Near Ponte Vecchio ~ Firenze, Tuscana • click to embiggen
Approaching Ponte Vecchio ~ Firenze, Tuscana • click to embiggenThere are few, myself excluded, who would deny that Saint/Sir Ansel, with an assist from Fred Archer, made a mighty contribution to the craft of BW picturing. His Zone System, a system based upon 10 "zones" / "steps" of tonal density - 0 = absolute black (no detail); 10 = absolute white (no detail / paper white), became a standard by which most BW prints are judged.

Saint/Sir Ansel considered zones 1- 9 to be the zones which contained all of the "useful" detail / information in a print. The whole point of his system was to make an exposure that, coupled with the right development and the right paper grade contrast, would result in a print wherein all the "useful" detail / information in the actual subject would be captured in the print and "spread out" over the zone 1 - zone 9 density range.

Although we, in the digital domain, deal with a density/tonal range of 0-255, the same basic principles apply - the goal of most picture makers is to make a print with densities/tones spread out over zone 1 - zone 9. Or, to put it another way, densities/tones that range from darks that are almost detail-less to highlights that are almost paper white. A range that in the digital world runs from 10 - 250 on the digital scale. And, as in the BW print domain, most color prints are judged by this 10-250 standard.

But, here's the thing about that - in both the bw and color domains - both digital and analog - the zone-system technique most often applied is to compress the real-world density range into the somewhat smaller density range of film and sensors. The techniques for doing so vary considerably from one medium to the other but the desired result is the same - get as much detail information as possible from a real-world scene onto paper.

However, that said, while many picture makers do an admirable job of that technique (read as a "realistic"* job), the one that so many seem to fail at is the opposite technique - that of expanding the density/tonal range of real-world scenes that are, by their very nature, quite compressed. Those scenes were the light is as "flat" as a pancake. The tendency of many is to stretch the density range right out to the max - 10-250 - even though the actual scene densities are contained within a much more compressed range of 50-200 or less.

To my eye and sensibilities, the resulting prints look very artificially "stretched".

Now, if a picture maker's desire is to give us those nice bright colors ... and ... make you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah (because everything looks worse in black and white), then they're on the right track.

But ... in case they haven't noticed, all the world's not a sunny day. There are days when all those nice bright colors take on a more muted and laid-back appearance. There is difference between a sunny day and a cloudy one. Why try to turn all the world into a "sunny" one?

*"realistic" by definition does not include most of those landscape pictures made by the uber-GND wunderkinds - those pictures with the visual hallmark of mismatched skies and foregrounds, especially noticeable when there is water in the foreground. In those pictures the reflection of the sky is always lighter than the sky it reflects, Here's a clue for the GND-ers out there - that's not how it appears in the natural world. Itaque, it is not "realistic".

But, of course, being "realistic" will not give them those nice bright colors and make us think all the world's a sunny day.

Mall parking lot ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
Borders at the Mall ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
Sears at the Mall ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggenSince I am not a light stalker / chaser, I usually only picture "the light" on those occasions when "the light" sneaks up on me and hits me in the eye like a big pizza pie.

Such was the case last Saturday evening as I emerged from the mall. As luck or happenstance would have it, I came into the light at just the right moment (to my eye and sensibilities) - my favorite time of day, entre chien et loup. What I like most about the light entre chien et loup is the slightly odd color that results from the mix of daylight (such as it is at that time) and artificial light (such as it is in man-made environments).

As you might expect, I am not as enamored of the light entre chien et loup for picturing the natural landscape (where no artificial light is in evidence) as I am of it for picturing what might be labeled hand-of-humankind landscapes.

FYI, for those of you haven't been paying attention, entre chien et loup is a French phrase meaning, between the dog and the wolf - that time of day after the sun has gone down but the night has not completely enveloped the landscape. Others of a less effete artistic bent might refer to it as "twilight", "dusk", or the more northern European nomenclature of - think Groundskeeper Willie - the "gloaming".

3 vases at the Jay Craft Gallery ~ Jay, NY • click to embiggenHow much would it change your perceptions / feelings about this picture if I changed the title / description to a more complete and accurate description?:

3 vases and an intellectually disabled child on porch swing at the Jay Craft Gallery

Is the picture without the words a "failure" as the pictures-that-need-words-are-failures crowd would have you believe?

