The River, the Clouds and the Flowers

river

I know you’re probably expecting something to do with the Queenship of Mary today. Or the election. Or any number of prescient issues aside from photography.

But I’ve had zero time to devote to photography lately and just have to get it out of my system, darnit.

And look at that river! And those clouds! And that sky!

Ah, the river… the clouds… the sky…. things to gaze upon and give thanks to God. And certainly to give thanks to him for the Queenship of Mary, who no doubt would gaze upon this peaceful scene quite lovingly, while perhaps being thankful that one of her Priests was photographing the scene for the enjoyment of others.

But, I’m concerned that I haven’t really made any strides in my understanding of exposure.

river2

Hence this strange shot of the clouds.

One thing I do understand is that digital photos have a limited range of dynamic contrast, which is why some areas of this image are darker than they should be. The light is too strong in the clouds, and too dark on the river.

Overexposed Clouds

Still, because I had a fascination with the image when I took it, I tried to manipulate it in photoshop. But it never turned out right; it always turned out sort of like this. Well, perhaps not as strange, but I’m not out to win any contests here, just to demonstrate the dilemma of trying to work with a lousy photo which could have been, just hazarding a guess here, a very good photo.

Some areas of the clouds take on drama, and you can make out the storm in the background, but the river itself looks grainy, and the whole thing looks fake.

So sad.

river bw

Putting the whole thing in black and white… well, it’s the same issue ridden photograph in black and white.

Maybe someone with better photoshopping skills could get this to look better. But a better photographer would have taken a beter picture in the first place, and wouldn’t even be having this conversation because the photoshopping would have been at minimum, the picture would have been great, and that would be that.

Or, he or she would have just deleted the photo outright.

So, moving on from this, the photo itself seems like it could have been really cool, but I need to learn and practice, some more skills.

flores

It’s either that or stick to flowers.

But hey, that’s what hobbies are for, to find some spare moments and spend them productively, learning and practicing something enjoyable. And, to have time to give thanks to God for making such a beautiful world for all of us to live in; it’s definitely worth taking more pictures and trying to get it right.

The Rev. Kenneth Allen