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I Guess it's time to begin...

After nearly fifty years behind the lens of a camera it's time to play some catch up. God only knows how many slides and negatives, both color and black and white, I've actually created since I pressed the shutter some half century ago. Suffice it to say that it's been more than just a few. And this isn't counting the hundreds of thousands of images that are already digital that I've made in the past twenty alone! It's a visual chronicle of my life thus far and I'm looking forward to documenting my impressions and feelings as I bring these images that I've had stored away for so long to the forefront of my memory once more.

For even longer I used to keep a written journal. In fact I began doing this in 1972 at the start of my High School years and I'm happy to say that I still have those journals. For those of you who are football fans you may be interested in knowing that the 1972 Orange Bowl was won by Nebraska over Alabama that year, 38 to 6, and that Stanford squeaked by Michigan 13 to 12 in the Rose Bowl. I used to watch way too much football back then. Now I don't watch any games anymore. Life is too rich with other things to keep my attention I'm delighted to say.

Somewhere along 1975 my attention was diverted by thoughts of what I was to do with the rest of my life. I had met a girl in High School. She would become my wife, and much to my delight, still is. I joined the US Army and it took us places and allowed us to do things we never would otherwise have imagined being or doing. Today I am scanning some of those slides and reliving how blessed I have been. My images have become my visual diary and I hope you don't mind me sharing some of these things with you here as I move through this project of a lifetime.

In case you are wondering what one of those things was that I was doing way back when, here's a little visual clue. Until next time.

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The Story Behind Bell Pepper Study No. 1

In spite of the awful smoke from Northwest Fires burning around us and the excessive heat wave we've been experiencing for the past month we've been able to grow a pretty decent vegetable garden this year. Among our edible delectable harvest are green bell peppers which have been producing extremely well. While harvesting some this week I came across this interestingly shaped specimen and decided it was a worthy and willing subject. In short it had no choice. So, with visions of the works of Edward Weston and Karl Blossfeldt dancing in my head I set to work putting my own spin on nature's bounty.

Equipped with plenty of capable camera gear my only problem was the fact that working from home and not my fully equipped studio meant I had to create a makeshift daylight table top studio in order to properly capture the nuances of the subject. Fortunately I love a worthy challenge and set to scavenging for the needed materials to pull this pop up portrait opportunity together.

My background was a piece of red crafter's foam like you find at Hobby Lobby or Michael's. It was sufficiently bendable to create a seamless background when propped up against a cardboard display board that I had left over from another project. Lighting was simple and easy to control, which is the whole idea behind a studio. I just created a miniature one for this task with the main light being the window, high and to the right of the subject, (or your viewing left), a round mirror to the left of the subject and a piece of white poster board placed close enough and angled properly to create some specular highlights in the shine and reflection off of the pepper.

If you're interested in the tech spec's here's the lowdown on the equipment, settings and software used:

Camera: Nikon D7200 ISO 100, 1.7 second exposure Lens: Micro Nikkor 60mm f20 aperture File format: RAW NEF

The original digital file was copied to a DNG format and initially post processed through Adobe Lightroom. It was then imported into Adobe Photoshop and a black and white file was created using a Nik Collection Silver Efex Pro 2 custom filter. The final step was adding a complimentary boarder which came from Smart Photo Editor Studio Edition

From the time the pepper was picked it took me maybe an hour to complete this fun little project to share with you. Please let me know if you like this format of sharing quick little projects with you so I can get a feel if it's something I might continue doing.

As always, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them to this blog or email them to me at mddaphotoforum@gmail.com

©2021 Michael D. Davis - All Rights Reserved - permission is hereby granted to share or publish but only in it’s entirety, to include this copyright notice

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La Moue, A Visual Story of Creative Transition (Part Three)

La Moue No. 8 (en Pel Maché) This is the beginning of the real journey through the many nuances and possibilities for transforming a digital photo into a Pel Maché. With this change we start to see a more creative style emerge which imparts a new character to the piece.

La Moue No. 9 (en Pel Maché) Did someone say mood? We've gone a bit crazy with mood in this rendering to heighten the visual mystery. Does it work? You will be the judge of that, but there's no denying the piece has a totally different emotional feel to it than the original does. In the upcoming renderings I'll be sharing an even deeper Pel Maché approach.

