Oxherding Is Fun

on the oxherding path
the bull is ridden
and forgotten

You can HDR a pig but its still a pig.  Now its just a pig in HDR.  And guess what?  In flickr this image will get 5x more hits just because it has the tag HDR and submitted to HDR groups.  That is just damn silly!
I admit to struggling with HDR.  Not the technique per [...]

I spent the morning yesterday volunteering at Art City Austin which became measurably harder than it should have been given the fierce storm that blew through the night before turning over exhibit stands.  The perk of volunteering in the before hours of the show is that you get to help artists and photographers without the [...]

Do you ever get stuck? Creatively, that is?  I do.  And the old adage about “thinking outside the box” just makes things worse… try changing the box dimensions.  Think horizontal panoramas or vertical heights.  Find a set of images and with simple crop factors like 5 to 1 either horizontal or vertical see what you [...]

Every time I get deep into digital editing, as I did recently with many HDR processed images and some selective color work, I am always drawn back to the basics and simplicity in photographic technique.  With all of the whiz-bang, special digital processing of imagery it is good to remember the fundamentals of photography and [...]

I enjoy pictures where imagination comes into play.  Such as below where you have to wonder just what is hidden in that lurking blackness within the fissure of the rock.  Dark areas, because of natural human apprehension, work well well to engage our imagination.  Another area that can easily peak our viewers imagination is street [...]

rustle the chilled leaves on a chill wind
among giants
painted with brush strokes
as smooth as obata’s muse upon the wet tip of a
…masterpiece.
the giant itself
gave birth to these ozarks
before time and i could imagine the forest as any thing but
…beautiful.
——————–
I have followed William Neill’s photography since we visited Yosemite awhile back and saw his art [...]

hiking upon a carpet of wet autumn leaves
the spirit takes flight
on the back of wafting leaf carried by a chill wind

A very well respected photographer spoke at our last CapMac photography group meeting whose main passion was portraiture via black and white film photography — his art is excellent.  While he embraced digital workflow in his commercial work he called HDR the “tube top of modern photography” and he did not veil his disdain for [...]