Ponders' photostream  

"If I haven't seen further, it's because giants were standing on my shoulders."

EXPLORE PHOTOGRAPHS: Just an explanation as to why none of my pictures appear in Explore: apparently I submit them to too many groups, which results in them being removed. Of the first 12 photographs I posted, I know that at least 8 appeared in Explore (I didn't check every day), only for them to disappear after one day. So: I'm afraid you'll just have to be your own judge as to the 'interestingness' of my photographs. :-)




A bit about me and photography
I love photography, but would never describe myself as an ‘Artist’: if I had to choose a word or two to describe myself, it would be as a hunter-gatherer. When I look back at the things I’ve enjoyed most in my life (apart from the obvious!) it’s always been some form of searching for things: fly fishing (where you’re constantly on the move, and actively seeking out the fish); metal detecting (self evident); playing computerised adventure and RPG games (that involve exploration and discovery); photography (where one’s always looking for shots); and travel (where one’s looking for … well, life, the universe and everything). I’ve also always loved beach-combing and gathering wild berries. So: photography answers in me a basic need. But the searching doesn’t end with my having ‘discovered’ and taken the photograph, but rather, that’s where it begins. Once I have the photograph, my quest starts to uncover the image hidden within it: the one I want. So, where necessary, I crop it, adjust the levels and curves, fiddle with the colour balance, hues and saturation, check the contrast and brightness again, clone away blemishes or unwanted elements (and, on occasion, may even decide to radically alter it with Photoshop filters) then, when I’m reasonably happy with the result, I frame it. Lastly, I have to search for a good title, and, only after that, can I upload it to flickr. I think that this 'Photoshop fiddling' also satisfies a creative need in me that's not met simply by the capturing of the photograph (because my shots aren't set up) and, for any 'purists' among you: I think that they're completely analogous to the dark room work carried out in film-based photography.

The other constant that runs through my pastimes is that they’re all intellectual endeavours, or, at least, that’s the way I’ve treated them. From this you’ll deduce I enjoy using my brain: hence my choice of name: ‘Ponders’.

Everyone is, to some extent, multi-talented, but if anyone were to ask me what I thought I was most talented in, I wouldn’t say that it was photography (what do you mean: you can see that?) I’d say it was writing … that and making people laugh, something I’ve always done (sometimes even intentionally).

So: to sum up: I'd like to be thought of as having a ‘photographer’s eye’, but, more than that, as someone who looks at the world through humorous-coloured spectacles!




My "most interesting" photos (according to flickr and thanks to siderevs) can be seen
interestingby.isaias.com.mx/pm.php?id=36576290@N00






Ponders' flickr score: 1588



These are the countries I've visited