Artist’s Statement

"Do you enhance your pictures?" I am asked that all the time.

The word "enhance" has so many meanings, most of which

are misused, that my simple answer is "Yes, they are all very

much enhanced". When asked, "Do you use a computer to

enhance your pictures?" again my answer is "Yes". From the

moment a scene is imaged by the camera lens, to the transfer

onto film, to the light the subject is photographed under, to the

processing of the negative, to the digital scanning of the selected

image, to the printing on photographic paper or canvas, to the

matting and framing of the finished print – each step is

controlled by a computer of some sort. I’d like to think that I

have a hand in the enhancing of the image too. I wait until the

moment is right for photography of the subject and do my

technical homework so that the image recorded is as true to the

subject as I can make it. Another frequent question is "Did the

scene look like the photograph you took?" There is no photo

on Earth that looks exactly like the scene it rendered, simply

because light continually changes how a subject looks. In

addition, each step in the photographic process "enhances"

the original scene. So, the end result is my interpretation as

an artist of the original subject – as is any art form. Have I

used anything artificial in the whole process? Yes, each step

has some inherent artificial quality embedded in it. Film and

digital imaging are as artificial to the photographer as paint

and brush are to the painter. The human eye has abilities that

far exceed any photographic or printing process. Its tonal

range and ability to render color are so much greater than film

or digital imaging. Digital and traditional techniques can only

help close the gap between what our eyes see and what is hung

on a wall. So, give Mother Nature and our eyes and light much

more of the credit – and us nature photographers much less…

                     www.RambergArt.com

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