Art or not art - that is the question

"Art distills sensation and embodies it with enhanced meaning in memorable form - or else it is not art." Jacques Barzun

I included two pictures today to make a point about how art is different depending on who is viewing it. Do you consider the first picture art or is it just an unusual photo that has been manipulated by the photographer? What about the second image? Is it art with the filter applied to give it a slight painterly effect? Would it have been art if a filter wasn't used to enhance it? The quote above says art distills sensation & gives it enhanced meaning. Do either of these pictures meet that criteria? Art is an unusual subject because, as we've discussed here before, "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." I'd be interested to hear your comments so, as always, please feel free to leave them.

Save Our Planet

"What's the use of a fine house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?" Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

We may think that we're the first generation to realize that we need to take care of the planet but, as you can see from this quote from Thoreau, we're not. I wonder, though, why has it taken us so long to start to do something about it?

One Day At A Time

"I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once." Ashleigh Brilliant

I think this baby bobcat looks like life has gotten him down, like he's tired and has had enough. Do you ever feel like this, like the world is ganging up on you, like you just can't take one more thing? When you do, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and just relax for a few minutes. When you open your eyes, you'll feel better and be more prepared to face the challenges of the day.

I hope that today is a day of joy for you.

Happiness

"Mans many desires are like the small metal coins he carries about in his pocket. The more he has, the more they weight him down. " Satya Sai Baba

People often think that more possessions, such as a new iPad, a bigger house or a fancier car would make them happier. The way to happiness, however, is not in the possessions we have, but in how we lead our lives and how we make a difference in the lives of those we meet.

Yellowstone

The scenery in Yellowstone is beautiful without any help from photo editting software, but a little help from a NIK filter really popped the clouds.

When you're shooting a wide angle shot, it helps to put a rock or something in the foreground to help show the perspective.

Honolulu Harbor with a Point & Shoot

My husband and I were walking back from the beach on our first evening in Oahu when I saw these reflections in the Honolulu Harbor. It was getting dark, all I had with me was our Canon G11 & I had to crank up the ISO a lot, but decided to take the picture anyway. Sometimes we hesitate to take pictures if we don't have our expensive DSLRs with us. Even if the image you get isn't as good, or as noise-free as you'd like, they can still make good memories. And if you don't have a DSLR, don't think you can't get good pictures, because you can. Professional photographer Rick Sammon even wrote a book about taking pictures with a point and shoot camera. So, get out there and shoot. You just may get some pictures that you'll treasure forever. :-)