The down side to all of this is that it has meant the first quarter of this year has been painful and slow. I haven't been out taking many pictures because it has been painful to be on my feet and the running will take a month or so to get back to any reasonable distances.
I am due to see the physio today and I am hoping that I will be able to get back to running next week, maybe a week of 2 miles and then move it up to 3 and beyond.
I have missed the running soooooo much.
We have had a couple of misty mornings and I have yet to take a foggy photo that I am am proud of. Early last week I managed this one:
A bit stark and I'm not sure what I think of it. My daughters weren't keen on the lean of the trees, my wife liked it but I am not sure as it really isn't the picture that I want.
I absolutely adore fog and there is a certain feel and mood that comes with it. A picture needs to convey the silence and emptiness and whilst I think the loneliness and silence are captured in this shot, I am not sure that I am that keen on it.
However, this morning it was also misty and I had an idea that what was needed for a misty shot was a wood and daffodils. It is Spring after all and the greyness mixed with the yellow of the flowers could be interesting and the best fog shots have been the trunks of the trees, not the full Monty. That was a surprise to me as I love the finger like branches that appear skeletal in the mist but overall it doesn't make for the best type of shots. I know most of the haunts on my way into work and parked up and took a short walk to take this shot:
I am very good at complaining and I have an opinion on everything. I am very critical of photography, don't think for one second that I rate myself, I am better than some and worse than others. The shots above are good versions of pictures I took last year, they haven't moved on. The fog shot shows a marked improvement on other foggy shots I have taken because I have taken on board other peoples art and ideas and put my own stamp on it. I am pleased with that part of it but I am already finding faults with it. It is the constant quest for something new, a new idea, bear in mind that photography is a relatively new and so far, limited art form. It hasn't really been pushed except in the digital art format but the ultimate goal is surely to create the art in the camera? No fancy software gimmicks, just a pure idea that is taken through to a natural conclusion. Infra red photography is natural so long as the white balance is setup in the camera:
This shot is as it came out of the camera. I took a shot of the grass first (5 minute exposure using an infra red filter) and set that shot as the white balance. Using a tripod for both shots, I then lined this shot up and guesstimated the exposure time at around 5 minutes again. This is the unprocessed image, a simple shot of a country road. This is my point, this is a photograph, it is not manipulated or post processed in anyway, so what else is possible? What else can I do to create the images in the camera rather than on the computer? The above picture can be created on any camera that can take a screw on filter and that is where my rainbow ends, when the art becomes the photographer and what he can do that is different. Infra red is an element of that, macro photography, light painting, microscopy and the use of filters will all figure in my future but guess what? With the exception of the tweaks to colour balances and the occasional use of HDR technology, that is all my pictures will ever get, if they need more than that, I've not done my job properly.
Enough moaning, it's time to get off my soapbox. See you soon.
