Good Picture, Bad Frame?

I thought I had a half decent picture of the "Colorado" river, the small misnamed one that runs from Dawson County, Texas near New Mesico through Austin and on to the Gulf.

It's a pastoral autumn shot, all "nature," no sight of anything human made, with the late afternoon sun in the high trees. I got it at a point where there's a nice bend in the river.

It's a traditional shot. It won't reorder your concept of beauty or reality, or make you "see new".  I thought I had what you might call a marketable fine art shot, but when I finished framing it, well, the composition went claustrophobic.

Time to take the frame off and to see if the picture is that bad, or maybe could be improved by cropping.

So it goes. 

Y'all been through that, right?

Jeanne A Martin discusses if photography is a fine art, or not

What is art...? Can it include composition, color, subject, a feeling one gets looking at it?

I showed my profolio of Enhanced Photography to a gallery owner. The gallery manager did admit that the reason it was taking her so long in reaching of a decision whether to accept my art or not is that she didn't think photography was art. Funny thing that she had this conversation with her husband and he disagreed with her. He liked my stuff and thought it would sell. Another funny thing was when finally let me in the gallery she had to share this conversation she had with her husband, then at the end of talking to me, she had to tell me her favorite was the 'Purple Irises'. Interesting.

Another artist shared with me that he loved my art. I had an 'eye' for art - color, composition, feeling that I brought to the picture.

SoI ask, isn't that what art is about, not how you got there?

Low Clouds Ruin the life of photogs

Last winter was disastrous for local photographers--too many grey, overcast days up from the gulf. Clouds that sat over your head like a lid on a saucepan.

This winter we want cold clear skies from the north. Better light, better pictures.

Zombie Story

I allowed a student to write a zombie story this semester.  It a sophomoric topic, I know, but I get a lot of sophmores in my creative writing classes, and I need to be more open about other genres of fiction.  He was, he said, going to try to make it more than a yarn and have a significant theme by writing about regimentation and technology.

That's been done a fair amount, I said, but maybe from a zombie perspective you will achieve a fresh view on an old topic.

Well, he completely forgot about his theme, and spent 15 pages in zombie action--arms, heads, and legs falling off, zombies biting humans, humans biting zombies, etc.

The humans were retaking the world, in his story, and the zombies were sad. (That was a cool part) The zombies were used to being in control.  I told him that his narrator, writing in a journal, could be a bit philosophical, and point out that the zombies were the next stage in evolution.  They don't consume much.  If the humans take over the world again, global warming will resume as they quickly reproduce and reestablish consumer culture.

My student said, "Isn't that theme a bit trite." 
I said, "No." It's got some irony in it. The dead save the world.

My suspicion is that the student called the theme I suggested trite because he, like many Aggies, does not believe in global warming. We live in a special bubble here.

What do you think, readers?  Trite or not trite?

"Life is Elsewhere"

I used to look down at photographers who I felt did not get to know their own territories by walking them, and by that process discover places worthy or their imagination and attention to photograph.  I used to think that if you had to run off to Tibet or Bhutan to get inspired, something was seriously missing in your heart.

Easy to shoot a Buddhist monk in the Himalayas and call it art--such is tourist photography, where you pass through, not loving, not bound.

Maybe I've gotten lazy or lack imagination, but I seem to be running out of things that inspire me where I live. My home in Central Texas is not known for its great physical beauty.

One needs to push oneself, to see something fresh that will inspire.  So, I'm taking to the road today, going elsewhere, to be inspired, to find beauty again.

Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself.

Surprise in Photography

When I played pool, maybe 50% of the time, on a very good night, I got the ball aimed at in the pocket and I also set the white que ball up for the next shot.

If I tried to pitch in Little League, I was bad. Rarely could I put the ball over the plate where I wanted it.

The same in photography. I lack control. Something I think will be a great shot turns out to be a dog; something that seems to have small potential turns out good.

I like that surprise in photography--the lack of total control. The way it is for potters when firing their pots. Some they thought had great potential will explode in the kiln. Another, the glaze will turn out superb.

I like that surprise in photography.