Greetings,

This week has been a mixed bag of life. We went down to the valley for several days to do a shoot and open the studio for a couple friends to shoot. That was fun of course. It cuts into my editing time a little, but when you get a chance to be with friends, I certainly take it. The editing is always there, friends aren’t.

To get Bonita Creek ready…studio wise…has taken a few days and probably a couple more to clean, rearrange, and get things in place. Of course, any cleaning project flows into other areas and my workspace for editing and even the radio station, has changed drastically. And I’m loving the changes. A cluttered space might be the mark of a creative mind, but an organized space sure has more room. I’m kidding myself if I think there is an end to the cleaning and re-arranging.

I saw someone asking about creative critiques of their art on social media. I’m going to share my response. Every once in a while I cover a lot of ground with a smaller number of words and I’m always proud of that. Of course, I’m never saying everyone doesn’t have a rightful opinion about art. Heck, that’s what it’s about. Being moved; or not.

“The world seems to be filled with "I don't like it, therefore it is wrong" people. Of course I ignore them. And 99% of the CC I get has a strong sense of them wanting me to change an image to fit what they like, or simply chest beating to make themselves feel superior. Neither has anything to do with the improving the actual image on a professional front.
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I stopped giving CC after the first couple of times I did it. I realized I started them with 'I would do this" or "I would do that". That's not CC at all. That's me trying to make someone else's image fit what I would like. So I don't. Very few can disengage their own likes and dislikes and engage in the technical elements of an image that might improve it overall. I figure if someone has the training to do it right aren't going to be giving it away, especially on so-so media.”

In other news, I’ve been staying in touch with Elley as she’s in her first week of ten on her adventure. I can’t say where she went yet because it involves a product being created. But it is exciting and I’m so happy for her to have the opportunity to shine and use her geology skills.

Last week I traded laptops with Linda. I’d gotten an Apple 13” M1 when they first came out and unfortunatly there were things it wouldn’t do well for me yet. So I gave it to Linda. Adobe in particular has since updated their software to work with the M1 so I switched back and WOW! Talk about instant everything. It is impressive and so far no bugs found. It does make computer work far nicer when it all just works, and works fast.

The next 3 weekends up here at Bonita have visitors and some amount of photography. So I hope it cools off mid day a bit and the forest stays green from rain. It would be really nice if the fire restrictions were lifted. Shooting around a camp fire in the evening might be fun to try.

Speaking of camp fires. I’m not a big fan. The smoke and then the smell of my hair and clothes afterwards sucks. So, I typically only use our fire pit to burn brush. BUT, we recently bought a stainless steel smokeless fire pit/container that looks to be really cool!! If it works as advertised, there will be more marshmellows and hot dogs in our future. If you are curious, check it out.

And, as I finish up my weekly babble, I can smell chocolate chip cookies baking so this will, indeed, be a wonderful day! I hope yours is too.

Until next week, be safe, happy, cool, and hydrated.

Dave

Some of you give me regular feedback and I really love hearing from you. If you saw something that moved you, or you especially loved, or just have a question about any of the images, please drop me an email. It’s the highlight of my day to hear from friends.

Enjoy!!! And stay safe.

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