Burning questions

One key aspect of my approach to my nature subjects usually originates from a question, or series of them.   While one may wish to be all knowing, it is quite hard to accomplish in actual practice.  Shocking I know.

This particularly applies to the interesting patterns I may find in the woods that I enjoy making abstract photographs from.   Sometimes after I photograph something, the answers come later on, leading to a bit of education.   More often (much more than I like to admit!), the photograph remains as a reminder of those questions.

In the case with this photograph, I came across a burnt pile of wood in the middle of the woods near my home.   Aside from wondering how the wood was burned to begin with (kids? lightning? meteor? magic staff blast?), I was quite curious about the pattern formed.   It was hardly uniform, and I really didn’t know what type of wood it was.   For sure it has something to do with the thermal decomposition of the cellulose in the wood.   So questions about this pattern lead me down the path of learning about cellular structures in wood and the interaction with temperature.

I don’t always get the specific answers I am looking for.   The pursuit and appreciation of the unknown are part of the journey.    I suppose once I no longer have any questions left, I can stop photographing.

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. – Albert Einstein

This macro photograph was made in the woods along the Clinton River, Sterling Heights, Michigan.   The photograph was captured by a Nikon D700, 14 bit RAW file, Nikon 200mm f4 macro lens, and post processed using luminosity masks in Photoshop CS3, and the plugin Topaz Adjust on a Mac Pro.

Pond Dreams

A robot certainly cannot create art, or can it?  One definition of art is a interaction of experience of the artist, what they have learned and felt in relation to their artwork, and the experience of the viewer and all of their background that molds their interpretation.  Of course, robots don’t feel , they don’t dream, they don’t have imaginations – so one would think that creation of art is an impossibility for a machine.   At the most – its output is only a function of its programmers.

However, the viewer typically does not have access to the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of the artist.   They bring their own to the viewing situation and make their own interpretation.   We rely on some common principles in human interpretation to create scenes that are generally accepted as provoking pleasing thoughts, stress or tension, depending on the goal of the artist.  It isn’t hard to imagine that if the final piece of artwork is in front of someone, the experiences and feelings of the artist are truly invisible – and the piece still be interpreted as “art.”  There is the assumption that the creator felt something when making it, even if it is not understood.

Painted Rock

Most photographers are aware of the some of the guidelines of composition, perhaps even some Gestalt theory, what color temperatures make “good light,” and known complimentary colors.   All of these are learned over time, and certainly could be translated into some sort of programming, just as it is in storing it in our own minds.   We then bring these into our own experiences and produce a photograph of the subject matter in front of us.

So I have thought – what if I had stored in my head studies of all of the paintings of Monet and Picasso, countless books on composition, every word Ansel Adams ever wrote, and instantaneous access to the images being churned out every day as posted on the internet?   With all of the advances in artificial intelligence, that is not too far fetched for some super-computer.  Maybe I wouldn’t produce something original, perhaps it is very formulaic.   I could certainly produce something that could very well be interpreted at minimum as art and appeal to the general masses.  After all, most viewers don’t carry all of this around with them, they carry around what they feel and how it relates to what they see.      Some GPS guided, sight-enabled, wirelessly connected robot might be able to do the same thing.   Perhaps it could do it better because it is not subject to all of the frailties of being human, being tired, impatient, or moody.

This situation all seems very sterile doesn’t it?   What if the viewer never knew a machine created what was in front of them?  (Which I think would be a fascinating experiment!)   I would be willing to bet that their interpretation would change if they knew – perhaps even discrediting it as being “art.”  Knowing both ends of this type of situation – it just does not seem right, does it?   If you are lacking the human experience of the artist, what’s the point?

And with that I propose that if all we do is simply follow the guidelines, follow what is done, repeat what was done before no matter how great – that we are perhaps no different than a machine producing the same thing.   Sooner or later we need to break free, keep all of the lessons learned and mimicry in the back of our heads for guidance and follow our instincts and passions.    If we don’t – well then we had better watch our backs.   Something with a big corporate logo on its forehead will soon be ready to take our place.

The concept of “Stone Windows” came to mind to me – looking into this small piece of stone and seeing not only something of your imagination, but it is also a window into the past. .  Imagine what was going on in the world when this piece of wood was being solidifed!!. .  It is actually quite hard to believe this was once wood actually!

I did something with these images I don’t normally do – I used the Auto-Tone Develop preset in Lightroom. . .  Of course, normally I like to adjust myself, but once in awhile I will hover over this preset just to see if it is close to what I want. .  Raw files are typically a bit flat. .  Auto-Tone really did well with these particular images and just made them sing. .  I didn’t adjust anything else, except for to decrease the luminance of the red a small bit, it was just too red.

Just to give you an idea of what this small piece of petrified wood looks like..

New rock pictures include:

Picasso Marble

Namibia Pietersite

Red Mushroom Jasper

Amethyst Sage (with dendrites that resemble trees)

All are available as fine art prints, canvas, and for rock stock!

Blue Sky Biggs Picture Jasper

Feather Agate

Indian Paint Rock

TeePee Agate

Dendritic Jasper. 

Plasma Agate.