The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost

Perhaps one of my all time favorite Robert Frost poem it hits home especially strong for me. As i wander around back roads with my camera i find that taking the road that looks liek it recieve the least use leads to hidden wonders and places long forgotten about. As the winter comes i hope to get out and do a lot more landscape photography, but I also look forward to snowboarding as much as possible. This year I'm hoping to blend some natural landscapes with some snowboarding if I'm lucky. Hopefully natural and creative hits will be on the menu a lot this winter.

I just recently purchased a new laptop with vista 64 bit and an HD screen which I've found to be absolutely amazing. But recently I saw one of my photos on a regular screen and it looked completely different. The colors were different and the dark areas were much dark. I also have not printed out any of my photos since I started using this new computer. What I'm now wondering is if my images are looking drastically different on older screens and computers and what my photos are going to look like when I print them. Does anyone have any helpful in put on this?

So I was perusing flicker and I came across a list of what popphoto had deemed 20 of flickrs best photographers. Each one of these photographers was absolutely exception. What bothered me though were the remarks left by people where they commented about how they were glad to see no HDR images include and then went on to suggest that it is a mockery of photography. I could care less that no HDR images were included, I know popphoto has done multiple articles on the merits and techniques of HDR photography, but I know that when you limit yourself to twenty people it is very likely that most photography techniques will not be included in the final list. Now their will always be "purist", but I can't begin to imagine why suddenly with the revelution of HDR people look at it as the destruction of photography or as something fake. Photography is constantly evolving from old style medium format cameras, to polaroids, the invention of color film, and the digital revolution. In the dark room you have multiple choices as well they're different papers you can use; RC paper, Fiber based paper, or you can use liquid light, and put your image on any kind of material you desire. Then you have different filters for more or less contrast. My point is in photography their are about a million and one ways to reach your final print. HDR software is simply a new tool to be experimented with and explored to find its place in photography. My point I suppose is simply to stamp out the notion of purism. If the print was created by some one going somewhere and finding a composition through a camera lens then that is in my book a photo.

For a while I was really slacking of and not going out to enjoy and discover new photo opportunities. Recently though I've been I'd say reinvigorated in the joys of photography. Now though as I look at my recent and old work I'm trying to determine what directions I want to move in with my work. Over all I would like it to become a coherent body of work that flows together. I'm thinking of doing large scale black and white panoramas but I'm sure I will get side tracked.
I'd really appreciate any honest feedback anyone would like to give about my work, I think the only way to really improve is through the critique of others. Without it people get stuck in funks and I'd really like to avoid that right now. I'd especially like some feedback on what people think about what black and white images convey as opposed to color ones, and do I over do the duo-tones?
On a final note I'm more then slightly bummed out that winter has come to a close. I hate to think that with in the next three or four weeks I'll have to put my snowboard away. I'm pretty sure Stowe closes next week, and then I'll I've got to look forward to is hiking a single booter at another local mountain, Smugglers Notch. Maybe a trip up Tuckermans Ravine is in order.

If anyone is interested in prints e-mail me at IraMusty@yahoo.com

So I haven't done any journal entries before now but I have a lot of things to be psyched about right now.

First I'd like to say thank you to everyone who's took the time to look at my gallery I really appreciate the Fav's and watches I've been getting lately.

My most popular photo Wells River just popped over the 300 views a landmark that I've been waiting the past few days for!! Fucken sweet.

In addition to that I just placed an order for an Hoya infrared filter form B&H Photo Video and that should be here within one or two days. I can't water to start experimenting with it!

Hopefully I'll have a good amount of work up within the next week or so.

Thanks a lot for everyones support.