Why I dropped Tray Ratcliff from my followers list.

Lets face it. When you look at his images, specially those from Iceland (and some others to), one might think that he mixed Black death with sulphuric geyser and drank a bit to much of it before starting to process his images, which to me look like waking up with a bad hangover, alone, stuck in party gear, lost in nature,  after to much partying at an out door festival that ended at least three days ago.

Don't get me wrong. I have high admiration for him and his drive. He is one of those guys that could sell you your grandma, and he has the energy and drive to be all over the place, doing bunch of different things and at the same time keep you occupied with buying his images.

You can't but admire a man that can sell the world turned ugly to bunch of people and make them feel like they bought the beauty of the world. He has got what most photographers lack, the drive and power of a salesman. That is the lesson to be learn't from him and his work.

There are plentiful of fine, upcoming and fantastically good photographers on google+. One of them that you do not see in many circles is John Paul Caponigro. Compare those two and you see what I mean. 

On one hand you have a zen like master of photographic art that plays out his images like a jazz master plays a ballade with life improvisations. Masterful thoughtful, calm and sensitive are the words that pop up in my mind when I look at his images.

Trays images on the other hand remind me of Techno trans meets the Matrix where glitches in your brain crossprocess the images so as you get the last visions you would get after dropping to much acid at the ball and are just about to die from dehydration.

I've my self gone through just about any and every technological postprocessing stage there is to be found in connection with photography and post-software-processing and I do not hesitate to day to use the technique needed to get the image I or the client wants. I use HDR both in landscape and on people. I use photoshop to the extend where one does not know where the image starts and drawing begins. I do what ever I feel like, that is the beauty of photography.  But that does not get me to think that every thing I run through some process is good, nor dose it make me run every thing through the same washing cycle. To me each image (or set of images) has its place. Some times though there can be variations.

I like to think that I grow wiser as I grow older. I olso hope this will apply to Tray. Tray is to me like Scott Kelby. They are fantastic business men, natural born sellers, but I find other photographers producing lot more interesting and thoughtful images. That is why Tray (and scott and maby more) will get a circle of their own. I can follow them when in the mood for feeling sick or sales inspired. Some time to much is just to much. 

This is the beauty of google+. This is the beauty of photography. This is the beauty of life. And that is the lesson to learn from Tray. You can do what you like in life. Don't bitch about it. Do something with it.