I like color (apparently)

54 favorites, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

I once again updated my Flickr group containing the personal favorites of photos taken so far. (Not the last three weeks, I'll do those later when I have some time to forget about them and can see the photos with "new eyes".)

When I did the last update, I noticed that I seem to prefer colorful photos, although I had thought I was mostly producing quite subdued photos. Once again, this seems to be the case. Colors have impact, I can't deny it.

And although I'm not so much into collecting photos and organizing them for all eternity, it is nice sometimes to return to them to have a look what has happened during the year (or the last few months).

One interesting thing was that many of the photos are such that I could immediately see ways of improving them, either when doing the photography or in post-processing. I guess there has been a bit of improvement in the skills. Or then this is just hindsight, not really an indication of better photography skills.

Update: I added the address of the Flickr group. I must say that I'm not always pleased with the Flickr service, it has some limitations in presentation and organization which make some things a bit bothersome. (And it isn't always as speedy as you would like.) But as I'm not looking for a professional-looking impact with the photos, it is mostly okay.

Update 2: The previous time when I noticed that I picked the more colorful photos as favorites, I was mainly using the Ixus 400 as my camera. Is there a difference compared to the LX3? I think I have moved towards a bit more wide palette of effects, not always trying to build the photo around strong colors. And so perhaps the current favorites are a bit more subdued in the color department - however I hope they are better photos.

Update 3: Sometimes I think that post-processing digital photos is cheating, despite the fact the I'm doing it more and more. Should you get the photo right when you take it, or depend on making it right later?

Two aspects of digital photography which I have grown to accept are the limited dynamic range and problems with color balance. In these situations there is not much alternative for post-processing, even for a jpeg shooter like myself.

What I would like to see is that the camera technology would take care of some of these things, moving towards wider dynamic range even in dim lighting. Of course, I understand the DSLRs have much better capabilities than compacts, but as I have written here previously, I don't want to carry an anvil around my neck.

Update 4: The Online Photographer has an interesting comment about post-processing, A Note From Underground, discussing the photography of Ms. Leibovitz: "Bottom line is, what is handed to the retoucher is a big pile of doo-doo handled by dozens of her staff—then have to produce images that look impeccable."