Today we traveled to Strasbourg, where I had been over 40 years ago as part of a ninth-grade class trip when I was going to school in Brussels. I remember little except that I had bought some cherries at the market near the cathedral and offered them to the girl I had a crush on but who had heretofore ignored me. But that day I got not only a ‘thank you’ from her but also a smile. I was in heaven.
I took the first picture on that trip and the second one today. It’s nice to know that in a world of constant change, some things remain the same:
October is the perfect time to visit this Alsatian gem, as the crowds have thinned, the weather is gorgeous, and the city’s balconies are still filled with geraniums.
First time visit to Alsace left me impressed: Germany doesn’t have a monopoly on cute little towns filled with half-timbered houses! In fact, the towns in Alsace are prettier because they are more colorful, especially these 3 along the Alsatian Wine Road.
A few years ago I experimented with photographing flowers in the style of Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989). I wanted to capture something like this (Calla Lily, 1984).
I spent hours finding the right flower and setting up the lighting to get a black&white image I was happy with. Then I’d spend more time in Adobe Lightroom to adjust the image and bring out more detail and create a dramatic image. The best I could do was this:
Yesterday I tried to replicate that process using Midjourney and playing with various prompts. What took me hours previously now took about 10 minutes. Here are some of the images I created:
To me these are indistinguishable from Mapplethorpe’s pictures, and better than what I tried to create manually. I could probably show these to people and get a ‘wow, those are great pictures’ reaction. So if it’s indistinguishable from ‘manual photography’, is it still photography?
I’m sure a similar question was asked when photography first started: “If it didn’t take hours of painting with a brush to create an image, is it still art?” Photography has now been considered an art form for a long time and nobody disputes that just because it speeds up the creation of images. Is AI-powered image generation at the same stage now? Will it also turn into an accepted form of art that commands high prices at auctions? I’m curious to see where this is going.
Did you know that Rattlesnake Canyon in Colorado has the most natural arches in the world after Arches National Park in Utah? here are the 3 biggest ones:
A quick business trip to Indiana allowed for lunch at Speedway, home of the Indy 500. Half a mile away from the glitzy track is a land that time forgot.
My commute nowadays is a short walk through the woods behind our house. The light is hopeful and other creatures have created more beautiful structures than I ever could. 10 minutes of serenity and I’m ready for whatever the day holds in store for me.
I looked for bears in vain. The forest was beautiful nevertheless. All you could hear was the summer heat making all creatures lazy, while pine needles cushioned my feet and a caterpillar crossed my path.
Captured during a one-day business trip to Philadelphia. Not much time for photography except while waiting for my train at beautiful 30th Street Station:
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