Most Popular Post

It is hard for me to believe that I started this blog almost three years ago, in January of 2007. At that time, I really wasn't sure how long it would last. Surprisingly (to me), I now have written just over 300 posts, and plan to continue.

In thinking about bygone posts, I wondered what would be the most 'popular' one. That turned out to be very easy to find, at least if one gauges popularity by the number of comments a post receives. Frankly, I usually don't get all that many, with the usual number being 0 to5 ( bloggers love comments...so come on folks, feel free to write them). However, one post, believe it or not, has gotten 110 comments. In addition, my statistics counter tells me that it is also my most read one, with continual daily hits despite it being written back in September of 2007. The fact that it is still getting continual daily 'hits' despite its age tells me that Adobe still has a bit of work to do. Wondering which post it is? Check it out here.

More Zone Plate

I have previously written about my initial experiments with the digital zone plate process using my Lensbaby with the zone plate 'Optic Swap' insert. I continue to 'play' with it, looking for more images to include in my 'Dreamscapes ' portfolio.

Copyright Howard Grill

I recently took this photograph using the zone plate at a Frabel glass exhibit at Phipps Conservatory. I was drawn to the surreal appearance the zone plate gave to the glass figures. This one may well make it into the series. For each one of these types of shots that seem to work for me, there are many more that end up 'in the bucket'.

Trusting Photographs

One of my blog posts that I most enjoyed writing was entitled “Photography And Truth”, which can be read here and here. These posts ultimately turned into an essay that was published on Uwe Steinmuller’s Digital Outback Photography website. In the essay, I mentioned that I was surprised that there was an expectation on the part of many, if not most, viewers that fine art photography should depict ‘the truth’. In reality, there are decisions made by the photographer including focal length, in camera cropping, and shooting in RAW format (to name a few) that explain why most photographs are ‘untruthful’ to at least some degree.. However, there are journalistic standards that move a photograph more (but not necessarily totally) towards depicting the world as it truly is.

As the digital age progresses, there continues to be advancements in technology which allow for photographic 'doctoring' using methods that are increasingly subtle and difficult to detect. Interestingly, however, the concept of photographic manipulation is not a new one. In fact, such manipulations have been used since the earliest days of the medium.

One of the most famous photographic portraits of Abraham Lincoln was actually a composite image of Lincoln's head atop John Calhoun's body (ironic, given that Calhoun was a staunch supporter of slavery), done to give the president a more 'heroic' appearance.

John Calhoun



PLUS

Abraham Lincoln



BECOMES

A New Version Of Abraham Lincoln

An image of Millard Tydings talking to Earl Browder, the leader of the American Communist Party at the time, played a role in his 1950 election defeat. The photograph is widely believed to be a fake composite.

Millard Tydings And Earl Browder....
Felt To Be A Fake Composite

Similarly, a composite image of Senator John Kerry and Jane Fonda was surely not helpful to Kerry's political career.

Photos Of Kerry And Fonda Used In A Fake Composite

I find the use of 'doctored' photographs for political and sensationalistic purposes throughout history a fascinating topic and ran across two very interesting and informative papers dealing with the subject. Both were written by Dr. Hany Farid of Dartmouth University. The first paper, entitled "Digital Doctoring: Can We Trust Photographs" can be read here. The paper discusses these photos, as well as others, and also describes (using layman's language) various new methods of detecting fraudulent photographs. The article is in pdf format and can be downloaded. It makes for a fast, but very interesting, read on the subject.

The second paper, entitled "Photo Tampering Throughout History", has several pages of examples of altered photographs, including many modern day images.

Both papers are definitely worth taking the time to read!

Quick Quotes: Ernst Haas

"The limitations of photography are in yourself, for what we see is only what we are."

Ernst Haas

I enjoy this quote because, while it talks about limitations, it also explains why it is that each person's photographs are truly unique.

Spending Time

In my last post entitled "Compliments", I wrote about people's responses to viewing photographs. Andy Ilachinski made a wonderful and insightful comment to that post. Because I really enjoyed Andy's words and since people don't always read the comments section, I thought I would put his response up as a post on and of itself.

Andy noted that:

Perhaps an even deeper revelation that underlies a wonderful comment like "It made me think" (or feel, or ...) is that it simply compelled them to *stop* (literally and figuratively), pause, reflect, consider, ponder, immerse,...spend *time* with your image. The only thing that is truly precious to *anyone* in life is time itself; the time we give to others, and to the focus of our attention. And the greatest gift any viewer can give an artist of any kind (IMHO), is the time they give to merely look at your work. If asked to *articulate" *why* they spend time, I'm sure we'll hear all sorts of responses, as appropriate for different people with different predilections and verbal/self-reflective capacity. But, fundamentally, what brings joy to my own ears (from someone viewing my images), is something that - loosely translated - means "I wanted to spend some time with your picture." That always brings a smile to my soul.

Andy Ilachinski

As usual, Andy has hit the proverbial nail right on the head!

Andy also wrote a very insightful post on his blog about how people view photographs based on his experience working in a co-op art gallery that is definitely well worth reading.

For more of Andy's wisdom (and of course his marvelous photographs) check out his blog. To view his photographs scroll down the blog to the list of portfolios on the right side.

Compliments

What is the best compliment you feel you could receive about your work? Some candidates might be that your work is.....beautiful, gorgeous, looks like a painting, breathtaking....maybe even unusual or different.

I recently received an interesting compliment. I initially didn't think much about it, but, with further contemplation, I believe it is probably one of the finest comments I could have received. Let me preface this story by saying that those who know me or have been readers of this blog know that I am more apt to voice my uncertainties regarding the quality of my work than to report accolades. I decided to post this simply because of the insight that it gave me.

I happen to meet a woman I know that was looking at a photograph hanging in an office. It was a lovely sunset photo and, as one who mainly does nature photography, I certainly have taken my share of sunset photos, and this one was quite nice; in fact I told her that I would have been glad to have taken and displayed it. She responded by saying that, yes, it was a very pretty picture, but that "your pictures make me think".

Isn't that an interesting comment? Sure, documentary or photojournalistic photos should make you think, but I had never really contemplated that as being an attribute of nature photographs. I had mainly considered the mark of a successful nature photograph as making you 'feel' something. And yet, in retrospect, the fact that they should make you think, and that 'making you think' is an important attribute of nature photography is obvious. I had just never really thought about it that way.

Sometimes, an innocent comment can give important insight!

Cliff Edge

I continue to put my efforts into trying to complete a defined project. I was given some further insight today when I presented some of my rock images to a helpful reviewer at the Silver Eye Gallery. One insight that I was given is that the rock landscapes appear to be two separate but related groups....landscapes seen from a 'grounded' position and those seen from an aerial view. Thus, I think that I will have to have an adequate number of images in both groups to complete the project and am thus leaning towards 20-25 total, as opposed to 15-20.

Here is another image from the 'grounded' viewpoint:

Cliff Edge
Copyright Howard Grill

Badlands

I have posted before about my project photographing slabs of stone. I have been working on trying to complete this project. This particular rock reminded me of images I have seen of the Dakota 'Badlands'.

"Badlands"
Copyright Howard Grill