Fake photos?

While some "purists" demean Photoshop-enhanced photos, I contend that it is just another form of "art". Do non-fiction writers accused novelists of "faking it"? In the end, you either like it, or you don't like it, just like any other art form.

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This original picture was both blessed and cursed at the same time. I actually didn't see anything through the lens, looking into the mid-morning sun. I didn't even know that the buck had stopped running to see what made that strange noise. He even posed for me with his best studly look. I think it still needs a little tweaking to bring out the deer somehow, as he almost blends into the background.

This photo I took of the "Diving Board", near Yosemite's Half Dome, was also flawed from the start. Shooting into the afternoon sun was going to be a problem but, I just had to capture the drama and impact of this amazing 3000 foot cliff. Ansel Adams once climbed all the way up here to take one of his most famous Half Dome pictures. I'm guessing that this picture will look pretty amateurish in a week or two. I will get better and better as I learn how to use the right tools in Photoshop.

Idaho Bounty

I love the richness of colors and textures in this dead wood shot. I'm still too lazy to adjust my camera to get the best of close-up macro shots. I guess I have to learn all about ISO settings and aperture control, eh?

Despite all that California smoke that found its way into eastern Idaho, there were plenty of days of perfect lighting conditions. This kind of wilderness is certainly no worse than the Amazon Rainforest or Denali National Park. Just different. Different is GOOD!

On my Sunday hike, I was atop some cliffs along the ridge I was climbing, setting up shots when I heard a commotion and rockfall beneath the cliffs. I looked down but couldn't see through the tree canopy. While there are lots of wildlife in this area, including wolves, I figured it was a mule deer or maybe even a bear. I continued shooting for a few minutes until I heard another sound nearby. I looked up and saw this guy looking back at me so, I turned into the sun and couldn't see much at all through the camera. The first shot was underexposed as he was running away so I quickly made a squeaky noise and that caught his attention, somehow. I locked in a different exposure and snapped the shutter, not really seeing what I was shooting. This picture below was cropped out of a bigger picture.

Wildflowers were blooming through the Challis National Forest. Brilliant mosaics of yellow, blue, red and white dominated most of the landscapes, at least for a week or so. Cactus flowers seemed to be the most rare so, when I found these two perfect blooms, I had to capture them.

Not everyday in Idaho was perfect. That morning, I had to get a flat tire fixed on the truck I was using. It happens quite a bit on the angular rocks of Idaho's dirt roads. So I go out to survey some aspen stands and I get 30 miles from town only to get another flat tire on the same tire. Now, only an idiot goes on those terrible "roads" with only 4 good tires. On the way back to town, this thunderstorm forms and provides me with such dramatic landscapes.

This pic below is looking eastward towards the Little Lost River Range, with 11,000 foot Bell Mountain as the most distant peak.