From Doug Plummer’s post at Art and Perception:

A great thing about an aimless trip of this sort is that the pressure’s off. Image making is still the compelling activity, but there is a deliberate purposelessness about the effort. It allows me to do that most important work of an artist – to fail a lot. I explored a lot of visual dead ends, I made abundant bad pictures, I responded to what was around me, but most of those responses missed the mark. I joke with my clients that I’m a good photographer because I’m a bad photographer a lot more often. It’s more true for most of us than we might like to admit. On a trip like this, I can afford to indulge these apparently fruitless explorations.

Follow the title link to read the entire post.

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George Barr writes at Behind the Lens:

I had written about negative thinking and it’s costs and had casually mentioned that assuming you were going to shoot a masterpiece today was at least marginally better. G Dan Mitchell made the very sensible point that photographers have to believe that they can and will shoot a masterpiece – that we need to believe that to keep shooting.

I’d like to expand on that a bit. I think it’s important to recognize the differences amongst goals, dreams, aspirations, expectations, standards, and intentions.

George has a interesting series of posts on this topic.

… I have a suggestion for Canon in re the “big” 20D/30D/40D question. (You know, the one causing untold neverending shuddupshuddupSHUDDUP existential anguish all over every Canon forum on the ‘net….)

The suggestion: drop it.

That’s right. Drop it altogether. Why does Canon need a camera in between the XTi (400D) and the 5D, anyway? Answer: maybe it doesn’t.

George Barr (Behind the Lens) writes:

Chuck, in an attempt to distract me from photographing any more underwear, has asked about how I decide whether to make an image colour or black and white.

Sometimes subtle tonal gradations call out for black and white and quite early I’ll convert the image and see how it works. Other times, the colours clearly don’t work together and the only hope for the image is in black and white – whether I realized that at the time of shooting or not.

I have to say that I’m glad we don’t have to choose at the time of shooting, more than once I have planned wrongly – subtle colours were worth preserving when I thought the image only suitable for black and white, or the reverse.

(More at the title link, inlcuding an example.)

I share George’s appreciation for not having to decide at the time the photo is taken now that I use a digital camera. I have my own idiosyncratic process for determining whether the final image will be monochrome or color, and I certainly do not always recognize which will be best when I press the shutter release.

However, sometimes I can’t decide. With some shots, it isn’t so much that one version is better than the other – it is more the case that they are just different.

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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That’s today’s question at Behind the Lens by George Barr. (With my personal responses in italics…)

1. ***do you get up early enough to catch the best light
   

   Usually, but sometimes it is so hard. I have to confess that sometimes I cut it so close that I arrive exactly when the light is good, when it really would be better to get there a bit earlier, set up, and wait.

2. ***do you use a tripod when appropriate?
   

   What do you mean by “appropriate?” ;-) Actually, I think I’m pretty good about this, though I do shoot handheld sometimes, especially with an IS lens.

3. ***what about cable release and or mirror lockup?
   

   Check

4. ***do you stitch when you can?
   

   Yup. I also shoot multiple exposures so that I can combine them in PS – sort of the software version of using ND filters.

5. ***do you use the best camera for the job or make compromises for covenience? (within your budget)
   

   Boy, that is a hard one to answer. I think my camera is appropriate for the specifics of my photography – often on foot, etc. I certainly use the best lenses for the job. I do think that a better/different camera body is going to be in my future though.

6. ***do you shoot raw?
   

   No, I’m always well dressed, thank you… Oh, you meant RAW mode on the camera!? Yes.

7. ***do you back up all shoots within 24 hours?
   

   Check. Multiple backups, actually, and immediately after I move them from the camera to the computer.

8. ***do you have a labelling/filing system that lets you painlessly find images several years and thousands of images later?
   

   Uh, well, hmm, not exactly. I could certainly do better here. One thing that often saves me is that I post dated versions of the images I like best on a couple of my web sites. (Here and at dan’s outside.) So when someone asks about a particular image I can usually locate the original RAW file and the PS version fairly quickly. I do file the better images categorized by subject.

9. ***do you profile your monitor? Regularly?
   

   Check. And Check.

10. ***do you update the images and information on your website regularly?
    

    Check. Actually, more like obsessive-compulsive blogger, double super check… except for that portfolio page. Really gotta’ get back to that.

– Dan

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.