gaze in wide wonder

...the slow parade of fears... [Flickr]

2012-01-03T21:22:23-08:00

sandy.redding posted a photo:

Last one for the night. My daughter took this one of me.

Eyes [Flickr]

2012-01-03T21:04:05-08:00

sandy.redding posted a photo:

My daughter got a new hair style today. Of course, there are pictures to be taken.

Candy [Flickr]

2012-01-03T19:38:52-08:00

sandy.redding posted a photo:

My daughter, who's training to be pâtisserie chef, made an assortment of candies tonight.

MACH PUSH LIMIT

2012-01-02T17:34:00.001-08:00

Here's an airspeed indicator taken from an F-4 Phantom.

PUSH [Flickr]

2012-01-02T17:15:05-08:00

sandy.redding posted a photo:

Here's an airspeed indicator taken from an F-4 Phantom.

Time

2012-01-02T00:43:00.001-08:00

It's a new year... so I thought I might give another go at a 365 project. Got busy and completely lost track of time... and that gave me the idea for this.

Shot with a Sigma 105mm using a 36mm extension tube and a polarizer filter (to eliminate the glare on the crystal).

Time [Flickr]

2012-01-01T19:53:40-08:00

sandy.redding posted a photo:

Mantis

2011-11-21T20:49:00.001-08:00

Remove for flight

2011-07-08T23:00:00.001-07:00

Fiery Palm

2011-07-03T18:20:00.001-07:00

Jibber Jabber

2011-06-26T08:06:00.001-07:00

rock climber

2011-04-18T08:36:00.001-07:00

Tunnel

2011-04-03T19:39:00.001-07:00

Axis + Allies

2011-03-28T17:05:00.001-07:00

Union Station

2011-02-28T23:08:00.001-08:00

Yosemite Valley

2011-02-28T19:17:00.001-08:00

Long day yesterday. Drove to Yosemite Valley with Mike and Steve.

Sun and Signs

2011-02-09T14:07:00.001-08:00

Very old image, but Jeff Sullivan left the following comment, and I think it's worth repeating:

Regarding realistic, I ran across a great comment on Ansel Adams' intent, and I recently quoted California photographer G. Dan Mitchell on the value or relevance of simple copies of a scene:

"Adams never set out to make a true copy of a landscape."
- Lauris Morgan-Griffiths in Adams: Landscapes of the American West

"If the goal of photography was to make objectively accurate reproductions of real things... I wouldn't bother." - G. Dan Michell

With our eyes changing exposure at every point in a scene, a camera is a poor tool to record what we see, and it's even poorer at reflecting what we perceived, felt...experienced. Only the photographer's further interpretations from the dull, lifeless copy that the camera provided can come close.

Onsite your eyes certainly would have opened up the shadows on the sign text, but you still would have perceived the extremely high contrast between the sun behind and that sign. Performing that edit makes the more realistic in terms of what you perceived and experienced... subject-specific contextual details a simple camera exposure can't reflect.

A further point, but no less notable, is that the very definition of "art" requires human intervention, so for artistic merit, the billions of photos produced with the goal of exactly reflecting what the camera saw in a single exposure will rarely rise above the value of what a high resolution webcam nailed to a tree, pointed in a pleasant direction might produce. That's not to say they're not pleasant images that someone might value to hang on their wall, but surely the act of simply being there and the technician's skill of recording a passable exposure are insufficient to elevate photography to art.

The result doesn't need to be capital-A "Art" that a museum hangs or some gallery wants to sell for thousands of dollars, but to the extent that the photographer uses the tools at hand to seeks to convey experiences, emotions, or elicit a response, as an artist does, and regardless of what the unthinking, unseeing camera recorded, that's a good thing.

Bursting at the seams

2011-02-05T16:42:00.001-08:00

1974

2011-02-02T19:31:00.001-08:00

It's late, but I can't resist toying with my new lens, a Sigma 105mm f/2.8. Shot this image using Kenko extension tubes

Light 'em Up

2011-01-22T15:44:00.001-08:00

Nymphicus hollandicus

2011-01-21T20:26:00.001-08:00

Parker Lake

2011-01-10T19:16:00.001-08:00

Unhinged

2011-01-09T08:31:00.001-08:00

Ripple

2011-01-08T08:17:00.001-08:00

Sand

2011-01-07T20:18:00.001-08:00

Creosote and Sand

2011-01-05T19:28:00.001-08:00

Pinnacle Pool

2011-01-03T20:07:00.001-08:00

First photo outing of the new year.

Don't Move!

2011-01-02T15:31:00.001-08:00

Racetrack Playa, Death Valley. Steve left is camera behind while he searched for other subjects on the Playa. His camera was left pointing towards a rock and I thought it looked interesting.

Railcar

2011-01-01T09:31:00.001-08:00

Old railcar at Rhyolite Ghost Town.

Desert Planet

2010-12-31T16:43:00.001-08:00

Was lucky enough to spend three days in Death Valley with Mike and Steve.

This is the Mesquite Dunes in Death Valley.