I have been told that Adobe will soon have software that will re-focus an out of focus picture.  I am not talking about sharpening a fuzzy photo.  I am speaking of interpreting the distance from the sensor to the subject along with focal length and then re-focusing the subject.  Makes you wonder where technology is headed.  When will it finally reach a point where the in the field photography has been “dumbed down” so that the photography itself finally becomes irrelevant in its relationship to computer software.  From the 19th century up to and including today, the act of photography has always necessitated some technical (the more the better) knowledge of photography, and your own artistic rendition of a subject.  What does the future hold?  Point & shoot style image making where we don’t even need to point and shoot anymore?  Perhaps drones that can go into the field for us.  That way we won’t have to go out into nature (or other places) at all.  We can just sit at our computers and prove that we understand the latest software program.  At least until they develop “point and shoot” software editing as well.  Maybe then we can go back outdoors, and watch our drone cameras select their subjects, so it can go home and download……and then create whatever its vision of art may be.  Then we can proudly show off our finished image and accept the applause for our accomplishments.  I just hope by that time I still have the intellect to find my way outdoors in the first place. 

Great Sand Dunes National Park….Colorado

Way back when I lived in Colorado I started out in the dark one morning for Great Sand Dunes.  My car broke down!  After moving back to Wisconsin, I made the decision to take a photo trip to my former home and also to begin with Great Sand Dunes.  I arrived in the afternoon and made a shot (6×7 with film) of the football field wide mountain snow-melt, the dunes, and the mountains.  I set in for my long wet walk through the water to the dunes.  Immediately the clouds set in.  The lighting rendered the sand without detail.  I hiked the dunes for pure enjoyment and headed for my car.  The next morning I was back again before sunrise and once again made my wet hike through the river of snowmelt and onto to the giant dunes.  The light was nice!  I found a good spot and set up my equipment just in time to make exactly two pictures before the detail killing clouds returned.  One of those images is below along with the picture I made on the first day.

1986

2007

I returned to Great Sand Dunes 21 years later determined to get more pictures this time.  The day I arrived there was heavy overcast.  No problem I would get up early tomorrow and try yet one more time.  That evening as I sat in my motel room and listened to the rain, it occurred to me it had been raining very hard for over four hours.  I went out to check on my rental car to find the water had just reached the bottom of the car doors.  Other cars at the end of the lot had water at the mid-door point. Time to move the car.  As I drove through the flooded parking lot the water got deeper.  I headed up a steep gravel hill to a spot alongside the business that was next door.  No way would the water reach the top of the hill.  I headed back towards the motel with a camera body and 500mm lens in hand.  I decided to take the path to the front door.  The water was up to my thighs.  I arose the next morning in the darkness to find the rain had long stopped.  I decided to put my wet clothes (including shoes) on again.  Why?  When I got to Great Sand Dunes I would have to make that long walk through the snow melt ( and now flood run off) anyway.  After driving around flooded streets I finally made it the 20 miles to the road into GSDunes.  After driving over much debris that had washed down from the mountains, finally there was the parking lot.  I then discovered that not only had the run off area expanded to at least 300 yards across, it was roaring like a lion.  I am not done yet!  As the morning light broke it revealed that the dunes themselves looked much like they were made of plastic.  I decided that the hike was not worth it.  Still I could make a few pix from this side of the run off.  In many ways the first picture below tells the story better than all of the others.  Those shrubs at the bottom of the dunes are actually full-sized trees.  These dunes reach 700 feet in height and this image shows that fairly well.  The second shot is a landscape to show an over view of the area.  Whew!  I am exhausted just relating that story.  As an aside the two pictures below are a good example of using a telephoto lens (top)  to visually compress an image, and a wide-angle lens in the bottom photo to stretch out a “grand landscape”.

Hummers

I have only photographed two species of Hummingbirds in my life.  The photos below give a good example of the difference between Ruby-throated and Rufous Hummingbirds.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird….Wisconsin

Rufous Hummingbird….Colorado

Coyotes….Wyoming

Too often when I show my photos of coyotes I display the close-ups that I have made. In many ways these more loosely composed images give a better idea of a coyote on the hunt.

Common Grackle….Wisconsin

One of our least appreciated summer birds.  Great colors and great eyes!

Earth, Teach Me

Earth teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light.
Earth teach me suffering ~ as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility ~ as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring ~ as mothers nurture their young.
Earth teach me courage ~ as the tree that stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation ~ as the ant that crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teach me acceptance ~ as the leaves that die each fall.
Earth teach me renewal ~ as the seed that rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself ~ as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness ~ as dry fields weep with rain.

A Ute Prayer

I came across the link below while doing an unrelated search on Google. I have nothing to do with it and I did not know it existed, but you are welcome to browse. http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/User/Wayne%20Nelson

Thank you,

Wayne