donna, i went back and reviewed the rest of your portfolio again. it is really good stuff. your focus (subject matter) seems to change, as mine does, so i appreciate the time you take to shift creativity from macro to micro, family to cityscapes, and all in between. nice work. bill w
Sorry for the gap in replying to you. Seems my email notifications quit working, and I only login to this site sporadicly.
Please tell your wife that gadgetitis is not just a "guy thing". I like gadgets that do cool stuff. However, I am also working at simplicity, removing complexity from all that I do, even simplifying photo subjects. However #2, I also fiddle with making some simple jewelry and mobiles. The mobiles intrigue me to near obsession. So I am a tool freak, too. Love tools! Saturday field trips are to interesting hardware stores. And I don't have a mustache.
Thanks for your photo comments. "The Bear" didn't get much attention at this site, but I happen to like it a lot. I want to have it printed very LARGE! It would be fun to install it on a floor in front of a fireplace. And I agree -- nothing like shooting just for the love of it. When I can just be out and about as a "camera head", I don't want to talk to anyone or have anything invade that dream-world inside my head and what I am seeing.
Donna, I understand what you are saying. First of all, I am a NYC native who moved to Austin, TX 11 years ago. all of a sudden, those middle names were all over the place, as were first names like, hunter, tanner etc. Even though my name is William Russell Wasp, I was soon dubbed Billy Bob, so there you go!
As far as some of your other images, I am also drawn to The Bear. I employ a similar technique, by overbalancing the Unsharp Mask in either Photoshop Elements or CS3. It tends to bring put hidden colors. I shot fil in 35mm and 2.25x2.25 ( for larger negatives ), but got very impatient with chemicals, labs and processors. I have found that the digital quality has gotten superb, and the personal creativity is...endless. Match that with high end digital printers and giclee capabilities, and there is plenty to work with. I also find that I get caught up in new gagititis ( my wife says it's a guy thing) and shooting to create "pro" quality" images. I have to step back and realize that to a large degree, "pro" is usually determined by others, not me - editors, web managers, gallery owner and agents.
However, when I fall back to shooting because I love the medium, my satisfaction goes up, my impatience goes down, and I get that high feeling when a certain image just resonates with me. That's when I know I have produced a "pro" image on a creative level.
Your work is varied, as well as poignant. Keep in touch. Bill ( snowing in Santa Fe right now)
Bill, Thanks for your expression of the Tri-X "feeling". I didn't get into photography in time to explore what I could do with film, but I LOVE some of the film effects, and I try to achieve them with digital.
Here at Usefilm i am plagued with what nearly becomes an obsession for me. I wonder if anyone else has this experience -- Just by looking at the photo thumbnails, I am able to tell whether a photo is film or digital. I am nearly always correct. I have to not think about it, or it becomes a challenge, and I lose the enjoyment of looking at all the beauteousness of the the photos.
Blake, Thanks for your comments. I also liked the "piercing spires". The halo effect comes from me fiddling with the tones in PS. I just liked the effect. I tend toward the surreal. Much more fun than the real. (grin)
great reflections; they almost give the effect of spires piercing into the water - nice capture. do you know what caused the halo effect on the hills in the background, most prominently those in the upper right?
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{K:978} 3/23/2009
