Pictures and a Decision.

I am struggling with what type of Camera to use for taking pictures. I am a firm believer in the 35mm format and have a Nikon F2, but these days it seems most if not all the Great ones are using Digital.

I can manipulate a scene using the Nikon by means of filters and some Ingenuity, but that can sometimes mean an entire roll of film being used up just to get that one Perfect shot. Expensive to say the least.

Now I also struggle with the idea that a Picture taken with a digital, then manipulated in Photoshop and corrected in Photoshop, is great Photography. I mean if one is to be great at an Art, then one should be able to get that look or emotion by their skill, not the skill of a computer program. It then becomes a moral or ethical debate and not something I really want to get into.

I can offer only my opinion on this. An Artist of Oils and Water color, does not have the Luxury of using Photoshop, yet they do make great art. What you see is what you get. Their works are Great because they have the skill to translate what they see or feel onto a canvas. Some of these Artists appeal to everyone, while others have a certain following. When they make a mistake or don't like what they see, they must correct it by hand and possibly start all over again. This is great art and human skill, not a computer program.

Now I must say that all my digital photos up to this point have never been corrected or manipulated in Photoshop, so I think I am pretty good at using the camera and getting the picture I want. I don't have a full version of Photoshop to be able to compete with some of the Photo's you see out there, and that brings me to my next concern.

How can a Raw Image Photographer, compete with some of these Digitally enhanced,
corrected Photoshopped pictures that everyone Oooooo's and Ahhhhh's over?

Well so far the only possible fix for that is educating the public on what is photographer skill and what has been fixed or beautified by a machine.

See the thing that bugs me the most about this, is that I and others will sit and move and fiddle and faddle with a shot for perhaps HOURS to get what we want. We will change lenses, add filters, climb trees, crouch down, bend ourselves into painful positions all for the perfect artistic look we desire. While someone else will snap off a picture without much thought, then take it home plug it in and fix its lighting, sharpness, even color, add layers, stitch in other photos to enhance the boringness and even yes, even change the position of objects or erase them altogether. I am not sure what to call that, but it's not Photographer Skill, I know that for sure.

I have ALWAYS believed and still do, that what makes a Great Photographer is an Eye for beauty, composition, color, angle, effect, affect and working to get that awe inspiring Photo that makes everyone say, how the hell did he/she do that?

WITHOUT the use of a computer or computer program.

So with that, I leave you with this. Not photoshopped, raw image pictures I have taken with a manual Nikon F2 Camera.











Tomorrow I will post some of my Digital Pictures and tell you just what I did to them using a small version of Photoshop, if anything. Some I will be fixing, some I will be leaving Raw.

Thanks for reading and looking.

Have a good one!

Diana

Past Boyfriends Need NOT Apply.

So I get home today and there is a message on my answering machine from a Past Boyfriend. I am like WTF?

Now this past boyfriend is really really past, long long time ago.

What makes one think that time will heal the whore_endous screwing around they did to me?

I don't hold a grudge, but I don't go backwards in time either. I also believe that once an asshat, always an asshat. Okay maybe I DO hold a grudge...LOL

I have had this happen to me with almost every guy I dated. They go out with me, screw me around or treat me poorly, then I dump them or they just wander off never to be heard from again, UNITL 10-30 years later!

I don't get it, maybe someone can explain it to me.

Am I the second choice?

Am I the last resort?

Am I that memorable?

Is it desperation?

Is it loniness?

What is it?

I decided not to rack my brains thinking about it though, and have moved on long long time ago.

To those men of my past who might think of calling me. DON'T. I AM over you and have moved on.

Rambling, I am rambling.

Anyway I must go now and feed the dogs, then take them for a short walk. Too cold and I am too tired for a long night out. So it's walkies and a movie for one.

Night all, have a good one.

Diana

12 1/2 hours....No break

Well my day was a loooong one.

I started work yesterday at 1pm and I finished my work at 1:30am, got home fed the poor dogs, took them for a walk and is is now 3:50 am and I am off to bed, then back to work for 11am.

Too tired to write, too tired to think, too tired to do anything. Thank God tomorrow is Friday and I have Saturday and Sunday off.

I missed ya today. I get all agitated when I don't hear your voice. Strange.

I might tell you all about that line above, and I might not.


Off to Dreamland.....hopefully.

Happy New Year. Merry Belated Christmas and all that.

Well it's a new year and I was so busy I forgot to wish everyone out there in Cyber land a Happy New Year and a Merry Christmas, so this is it.

