Palm has released the beta version of the native Plug-in Developer Kit (PDK) for the Palm Pre, though unfortunately they don’t have support for Linux yet.

I finally got around to completing the assembly of the Camera Axe I got for Christmas.

Seems like I’m constantly tinkering with site updates I added 29 new images to my galleries and Fotomoto released their API last month which I integrated with SimpleViewer.

A sad old road.

The structures and the residents are slowly being replaced by wildlife.

Replacement residents

Beyond this there is little left of this town, sad as that may be, I was seeking something to photograph and luckily for me, my father-in-law had just the thing. So the next day we headed in the opposite direction just into New Jersey. Here we explored abandoned railcars relics that skirted the edge of the Delaware.

Railcar

Empty seats

Conrail railcar

Jordan Spreader Gauges

Abstracting a train

You can see more images in of both Centralia and the railcars in my galleries.

The problem of the first group is that it can elicit a stagnation in skill and creativity. Yes, sometimes in some locations you cannot set up a bank of strobe to balance interior and exterior light or some circumstance may otherwise inhibit the shot. HDR does give you a way around these problems, allowing you to properly expose the entire image. However, if every time you are shooting in these situations HDR becomes the default answer, you limit your technical and creative growth. Depending on HDR also promotes the mentality of “oh I’ll just Photoshop that out later.” If the camera or subject moves or the lighting conditions change during the bracketing sequence, post production can be a bear. In-camera techniques tend to be far superior in quality and force you to use your most important piece of photography equipment, your brain.

Pursuing High Dynamic Range as art is problematic. You have to contend with its stigma as a fad and the fact that much of the process is automated. Using HDR for creative purposes can be fun and produce some very interesting effects. However, I have a hard time classifying it as photography; these stylized images often share more in looks with panting than photography. Most of the HDR images I’ve seen on the web take tone mapping to the extreme. Creating these images is no longer about realism, neutral exposures or a High Dynamic Range – it is about painting with tones. Painting photos with tones is not everything it’s made out to be. At the risk of angering digital painters over the comparison, given the time and skill required to create an image in both mediums I will forgo calling them anything beyond images. No matter how well composed, the knowledge that the software for producing these images – both the in-camera bracketing and digital post production – can be highly automated, does not elicit the concept of art within these images even if they were produced in a more manual method.

Should you pursue High Dynamic Range images? Most things can be good with moderation, if this is what gets you out taking photographs then by all means. Master HDR if that is what interests you, but do not limit yourself in both creativity and technique. I often see galleries where this is the only style of image throughout; often many of the images would stand stronger on their own. Like spandex and leg warmers when sensation moves on you do not want to be left in the teal.