A Few Moments of Beauty

I keep thinking about the truth these days.  I guess I should write that as The Truth in order to convey my meaning.  Lies bother me.  Untruths bother me.  And it bothers me that so many people seem to prefer lies.

I'm sure I stole this from something I read, somewhere, but it has become one of my favorite old-man sayings:

"Do you know why politicians lie?  Because if they told you the truth you wouldn't elect them."

Does that translate to photography?  Back in the Black & White only days, it was sort of implicit — you knew you were not witnessing reality.  It was an interpretation of reality because reality was color and you were looking at black and white.  But with the advent of color, we began to think we were seeing closer to reality — to the truth. And now, with digital?

We could use it to show the truth.  We can see into the shadows more -- and do a better job of controlling the highlights.  It allows us to see a picture closer to the experience we remember — without the limitations in contrast we lived with in film.  But is that was it is being used for?  Is that the kind of photography you choose to view?  

I don't think it's true of non-photographers.  I think they "vote" for the super-saturated, replace the dull sky, turn the highlights gold and make the sky bluer kind of pictures you get from the photo-editing software that is standard in your phone now.

But is that the truth?  Or is it better than the truth?  Can something be better than the truth?  Really?  What do you "vote" for?

There were a few moments of beauty in an otherwise-dull sunrise this morning. And that was good enough for me.  From the overlook at Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville, Alabama.

Nikon D7500 — Nikon 18-300mm F6.3 ED VR

44mm

F8@30 seconds

ISO 400

GND filter

DSB_2523.JPG

©Don Brown 2024