Take it or leave it...LOL

Hi Janet, waving at you. I know I am bad at the whole keeping in contact thing, but I think you loves me for all my flaws and my goodness. Makes you the best friend anyone could have! So, I loves you too! Say Hi and Merry Christmas, Happy New Year to the family for me.

The new year started off real good for me. I actually got three days off in a row! Can you believe it! Well I spent those three days cleaning my house and reconnecting with family. This bus driving job is not all its cracked up to be. You make huge sacrifices both in your family life and in your enjoyment of hobbies.

So that being said, not much happening in the way of beads. I have not had the time nor the energy to light up the torch. I was sick again as well but not as bad as the last time and I have mended much faster.

I have been thinking I might start up my photography again, but again time is just not something I can find these days. I do however have Saturdays and Sundays off for the next 6 weeks! So I am feeling a bit more normal and might take a few days trips to snap some winners.

I did have one issue tonight. I can't for the life of me understand why people ASSUME. Now the saying is when you assume you make an ass outta you and me, but I do not agree with that. The only person who looks like an ASS is the ASSumer.

I got called to do a Subway Shuttle and by the time I got there, the emergency was over. So I pulled over to take the call from my Boss and to see if the guy behind me, who is new, got the same message and to make sure he knew the way back. So I stepped out of my Bus to wait for him to flag him over and this Woman ( I use the term loosely here) walks by and shit rolls outta her mouth.

Woman. "You people, taking a break during fuckin rush hour, what the fuck is wrong with you people"

Me. "Excuse me? Sorry Maam, but I am not taking a break, I am waiting for the Bus up there, maybe you should shut your pie hole and think before ASSuming the worst of people."

Woman's face turns all red, she stammers something under her breath, then storms off.

THIS is the kind of folk I meet up with on a daily basis and WHY I decided to sign up for Spare Board. I NEED a break from all those people who ASSUME just because a Bus Driver is standing outside their Bus they are taking a break.

EXCUSE me people who ASSume that, but when us people are doing an 7-8 hour one piece shift, we don't GET breaks. So get off your high freakin horse and STFU. You with your cushy office job, 2 15 minute breaks and a full hour for lunch can stuff that snooty salad up where the sun don't shine.

I am lucky if I get a freakin bathroom break! I am NOT one of those Bus Drivers that you see not doing their job. Do NOT ASSume that I am. Just as there are bad, lazy people in your office, there are bad, lazy people in my work environment.

WE ARE NOT ALL THE SAME!

Okay rant done. I feel a bit better now. I think I might start up an ANON blog about my Bus Driving daily adventures, just so you can hear what my day or night consists of. But now that I said that, it really won't be ANON now would it...LOL

Anyway, off to feed and walk the dogs.

Have a great night everyone!

Diana

O I will leave you with a picture of me as a baby, soemthing that is Rare indeed.

So does this kid look like a Slacker to you?

ETSY Art snobs and hollier than thou's

Someone for some reason has it in their head that if a Customer of theirs buys their work, then they can't resell it without the Artists permission.

Um okay, get with the program and learn about the Laws regarding Art and Selling in General before starting something called a BUSINESS.

I cannot believe how many people who have started a Business but have NO idea of Business Law, be it retail or Art. It astounds me really. How do they do all the taxes and licensing, accounting and management without knowing if they are even doing it right legally?

One person in specific even stooped to saying what I do is not creating. Here is the snippet of the post.

********************************************************************************
ellemoss says:

I sell wholesale and you are right that I want to know EXACTLY what is being done with my work. Are you going to glue some boobies on it and sell it as porn collage, I want to know. ARe you going to rip it in 1/2 and sell it as 2 prints...i want to know.

Bead are completely different than art. I am creating something.
**********************************************************************************


Well then let me wiggle my nose and make the torched beads magically appear. Working on a 2 thousand degree torch melting rods of glass into Art Beads is NOT creating? But this person as a Photographer, basically picks up a Camera and snaps a pic then sells the prints and I am NOT creating?


Then to add insult, the OP of the thread went on to say Lampwork Beads where nothing more than a supply category item!

It is this kind of attitude that really makes Artists look bad.

All I can say is that if you are going to place demands on Customers that they tell you exactly what they are going to be doing with your work, you are going to suffer in the sales department.....and the Law states it is none of your Business as long as their plans are LEGAL.

The Law in question is called The First Sale Doctrine and it basically says I can as the new owner who legally purchased an item, sell it, keep it, give it away, hang it above the shitter or torch it. Once that item is in my hands, I Own IT!

You hold nothing but the Copyright to the image..I cannot reproduce it and that is the ONLY thing I can't do.

