the fog here seems so yuk, yet you portray the mist as something totally different, something elusively and hauntingly beautiful.
this could so easily be a gorgeous watercolour painting..
@novab :) A winter in Canada means something different than a winter in Venice... But both certainly have their special charm.
I have never been to Canada... a promising word with beautiful sound...
Topaz Impressions - my thoughts:
I confess I did not know what "Topaz Impressions" meant. When Googling I found out that you probably mean a special PC program for the picture processing. A few tutorials I looked at youtube. One can thereby very make a picture very unfamiliar. My opinion: This program tempts to apply effects too much. It is relatively easy to use this program to astonish the viewer. Photoshop has similar facilities. I have looked at them and do not use them. It is good to know these possibilities. But I think you should use it sparingly and purposefully. Alienation alone has no creative value. The alienation should not be self-purpose. My criteria for image design are the way in which content and form are related; how light and dark, line and shape, colours, directions,... organize an image space; how the gestures and the expression of a motif are captured. A Computer can not relieve you of these tasks. This requires human empathy.
I use Photoshop, Lightroom and some filters.
Jerome, I think this is a beautiful image! Having just read your note to jocasta, I understand your reticence to rely on post processing techniques as you are both a skilled photographer and a true artist in every sense. As I read what it is you look to accomplish, many of your images come immediately to mind! Your "pure photography" will have a lasting beauty of the sort that will find its way into museums! I can't speak for others, but when I think I got that magical photo (and it's not often), I clean it up in PS and would not add filters. But most of the time my pictures are a pleasurable past time, and my art-school background directs me to be a little further creative and see where it leads! I'd love to have your skills and drive to attain the beauty you so often achieve! I hope you won't mind that I replied when I wasn't the one addressed here!
@novab Jerome, Nova, here, is a friend of mine when I'm also in Canada in the summer. Her winter photos are beautiful, but, while I miss her company, I'll take my winters in California and look to her for the weather reports! Unless, Nova, you think we both ought to hop a plane to Venice!
@Weezilou Dear Louise, thank you for your kind comments! I'm very glad about that! So nice and gracious...
Of course it is good to try as much as possible (not only in photography...). I have certain ideas regarding design. There are some reference points for me, but I know I'm constantly learning about it.
Nova and you - you are good friends? That is beautiful! I'm already looking forward to the Venice photos of you two!
@mcsiegle Yes, I try different interpretations. There is a certain desire for different expressive possibilities. But always the stimulus comes from the photo, from its peculiarity. Sometimes I try around for a very long time. Sometimes the result is useless.
I love what you wrote, Jerome, and the timing is so perfect. I've been exploring the "other" programs and playing, and over editing, and working out how I feel about the "pure form" with touch ups verses a "manipulated photo". I use to be in a Bluegrass Band, and we would speak about the "Bluegrass Police" out in the audience that would frown if a song was too folkish etc. There was a standard for Bluegrass that was expected to be met, lol. And I was wondering how this applies to photography. Do we need to reference a program if we have "changed a photo"? I put a different sky in behind an immature eagle photo last week for the first time, and felt like I had cheated, and wondered what my responsibility was to the viewer. Your work is so true, the work of an amazing photographer who doesn't need "tricks" to bring an image to fruition. I'm always drawn to the photograph that needs the least processing to be actualized. Your words have been very helpful as I wander along this road. Thank you for sharing.
Dear Stef, thank you for your thoughtful lines. What I wrote was my personal view. I am not claiming universality. It is just an impulse that comes to me. But it is very busy to me what a photo is, what a picture is how we shape our world with houses, streets, with music, language and science. Ultimately, we come to the question: Who do we want to be? How do we want to be? - As humans in this world.