La Moue No. 10 (en Pel Maché) Is it a drawing, a photo, an airbrushed something in between? A resounding "Yes" to all three but unique in its interpretation of the subject. Now is when we begin to realize the possibilities of the Pel Maché transformative process. Wait till you see what comes next!

La Moue No. 11 (en Pel Maché) With this rendering of our original photo through the Pel Maché process we've created an almost solarized and stylized poster look in our subject. This extra added creative "umph" has made and entirely new interpretation of the image possible. The malleable beauty of Pel Maché begins to show its light.

La Moue No.12 (en Pel Maché) In today's interpretation of our studio created digital photo  we've begun to sling and apply a bit of digital paint in the off chance we can do a bit more visual justice to our original subject. Now we begin to grasp the full capability of this thing I've named Pel Maché. As I wrote with the unveiling of La Moue No.11, the malleable beauty of Pel Maché begins to show its light.

La Moue No.13 I wanted to create a retro comic book style look to the piece where spot color and halftone bring a different feel to both the subject and the image overall. The nuances of creative expression are virtually endless with Pel  Maché as this rendering in particular showcases quite well.

La Moue No. 14 Another step in the comic book style rendering of this Pel Maché piece. By adding an appropriate border which appears aged and worn a new and unique impression is once again created for the image. A different story line develops in the mind.

La Moue No. 15 (en Pel Maché) In this transformation I've introduced the element of color back into the image along with an aggressive pen drawing style. Different, yet subtly vibrant, the effect once more transforms this simple image into a unique Pel Maché art piece.

La Moue No. 16 (en Pel Maché) Scroll back and look at the original image file from June 21st. How much difference in the initial impression does this visual transformation impart to the art piece for you? Pel Maché frees  the photographic  artist to play, experiment and interpret with their feelings in the same way a painter, poet or musician wields the tools of their creative craft.

La Moue No. 17 Nearly unrecognizable from the original image file this Pel Maché dramatically showcases what it is to begin at one point and work towards a uniquely new and artfully different point in the process of creating a new piece. Imagination is the only limitation in the realm of Pel Maché.

La Moue No. 18 (en Pel Maché) This image completes the La Moue transformation series and I want to thank you for sticking with me this past couple of weeks. As you have seen the journey can be varied and unique. No two transformations will be the same as this isn't a push button software process. It's a hybrid art of digital photography fused with digital painting in the fast emerging creative field that I've named Pel Maché.

 If you have  questions about this hybrid art of Pel Maché and it's place            in creative self expression contact me at the email below.  I'd love to connect with others who are interested in or currently creating digital art through the hybrid combination of digital photography and computer art creation            software.                           Seeing beyond seeing. It's more than meets the eye. Discover the  how and the why at the The Photo Forum where image creation  is only part of the story. I'm available for commissioned portraiture as well the sale of current existing pieces.                         Email mddaphotoforum@gmail.com for more information on learning to open both eyes and heart to endless creative possibilities.

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La Moue, A Visual Story of Creative Transition (Part Two)

La Moue No.3 The third, and again, predictable step, is to boost the contrast a bit. This helps add some additional drama but not much else actually. It's a nice touch but totally in keeping with  traditional digital photographic post enhancement. Can you predict what the next traditional step might be?

La Moue No. 4 If you guessed that the next step in this series would be to add a little watercolor effect Ala Photoshop you'd be correct. I could have stopped right here and called it Pel Maché and that would have been the end of it. But nope, not done yet! Keep in mind this is a series of the same image showcasing the progression from an average approach to the finishing of an image to the creative enhancements that transform it into a unique work of art.

La Moue No. 5 This image called for slightly more contrast and darkening to fit  the overall mood better in my opinion. Nearly imperceptible nuances will often influence a viewer's impression with lighting intensity helping achieve the desired emotional response. It's the little things that matter most.

La Moue No. 6 In the creative process this is where we've fallen back on what  we've done previously. This time it's adding in some warming or sepia tone to give the image a feeling of an earlier era in the history of photography. But again we're not close to being done with the metamorphosis of this image into a new piece Pel Maché style. Like the creative process itself, stick with me. For you'll soon begin to see the emergence of something altogether unique within this image.

