Lens-Artists PC: More than one

• Manja Maksimovič

I realise that by not postprocessing (much), my photos lose half of the equation. And since I take photos rather than make them, I need to take more than one.

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Tina is Lens-Artists Photo Challenge host this week and actually her theme is One photo two ways. She gives good examples – I especially liked her strolling egret – and words, such as Henri Cartier-Bresson’s when he said that photographers create a capture at the speed of a reflex action.

I never take one photo two ways, since I don’t like filters and turning them black and white. I used to do this last for a bit but realised that certain things need to be left to those who know what they are doing. I do know about reflex action though. So – I just take many photos and hope for the best.

Sometimes I wonder what those who know would do with my portfolio. I had one reply (thank you, Sherry) on the occasion when I created a stir on Facebook and a lovely debate on my previous blog when I posted these two photos:

I realise that one peak is sloppily cut in the first photo, but I still prefer it. I’m all for bringing out stuff that is in the photo, but adding things that weren’t there, such as a different sky, is a no-no for me. I don’t like to remove things either (just sometimes I must), especially stronger things than me, such as trees. Bad karma is an angry oak. Or bird, if you erased the wire where it would rest.

The only thing editing is good for, in my opinion, is to achieve the effect as it happened and the camera missed it.

Here are some cheerful examples of when taking more than one photo paid off. Most couples or groups were taken from the same position, but sometimes I had to use my legs – which are, as somebody else said, the key tool of a photographer. (I googled it now. It was Ernst Haas and he actually said “The best zoom lens is your legs.” :D)

  • Let’s start with the cake. I had to decide whether I was going to have my cake…
  • …or eat it. Cake Ljubljana at Ljubljana Central Market.
  • Behind the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana I found this lovely garden. With rails included?
  • Or maybe without?
  • Or approach to see if another good shot emerges?
  • This look back at the Faculty I found most fitting.
  • This is the view from Motovun on the Croatian peninsula Istria. I was there only once in 2015. On the left is river Mirna (which means “calm”).
  • I couldn’t have enough of this view. Empty of people when we arrived…
  • …and half an hour later when we were passing the same spot. With father everything is better.
  • Or maybe it’s best with these two lovers?
  • The last one, promise.
  • The joys of point-and-shoot. Let’s see: plant in focus, wire and moon not.
  • Wire in focus, plant and moon not.
  • All in focus, even birds, just not how I wanted it.
  • I can do it all: Background in focus, rosemary not.
  • Rosemary in focus, background not.
  • Here’s a common one: nothing in focus.
  • A room in Žužemberk Castle in Slovenia. That window called me closer.
  • Oh yes, pretty cool!
  • But is it better without the frame?
  • Or like this, blurred with the edge? Hm, sweet decisions.
  • A smiling gate on the way to the ruins of Canale Monterano.
  • Look at that! The sun has a friend!
  • It would be a shame to miss this fellow.
  • A lunch break in Piran last summer. Nice.
  • But he would want his bus to be in the picture too.
  • Ten days later. The classic Piran view.
  • But what is this in the distance? What are Italians up to?
  • On a day like this it seems as if they have deployed a navy. Whereas these are structures on the other shore that is already Italy. Venice is about an hour to the west.

For Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, hosted by Tina at Travels and Trifles: One Photo Two Ways

This day in my blogging history

52 thoughts on “Lens-Artists PC: More than one”

  2. some lovely photos. and I’m still dreaming about that cake! I like to take multiple shots and reject the ones that don’t work. The only editing I do is to crop and occasionally change the colour to black and white. I shall try to remember that the best zoom is the legs. excellent

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    1. Thank you, Monika! This cake is a bit special. It is made of typical ingredients from Slovenia, such as buckwheat, chestnuts, figs and pumpkin seeds (and chocolate). This was back in 2016 though and I don’t think they make it any more since the website is down…

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      1. That’s too bad the website is no longer functioning. It looks a little like the cake I used to eat when visiting a friend Germany on my trips back home. My favorite time of day was between 2-3 pm when enjoying a coffee and some cake while people watching from a cafe were the perfect respite after a morning of touring and walking. I miss that custom in the U.S. Everything is go-go-go. No one takes time to savor what they’re doing, they just need to keep moving and do more. And read their phones, nonstop. *sigh

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  5. Love this post! Not only some stunning photos in there, but I get to see how your mind works when choosing photos for us. What a thoughtful thing to say: I take photos and don’t make them. Here, I love the sunflower shot, looking back. I love the homes with the stone window frame visible. I agree with you on the top photo. Though the mountain is slightly clipped, I like the focus on the wild field of flowers in the foreground. Every view from the restaurant onto the valley below left me wanting more.

