I've Been "Saved As"

I've been converted...and "saved"...and "saved as."

Of course none of you really know me. You see my photos, read my smart ass comments, probably form some sort of opinion about what kind of person I am. I'm not saying those horrible things you think about me arent' true. I may well be all that, and more. One of my favorite portrait artists, Diane Arbus, tried to crawl between the facade and the person revealed to the outside world, and I suppose self-evaluating myself, telling you WHAT or WHO I am is ridiculous because I have this mirror set up where I can't really see what you see anyway. Maybe it's better that way.

So now I'm going to tell you something about myself: I'm an outsider type. You know, one of those sorts who sits in coffee shops, peering out at all of you, keeping to myself, pulling the book I'm reading closer to myself when you walk by so you can't see what I'm reading. That type. And I love being on my own, alone. I never bore myself. I don't watch tv. I don't have an iPhone.

But I actually do like people. But please, save yourself the rejection, asking to join me on a photo session: I do that alone. Well, there was that one time with Dmitri, but that somehow was different. And there were a few times with Bethany and that was a big mistake.

I like to use non-mainstream everything. I shop at local stores as much as I can, and support the independent business. I am an independent business person and I am watching the corporations forcing all my favorite stores out of business and offering me less options in their replacements. I do not want to live in a corporate state, but it is slowly happening, isn't it? Now corporations (and very very rich people) can buy politicians and elections. Money = free speech. That's what our beloved Supreme Court says. Did you know that Justice Scalia's father, in 1934, founded the American Fascist Party?

Anyway, I'm drifting.

I like to shoot with cameras that the photography elitist snubs his/her nose at, brands like Fuji, and maybe even Samsung (if I can sell my Rebel and lenses at a decent price.) For photo editing, I have for years used Paint Shop Pro (PSP) since v.7 was the current version. It was easy and did everything I wanted. That was only because I didn't know what I really wanted and didn't know what alternatives I had. Another thing I didn't have was the money to buy it. I refused 'free' copies and stayed with my PSP. Last spring I purchased the Adobe CS4 for my business and when I fired up Photo Shop, was immediately frustrated when it was so different than PSP, a very easy to use intuitive program. PS is NOT that. It's a member of a secret cult and the only way to get the program to perform is to know the secret words that unlock the initiate's secrets. The program does not 'think' like a person. I am convinced it is The Beast.

So I did what I normally do when confronted with the need for information: I bought a few books. That turned out to be a disaster because both books took a very long time getting to the meat and potatoes of the program, the secret recipes. I'd have taken the sections in the front of these books (calibrating the screen, learning everything you need to know about the Bridge program, etc.) and stuffed it in the back of the book, where it belongs. So I didn't get anywhere with the program, and let it gather dust as I continued on with PSP. I just don't retain all that information in those early chapters before I get my hands wet. And just finding a spot from which to begin was difficult for me.

Then a few weeks ago, I decided I really need to learn PS, and dug in. After another frustrating bout with the books, I hit the web, watched tutorials, joined a forum, and now I can do very basic things in the program. And the results are dramatic. And the potentials are even more dramatic-er. It's an incredible program, with unbelievable power and gives the editor so much control. I'm taking some of my early shots, taken on not-so-popular brands of cameras in the earlier days of digital photography, and finding that with PS, and much prayer, I can fix up some of the technically weak issues on the photos. Amazing. Truly amazing.

For the past few weeks I have been going through my entire catalog of photos and picking out files that I would want to represent the body of my work. Right now I'm working on Detroit. I have quite a few ready for the PS treatment now and am slowly taking a second shot at editing them. No doubt, as I learn more, I'll have to go back and reedit some of the work I'm doing now.

If you are a stubborn, anti-corporate outsider like myself, and you're determined to stay out of the curve of statistics of those using PS as editing software, but you really would love to see your photos match the way you originally conceived them...