La Moue No. 7 In today's image I've nearly reverted back to the look of the original image but with a subtle twist of adding in a slight amount of HDR, or High Dynamic Range, effect. This will set the visual stage for what comes next through preparing the image file for the beginning of something entirely new and, perhaps,  unexpected. Stay tuned!

Continued......

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La Moue, A Visual Story of Creative Transition (Part One)

The emergence of digital photography and computer programs allowing the creative visual artist to manipulate, enhance, refine and repurpose images has changed the face of the art and craft from an organically light sensitive communication medium into a wide open universe of zeros and ones. The emotionally charged interpretive dance this has wrought among critics is often either fully embraced as a refreshingly new opportunity for personal expression or shunned as somehow unworthy of being referred to as art at all, but somehow an easy end around compared to the more traditional approach using tools like paint, pencil and paper.

This art form I did not invent but have determined to call Pel Maché is neither easy nor, in my opinion, to be considered less valid a form of self expression than any other form of what society deems to refer to as art. It begins with an idea for an expression born of curiosity, experience, pleasure or pain which must then make its way into the minds, and hopefully hearts, of the viewer. And isn’t that much of what art is all about? The journey is no less exciting for the person who embarks upon it than any other form of expressing one’s place in and connection to the world around them. So, join me in the exploration of one piece that I’ve named La Moue, or, The Look.

La Moue No.1 Each of these Pel Maché pieces were created just recently from a Retro Nouveau session photographed in the studio some years ago. These examples show what's possible in the digital design and transformation of fresh artistic renderings from any image whether newly created or revisited. The image above is the original digital photo file which has been converted to black and white.

La Moue No. 2 After creating a black and white from this image the next step was to give it a warm toned look. The effect is nice, imparting an antique look that hearkens back to the nostalgic beginnings of photography,  but it's not close to the creative art of the Pel Maché style. It's nice, but it's also expected and nothing more than a traditional studio approach used often in the world of the creative portrait photographer.

Continued......

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A Pel Maché Transition

Sixteen years ago this month I was traveling the US photographing weddings from coast to coast and having the time of my life. I love traveling and helping create memories for clients that will be cherished for a lifetime. It’s hard work but rewarding if you enjoy the challenges of long hours, rental cars, unfamiliar cities and airport check-in lines. I did and still do.

 One particular spring wedding found me in Seattle with a delightful opportunity to photograph on a boat in the bay. It was an evening wedding which provided a beautiful view of  Seattle’s skyline and the city lights as dusk turned to dark. During a short lull in the reception I found a quick moment to capture a few images of the view, and although far from perfect, filed them away for future contemplation and creative consideration.

 Some months later I pulled up the image files to see what I might do with them. Out of the few that I captured that evening I settled on the one below.

 As previously mentioned the photo was far from perfect. At that  time I was capturing images with Nikkor glass mated to a Fuji FinePix S2Pro body. The EXIF data reveals that  the ISO was set at 200 with an aperture of f2.8 and a shutter speed of 1/2 second. It’s clear that the motion of the boat in the water affected the sharpness of the image by introducing camera movement. This was way before the newer imaging platforms that would have allowed me to increase my ISO to 12800 and my shutter speed to 1/125th of a second. The best I could have hoped for was a barely usable ISO 1600 at 1/30th of a second, resulting in a very noisy image at best. Technically it would have been as disappointing as the motion blur in the image I had taken. Despite its technical shortcomings though I decided I would play around with the file and see if it could be salvaged in some way.

 I’d played around with the filters in Adobe Photoshop a bit and found the effects to be interesting. However when I was introduced to a software program called Topaz by a fellow photographer who used it to artistically enhance select wedding photos I knew that I had to give it a try. I was also familiar with the work of Karen Sperling who uses Corel Painter to achieve  painting like effects in her photographs which I found appealing but never seemed to have the time to experiment with myself. I finally decided to take my work to a higher creative level and this image was one of my first forays into the art and craft of digital art enhancement.

