When people embark on a journey, they plan their itinerary in great detail.  Hotels, fuel stops, meals, sightseeing and other tourist stops are set with a timetable and destination in  mind.  If one is on a journey of discovery, however, there is minimal planning – because it’s all about the journey.  A couple years (and lots of posts, don’t forget!!) ago, I started a journey in creative photography.  My only plan was to learn how to make better images.  This blog has been my vehicle to document and share my journey.

In the last few weeks, I realized that I was approaching a creative crossroads.  There are two roads for me; the first continues on the path to making purely photographic images, while the other heads toward more artistic images.  I never thought about the differences until I visited one of my photo mentors to learn about his workflow to process landscape images.  He opened my eyes to editing techniques that I never imagined, so I’ve been experimenting with new and old images.  When an artist takes a new direction or pushes the creative envelope, there is always a period when the work may be considered ‘overdone’ as the artist tries to find a balance – it’s just part of the journey.

I won’t get into detail about the editing for the following images.  I think I’ll let them speak for themselves.  Let’s start with a few landscapes.

I made this image at the Eden Vale Inn near Placerville CA (a wonderful ‘b n b’ – we highly recommend it!).  I’m not satisfied with the sky, but I love the rest of the image.

These fall colors can be found along SR 207, Kingsbury Grade, between the Carson Valley and the Lake Tahoe Basin.

After I made the above image, I turned and saw this view into the Carson Valley. It was a beautiful stormy day, as you can see.

I made this image yesterday morning. The Carson River as it approaches SR 88, just south of Minden. The sun was just coming up behind the clouds.

This is the south shore of Lake Tahoe. I visited the lake last week, on a stormy day. I’ve never seen the weather cover the mountains so completely. I stitched together 10 images to make this panorama.

The recent storms gave us wonderful skies and light. This a Jobs Peak (the snow covered peak partially hidden by clouds on the left) on a wonderfully stormy day!

Here’s some new Raptor images.

I just love this Great Horned Owl!

I used the same filter on this Hawk image.

It was raining when I made this image. This Hawk was focused on a potential meal.  This image was selected as the ‘image of the week’ by one of the photography froups on Facebook.

I got a little aggressive with this image. The dark streak in the background is actually a branch.

Same picture, but with an added twist in editing. A little more detail in the chest feathers.  I love this, but it doesn’t look like a photograph to me.

This Hawk was hunting along an irrigation ditch.

A little extra during processing, and the image has a completely different feel.

I made this image last February. I struggled with the background.

New editing knowledge – new look for the image.

I hope you understand better my dilemma at the creative crossroads.  I think my best direction is to assess each image independently and make the edits that bring out the best in every one.  The journey continues – as does the fun for me!  Using the digital medium, sometimes I will be a photographer and sometimes I will be a ‘cutting edge’ artist.

There’s much more on the way for this exploration.  Enjoy – PHOTOROGR