The Odd and the Satisfying

When I posted to my blog last night I was quite torn over what image to post. I have about a dozen I want to include at some point, but they are all from days gone by. So, while a part of me wants to keep my postings current, it really doesn't matter... does it?

My satisfaction with this image comes from scarcely remembering what it is. I recall that, around christmas time, I had the camera out one evening for something and snapped this scene that had been setup on our end table. It was an odd collection of tiny christmas balls and tall wisemen figurines with this bit of oriental flavor thrown in. I have no idea what its supposed to represent, and the chances are that my Wife, or my Daughter, whichever one of them is responsible for putting it there, won't recall either.

But I like this image. It's kind of dark and mysterious and oddly satisfying.

Practice, Practice, Practice

This is what tell myself everytime I post an image that I know is little more than a study in something. In fact, this is what I tell myself "everytime" I post an image... whether I think anyone else will like it or not.

I tend to beat myself up pretty badly for being lazy with my photography, and for being lazy with pretty much everything I do, for that matter. The thing is, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, and so I do this in hopes that I "don't" get too cozy with everything I'm not doing.

It's all practice. And you know what they say about practice. The problem, though, is that if you don't even know what it is your practicing at, how can you possibly get any better at it?

Anyway, today's image is another from the daily file. Taken with the new little Fuji f31 at work. (I carry that little sucker with me everywhere.) I have always enjoyed trying to exploit the quiet drama in the mundane, the excitement in the ordinary, all without resorting to spending too much time in front of the computer to achieve the look I'm after. Post processing is a necessary evil as far as I'm concerned, and my laziness dictates that I keep it as simple as possible. Here I actaully did quite a bit. Transformed to straighten the lines, cropped, adjusted for B&W, added the tone, then resized and sharpened an itsy bit.

Whew. I need to lay down.

Implied Depth

The image presented here is from this spring. A friend of mine purchased this new FJ last year and then waitied patiently for it to make the trip here. Of course, when it arrived it wasn't equipped the way it was supposed to be, but he was happy with it.

I blurred the edges a bit to give the vehicle more pop, and it makes a rather nice portrait... for a truck. Not sure what the appeal of this image is. I think for me it's FJ envy, even though I wouldn't buy one even if I had the money. I'd probably be more inclined to by an old International Harvester Scout instead, which the FJ reminded me of quite a bit.