 Below is a selection of iterations from this one image to give you and idea of my creative transition. My go to workhorse software solution was Topaz and the preset effects that are available in that program. If you’re not familiar with the more robust software programs like Topaz and Corel Painter but perhaps have delved into the apps that are prolific in either the Apple or Android software stores you have an idea of what you can do, or rather, what the programmed or AI algorithms can create for you. That’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to the options and creative opportunities found in both Topaz and Corel. Unlike the basic phone apps the learning curve for either of the two aforementioned programs can be as simple or steep as you wish them to be. It takes time and some trial and error to find what you need in order to create the look you like. I won’t get into those specifics in this post but suffice it to say that there are a LOT of variables for adjusting an image so it’s not as simple as pushing a button or moving a half dozen sliders in a phone application. Not that they don’t give you some fun and interesting results. They just don’t give you the level of control that Topaz Studio and Corel Painter will.

 My first step was to create a simple canned effect to see what would result, which you can view below.

The effect was nice and pretty exciting actually when it rendered the skyline into a painting-like image. But I wanted to see what else I could come up with. I wasn’t satisfied with the composition, a standard 2 to 3 ratio, and felt that it need a narrower horizontal crop to enhance the skyline and eliminate the unneeded space top and bottom. So it was back to square one and a crop that was more satisfying to my eye.

With the cropping done I could now concentrate on creating a more artistic digitally enhanced piece. This was my second go and I muted the colors a bit to be more like the original image which I preferred to eye popping cartoonish color of the first artistic rendering.

With the first image above I decided to really go wild and do my Elvis impression. That’s what I call this particular rendering which reminds me of those Elvis Presley paintings on black velvet material that were sold to tourists everywhere from Tijuana to Tennessee back in the day. Hey, I was having fun discovering this new creative outlet and why not?

After that little artistic indiscretion I upped my game and got serious again which resulted in the very impressionist version of the Seattle Skyline below. By this time I was hooked.

I began to experiment more with texture and not only shape and clarity with this next rendering. It gave me the opportunity to spread some digital paint without messing up my clothes, floor or computer!

My final foray into this new found art opportunity was an artist’s chalk like crayon look for the skyline. What I discovered through this exercise is that I tend towards the more abstract look and feel in my Pel Maché pieces. In this piece I like the way the sky and water become almost the same shade of blue, leaving the lights to become a ribbon between the two. Anyone who knows and appreciates the skyline of Seattle can apply their own imagination to this piece and not only see, but hopefully feel, the rhythm of this Northwest city.

So there you have it! An example of how I worked my way through figuring out how to make what I created the name for and call Pel Maché. The term literally means to chew up pixels. Think of paper maché but involving digital images and you get the idea. I’d love

If you have questions about this hybrid art of Pel Maché and it's place in creative self expression contact me at the email below. I'd love to connect with others who are interested in or currently creating digital art through the hybrid combination of digital photography and computer art creation software.

Seeing beyond seeing. It's more than meets the eye. Discover the how and the why at the The Photo Forum where image creation is only part of the story.

Email mddaphotoforum@gmail.com for more information on learning to open both eyes and heart to endless creative possibilities.

© 2021 Michael D. Davis All Rights Reserved - If you’d like to chat about using this article as curated material or interviewing me for your blog or podcast please be in touch. I’d love to collaborate!

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Introducing The World to Pel Maché

Today I’d like to introduce you to a new form of artwork I’ve been perfecting. It’s a marriage between photography and painting, or rather digital photography and digital painting. I’ve been playing with this for the past few years and feel it’s the right time to unveil it as one of my creative passions. I’ve named this art form “Pel Maché”, which comes from combining the two creative disciplines of photography and digital manipulation. Pel Maché as I define it means to mash up pixels, and, as far as I am aware and for the record, I’m the first person to use the name Pel Maché to describe this form of art.

In the digital universe of zeros and ones a pixel, or pel, is defined as the smallest discrete component of an image on a computer screen. Maché is French and means to chew something up or mull it over. As a child in grade school I remember using the technique of paper maché to create three dimensional artwork. It was a somewhat messy process of mixing a concoction of torn up newspaper and wheat paste which stuck to everything and hardened into three a dimensional surface that could be painted or covered over with other materials. As a youngster art class was one of my favorite subjects and these memories of creating paper maché projects a half century ago are fond ones.