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    1. Thank you most kindly, Crystal. 🙂 I love it how you intuit things (is that a verb?). Of course, I have so many photos that the selection itself says plenty. I could pick so many others and then I pick these. It’s a conversation. I’m so glad it works both ways.

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  8. Prefer the framed photo over not…loved the sun gate… I really enjoyed traveling through your composition today, the crisp building colors contrasting with the velvet soft landscapes surrounding them. All very nice! And I say there are no bad photos, ever. Only better or less thans.

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  9. I so loved walking in your footsteps with you today. Croatia is a beautiful place. I found as I got further down your post, I started looking for what I thought you might focus on. All great examples. I honestly loved the photo of the gentleman on the bench, thinking what a beautiful view and how quiet it must be. To zoom out, and see the bus completely changes the “story”, doesn’t it? Donna

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    1. Thank you so much, Donna. I’m glad to show you around. 🙂 Indeed, the man with the bus is a story and photographers get to create them. And so good to hear that you started to guess what I might be after as the post progressed. 🙂

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  10. Now that’s what I call multiple ways! I agree, always best to take multiple images while shooting rather than create them in editing. Some lovely images indeed. And add this to you photographic repertoire “sneaker zoom” – which is using your feet to get closer to your subject.

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    1. Oh Lynette, I just noticed that their website is down. I had this Ljubljana cake, made with typical Slovenian ingredients such as pumpkin seeds, buckwheat, chestnuts and figs, in 2016 but the shop might have closed in the meantime… Still, other kinds of cake left in Ljubljana for sure. Thank you!

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  13. Fabulous photographs Manja and conversation to drive the theme home. I dont like editing pictures or adding filters too – I like them as original as they can be.
    The two photos of the sunflowers were beautiful- the second one, a unique angle. I also liked the one with the moon and the birds. And that quote, I had no idea of it. Next time I go walking or climbing to get a better shot, I’ll remember that’s just how it’s meant to be😃. Your post is a beautiful beginning to the day.

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    1. Haha, yes, it IS meant to be this way! 🙂 Thank you, Smitha, I’m glad I can make your morning better. Did you notice that the two photos before the sunflowers already include them as well? There are four photos from this location with the same bunch of sunflowers. Happy climbing! 🙂

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      1. I did after reading your comment 🙂 and it amazed me how the same subject could look so different (invisible in one and the centre of attention in another) in different pictures. That was a beautiful lesson in capturing the image from different angles and distances. Loved it! x

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  14. I too take multiple views of things, but I have to admit to cropping and “adjusting” my photos. You are a much better photographer than I–you have a very good feel for the camera and what it can do. But I think you have better elationship with your camera also! (K)

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    1. Aaah, K., thank you for saying this, but you are the artist! 🙂 For me the camera is best because I can’t create out of nothing. And I was not specific enough: I also crop and straighten and improve contrast and bring the shadows out and sometimes sharpen and fix the colours a little bit, but I use the basic Windows Photo Gallery tools only, no other software. My camera is with me most of the time, except now, in the hot yellow phase. There are only as many snails as I can shoot.

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    1. Thank you, Sarah. If you look through these comments, you will find one by my father. 🙂 He says that these are great examples of learning by doing. That’s what I do. If I learn something is another matter, but certainly I’m having fun. 🙂

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  18. Your photos are stunning. I always think most of the work should be done in the camera before you take the shot, but you’re absolutely right in that editing should only be used to make the shot look as much as the scene that you viewed.

    The two Hopper-esque shots you’ve compared are both excellent. I didn’t even notice the slightly chopped off mountains in the background u til you pointed them out. Don’t think it detracts from it at all.

    I really like how the rails frame the shot you took of the lovely garden. ☀️ 💛

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  19. Never mind the fantastic moon shots, the sunflowers but going through them again, I adore the one with the archway and the silver-haired man on the right, it looks like a painting👌💛

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