I couldn't resist sharing this beauty.................SPRING has SPRUNG :-) z
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52 comments:
Spring is indeed here. I love the smell of it.
Beautiful flowers, Z! :)
I'm so happy warm weather is here.. now if only science can come up with a way to make grass grow slower!!! too much mowing!!
Beautiful picture Z,
Yes, Spring is here, the fresia and narcissus are blooming, the sun is shining and even an occasional April shower.
I can't welcome Spring without saying, Wahooo, baseball season has begun. Go Dodgers! And thanks Vin Scully, for sticking around.
Pris
Yep, spring is here too! Allergies abound, it's warm one day, cold the next! I do like this time of year, though.
The flowers are beautiful!
I love that color. Reminds me of all the redbud trees blooming around here.
The tulips have been up in the front for a bit now.
Snow showers today, New England weather and all that.
Yep, it is definitely here! Oh how I love all the green. Only one bad thing about spring, the wretched mosquitos!! Run for your lives!
Z - Where was the picture taken? Just curious, of course.
Spring may have sprung, but I just got about another 6" of white, cold Global Warming up in my area.
BZ
Some of you are getting SNOW still?
BZ, I guess you're one of the few Californians still getting snow! I know Heidianne had it last week in Big Bear, CA (she's coming over in an hour, by the way!)
The pic is in Germany...Either Hamburg or Munich, I believe.
I'm so glad you all liked the image, I thought it was beautiful.
Pris, I love the scent of fresia, don't you?
I went to a birthday luncheon Wednesday and got to keep a centerpiece..red and white roses, white hydrangea and hyacinth..so pretty, but that hyacinth is VERY fragrant, almost too much!! Still, I love the patriotism of the bouquet :-)
Ducky, I adore tulips.
Pity you don't visit my Facebook page where I have 40-50 pictures of Texas Wildflowers taken the past two week-ends. Don't know about this week-end since it is raining.
Hi Z,
Yes, the fresia has a wonderful scent. Springtime has a newness to it. Budding plants and flowers, ringing in a new season in a new year, even in California, a supposedly seasonless state.
Pris
Bubba..I won't do Facebook...but I'd sure like to see your pix!! xxx
Gorgeous photo, Z! Love that color!
Every morning I open the door to let the dog out and I sneeze...but then I smile at the glorious irises, peach blossoms, and plum blossoms. I love this time of year.
I love Facebook. I have found lost cousins, friends and such on Facebook. I share my pics with family and friends. Find like minded people and share opinions.
Celebrating spring is good cheer for those having to live in temperate climates, but the included photo shows some signs of having been photoshopped.
Jen, so glad you like it...ALMOST as good as one of your fantastic pictures!
Bubba, I know, everybody loves Facebook but I spend far too much time with the blog and emails from friends, etc.......I was gone 3 hours this afternoon and had 36 emails when I got home. I just don't want another place to have to plug in. Maybe, some day, I'll do it, but not now :-)
Oh, psi bond, the photos were from Der Spiegel and they pride themselves on the work of their contributors. No, it's not photo shopped.
BZ....do you usually get snow this late in the season?? Heidianne said it was only 40 degrees up in Big Bear today. It's been around 65/70 in West LA...absolutely gorgeous. The waves have been about 6', too...gorgeous!
Z: Oh, psi bond, the photos were from Der Spiegel and they pride themselves on the work of their contributors. No, it's not photo shopped.
Oh, Z, apparently you believe an image that is photoshopped is totally artificial and unreal. The fact is a great many photographs submitted for publication are enhanced or tweaked in Photoshop or other image-editing software.
Globally, it was the warmest March on record, with an average temperature of 56.3 degrees. Ironically, usually warm South Florida had one of the coldest Marches ever, about 4 to 6 degrees below normal.
Make of that what rightwingers will.
Iceland's carbon footprint is massive right now.
Celebrating spring is good cheer for those having to live in temperate climates, but the included photo shows some signs of having been photoshopped.
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Hi psi bond,
just curious what signs of editing you see? Do you have software that detects alteration?
Celebrating spring is good cheer for those having to live in temperate climates, but the included photo shows some signs of having been photoshopped.
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Hi psi bond,
just curious what signs of editing you see? Do you have software that detects alteration?
Hi, Jen. I have the Adobe Photoshop program on my machines. My frequent use of the program to enhance and rescue photographs makes me familiar with how much can be done to improve the impact of camera-captured images. But only examination of the original photograph can detect image editing in most cases
Given that no great carbon footprint was created, the amount of sulfur dioxide spewed by the Iceland volcano poses no lasting threat to world climate, as determined by an instrument aboard NASA's Aura satellite. It should get washed away by rain, as it continues to drift east, and likely will have no effect on the United States, according to the chairman of University of Colorado's Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department,
Iceland's volcanic activity can best be attributed to The Karl Rove Geological/Meteorological Event Machine that he still has hidden away somewhere.
But only examination of the original photograph can detect image editing in most cases
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Ah. I thought that was the case. I realized after I typed my comment that you'd probably need the jpeg or tiff or raw or whatever file on your machine to detect what changes were made. Still, I'm curious what changes you can see.