Somehow I’ve managed to come full circle. After a life long love affair in the creative field of professional photography I find myself back in class, learning new ways of fulfilling a need for creative expression, with new tools and methods, and a renewed passion. It’s an exciting time and I’m delighted to begin sharing it with you.

It’s ironic to me, and perhaps a bit mystical, that in the search for something to name this new digital art form I reached back into my past and pulled from those early memories of grade school art class in my youth. What’s more ironic is the fact that The French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce is credited with exposing the very first heliograph in 1825 and so is credited with being the creator of the science and craft of photography. I’m sure that as an inventor of new mechanical and chemical processes he’d be delighted with the digital metamorphosis the art and science of photography has gone through in the past few decades. I hope that he would also be happy, if not amused, that yours truly has applied a French word to help describe a new form of digital visual art. Now that’s something to mull over, and chew on a bit, don’t you think?

I’ve got much more to share on the subject of art and its importance to the health and well being of both the individual and society as a whole. Let me know what your thoughts are on the subject. I’d love to hear them.

Michael D. Davis is a writer, artist and teacher residing in the beautiful Northwest of the United States. When asked what the most important thing he can contribute to world he will answer, "Helping people find their Smile". For more information on just what he means by this please feel free to contact him at michaelddavis@mddastudio.com or visit him on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mddassociates

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A Modern Pilgrim’s Progress

Or rather, a modern pilgrim's progress from a world of one reality to another, delivered under the similitude of a nightmare.

There's a saying attributed to the Chinese that is reputed to be the English translation of an ancient Sino curse; "May you live in interesting times". However upon research one finds it's more likely that it originated among English speaking Americans. I rarely take or post selfies. I'm not a fan. But then if you looked like this guy It's understandable. I do have a reason for doing so today though.

My point in sharing these two selfies with you today is as an icon of personal reflection to the perfect analogy of the perfect storm that is the draconian conditions we are being asked, some even say coerced or forced, to live under currently in this country and in others around the world. Oh baby, we’ve come a long way through navigating an interesting year, and now find ourselves sitting bare naked on the cold floor of reality, staring a new one square in the face, and wondering what it may bring us, or perhaps take away.

The aforementioned perfect analogy to these interesting times we find ourselves slogging through can be found in a two part book published in 1678 by John Bunyan titled 'The Pilgrim's Progress'. It's still available for reading today and If you haven't I suggest you do so. As analogies go it's pretty perceptive given our current State, (country, world), of sordid affairs. Filled with talk of swamp draining, death, destruction, morality, the antithesis thereof, and even walls with gates, perhaps it's a tale written ahead of its time for a generation just waiting to arrive on the current  questionable shores.

Regardless it's a book deserving of being dusted off and given a glance. It beats watching endless reruns of Gilligan's Island on the internet, hands down and appropriately washed of course. Just don't let the morality tale and clearly Christian leanings of the writer cloud your mind and prevent you from exercising your critical thinking skills. There's too much of that happening as it is. It's best none of us add more insults to the obvious injuries, perceived or real, up or down, left or right, black or white.

It's reported that in 1966 Robert F. Kennedy gave a speech with this observation; "There is a Chinese curse which says 'May he live in interesting times.' Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are the times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind." How interestingly appropriate and prophetic.

As in 1966 we too find ourselves navigating interesting times of uncertainty and shear terror. Each of us is on a trek, willingly or otherwise, modern pilgrims one and all,  on a path of yet to be fully defined or unveiled, progress. Happy Trails.

Seeing beyond seeing. It's more than meets the eye. Discover both the how and the why at the The Photo Forum where  image creation is only part of the story.    

Email mddaphotoforum@gmail.com for more information about opening both eyes and heart to the endless creative possibilities.

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Reaching Out

Another year gone by. Another notch on the tree of life. Another reason to keep growing and moving forward. I'll keep reaching out, sharing images and words, doing my best to be a positive influence in a world seemingly gone mad with negativity, hatred and fear. You're cordially invited to join me in helping put the positive meaning of "social" back into the media we create and choose to share with others.

