might have been easier to pen.

In any event, I have been thinking about a new artist statement inasmuch as I have recently realized that, within my picture library, I have a goodly number of good pictures-made in the manner of the sunlight picture in this entry-which I should edit and organize into a new body of work. A heretofore unrecognized body of work that might be titled, window light.

Now, truth be written, I could-and maybe should-write a one-size-fits-all artist statement under the title of Discursive Promiscuity. That statement would state quite simply that I make pictures (fine art intention wise) of every and any thing when something pricks my eye and sensibilities. Most often instigated by what I perceive to be a visually interesting relationships of color, light, shapes, lines and the like which, when isolated within my frame and presented on the 2D field of a print, will make a visually interesting image.

It was while thinking about making such an artist statement, that the aforementioned song popped up in my head. I then looked up the lyrics and realized that, by scrambling a few lines about and adding a few words of my own, I could have a very viable one-size-fits-all artist statement ....

and then it happened
it took me by surprise
this magic moment
so different and so new
was unlike any other
I think you'll feel it too

So there you have it. I'll probably set it to the same music as the original song, record it and, instead of having a written artist statement at my next exhibition, I'll have a musical one. Could be the next big thing.

Civilized ku # 3681/ Ku # 1426 ~ something to think about

people with dogs tramping about at Buttermilk Falls ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

early evening sunlight ~ Harris Lake / Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK (embiggenable) • µ4/3 @ 400mm f8

iMo, a photograph can accomplish 2 things. It can illustrate a referent and, in the best of cases, it can illuminate, not only the referent but also the totality of what is depicted within the frame imposed upon it by the picture maker. In fact, to illustrate and to illuminate are intimately connected in the same act. That is, to illustrate-in our case to photograqph-is to create an illustration-in our case a photograph-as an example of something (in the broadest sense) which most often is employed to elucidate, aka: illuminate, or prove something about that which is illustrated.

So, it seems very clear to me that people who engage in the act of making photographs are, in fact, illustrators who are creating illustrations of something in order to illuminate the visual characteristics / qualities of that something, most often to make a statement or prove something about that something.

Simple enough, no?

FYI / IN MEMORIUM One of the most influential photographers of the last century-albeit that that influence was based primarily on a single book-is dead. That photographer would Robert Frank and the book would be his book, The Americans. There is a good article in today's NY Times but that article is behind a paywall.

Civilized ku # 3680-81~ living in a paradise

View from the porch ~ Newcomb, NY / in the Adirondack PARK (embiggenable) • iPhone

Provisions ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

All settled in for a 5 week stay at Rist Camp. Looking forward to visits from friends and family but also to some time alone for picture making (the wife will only be here about half the time).

It is my intention, picture making wise, to focus on making ku (natural world) pictures. The issue I face when doing so is to avoid making the "standard" ain't-nature-grand-and-glorious cliche pictures. So, there will probably be some mucking about, picture making wise, while I try to find a grove that works for me.

FYI, for those interested in such things, the 5 prominent bottle labels in the Provisions picture represent-collectively-63 years of distilled spirits aging.