On our way home from San Simeon, loaded with pinecones and burger, the air was thick and overcast just before sunset. I chose to take Turri Road from Morro Bay, bypassing Los Osos to meander in the rolling hills south of the Seven Sisters volcanic cones called morros. As we went past an open field on the right, a couple hundred yards wide, bordered by the road and the thickly wooded stream Armi shouted "Pigs!" We both saw the dark small shapes simultaneously but as usual I went inarticulate with surprise. Sure enough, what I thought were turkeys in the gathering dusk were wild hogs...a group of at least five black rooters with the curly tails still visible. I pulled over, still half in the narrow road, to get a look before the light failed completely. Wow! This was our first encounter with the infamous porkers since we retired here, and we were stoked! The wary beasts started trotting toward the riverine thicket and I had no time to grab a camera or...
An apologia on the making of an acceptable photographic file. One hears from lay people and even some photographers a disdain for image manipulation, particularly using modern programs such as Photoshop, and it's ilk. I used to be one of the latter. I was all about the "in camera manipulation", ie, get the composition and exposure as close as possible to the desired result before pressing th e shutter release, then print as-is. This may have been because I had only a primitive darkroom, and depended on commercial labs for prints, with all the attendant miscommunications about the final look. I have since learned otherwise. Since photography was discovered/invented the making of a visible print was the obvious goal. Early photographers had to go through great efforts with bulky equipment and hazardous chemicals to produce an acceptable product. That is to say, from the beginning, there has been no way to make a print directly from the camera w...