Friday, July 31, 2020

Relativity











Yes.

The greatness of things can be determined through relativity.

The superiority of things can also be determined through relativity.

But in the end relativity will wash out everything.





My case in point:


After I take my hundreds of daily photos I upload them to my computer and subject them to the star system.


Blurry and mistaken photos are given no stars. But so too are lesser versions of similar photos and bland photos of subjects I have heavily photographed like lilies or bees.


Poor photos of something mildly unique, a strange bug or my first blue jay, are given one star.


Pretty but run-of-the-mill pictures with sometimes perhaps better versions, or the likely possibility of better versions, are given two stars.


Striking, clear, interesting, and well composed pictures are given three stars.


And finally something really vivid and arresting, dynamic or unusual, or the complete expression of what I was attempting is given four stars. (If I'm lucky this initial four star rating will happen once or twice a day).


Then I go back through the three star pictures and if among them something really stands out I bump it up to four stars. Also if there's a group of really similar three star pictures I often choose the best of them and add that fourth star to it.


Then I go back and try my hardest to delete all or nearly all of the no star, one star, and two star pictures. I look over the three star pictures one more time just in case something wants to pop out at me. And then I look at all the four star pictures.


I choose the very best four star picture to be what I call "The pick of the day"


Then I tidy everything up, close all my editing and polishing tabs, and delete everything on my camera.


Then I go back in and take a look at my pick of the day, sitting there on my computer, all by its lonesome self and I think:




Eh, I guess it's okay.





Notes:


These are as random as I could make them.



A no star deleted photo (the focus is all wrong and I have many better versions):
















A one star photo (I have heard the summer crickets and wanted to find one and take a picture. I think this is one. This is my first, underwhelming picture of it and none of the others were any better):


















A two star photo (I like it but have a clearly better version of it):


















A three star photo (this is almost all the way there, but next to some other flower pictures it was taken with... not quite):

















A four star photo (I have no complaints. The marbled paper background for once works just as it should because the three-fold balance of the flower is very classic against the contrived background):














Pick of the day (there's a lot of very, very, good luck in this photo, but if I want to get critical, I can):




















2 comments:

  1. What a lovely series of photos. I love them all. I love the Feldenstein Calypso art backdrop and the last one with the lacy remnants of a spider's web!

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