“So I went to the doctor, see what he could give me. He said, son, son you’ve gone too far. ‘Cause smokin’ an trippin’ is all that you do, yeah.” Ozzy
Stool Sample
Tag: Creativity
A Systemic Perspective
“Unhappiness can stem from having only one perspective to play with.” Alain de Botton
System of a Down
“Everything is magical when you see it with your heart.” Mooji
The Sublime and the Ridiculous
“Only by chancing the ridiculous, can I hope for the sublime.” Jay DeFeo
Shoot the Moon
“That moon which the sky never saw even in dreams has risen again” Rumi
Headshots
“It’s one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like, it’s another thing to make a portrait of who they are.” Paul Caponigro
Gray Areas
“Black and white images take you beyond what most people photograph.” Rob Sheppard
The Art of Grilling
“Grilling, broiling, barbecuing-whatever you want to call it-is an art, not just a matter of building a pyre and throwing on a piece of meat as a sacrifice to the gods of the stomach.” James Beard
Creativity
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” Scott Adams
The Seat of Obsession
“There is no doubt that creative work is itself done under a compulsion often indistinguishable from a purely clinical obsession. In this sense, what we call a creative gift is merely the social license to be obsessed.” Otto Rank
Note to self: check the date on my social license to be obsessed, I don’t want it to expire anytime soon.
Clear Image Zoom?
I read an article this morning about how Sony’s Clear Image Zoom feature will double the focal length of your lens with almost no loss of quality. Actually the term used was minimal loss of quality.
In theory it sounded great and in practice the focal length was indeed doubled but the images were terrible. And to do a proper test I used a tripod and shot in manual at several different apertures.
Just figuring out how to do it with my A6000 was a challenge. First of all you can shoot only JPEG. Then you change the Zoom setting to ClearImageZoom. Then go back to Zoom and Zoom from 0-2x.
After looking at the images I remembered trying this with my RX100 and the results were equally disappointing. But that camera can focus much closer so I shot this Dahlia with it from about an inch and a half away at 10mm.
If you’re interested B&H photo has an article called “Sony Clear Image Zoom: The Most Amazing Shooting Mode You Never Heard Of.” They used a Sony Alpha a7R II so their results might be different.
There is an old proverb that says there is no need to put legs on a snake. But you can get some great shots of him if you use the right lens, until he bites you and then it really won’t matter at all.
In Search of Abstract
I’ve been trying to do more abstract images as well as more black and white. After getting my coffee this morning I was driving though farm country and saw a fire in the parking lot of an Amish tourist site and pulled in.
I watched the dancing flames and then started taking photos, waiting for the decisive moment. A farmer came over and asked if he could help me. Usually I answer that with “Are you a Psychiatrist?” but I didn’t want to be rude.
I told him I was trying out a new camera rather than explain the concept of abstract photography to him and he just looked at me. “Kinda strange isn’t it,” I said. “Yes it is” was his reply and he walked away towards his children of the corn.
