Essay #73: Concert drama

I think that one of the reasons I love concert photos is that they're so dramatic. With all the lights and fog and showmanship, there are easy ways to add drama to the shot.

If the lights are bright, lens flare can be nearly inescapable, so you might as well work with it

The extremes of light and shadow can be a bane for metering, but high contrast makes for high drama

And then there's my personal favorite: the camera tilt.

The third photo is downhere (yes, again); the rest are of the band Rush of Fools. Taken at a concert last weekend.

Essay #72: Fall colors

The trees here haven't changed much yet, but we've no shortage of fall colors!

Essay #71: Spice of Life

 

Peppers were ubiquitous at the farmer's market this week. All shapes, colors, and degrees of heat. 

There was a very interesting article in the New York Times this week about hot peppers and why people love to consume these barely edible little bundles of fire. Pleasure in pain seems kind of masochistic to me. I've never understood the appeal of food that makes you cry, but I've never ventured much beyond medium salsa. What I found interesting about the article was the science of how a vegetable can mimic the sensation of setting one's tongue ablaze. Capsaicin, the chemical that makes peppers "hot," triggers the heat receptors in the mouth, making the brain think you're chewing glowing coals regardless of the actual temperature of the food. Here's another fact that a spice-wimp like me learned early on: Reach for milk, not water. Water won't dissolve capsaicin or lessen the burn (although the ice may feel good while it's in your mouth), but milk proteins will tame the flame.  

I haven't done this in a while, but here's the specs: 1/60 f/4.4 28mm ISO200

Essay #70: How much is too much?

One thing I'd forgotten about Photoshop is how easily time is frittered away tweaking tiny details that only I will probably ever notice. Yet I'm never entirely satisfied.

For example, I spent about an hour piecing together this photo from three different frames:

And I could have spent more by pulling the obscured bridesmaid from another shot. But at some point you just have to say enough is enough.

This is my love/hate relationship with Photoshop. I like playing with some of the special effects, and I like that I can make adjustments when the original shot wasn't as optimal as I'd like. But it's easy to get sucked into trying to make every shot "better" when my year-long hiatus from software showed me that I was more satisfied with the end product when shooting without the safety net of post-processing. When does it cross the line from optimization to obsession? Ten minutes? An hour? When does it turn from tool to crutch? When I'm too lazy to take a picture right the first time - or worse, forget how?

Oh, Photoshop. Blessing and bane wrapped up in a slick Adobe package.

Essay #69:

Today was the Downtown Festival of the Arts, a street fair for local artisans to sell their crafts.

I was hoping to find a painting to liven the barren walls of my living room, but didn't find any that both appealed to me and matched my furniture. Ah well, the quest continues!

I love seeing the sheer variety of creative talent represented in any art fair. To see others' passion, skill and unique vision expressed in all sorts of media is both humbling and inspiring. Art can be a communication between the artist and the viewer, although a piece rarely says the same thing to both parties. That's part of why I enjoy comments on my own photos, as well. It's always a bit surprising to look at my own work through someone else's eyes.

Essay #68: Make way for ducklings!

The end of July is a bit late for hatchlings, but it seems nobody told the ducks. 

These were actually taken last summer. I was going through some files looking for a concert I shot, and found these. Another case of the forgotten files. It makes me wonder how many of my current photos I dismiss now but will discover later with new appreciation? Sometimes fresh perspective isn't only found through the viewfinder.

Essay #67: Summer sunflowers

Sunflowers are such happy flowers. Not that the flowers themselves feel emotion, of course, but that they symbolize happiness and bright, sunny summer days.

I'm not much of a "flowery" or "frilly" girl, but I do appreciate fresh flowers. I'm considering decorating my dining room with sunflower photos to give the space a kiss of summer sun even in the midst of winter. I'm expecting better results with photos than my attempts at keeping houseplants that unfailingly meet tragic ends after a short time in my care. I could make a centerpiece from artificial flowers, but silk just can't replicate the life, character, and perfect imperfection of real flowers.