Hartz Kastle on La Cuesta Enchilada

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...

Lessee, We now have four outdoor video cameras up and running for coverage of the front porch and bird feeders, the carport, the front from the right and the front from the left.  We have the feed sent to a dedicated TV monitor on the wall of our "rec room".  Next to go up will be a couple-three motion lamps.  I now have three citrus trees along the back fence, a red grapefruit, a Valencia orange, and a Navel orange.  Also there is a cherry tree off the south deck stairs.  This makes a total of twelve fruit trees, nine of which we planted.  The canning season is going to be busy from now on: 2 apple trees, 2 lemon, 1 lime, 2 orange, 1 grapefruit, 1 plum, 1 apricot, 1 cherry, and 1 peach.  We also have a bay tree we brought with us from San Diego, and it is harvested almost daily for cooking.  Of course, the pace is leisurely (no pun intended) because I schedule time for shooting, kayaking, reading, etc....