It's so interesting about this Spring. The colors seem SO much more vivid! In fact, I've been photographing greenery and wildflowers quite a bit lately, and there's an urge to decrease the saturation to keep the images from looking altered. Imagine! Nature looks "photoshopped" without a single keystroke from me! I resist the urge, though. I prefer most of my images unedited. If they look garish, then hey, nature is just garish at the moment! Don't blame me...or photoshop! ;-)
Amazing, Z. Your troll will even try to pick apart a picture of a flower!
Jen, thanks for your expert input...
Brooke...some people pull wings out of butterflies. Wait till you see the response to this, you'll understand.
Simply beautiful!
~ FT
Sulphur dioxide is natural and good for you.
LOL
Analysis often takes the fun out of humor and joy out of beauty.
If you doubt this, try explaining a joke to someone who doesn't get it. Your explanation may be spot on, but it will never produce the mirth intended by the original witticism.
OTOH, truly excellent, profoundly beautiful things like one of great Bach organ fugues, for instance, only become infinitely more fascinating when one begins to understand how well it is out together.
Whether the picture is strictly a photograph or the product of artful electronic manipulation is unimportant. Either way it is simply beautiful.
When confronted with an exceptionally pretty girl, do many guys start to wonder what MADE her that way?
No. The normal response would be to think "WOW!" be glad for the encounter, and either make a pass or let it pass, the relegate the experience to the realm of pleasant memories.
~ FreeThinke
FT..."The normal response would be to think "WOW!" be glad for the encounter, and either make a pass or let it pass, the relegate the experience to the realm of pleasant memories."
Wouldn't you THINK? thanks.xx
I own Photo Shop Elements. I cannot justify buying the expensive Photo Shop, but, I wish. The argument developing contains numerous misunderstood elements. Before the digital age a photographer took a picture, had a lab develop/print his image and a picture was created. A good photographer had a practically finished product. No matter it had to go to a lab for developing/printing.
All photos had to have at least one edit before printing. The photo had to be cropped to print a properly proportioned print. Depending on the quality of the original photo there were numerous other possible edits. Have you ever seen a really spectacular bride’s picture with a beautiful white dress? You can bet a lab technique called “dodge & burn” was used since it is almost impossible to take/print a suitable picture without that edit.
Modern digital photography equipment is so extremely good (superior automation) that almost anyone can be a genius. You then download your pictures to your photo editor (modern lab). I use Photo Shop Elements. The very first thing I do is crop the photo. Digital photos contain huge amounts of excess image. Next, since my wife says that I am lazy so I usually hit the “Auto Correct” button. Viola! Instant gratification, another superior image is produced.
The picture I sent you, Z, was “photoshopped” and your spring flower from Germany was probably “photoshopped” as well. People tend to associate “photoshopped” with outrageous or spectacular internet images. Yes, they are out there and frequently can be identified easily by the “if it is too good to be true principle.”
I don’t think that photographers who use Photo Shop in their day to day work would deny it. It is an absolutely essential part of the process.
Big Bubba,
I have used PSE (don't like it) and Adobe Lightroom (primarily for organizing). I agree that you can either make subtle changes (that tend to simply enhance an image, such as cropping, sharpening, increasing the tone curve slightly, etc), or you can be heavy handed and go Andy Warhol-ish. ;-)
My point was, what changes, if any, could be seen with the naked eye in the flower image that Z posted? I'm still curious.
If an image was edited prior to publication in a magazine, what's the purpose of pointing that out? I'm just curious. Simply curious as to what the point was.
I stick by this truth: there are photographers out there capable of taking images that are worthy of publication, exhibition, and personal use that need NO editing whatsoever. With good in-camera cropping, white balance, ISO settings, etc. the photographer eliminates the need to do most (if not all) post-processing. I believe (and it's MY snobbery showing here) that the art happens in the camera, not in the computer.
There are publications that believe this philosphy, too.
Happy shooting! :-)
The inescapable problem, Jen, is that the inherent limitations of photographic lenses, silver halide film, or the CCD or CMOS sensors in digital cameras do not always faithfully render how the brain interprets the photographer's ocular input from the visible world. Consequently, this is often corrected by filters over the lens, saturation adjustment and other image editing functions built into some digital cameras, and, most powerfully, by external editing in image-processing software like Photoshop, which can instantly duplicate all the sleight-of-hand manipulation that used to be done in the darkroom and a great deal more. However, there are, of course, purists who consider any editing — however much merited — desecration. What some of the greatest photographic artists have done would shock them — in a negative way.
I realized after I typed my comment that you'd probably need the jpeg or tiff or raw or whatever file on your machine to detect what changes were made. Still, I'm curious what changes you can see..
Images are usually transmitted on the Web in a standardized format like jpeg, tiff, or gif, and, as such, they consist of a matrix of numerical values representing the intensities of the RGB (Red, Green, Blue) components of each pixel composing the image. When resizing has not altered the transmitted image, algorithms that perform mathematical analysis of these numerical values can identify unnatural and anomalous transitions among them that tend to indicate human modification. Similar algorithms operating on image pixels produce the editing effects in image-processing software.
