Stripped Away

Is the pleasure worth all the pain?

That’s a line from an old Jimmy Buffett song. After warnings, and a few arrests, people of our fine city still seem to think that gathering is okay. I’m sure their momentary pleasure will cause them a lot of pain later.

I’m going to take a break from CoVid19 commentary. Y’all probably read and watch way too much coverage of it already.

Let’s talk a little bit about pictures.

I’ve been asked to participate in a couple of Zoom round table discussions about pictures. I’m hoping they won’t turn into gearhead discussions. I have no interest in that. If the organizers want to talk about philosophy, I’m all in. If they want to talk about art, I’m all in.

If it turns into “which is better a Nikon or a Canon camera” discussion, I’ll reply Leica and fade away.

A little housekeeping.

I’ve developed a very strange problem with WordPress. For many of you I cannot “like” your posts without doing a major work around. Usually, when I hit the like button, I get a blank pop up screen for about a second. Often when I comment, I’m asked to fill in my contact information as if I weren’t part of WordPress. Sometimes a WordPress button pops up. If I click on that, I’m sort of logged in.

I know it’s a WordPress bug because I’ve tested this across computer systems, using Apple and Windows. I’ve also tested it across browsers. I’ll talk to the fine folks at WordPress today. Storyteller is a business account so I have access to immediate help. They are pretty good about that.

The picture. It’s a little bitty detail that I was able to photograph near macro. But, not really macro.

That’s another story.

I see so many people misusing the term macro on WordPress blogs. Macro is the ability to focus so close that the details of a bee’s wing are in sharp detail, sometimes without the whole bee filling the frame.

Most people are focusing on a subject, like a rose on a rose bush and calling that macro. It’s not. Really, those folks are just isolating a part of the scene in front of them. It’s about time.

One more thing about focusing on the subject.

Another blogger likes my work because it has a 3D quality. That’s easy. Use a wide angle lens, set the camera to everything auto, and stick it right into the middle of the thing you are photographing. You’ll get what appears to be 3D . Of course, if you are mostly driven to photograph sunsets, you’ll always have a compressed looking picture. Or, you have to fly to the sun. That’ll get mighty hot.

Stay Safe. Look after each other. Wash your hands. Keep your distance. Don’t gather in groups. Enjoy every crawfish.