Cottage No. 3 ~ Adirondacks / Inlet, NY • click to embiggen
Closed for the season ~ Adirondacks / Inlet, NY • click to embiggenThe final triptych count from this past weekend is 10 and, as mentioned in an earlier entry, the triptychs will be the basis for a POD book and Folio entitled Saturday ~ November 14th. My intent for the book/folio is twofold.

First and foremost is simply the intent to create the book/folio. I will use all of the pictures in the book and select 10-15 pictures from the book with which to make the folio. They will be offered as a set and separately.

However, second and almost as foremost, as a set, the intent is to illustrate an exercise in editing - the book will be composed of the triptychs (all of the pictures) whereas the folio will be composed of single pictures from taken / edited from each triptych. An exercise wherein I will select, IMO, the "best" single picture from each triptych.

But, that said, IMO, here's where it gets interesting. Each purchaser of the set will have the option to return the folio of my edits and request a new folio composed of their edits, or, Each purchaser of the set will have the option to return the folio and request 1 24×24" print of their choice - chosen from the entire group of pictures in the book. Now this assumes, of course, that the folio is returned in pristine condition (cotton gloves will come with the folio).

The intent of this exchange / exercise is to create a two-way learning experience - I get to learn what others think of my "selects" while a purchaser gets to have a peek into my edit / selection process and thinking. And, to aid in this whole process, I will make myself available to purchasers - via e-mail, snail-mail, or even by phone (US/CA) - to discuss my/their opinions on the matter.

All that said, first and foremost, pt. 2 - the time has come to get an online gallery of folios and POD books launched. And I'm not just talking about my folios/books, I'm talking about your folios/books.

This past weekend when I was talking with Paul Maxim (on the phone prior to meeting), I mentioned that I was going to Taughannock Falls to make pictures. He asked, "What are you going to do with the pictures?" and I answered that I would be posting them on my blog.

That's when it occurred to me that just posting them on the blog was not enough anymore. I've said it before and I'll say it again - pictures as PRINTS are the thing. Anything else is half-ass.

In addition, I want to become a "collector". I want to hang the work of others in my house - not the work of the "big-name" picture makers, but rather the work of so many others who are making great pictures but just not displaying them in the big tent. Those who probably wouldn't mind a little fame and fortune but who, nevertheless, make pictures just because they love to make pictures and would also like to share their work with others.

And, as I have stated before, this thing can't work without the participation of others. By "participation of others" I mean, simply, the pictures / books / folios of others.

How about it?

Dear Meadows Motel & Cottages ~ Adirondacks / Inlet, NY • click to embiggenDependent upon one's personal likes / dislikes, one of the preeminate charms / banes of Adirondack tourism is the "classic" late 50s / early 60s-era mom&pop-run roadside motel. They are, quite literally, everywhere.

Some, like Dear Meadows, are meticulously maintained - clean, comfortable, and with a modicum of modern amenities like cable tv and in-room coffee makers. Although, like the Dear Meadow sign indicates, "Phone" means that there is a phone somewhere on the premise but it won't be in your room. However, on the plus side, one phone is much better than no phone because, more often than not, like in Inlet there will also be no cell service either.

The reason for the plethora of 50s/60s-era motels in the Adirondacks is due mainly to the 50s/60s-era advent of the interstate highway system after which tourism in the Adirondacks went into a serious 3 decades-long decline. People in the region were going on vacation much farther afield and, quite obviously, taking their tourism dollars with them. Consequently, very little "upgrading" of accommodation facilities took place. In fact, many traditional and glorious Adirondack lodges / inns went the way of the burn-it-down-for-firefighter-practice due to financial insolvency.

A so-called short stack ~ Old Forge, NY • click to embiggenYou know that you live in the middle of nowhere just south of the Canadian border when you drive 120 miles after dark and you only see 12 other cars on the road and the only place you have to stop is at a US Border Patrol road block / check point and prove that you are not a terrorist.

That said, the next morning I stopped at a small-town diner for a "light" breakfast - a breakfast sandwich and a "short stack" of pancakes. Imagine my surprise when the short stack turned out to be short but as wide as a full-sized dinner plate and a little over a 1/2 inch thick. Very, very delicious but "light" it was not.

M&M Diner ~ Au Sable Forks, NY • click to embiggenThe wife is away for the weekend so I'm going on a road trip down to/through the central Adirondacks in pursuit of pictures - primarily more man +/- nature pictures but, as is my normal MO, I'll be open to any picturing possibilities. Maybe I'll even get in a little golf.

Storm drain construction materials • click to embiggen