This was the grand European summer tour of Documenta 12 in Kassel and the Venice Biennale 2007. Malick Sidibe´ won the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. As noted earlier, the USA contribution to Venice was disappointing at best. I am posting my professional web portfolio at http://picasaweb.google.com/AtelierLucia. This portfolio will be up shortly. For information concerning each image please email me for particulars.

La Biennale di Venezia was astounding! The Germans, as usual, had one of the most extraordinary exhibits in art that I have ever seen while the USA had lightbulbs bursting in air! How sad the USA could not find none other but a Cuban to represent itself in the exhibition. More on that later...

Please, please can someone tell me what the USA contribution to the Venice Biennale will be this year?? And, please, tell me that it will not be as the 2005 installation! I cannot believe that the Ed Ruscha exhibit was as disappointing as it was! I wish to forget the 2005 exhibit...

Cactus Flower. Created using Digital Art Workflow. Shot using Canon 400D, Tamron 28-300mm lens, Imported into Lightroom, manipulated in Photoshop CS3, Archived and ©SWK onto Western Digital My Book hardrive. For more information as to just how to use this workflow, email me...

Iris blooming in the Hondo Valley, New Mexico...

Iris blooming in New Mexico...

Domestic and wildflowers are now blooming in New Mexico. More examples to follow...

Top 10 Photographers. I just read the Theonlinephotographers.blogspot.com list of the top 10 photographers and was impressed with the depth of the list. However, I think the list of current, living photographers that are top cannot fit on a list of this short size. Here are more additions to that list: Kazimieras Mizgiris of Lithuania, Richard de Chazal, Lee Friedlander, Nobuyoshi Araki, Michael Kenna, Giedrius Varnas and last, not the least but probably the best, Elliot Erwitt. There are so many role models for the fine art photographer that the current discourse should not fade any time soon.

Sensitive Issues. I just read the product review by Frances Schultz in B&W Feb 07. What the?? I am a Leica owner but I do not own an M8! What was Leica thinking when it released such a debacle. How disappointing! And to pay that much money for such a problem! Anyway, one only has to read select writings of an artist to gain a glimpse of their inner workings and what an astonishing revelation this was...First, she blew off these horror stories of owners of the M8 by "...few if any seem to be working photographers taking real pictures." I thought this writing was condescending and off-putting. She then goes on to state "...even if you can reproduce these problems, they are quick and easy to remove anyway." What??@#$ If I paid close to $5K for a camera, why should I have to learn work-arounds? You should read this article. It seems that Frances Schultz discovered that the only thing the M8 is good for is IR photography. Perhaps she should look into buying a cheaper camera! Oh, please someone tell her that JPEG is not just for snapshooting! Ride the light...

lightzone: The Thing about Intuition

lightzone: The Thing about IntuitionAlthough I find this an excellent starting point, and, photographically speaking, a step in the right direction, we are a long way from creating a tool such as this that will replace the zone system in film photography. This LightZone is going in the right direction but lacks the intuitive interface that a dodge and burn tool in the darkroom commands! -SWK

I just finished reading one of my photography magazines that I still have a subscription to here in the States. I won't name it suffice to say that it is an outdoor photography magazine that has the same tired articles from one month to the next. I would like to see these American rags take on some of the editorial content of their European counterparts. My one digital camera mag from Britiain has a plethora of how-to articles in just one month's issue! This one mag has over 150 pages! And, this is not an isolated incident! Every European rag I pick up is chock full of good stuff unlike the mags I am seeing here. I have or am having my subscriptions run out here in the USA and scarfing up those overseas photography magazines that are both artful and helpful! I suggest you do the same...

Remember, there are no good histograms!

This is one of my favorite views from Maine. Photography, as well as painting, is such an art! Email me and I can give you many tips and tricks, workflow guidance you need to travel with your camera!

I am also a travel writer and included many images in my book entitled, Digital Art Workflow, which can be purchased from www.Xlibris.com. This is an image I captured of Jebel Akhdar in northern Libya recently. I am very partial to Azzure skies as you can see. I make my images as saturated as Velvia. That is why I live in Albuquerque, NM, USA.

Atelier Lucia Studio

I am an artist/photographer (an image-maker!) interested in the fine arts. My images are camera generated and finished in the studio. As an artist academically trained in figurative work, I love creating figurative images and portraits. I can email you some images upon request. I have a private clientele and am in no need of commercial enterprises. I have my own studio and specialize in teaching the digital art workflow as my book will attest. You can purchase my book, entitled, Digiatal Art Workflow, from www.Xlibris.com. Keep me posted.