Thanks for sharing your point of view. It’s a great way to get to know you.

The bulk of my response stems from a postcard I received from a friend years ago. On the front it had a photo of a circular wood staircase built in Loretto Chapel. Putting aside the story or possible myth behind it, the fact is, this marvelous staircase was built with hand tools and without nails. To this day, it’s design and method of construction baffles carpenters. I have a feeling no one today could reproduce it by hand.

Currently most carpentry is done with the aid of highly specialized power tools. Many complex staircases are usually built in factories and then installed in homes. Yes, we have many more options available, we can build at the speed of light and most anyone can build something from wood. The choices are endless though I feel something got lost in the process of relying more on machines… something that grounds us to the earth or our environment. It’s a nagging feeling though maybe it’s just the result of growing old. When the feeling is at it’s strongest, I usually get the urge to draw.

Richard, you can climb up on your soapbox whenever you like… just don’t fall off!

Actually I have gotten much more into thinking about, reading about, writing about the creative process as it impacts photography, my own as well as others. Your concerns, Richard, are valid ones. However, I would suggest that great photographers of the past, look no farther than Ansel Adams, used every darkroom technique at his disposal to create the image that best matched his vision. The same goes for other photographers of the past and present. You use the tools that are available to you whether in the darkroom or in Photoshop.

I also believe that that while Photoshop and all the filters available for it can take a bad image and make it better. But the best images out of Photoshop are probably the best images out of the camera. There is no substitute of understanding exposure. There is no substitute for understand composition. And so on.

However, I also believe that a good photographer can make good photographs with any camera be that large format, 35mm film, DSLR, pinhole or cellphone. You work with what you have. You create with the tools at your disposal at that moment. With this image, I chose the iPhone, used a lens that took me a week to realize it was a lens, couldn’t manipulate anything really and still created the best image I think I could have. What I did in PP was to enhance the image – bring out the shine that is so present in Granny Smith skins, direct the eye where I wanted it – on the bit of red and the apple below it and so on.

Again, I am not trying to justify an image that needs none. I am just interested in the creative process and how it is viewed and interpreted by others. Have yourself a great day, Richard as well as the rest of you. And keep asking yourself… What if?

Back in school — when we used to walk 3 miles to classes bare foot — I remember the instructors placing far more attention on the importance of camera operation and how to capture the subject with the good lighting techniques, choice of lens focal length, shutter speed and aperture setting. The fundamentals were taught and stressed. Today, many (and I’m not implying it is what I think you do) snap away using automation with no thoughts other than those of composition and subject matter and then play with the images in post processing software that offers a multitude of creative finishing touches. I’m not saying this is wrong, just a major shift in the creative process.

*Stumbling off my soapbox* — I like the image composition with the dreamy effect created. I agree with Anita on the blown highlights on the center apple though that can be taken care of with a bit of cloning or healing brush if you wish. And unless you’re going for realism, you might want to consider cloning out those blasted store stickers as well.