Colors of a rainy day

Wet slide, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Lone jackdaw, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Last piece of snow, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Today is a wet day. The rain makes the last snow disappear fast, but there is still ice on the ground and in many places the water has nowhere to go, so there are a lof of puddles for the children to explore. They don't mind the wetness. Quite the opposite, it brightens them up.

Here are three images from today, all slightly processed in LightZone to increase the contrast a bit. After a busy week, I didn't have much energy for taking photographs, but took some anyway.

Tomorrow there may be some sunshine, so I plan to take some more photographs then. But there is a bit of other program scheduled for tomorrow as well, so that remains to be seen.

Update: In a posting on how to make photographs, not to take them, I noticed this: "Most of the photographers I know agree with this expression: The hardest place to take pictures is in your own backyard. That’s why we travel to different locations around the country and the globe: to get inspired—to feel an affinity with the subject." I don't feel like this at all. Perhaps it is hard to take (or make) photographs in familiar locations, but for me it is not so. In strange locations I became stressed and dissatisfied, in familiar places relaxed and enthusiastic. Although many points in the posting are good, I feel that this viewpoint on emphasizing the location makes the instructions superficial.

Update 2: There is an interesting photojournalism controversy (see the image pairs in the article) about image manipulation by Klavs Bo Christensen. The examples are quite extreme in manipulation. Acceptable in fine art photography, but in photojournalism - I don't think so.

I do think the resulting images are interesting as photographs. Actually, I made an experiment in LightZone using a small "original version" image from the article, and it wasn't too hard to get the same effect as the photographer had used. But it does change the feeling quite dramatically. On the other hand, what was it really like there on the spot, that is difficult to say.

Update 3: One more thing. Photojojo has a useful posting about using a camera as a tool. No photography tips, instead tips on how useful it is to take photographs of various things - maps, shopping lists, phone numbers etc. But I never seem to remember to use a camera like this.