jim hill Loc: Springfield, IL

This photograph has been previously posted. There have been some changes in tonalities and format. They are slight but important to me.

Taken as Alice was doing her lead footed thingy with an eye in the rear view mirror. Nikon Point and Shoot P5100 converted to IR. Fully automatic. Things in the distance are always sharper than closer thing when traveling fast. (Depending on the focus point, however.)

Drive-By-Shooting: Moonrise

(Download)

Nightski

I like how the little moon seems to light a portion of the sky and the the ground. A very interesting compostion. It seems a little symetrical with the exception of the moon hanging out in right field. It seems a little extraterrestrial.

jim hill Loc: Springfield, IL

I tried taking care of the left side horizon line which was really boring but it didn't work out as well as I wanted it. Still learning the stuff.

Thanks for you comments, Sandra. Always appreciate your input.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

A soft ethereal glow in the sky, lighting a dreamscape seen softly in the night. Technically imperfect perhaps but artistically engaging. Another IR triumph. Nicely done, Jim.

mallen1330 Loc: Chicago western suburbs

I love this composition and the mood.

I'm totally ignorant of IR photography. Does it prevent things being in focus?

jim hill Loc: Springfield, IL

Sometimes - as when traveling the highway at 70+ mph.

I have been posting some of my Drive-By-Shooting photographs for a couple years. When I first began I offered a philosophical basis. Simply put this work is very ephemeral. It's has the dream quality as though one is in REM sleep and awakens with a vague recollection of what has been seen. It's necessarily fuzzy.

My wife Alice does the driving leaving me free to hold the camera to the window and shoot to my hearts content. I do not try to photograph anything in particular as by the time the message gets from my brain to my finger the scene I just saw is already past. Like I say, at 70+ mph this is what one gets.

I have written a full explanation but not interested in boring people.

I have tried with this particular photograph some PP work on the horizon but it's not really well done. In fact, it's terrible. Having difficulty seeing out of one eye and trouble with the left one I consider myself lucky to have produced anything at all.

Fine focus ain't one of priorities. Some photographers put a lot of stock in it but since I shoot totally automatic it's difficult for me to come up with really sharp images. It's impossible for me to focus through the lens.

Thanks for your remarks. Much appreciated.

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

Actually, if the image is well focused, it will be noticeably sharper with IR than with a visible light spectrum image because the strictly limited narrow range of wavelengths is far less susceptible to chromatic aberration (which EVERY lens has to some degree) than is the wide range of visible light wavelengths.

Dave

mallen1330 Loc: Chicago western suburbs

Thanks! That's what I thought. It's the concept of taking a photo when traveling the highway at 70+ mph, that I can't wrap my brain around. 8-)

jim hill Loc: Springfield, IL

Although what Dave states is true I have never considered IR film a tool for sharpness. I prefer it for the long rays (heat) which present an alternate reality. I have used it as a means to an end as I am not interested in derivative (or straight) photography.

And although the narrow bandwidth is sharper, the focusing itself is rather cumbersome as no visible light is available with which to focus. My favorite film, Kodak HIE100 had no anti-halation backing which meant that bounce back from strong light surrounded and permeated highlights with a glow that I found quite charming and which I used to great effect in my IR film shooting days.

As far as 70+ mph shooting, I derive great pleasure from sitting for hours on end going through the hundreds, sometimes thousands, of exposures made on such a trip. On rare occasion I find one that is, to me, exciting - usually unexpected.

That's one of the wonderful things about making photographs - there is room for all kinds of images and image makers.

Nightski

Mallen ... it might take you awhile to wrap your brain around Jim Hill's style. It's not like anything else you've ever seen. His work is not about technical perfection, though he has the skills to make technically perfect photographs. The man has been there, done that. He is enjoying experimenting, playing, and being creative with photography. His work is eccentric, odd, shocking, surprising, perplexing and many times it's crazy good. Sometimes not .. but Jim's not afraid. That's what makes him so special.

mallen1330 Loc: Chicago western suburbs

Okay. That makes sense. That fits with Rongnongno's definition of what makes art or an artist. http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/tpr?p=6169583&t=366017

Nightski

:shock: Okay, that's just plain scary. I can't possibly be in agreement with old Ron. :lol:

mallen1330 Loc: Chicago western suburbs

:? I have a lot of difficulty understanding "old Ron" as well. I try re-reading his posts several times to finally get beyond the non-sequitur and anti-English syntax, and understand his meaning. There are even a few cases where that pays off and I learn something and even find that I agree.

The Ron post in question, in my understanding of it, agrees with yours regarding Jim Hill -- creativity sometimes involves working in a way that others may see as "crazy", different, "outside the box" -- He says: "...'young' untrained minds that do not know any limit, are not influenced by habits, social mores and technology. " van Gogh is the poster child of this theory.

So, the bottom line? I'm all in favor of Jim Hill's art and his approach to it. I don't want to say or do anything to discourage his efforts. It's just that, for me -- and me only -- I prefer photographs to have at least some elements in focus. Of course there are many exceptions (bokeh and tilt-shift focus).

Nightski

I'm kind of a focus nut myself, but it holds me back sometimes. I will always be aware of focus in my photographs, but I am trying to get over the compulsion to have everything in the frame tack sharp. It's an OCD thing ... lol. :-) I have to have all the shades in a room pulled to exactly the same height as well.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

The shot is reminiscent of "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941" by Ansel Adams.