But back to the photo: A photo was at first something you thought you could represent the world exactly as it is. An objective picture of reality. But the photo does not. The person who made it takes a certain section out of the world and takes a certain point of view - a decision from a plethora of possibilities, packed into a rectangle (usually). In this, an independent existence unfolds. The supposed copy becomes an image. A picture is something designed. Design is always a way of establishing a relationship with a whole - the musician designes a melody with tones, the poet a poem with words and sentences, the architect creates a house with components made of wood, stone, steel, concrete.
The structural elements of an image are essentially line, shape, light-dark, colour, space; they have directions and a gesture. It is in the hand of the designer, how he organizes, arranges, composes - to a picture whole. Sometimes more contrast is needed, sometimes less for a convincing and coherent effect; maybe a spot in the picture causes an unwanted dissonance... Then I have to intervene in the picture. The question is how far a change is "allowed". Are there any liabilities? One answer could be: It depends on the purpose and the context. A clever man said about art: Everything is forbidden and everything is permitted. So: very difficult for people who want precise instructions.
Excuse me if I stop now. I see, I need a very long time for the introduction of what I would like to say. If desired, I continue another time.
February 26th, 2017
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this could so easily be a gorgeous watercolour painting..
Many thanks to your nice comments! I am very pleased about this kind response.
I have never been to Canada... a promising word with beautiful sound...
Thank you for your kind comment!
Topaz Impressions - my thoughts:
I confess I did not know what "Topaz Impressions" meant. When Googling I found out that you probably mean a special PC program for the picture processing. A few tutorials I looked at youtube. One can thereby very make a picture very unfamiliar. My opinion: This program tempts to apply effects too much. It is relatively easy to use this program to astonish the viewer. Photoshop has similar facilities. I have looked at them and do not use them. It is good to know these possibilities. But I think you should use it sparingly and purposefully. Alienation alone has no creative value. The alienation should not be self-purpose. My criteria for image design are the way in which content and form are related; how light and dark, line and shape, colours, directions,... organize an image space; how the gestures and the expression of a motif are captured. A Computer can not relieve you of these tasks. This requires human empathy.
I use Photoshop, Lightroom and some filters.
@novab Jerome, Nova, here, is a friend of mine when I'm also in Canada in the summer. Her winter photos are beautiful, but, while I miss her company, I'll take my winters in California and look to her for the weather reports! Unless, Nova, you think we both ought to hop a plane to Venice!
Of course it is good to try as much as possible (not only in photography...). I have certain ideas regarding design. There are some reference points for me, but I know I'm constantly learning about it.
Nova and you - you are good friends? That is beautiful! I'm already looking forward to the Venice photos of you two!
Thank you for following.
Dear Stef, thank you for your thoughtful lines. What I wrote was my personal view. I am not claiming universality. It is just an impulse that comes to me. But it is very busy to me what a photo is, what a picture is how we shape our world with houses, streets, with music, language and science. Ultimately, we come to the question: Who do we want to be? How do we want to be? - As humans in this world.
But back to the photo: A photo was at first something you thought you could represent the world exactly as it is. An objective picture of reality. But the photo does not. The person who made it takes a certain section out of the world and takes a certain point of view - a decision from a plethora of possibilities, packed into a rectangle (usually). In this, an independent existence unfolds. The supposed copy becomes an image. A picture is something designed. Design is always a way of establishing a relationship with a whole - the musician designes a melody with tones, the poet a poem with words and sentences, the architect creates a house with components made of wood, stone, steel, concrete.
The structural elements of an image are essentially line, shape, light-dark, colour, space; they have directions and a gesture. It is in the hand of the designer, how he organizes, arranges, composes - to a picture whole. Sometimes more contrast is needed, sometimes less for a convincing and coherent effect; maybe a spot in the picture causes an unwanted dissonance... Then I have to intervene in the picture. The question is how far a change is "allowed". Are there any liabilities? One answer could be: It depends on the purpose and the context. A clever man said about art: Everything is forbidden and everything is permitted. So: very difficult for people who want precise instructions.
Excuse me if I stop now. I see, I need a very long time for the introduction of what I would like to say. If desired, I continue another time.