EYE OF THE PHOENIX

"Eye of the Phoenix" is another old pic from my "needs editing" folder. I worked on it last night. I'm seeing how the light under which I edit sometimes effects color perception. That in itself makes sense. However, there's a weird twist to it. The colors are occasionally brighter, more intense at night, under totally artificial light. However, to my surprise, this pic's colors seem pretty much the same as last night.

I've noticed with a couple recent photos that it's the "warmer" colors that daylight tends to mute (or artificial light brings out?). And of course, it doesn't then necessarily follow that anyone viewing these pix on their computers in either natural or artificial light see colors that are all that much like those I perceive under either condition, given the vagaries of technology. This is frustrating as color is such a vital part of the photography experience, guiding editing choices, especially in my more abstract pix. Actually color is very important to me in all visual art, as well as clothing, home decorating, etc.

This is all the more confounding for me as in order to get colors anywhere close to what I see "live" I have to take a pic in natural light. (And I won't even get into how weather and time of day effects all this.) Yet to then view that photo at its colorful best it seems I sometimes need to see it in artificial light. Sigh. I won't settle this issue now for sure. It's something to stay aware of and see how it plays out as I go along. I wonder if it has to do with my camera? Hm, it's probably just my low level of tech skills.

I'll only add that this issue of color perception has made me wonder about working in black and white. Seriously! Not that I've never considered it before, and haven't made copies of an occasional pic in black and white. I have. And I'm sure there are issues in working with black and white photos, too. :-)

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****

THE WIND KNOWS and PROCLAMATION

Took me quite some time this morning to settle on a photo to post. Every pic I looked at had something that bothered me. (My "needs editing" category just grew exponentially.) This is probably more reflective of my on-going moodiness than of a sudden spurt in growth in my photographic eye.

In any case, I do like the above pic "The Wind Knows." As with many photos I recall the day and place I took it. A fellow resident had asked if I'd seen the roses blooming over by the Activities Office and I hadn't. The colors were not only vibrant but some were not the usual we see on our grounds. Here's a more commmon rose color that was blooming there that day:


I don't think this fuchsia "Proclamation" is a particularly interesting photo in any way. However, I'm personally such a sucker for the color I actually went to the expense of having it put on my new mouse pad. :-)

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****

THE UGLY DUCKLING

"The Ugly Duckling" is a really old pic I often give as a note-card. Even before I stumbled on the title, it tended to generate a sort of pleased amusement in viewers. I suppose that contrast between all those spines and that one little sort of crowded bloom? I didn't check it out at the time I took the photo, but I think that red blossom was just stuck in the pot from some other plant. Maybe it was a rescue operation. :-)

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****

CANDIED ORANGE

"Candied Orange" is a vastly manipulated and cropped photo of a bright red rose. There was nothing particularly interesting about that bloom once I saw it on my computer earlier this year. It was lovely live on the bush, but I've dozens of pix just like it. However something about it kept me at it back then. And today it's making my mouth water at the thought of rushing down to our Corner Store before it closes to buy some candied orange slices. :-) (I won't, but it is tempting.)

What I enjoy about "Candied Orange" visually is how it vaguely resembles an oil painting done with a palette knife. (Though I'm afraid my eye isn't quite as pleased with this effect today as it was a few months back. Then again, that could just be my mood.) I don't have a really good pic editor -- I work back and forth between four mediocre ones -- and can't even recall what combination of which functions produced this effect. Especially as editing results also depend on the original photo's focus, textures, darks and lights, and to a certain degree, shapes. At least with the programs I use. So it's always an adventure when I start extensively playing around with a pic.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****

TRAIL OF TEARS

Don't know what to say about "Trail of Tears," except that at this point in my life that title is definitely a projection of my inner state. That aside, I'll add that it's only a very small corner of a much larger pic I snapped in a favorite stand of canna lilies this past spring. And editing it just now took me off that soggy title trail for the duration. What a gift life has given to let me wander in the realms of inner imaginings and try to make them manifest. Whether the results ever matter in a concrete way isn't even important when in that realm. Just the doing is. That doing that subsumes a separate sense of self in a multi-valent quest. Even lulling that jangling self to sleep for a bit.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****

CAUGHT UP IN THE LIGHT

"Caught Up in the Light" gets me in several ways. I'm a sucker for translucence; those shapes and lines delight my eye; the contrast of light and dark tickles me; but mostly the delicacy and grace of those new leaves touch me at some deep level. So it's another pic I'm almost hopeless to have any objectivity about.

This was a picture I had to take at quite a remove (as many I snap), since I couldn't clamber in any closer with my arthritic knees:


Working this way, taking larger pix knowing I intend to crop, doesn't always work out. And sometimes the larger view turns out better than my initial vision for a tighter shot. In any case, there's usually plenty of surprises once I see a batch of pix on my computer. No complaints. The surprises motivate me.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****

WALK THIS WAY and BIG GREEN AND PROUD OF IT

I wonder if my old New York city eyes will ever get jaded by these huge cacti (succulents?). Every time I see a perfect one, a couple feet across, I'm blown away. This one in "Walk This Way" grows outside a clinic in Santa Barbara. I haven't seen it as large or perfect in the two subsequent years since taking this photo. But have seen others in other locations equally beautiful. I particularly enjoy the little lavender flowers that grow around it in this spot, though.

Here's another pic ("Big Green and Proud of It") taken at the same time as the above photo. I still haven't found a crop for this pic I really like, but here it is in the current provisional version:


I suppose folk born or living here for many years don't find much of the flora I'm grabbed by so fascinating. It would be nice to think pix like these might prompt them to look again at what they've grown accustomed to. :-) I suppose that's something to always bear in mind. A slight shift in angle, a different time of day or a few minutes later even, and what we see can change. Both literally and metaphoricially speaking.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****