Thistle

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Nowhere near a macro (after all, I don't have a macro lens nor do I have Bob's patience! LOL) but here is my relatively close-up view of a thistle growing along the coast.

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busy background .... a cloning tool could make that stalk disappear
I hope to convert you to become a PP person.

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LOL... are you ready for this, Charlie. Santa is bringing Linny (since she's been nice and not naughty) and me (since I've been sneaky not nice) PE 12 this Christmas. Yes, I have PE11 and no, PE 12 doesn't add much BUT he's bringing it nevertheless. Will I actually use it? Probably not but I'll have fun opening the box and screaming, "Wow!"

And here's the other thing (yeah... it's probably an excuse). That stalk... I honestly didn't think of removing it physically or otherwise. Maybe I haven't determined what I consider an "honest" photograph. If someone manipulates a subject, I generally don't want to know about it. Then again, the process of doing it probably scared me off. I suppose it's just my hang-up. LOL

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I've been thinking about this post-processing thing tonight and my antipathy towards it. Here's a possible explanation. When I was a member of a slide club years ago it was drummed into us that we were never to manipulate the subject in any way shape or form. There was to be no clearing of debris, no plucking of growths that interfered with the subject... nadda. I think that took a toll on my ability to shoot freely.

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Dec 18, 2013 6:05:18 GMT @jamesd said:

I've been thinking about this post-processing thing tonight and my antipathy towards it. Here's a possible explanation. When I was a member of a slide club years ago it was drummed into us that we were never to manipulate the subject in any way shape or form. There was to be no clearing of debris, no plucking of growths that interfered with the subject... nadda. I think that took a toll on my ability to shoot freely.

ahhhhh, that explains it. There's tons of photogs that follow that rule.
here's some thoughts:
For photo journalism that credo of never altering the scene is sacrosanct. (and should be)
We have an aversion to a pro Palestinian reporter who would 'discretely' put a child's doll into his photo of an Israeli government preventive demolition of a terrorist's house. Those kinds of images have been quite powerful and could go a long way to explain the wide spread anti Jewish fervor in Europe today.
Or a police crime scene reporter... of course nothing must be touched or photographed in a way to misrepresent reality. And we know that a wide angle lens can alter appearances so to capture things exactly as they are isn't easy.

So that brings up a question for the non-retouchers. Doesn't adding flash alter the scene? Of course it does, in a way. How about twisting the camera 'just a little' to enhance the look of an almost vertical rock face. Using a long lens to compress the elements in a scene or a wide lens to separate them. Or Ansel's famous use of the red filter to darken the sky of his Monolith, The Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, 1927 photo. Okay so there's dozens of ways a good photog can interpret or edit reality for us with his/her purposeful camera manipulations.

If you were setting up a tripod pic of the Grand Canyon and wanted to include a bit of the edge near you in your shot would you really leave a Budweiser can laying on the ground? Wouldn't you do a little bit of grounds keeping?

And like Ansel said to an incredulous photo student as he tossed a branch aside out of camera frame, "Somethings just don't belong in a photo."

this is not my pic


Hopefully, PE 12 will be easier to use than PE11

[macroman]

Nice shot James.I see those thistles when im hunting Bugs.I think i might even have a pic some where of one i'll look Cheers Bob.

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Charlie, that makes sense to me. I'll need to rethink this whole thing. I'm still reluctant to move things around but maybe it's time to relearn some things. You're never too old to learn, right? PE 12 has a couple of interesting additions. One is the horizon straightening tool. Formerly when you straightened the horizon, you would need to then crop but now the tool automatically clones in what would be removed during the straightening process so your image is not smaller but the same size.

Bob, thanks for commenting. I'd like to see that thistle shot of yours. If it's like your other macros, it will be a winner.

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Well James, you certainly have not fossilized. For me, I hope a pursuit of photography will help keep my brain healthy and prevent a hardening of the attitudes.

There is a very powerful and influential art critic who is a staunch supporter of 'straight' photography. I saw her in a video flatly rejecting one of America's greatest (his portraits are so intimate) photographer's work because of a technicality. Regarding the photo in question, Shelby Lee Adams link bought the pig that the 'hillbillies' butchered. Even though he was a close friend of the families and bought the pig for them as a thank for their previously sitting for him his picture of them killing the pig was refused museum admission because he interfered with the natural order. ie, if he hadn't had bought it they wouldn't have had it. Exactly.

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I find that restriction regarding the museum's rejection, utterly ridiculous.

Okay... I'll relearn this thing. Lin actually seems to enjoy it!

[skutterbug]

Very nice James...Yeah...I'd be wanting to clone out the stalk...but it's not very interfering...as the

brokeh and DOF pretty much mute it and my eye isn't instantly drawn to it as a distraction.