More Power

I really appreciated the comments on the last post.
Here's another from the same series that might elicit some valuable feedback.



I have never been a fan of odd angles/twisted cameras unless they make a valid point. Keeping my horizons level also keeps my OCD at bay.
But I liked this one as I was shooting it, and I still like it.
Do crazy angles offend you in general or in this particular photo?

You also might notice that when you clicked on the thumbnail, it came up bigger on your screen.
I would like to hear what monitor sizes and pixel resolutions y'all are using these days.
My system is OLD (Win2K!) with a 17" Dell CRT monitor set to 1024x768 pixels, but I know a bunch of you must be using the latest and greatest so some data in the comments might help me re-think the way I'm running this blog.
Should my pictures be bigger?
(And for you LCD folks, are they bright enough? If not, calibrate your monitor. Just sayin'.)

I would appreciate your input, in the name of growth and staying modern.
Personally, I feel like the detail and texture of my photos just aren't coming across the intertubes the way they could.
Might be time to share the versions I'm already making for myself, web pirates be damned!

Please, will you let me know what your thoughts are?
Thanks.

No Wheels--No Problem

It's that time of year when the clouds in South Texas might be high and wind-blown, which to my eye makes them not only dramatic and unique but also perfect for shooting in infrared.

A few days ago I checked the sky and my first thought was to curse the boy who wrecked my car and robbed me of the chance to drive around looking for something to photograph, but after a few moments of consideration I realized that there must be a way to bring home a decent shot without a car.
Sounds like a no-brainer now, but at the time I was worried.

Because I live in a typical suburban neighborhood, when I want serious clouds in the frame the main thing is to get out someplace where there's visibility instead of just trees and houses.
I hit the streets on foot and headed to the nearest place that offered such views, knowing that I only had a drainage ditch's width of clear sky but hoping for the best.


Timing is almost everything.
The dramatic clouds I was watching were in a good place while I was out there, which sounds simple but they were moving very fast across the sky so a bit of luck was involved--I don't usually sit around in the sun for hours waiting for better conditions.


The deciding factor for these pictures, however, is that I was down in a concrete-lined drainage ditch a good 4-6 meters below street level and shooting up at trees and powerlines on the edge of it.
This eliminated a huge mess of suburban crap that would have blocked my view of the clouds or cluttered the space between, which would have ruined their value as a background.

I'm pretty sure the powerline shot is one of my best over the last year or so.



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