As individuals we are all far from being perfect carrying marks, inside and out, to prove it. Regardless of our circumstances, beliefs or environment we retain the freedom to choose what we create with the marks we've been given.  We alone have the power to be an influence for positive or negative change in this world of ours. For better or worse everything we think, say, do, or share leaves its mark on others. Let's strive to make this a power for marks of goodness as opposed to those of control and manipulation for misguided or misappropriated purposes.

As we reach out in the coming days and months what marks will we leave on the hearts and minds of those we touch as we move forward? How will our words and deeds affect this new year and shape our thoughts about the next notch left on the tree of life?

Seeing beyond seeing. It's more than meets the eye. Discover both the how and the why at the The Photo Forum where  image creation is only part of the story.    Email mddaphotoforum@gmail.com for more information about opening both eyes and heart to the endless creative possibilities.

©2021 Michael D. Davis - All Rights Reserved - permission is hereby granted to share or publish but only in it’s entirety, to include this copyright notice

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A State of Being

One's state of being is best defined as not 'having been' or "will become' but rather what we are, in the moment. We may visualize ourselves to be something we aren't but in truth we are always who we really are, not who we've imagined ourselves to be, or who we wish to become.

New Year's resolutions abound this time of year and center around what we wish or want for ourselves. It's a fact that simply wishing something doesn't move us any further down the path to where we desire to be any more than wishing to win the lottery but never buying a ticket. We must first acknowledge the truth about who, where and why we are by confronting the shield of lies, half truths and manipulations we create to hide our true state of being from ourselves. On  life's journey we must know and acknowledge where we're at before choosing the best path to take us where we desire to go.

In truth we are not who we think we are, or wish to become, but rather who and what others see and perceive us to be. To find our our calling in life, or true Smile as I prefer to refer to it, we must reconcile our state of being with what others believe us to be. The greatest gift we have, and can share with others, is to exercise the power within ourselves to control our state of being by living in the moment and seeking the calm within the perfect storm that we truly are.

Seeing beyond seeing. It's more than meets the eye. Discover both      the how and the why at the The Photo Forum where  image creation      is only part of the story.    

Email mddaphotoforum@gmail.com for more information about opening both eyes and heart to endless creative possibility

©2020 Michael D. Davis - All Rights Reserved - permission is hereby granted to share or publish but only in it’s entirety, to include this copyright notice

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Irreplaceable

We are mere mortals, baubles with souls, clinging to the tree of life. Some shine forth, others don’t, but each fills an irreplaceable space in the universe of time a place.

I should take this observation closer to heart when it comes to many things, my writing included. Life is a path and none of us escape the journey of our own making. It’s what we choose it to be.Simple is as simple does, or doesn’t. I don’t always, but will continue towards this desire and goal to, simplify. How about you?

Seeing beyond seeing. It’s more than meets the eye. It’s up to us to explore our calling and discover the how and why.

                                                                                                               - MDD

© 2021 Michael D. Davis  All Rights Reserved

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Seeing Beyond

                                               Imagination

                                           is the key to creativity.

                                                Creativity 

                                        is the door to possibility.

                                    Seeing beyond seeing

                                          is the path traveled                                  once the door has been opened.

                                     Anything is possible

                            once we choose to step upon that path.

                                                                                -MDD

© Michael D.Davis   All Rights Reserved

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Home

This is the land I grew up in. Regardless of how picturesque, quaint, plain or extravagant there's nothing more comforting to the soul than the feeling one gets of knowing they are home. No matter how healthy or ill, fearful or elated, the knowledge that one is in a place of physical and emotional comfort and safety can never be replaced and perhaps never truly be duplicated.

Often we think of home as being that physical space we grew up in and where we spent our childhood or most cherished years. It's not that way for everyone though. There's a saying; "home is where the heart is". No truer words have ever been spoken.

Where does your heart dwell these days?  Is it in a place of comfort and safety? If so you are truly blessed. If not, ask yourself why not, and be painfully honest with yourself as you seek the answer. We each deserve a loving home that's comforting, safe, full of hope and opportunity. Rest assured that, If we don’t know where that is, we must do all we can to find or create it.

