I’m trying to relax. Trying to think like a youngster and see the world as something unique and special. Wondering what each object is. Seeing things in nature for the first time. Looking at the world from a much lower angle.

Photo Journey Day 24 Recap – 11/24/24

When I started in photography in the late 1960s, there was of course the shooting. Pretty much as it is today except for the advancement in the cameras and accessories. But then it was off to the darkroom for film developing and then to the enlarger for prints and then to the sink and trays. I believe it was the early 70s when I got an enlarger. Before that, it was send your film out for processing and prints. No control there.

Again, today we have a lot of time spent in processing after the shoot. Just through the computer instead of the darkroom. I know I could do better with Photoshop or Lightroom or another post processing tool. But then I’m not out shooting.

Like yesterday, I’m going through this last month and editing what I want to upload to my photo site. I have the application that came the Nikon. A basic editing tool called NX Studio. I try to keep my adjustments to a minimum unless I’ve really screwed up a shoot. And that happens to us rookies. The cost and the fear of getting lost in those advanced tools makes me hesitant to purchase and use them.

The other thing about those tools. They can manipulate reality easily. And it’s very tempting to do because I’ve used them professionally at times in my career. But working in the field surrounded by journalist and photojournalist integrity was always first.

This was possible back in the days of processing film and making prints also, but it was much harder. One photog showed me how he could put a baseball before a batter swinging that had already missed the ball. Then he showed me a shot of the same batter getting a hit just the moment before contact with the ball close to the fake print he made. They were close and through newspaper reproduction nobody would have been the wiser. I remember saying something to the effect of how that wouldn’t be right and feels so wrong inside to publish a fake. Not to mention the standards in place against that. But it really does come down to a lot of self control back then and even more so today.

I guess that is why I shoot closer to the photojournalism rule than artistic goals. Nothing against that, I admire many beautiful works like that. And I have dabbled in some special effects but instead of putting Photo by Mike Hartley I’ll label it Illustration by Mike Hartley. That is just my personal style and choice.

While I do crop images from time to time I don’t do so to change the meaning of the image. So all these words are the cover for a lame day of shooting on my part. But the camera comes out today. That means I won’t punish you with more bable later and hopefully some good images to fill the space.