Simply post your days “take” into the group without any culling or regard to the quality of your work -
This guy had 3-4 pages like this. There’s some decent photos, but there’s also a lot of crap and much of the same. Show us your best.
Illegal hiring practices at the Justice Department?
Rampant and deceitful editing of EPA reports?
And that was just the news released yesterday? What more must the American people endure?
Look at the below scene from Dan Larson home with Cades Cove of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park -
Did young kids climb on this tree ages ago? Did they scamper around the yard playing hide-n-seek? Did they jump back and forth over the fence? My mind wants to take me to the idyllic setting and thoughts, but I’m sure reality was much harsher …
For a true leader as the next American president?
The United States has spent the past 7 and half years suffering under one of the most juvenile, immoral, and inept Presidents in our history.
He was a man who said that he would partner with both parties, but bickered and cried when anyone tried raising any objections to him.
He took an opportunity to create world unity, but destroyed it with a totallatrian attitude of either you are fully with us or against us.
He’s destroyed our image of a progress, democratic country by encouraging and approving jails where prisoners were regularly beaten and tortured. We stop respecting our rights for anyone, then we have lost ourselves. This is a hard message to bear and it will lead to some attacking this country again, but it is makes this country great.
He’s lied and then covered up his lies by changing the original premise for the attack on Iraq. As much as I believe the previous Clinton was immoral, this act is even more heinous.
This man should face war crime tribunals in Hague. Fortunately for him, and, unfortunately, for us as a country, the United States has not ratified the Rome Statute of the I.C.C.
The value of the American dollar has fallen significantly since he took office. This and the increased demand worldwide for oil is what has caused the the price explosion. The president’s response – proposing solutions that will never solve the problem. Why should we open offshoring oil drilling and the Artic National Wildlife Refuge when there are still untapped reserves within the United States.? What about searching for alternative fuel sources and lessening our demand on oil? He’s afraid to tell the American people the truth.
Will our next president lead us or pander to the polls?
This book by John Beardsworth covers the gamut of black and white photography. He starts with the basics of how to capture the initial image. John next presents a wide range of conversion methods available to the digital darkroom artists. These methods arrange from the insanely stupid to the latest adjustment layers available in CS3. Lightroom’s standard method (which is excellent with the ability to target colors) is also included. The author explains the strengths and weaknesses of each. There’s enough detail for you to follow along in Photoshop, but if you are expecting to have your hand held similar to the style in the Kelby Training books, you’re in the wrong spot.
Next, he talks about how to fine-tune the images, looking for tonal separation, selective conversions of different image selections, constrast, dodging & burning, and then sharpening techniques.
After this baseline, John demonstrates how to creatively finish the images using a wide variety of methods. Once again, he does not give you complete step by step instructions, but he does explain why he chose to finish the image in the particular method.
Finally, he covers presentation – whether it be output for printing or the web.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. From my standpoint, I do not need my hand held through Photoshop with step by step instructions. I also enjoy studying what the author conveys. There is a substantial amount of information in this book and at $25.00, it is well worth the cost.
Final Recommendation: Definitely buy
Here’s a picture of a stupid tourist approaching an Elk this past Saturday in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park:
Now only if the Elk would give the guy a little scare by charging him …
Yes, this animal is probably fairly tame and he’s wearing a bell collar, but you do not approach wildlife!!
Recently, Trey Ratcliff of stuckincustoms.com recently posted his equipment list at http://stuckincustoms.com/my-equipment/.
A few things stood out:
If you look at his work (which since it’s HDR, it must be done on a tripod), he’s done extremely well with a reasonably priced tripod and ballhead to start his artwork.
This book contains 400 of Ansel Adams most significant works from his early teen years to those made in the 1960s. Although forty-four books have either been edited by Ansel Adams or his estate, this is first to cover such wide range of time and allows us to study his progression.
Overall, the book is well edited by Andrea Stillman, who was a long-time assistant to Adams. The print quality is remarkably high and the list price of $40.00 reasonable.
Although, I have not yet spent much time studying Ansel’s other books (to include ten additional books on photography not included in the above counts), a few items jumped out at me that I’m sure are contained elsewhere.
As much as we know Adams for his landscape work, his portraiture work shines strongly. He shows great control over the subject though both composition and lighting. His environmental portraits are extremely well-done showing their subjects within the context of their work and surroundings.
His composition skills are constant on display. A definitive subject always exists. I found his use of framing foreground elements with background elements particularly striking. So often in my work and what I have seen of other photographers, the reverse exists.
Additionally, the patience and the ability to revisit a subject over years and seasons is quite significant. I freely admit that I do not have the patience to wait at a particular location for the perfect light or time of year. It is quite evident from shadows and light within his photographs that the vast majority are taken in the times of “golden hours” of sunrise and sunset. Additionally 22 of 400 photographs are from Half-Dome – a subject he must have taken thousands of shots over a lifetime. (Many digital photographers could probably do that in a single day.)
Recommendation: Buy
I look at books like this one to get inspired from what other artists to do. There’s no doubt that Annie Leibovitz is a great portrait photographer/artist. The contain many solid examples of her work as well as personal photographs with her family. As a photography, there’s plenty for me studywith her use of light and composition.
Where I was disappointed was in some of her attitude/persona. Many autobiography books tend to come off as self-centered and this was one squarely in that trend. One example is the renting of the helicopter to scout locations in Monument Valley, Arizona. She justified the cost by stating that Ansel Adams would have done it. Actually, I don’t think Adams would have. He would have engaged one of the local Navajo’s or Hopi’s to be his guide. Additionally, the photos from the trip that were included are complete crap. They don’t tell any type of story of their own. Why Leibovitz fawns over them, is that they remind her of trip. Unfortunately, some client ended up picking up the cost of unnecessary extravagance.
Another example of how she was more concerned with herself than her clients was using a trip to the tropics and photographing storms. The magazine who commissioned the work was unable to use it for their upcoming beach issue.
To be fair, she comes across very compassionate and loving to her immediate family.
In many ways, I think many serious amateur and professional photographers dismiss her work – believing that they could easily duplicate it. That attitude is wrong. One sing of genius is making the complex appear simple.
Recommendation: Browse through at your local library or bookstore. I honestly can’t imagine ever booking this book up again.