The analysis of beauty has a long history. However, beauty can be understood without it.
The inescapable problem, Jen, is that the inherent limitations of photographic lenses, silver halide film, or the CCD or CMOS sensors in digital cameras do not always faithfully render how the brain interprets the photographer's ocular input from the visible world.
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:-)
This is so VERY true!
SO much frustration on my end, seeing these amazing colors, yet unable to reproduce them with this fancy schmancy camera! pbththt!
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What some of the greatest photographic artists have done would shock them — in a negative way.
--
I'm coming to terms with this. I keep hearing....all of art is a lie. It's a hard pill to swallow. Still not sure I believe it. But then (and this is a digression) art and nature are two different things. And art that attempts to reproduce (or represent) nature is still not nature....just rambling.
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The analysis of beauty has a long history. However, beauty can be understood without it.
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Then let's not and say we did.... :-)
But when you have the time, feel free to explain Beauty to me. It's such a gift.
For the most part IMO, if one find's something beautiful, just accept and enjoy it. Don't question it. Once you do, it loses it's majesty.
There is such a thing as leaving well enough alone.
Pris
What some of the greatest photographic artists have done would shock them — in a negative way.
--
Jen: I'm coming to terms with this. I keep hearing....all of art is a lie. It's a hard pill to swallow. Still not sure I believe it. But then (and this is a digression) art and nature are two different things. And art that attempts to reproduce (or represent) nature is still not nature....just rambling.
I would not say that “all art is a lie” — art is ideal truth.
Regarding what some of the greatest photographic artists have done that would shock the purists, I am reminded of W. Eugene Smith. You may know him as one of the greatest photojournalists, which he undoubtedly is. In his famous photo-essay for Life magazine, titled “The Country Doctor”, one image was of the apparently very-fatigued doctor in a home where he had made a house call. An element of the picture was a chair next to the standing doctor. In real life, the chair had on it one of Smith’s cameras. It was removed in the darkroom by Smith because the extraneous object would have otherwise ruined a very powerful photograph.
The analysis of beauty is for those who want to understand more than beauty.
The analysis of beauty is for those who want to understand more than beauty.
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Much love to you, psi bond.
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
~ Keats - Ode on a Grecian Urn
I knew that, with my words on beauty, someone quoting Keats could not be far behind.
Much love to you, Jen.
Belatedly: You're welcome, Z.
~ FT
Bubba, most people understand that when PHOTOSHOP's mentioned, it's tweaking mightily images, colors, etc....
i've seen so many photos like this one well before photoshop was common, and Der Spiegel has such a high level of photographers, that it's not a stretch to know this is as Jen says.
Still, there could have been something mild done to it...
thanks, everybody, for the input.
I yield to superior knowledge of photography, art & philosophy. Enjoy.
Bubba.."superior"..?
All are welcome, and all input is good to have here!
I'm eager for you to share some of your wildflower pix here at geeeeZ or at least let us know and we'll take a peek at your place when they're up..at your blog, hopefully?
Z, Photoshop is as much a feather as a mighty cannon. The Creator is perfect but His creation can be less than perfect sometimes. I did professional photography for years. I have been paid for my work. I know all the different labs I used, why, and what they did for me. Other than the ubiquitous edit of cropping; dodge and burn of white dresses was almost as often done. One reason or another the dress often resembled a white sheet straightened flat. Dodge and burn would bring out subtle shadows and folds in the garment and make the white a perfect white. Sometimes imperfection works in art and sometimes it cries out for Photoshop. I have a good example on my blog. Look for the skeleton photo. I lifted it from my right wing redneck meskin friend's Facebook page. Someone had xeroxed the photo from an open book or magazine. It had a visible crease from top to bottom that I did not like so I photoshopped it out. Big deal – where’s the harm. You know us’n Germans are "alles ordnung" types. That crease thingy offended my sense of orderliness. Out, damn crease! Out, I say! One; two: Photoshop!
Incredible!
Incredible!
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Which part, anon?
:-)
I liked the Keats quote.
ALL of it, Jen.
I know.
It's sad the way we bullshit with each other, when we could be kind if we only had courage.
pity
I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm.
I'm as jumpy as a puppet on a string.
They say that I have spring fever,
But it isn't even spring.
I am starry eyed and vaguely discontented
Like a nightingale without a song to sing.
They say that I have spring fever,
But it isn't even spring.
I keep wishing I were somewhere else
Walking on a brand new street
Hearing words that I have never heard
From a girl I've yet to meet.
I'm as busy as a spider spinning daydreams
I'm as giddy as a baby on a swing
I haven't seen a crocus or a rosebud
Or a robin on the wing,
Yet I feel so gay in a melancholy way,
That it might as well be spring.
It might as well be spring.
~ Oscar Hammerstein II - State Fair (1945)
~ FreeThinke
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