For those that are thinking the buyer should just let the artist know they will be framing a picture and then offering it for resale in the brick and mortar, again they don't have to. If you are worried they won't give you credit as the artist, then you have no confidence in that buyer and that will show, when you demand they tell you. This in itself could end the potential relationship.........I know it would end it for me.

Giving people the benefit of the doubt that they will credit the artist is part of building a trusting relationship between buyer and seller. Without trust, there is no relationship.

If it bothers you that people do this, then don't sell your work. Keep it. Also before starting a Business, get some Businesss Education on Law and your rights and the rights of the buyer. It could end up saving you a ton of money and stop you from getting sued and loosing everything, including your reputation.

It is possible that the person who bought the item was waiting to see if the item was a hit or miss. If a hit they would be back for more and at that point may have worked out an agreement with the artist for wholesale pricing and told you at that point that they wanted to carry your items in their store....now you may have lost them.....

My Pic on a Jones Pop!

Took me awhile to post this, but one of my submitted pictures has been chosen to be on a bottle of Jones Pop. I am so proud, I am puffing out like a big ole proud Lion...LOL

The winner is the Fruit and Sky picture seen here



now you will have to imagine it in Black and White as that is what they do with it. Takes away from the beautiful contrast between the fruit and the sky but still has some impact.

If you are so inclined to look for it. Look for the Green Apple flavor where Jones Pop is sold. In Canada you can find it in Loblaws and some 7-Elevens and the like.

I think I will go back to my camera for awhile and get more inspiration. Might even consider selling some prints.....MAYBE!

I am very protective of my Pictures as all have meaning and all bring back memories of some sort.

That is all for tonight. Off to walk the pooches.

Diana

Irresponsible Rescuers. No more sick animals please!

I am all for rescuing an animal. I love the way people step up to the plate and take in an animal of unknown origins and of unknown treatment. I think this is admirable and shows how caring a person can be.

Now here is the BUT. Over the years as a dog walker I met many people in the parks who have rescued a dog or cat from the southern part of the United States. Great, how wonderful, I give you kudos for your need to help an animal is distress. Again here is the BUT. In the US things like heart worm and rabies are at epidemic proportions compared to Canada. Of these dogs that I have met over the years, 3 of these dogs came up here with full-blown HeartWorm. 2 others had Parvo. 3 where thought to have been exposed to Rabies, one of which died shortly after getting here. There have been many many others with a wide range of diseases which in Canada are pretty much non-existent, rare or not an issue or epidemic.

I knew at the time this was not right, but I did not dare say anything as I knew I would be verbally assaulted. No matter how passionate you are about rescuing animals, putting our healthy pets in jeopardy is irresponsible and uncaring. You have not thought this out. You gave little to no thought to how this might affect our pets. All you cared about at that moment was the poor animal and satisfying YOUR need to feel better that YOU made a difference in an animal’s life.

Now with the small percentage of animals I have encountered with these deadly health issues, how many do you think have gotten in under the radar that we don’t know about? You know that saying about seeing one cockroach……..There are a million more.

How and why does this bother me so much? I have a dog and this dog cannot be treated for heartworm as the medication needed to kill the worms, will kill him! No it’s not a question of whether he can tolerate the meds, it is a FACT and he has been taken off all types of meds with any kind of pesticide. Including even a simple flea collar. He is highly sensitive to these harsh medications.

I am not the only owner with a dog or cat with this kind of sensitivity. That being the aside, why should we tolerate exposing our pets to these horrible health risks at all? There is no need for this. The animals can still come here, only they should be given a clean bill of health BEFORE crossing the border into Canada. How is it that we can’t take our personal pets into the US without a rabies certificate but a dog without an owner can get in with known deadly health issues?

I want to let all the Rescue Operations out there know that I am no longer going to support you if you continue to bring in sick diseased animals. This practice must STOP and stop now. I am going to be screaming this from the roof tops if I see or hear of one more animal coming into Canada with deadly health risks to not only our pets but our wildlife.

If you think I am being overly reactive and if you think what I am saying is bullocks, then read the recent article in the Winter Issue of Animal Talk Magazine. This is distributed to all members of The Toronto Human Society. The article in particular is called “Heartworm Health Crisis in Ontario” I think the title says it all.

You need to be more aware of what is going on and you need to be more vigilant of where the animal is coming from and how its health was or is when it gets here.

It is the full responsibility of all the Rescue Operations to ensure the animals they are bringing in to Canada are healthy in every way! Hell we stopped Cattle because of Mad Cow, how is it that this is being overlooked or allowed?

Now I am going to feed my dogs, give them a kiss on the head and pray they don't get sick.

Diana