Today I thought that I would put a picture of me working on the picture I’m going to post tomorrow. I think that with the ubiquity of Photoshop and camera-phones it can be easy to dismiss photography or at least under value it as an art form. Drawing and painting are seen as higher forms because they require special talent and since everyone has a camera these days people don’t often think what goes into a good photograph.
It can take a lot of time and effort to set things up for a picture, and you can’t always decide where the clouds will be or where the light comes from in a photograph. You can do that in a painting. With a photograph you may have to wait a long time or move things around in the studio to make it right. I know that with photo editing tools you can do a lot of cheating like replacing backgrounds and doing composites, but I consider that photo-art and not photography. I’m sure lots of people would disagree with me and we could have a lively conversation on the matter, but I prefer to use what I get out of the camera with a few minor tweaks to color or contrast. Call me a purist, or crazy, or what you will.
Anyway, this is me moving salt crystals with a needle point. It can get tricky because if you get the point in the wrong spot, sometimes the crystal jumps. Tune in tomorrow and I will show you what I created.