Sunflower and gourds • click to embiggenSo I've been screwing around, photography-wise, for a couple of weeks now with my new 25mm f2.8 lens. In fact, it hasn't been off of my camera since I got it.

Considering that 90% or more of my picturing over the past 2-3 years has been done with a 11-22mm lens, I have had no trouble at all "seeing" with a much reduced field of view. Picturing with a normal-ish lens is what I did in my 8×10 view camera days and that MO seems to have come back to me somewhat intuitively.

My only dis-satisfaction with the lens is that I would like even more narrow DOF than its 2.8 aperture creates. Sigma makes a 24mm f1.8 lens that would probably deliver the look I am striving for .... although, I'll be perfectly honest - I'm not exactly certain what it is that I want to accomplish with this narrow DOF stuff.

I think it has something to do with "mystery".

Asparagus on Italian plate • click to embiggen

Open window ~ Montreal, CA • click to embiggen
Peppers at the market ~ Montreal, CA • click to embiggen
Flowers at the market ~ Montreal, CA • click to embiggenMuch virtual ink has been spilled on The Landscapist regarding the notion of photographic truth (or, if you prefer - truth in photography) and the medium's relationship with and to the real/reality (replete with a rather specious sidebar into what is real/reality?). As most know, I believe that photography pictures can contain more than a smattering of truth and that I really don't struggle much at all with what is real / the nature of reality.

For the most I don't struggle with either of those concepts because I have an open mind which can grasp the idea that truth has many interpretations - which does not mean that they are all worthy of consideration - and that reality has different meanings to different people - which, once again, does not mean that they are all worthy of consideration. But that said, my guiding principle regarding those ideas is the same as that stated by Richard Dawkins -

By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out. ~ from "Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder

I bring all this up because I want to address the notion of photography pictures as a form of Rorschach / inkblot test.

There can be little doubt that every photography picture is open to interpretation in the mind of each and every viewer. This is generally true despite the fact that the picture maker may have made a very deliberate intent to create a very specific meaning / interpretation in any given picture. One possible exception (of many) to this notion are those pictures that are so simple-minded in concept and intent that the range of interpretation possible from viewing them is rather limited.

But the idea that many interpretations can be had from a given picture negates the idea that a picture can not contain truth(s) is simply not true. A single picture can contain many unrelated truths and the discovery of any of those truths does not negate any of the truths a picture may contain.

Each and every viewer of a picture brings their very own and often unique life-experiences, emotional and intellectual acumen, prejudices, preferences, and so on to the viewing table. All of that "baggage" obviously influences what a viewers quite literally "sees" in a picture. And, what one sees, in a quite literal visual sense, will most likely influence one's perceptions of meaning(s) to had in / gleaned from a picture.

That is why I am often very surprised by the sometimes many different meaning(s) / interpretations that my pictures engender in those who view them. In many cases, those meanings / interpretations are not at all what I had in mind when I made the pictures in question and I find this to be quite enjoyable and interesting.

What this multi-interpretive, multi-truth concepts tells me is that pictures are filled with truth(s) and that there is much to be learned about truth and reality if one approaches one's own picturing and pictures as well as the pictures made by others with an open mind - but, of course, not so open-minded that your brain falls out.

Church dome ~ Montreal, CA • click to embiggen
Port park building ~ Montreal, CA • click to embiggen
Marina + lighthouse ~ Montreal, CA • click to embiggen
Rue St. Paul church ~ Montreal, CA • click to embiggenWhile the wife and I continued our late day walk (see civilized ku # 240-45), the daylight gradually faded into night. And, as Tracey commented on yesterday's entry, Mixtures of natural and man made light really do catch my attention.

As previously mentioned many times, my favorite time of day for making mixed-light pictures is that time after the sun has set but before the night takes over. The time of day that the French all entre chien et loup - between the dog and the wolf. If I were to become a "light stalker" or to start "chasing the light", the light of entre chien et loup would be "the light" for me.

Cruise ship ~ Montreal, CA • click to embiggenEarly Saturday AM, just before sunrise, I awoke and saw this scene outside our hotel window.

Stracciatelle • click to embiggenEver since our recent trip to Tuscany, the wife has been on quite an Italian bent. So, we went to Montreal's Little Italy to visit a big market where I purchased a little 6×6 inch artery-clogging chocolate pastry thing that I swear must weight about 50 lbs. and I also had a bowl of very good stracciatelle - Italian egg-drop soup, which, unlike Chinese egg-drop soup, has parmesan cheese as an ingredient.

However, I found it quite weird to be in a Little Italy and eating in an Italian restaurant where the first language was French. Really, it was very weird and more than a bit disconcerting.

Grey day light #1 • click to embiggen
Grey day light #2 • click to embiggen
Grey day light #3 • click to embiggen
Grey day light #4 • click to embiggenSunday's light in Montreal presented me with a distinctly different experience from that of Saturday's late-day golden-amber-glow light. That said, I found it to be equally interesting and seductive.

Due to the prevailing architecture of Montreal's old city - which is primarily made of grey stone - and the soft "grey" light, my eye was drawn to those "snippets" of color that, set against the grey surround, seemed to be especially vibrant.

Artist's paints and stuff • click to embiggen

Toast map • click to embiggen
Hair drying + cows • click to embiggen
Golf book • click to embiggenMontreal's old city district, where we always stay while in Montreal, is home to quite a few Art galleries. The offerings run a quite varied gamut of media, techniques, and tastes. Here a few that I thought would appeal to the discriminating connoisseurs in the crowd (l-r) -

1.) A map of the world made out of stale bread. I believe that the map is burned onto the bread with a small blow-torch. If you have to ask, you probably can't afford it.

2.) A bronze beauty drying her hair - the bronze beauty is actually quite beautifully distorted. And, don't ignore the cow painting in the background - 3 cows on a white field, approx. 5×8 feet. If you have to ask, you probably can't afford either of them.

3.) My personal favorite - a book of golf courses (primarily European) pictures. Opened, a spread is approx. 2.5 × 5 feet. The book is quite thick and comes not only with a slipcase but also the viewing stand pictured here. If you have to ask, you probably can't afford it - $10,800 CAN per copy.