© 2020 Michael D. Davis   All Rights Reserved

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A Symbolic Gesture

There's a wall of wooden planks near where I live. Scratched upon it are names, dates and messages from those who've passed by.

These lines have become intertwined through the years, into a layered mosaic, rich with the symbols of lives lived, loved and long since moved on.

It's a fitting symbol of both complex and simple gestures, etched into the resilient fiber of life's existence, that remain long after this wall no longer stands.

What mark might you make, for those who pause to ponder, affirming your journey and passing along this path?

©2020 Michael D. Davis All Rights Reserved

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The Turkey Up A Tree

 (An analogous parable of sorts)

I've heard that art imitates life, or is it the other way around? My apologies, but it's just the way I'm feeling this Thanksgiving here in the U.S. as both my mask and patience continue to wear thinner with every passing edict in the name of science. I'm not so sure anymore that we're talking medical science here. It's more akin to political science and brainwashing from what I've witnessed and felt on the receiving end of the roasting spit. I've heard tell that the Turkey was the first bird that came to mind when our forefathers were selecting which would become this nation's symbol. Since it was most likely a bunch of politicians who were on the selection committee I now understand why the Bald Eagle won out. One wouldn't want to ruffle any feathers. That would come in due time. Perhaps those who put the Turkey in the running were the ones with vision and could clearly perceive where things might be headed. I mean just think about it. The turkey is a bird that runs in a large mindless flock, follows the path of least resistance, scratching in the dirt for what ever has been tossed in it's direction, and finally ends up as someone's guest of honor at the supper table. As I see it our plumage has been plucked, and we've been stuffed full of crap. Now nothing's left to be done but shooting us full of saline solution, turning the heat up and shutting the door on the oven. Then it's just a matter of pulling us completely apart, consuming whatever of value we may possess and picking our bones clean. I can hardly wait to see what we have in store for us at Christmas. To be continued.

© 2020 Michael D. Davis - All Rights Reserved

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Then The Winds Came

The lacy leafed Japanese Maple tree planted in love and anticipation years ago in our back yard has become a towering beauty we take much delight in. The wispy branches extend high in the sky before arching back towards the earth loaded with shade giving green leaves during the warm summer months and beautiful red, orange and yellow foliage in the fall.

The winds and rain have now laid most of those leaves to rest on our lawn. I could grumble and complain about the upcoming "carpet cleaning" work which lay ahead but instead revel in the beauty of it all. It's simply a matter of the prospective I've chosen to take.

It's said that we have a choice to view the proverbial glass we're given in life as either half empty or half full. As I look around at all that's going on in the world I find reason to opt for another, more creative, approach. Instead of adding to or taking away I've chosen to share what I find in my glass.

Seeing beyond seeing. It's more than meets the eye. Discover both the how and the why at the The Photo Forum. Feel free to mail me at mddaphotoforum@gmail.com for more information and open your mind to the possibilities.

©2020 Michael D. Davis - All Rights Reserved

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And The Rain Comes Down

The rains have returned to our valley this morning. As I sit here creating this post in the early dawn darkness, before the sun has risen to smile on another autumn day, I hear the drumming of drops against my window as the breeze tosses them about. I pull my vintage Pendleton wool shirt tighter about me, relishing its warmth, and  rummage through my collection of images in search of just the right one to share.    

"Ah, hear it is", I smile, recalling when and where it was made. Created      decades ago,when slide film and manual cameras were the technology of the day, now, scanned, enhanced, cataloged and filed with tools from our modern age, it gains new life and a new audience. Old things made new again.    

How good is your digital photo asset management process? Can you find that one image from years ago which fills an immediate need or desire to express your sentiments or emphasize your emotions on a given day? With winter fast approaching and most of us staying at or close to home now's a good  time to consider just how good your digital storage system is. Does yours compare with a well kept filing cabinet or is it more like a stack of shoe boxes in the corner of a closet?

Seeing beyond seeing. It’s more than simply meets the eye. It’s understanding both the how and the why. Find out more at The Photo Forum. mddaphotoforum@gmail.com

© 2020 Michael D. Davis - All Rights Reserved