Checking out Antler Attic up in Show Low

Some people prefer plastic pink flamingos, some prefer little plaster dwarves, some like a nativity scene, and others use the decomposing skulls of longhorn cattle to decorate the front yard. I admit, I like the skulls. Mother nature is an awesome sculptor.

Sheryl liked this chicken, and even more, a horse which I did not get a picture of. Wonderful metal sculpture from Mexico, now housed at Antler Attic up in Show Low. Amazing low price too, about $350 I think for such a large piece. I don't know what the Chicken is going for. I also don't know how this guy interlocks antlers the way that he does. I've never been in a store with such a huge supply of high quality stag horn material either. Tons of cool stuff there.

We went up the hill to escape the heat and it just didn't work. One of those strange days, it started out great this morning as we were home alone and woke up in the barn with a cool breeze passing through us, in and out the open doors. Had blueberries, Chiliquilies and coffee for breakfast, with bacon too.

I did some online research about photo manipulation and discovered the usual: that I often don't like HDR photography, and once in a while, depending on the piece, I love it. You can ruin any given photo with bad technique, but the interesting thing about good technique is that you can turn a mediocre photo into a great one with the right touches. There's a whole generation ( much younger than I ) up and coming with a slew of Photoshop skills, and yet in the end it all comes down to taste, and finesse. Also, it does not hurt to start out with a good photo.

So, all that research left me feeling funny, not bad exactly, but looking at composite photos in particular-- let me put it this way: I looked at a photo of a dog on a pier under a partly cloudy blue sky today. It was a nice photo, not amazing, but nice. Turns out it was three photos; a photo of a dog posed on a chair taken indoors, a photo of a pier with nobody and nothing on it, and a photo of a blue, partly cloudy sky. The photographer combined all three into one. It's a good trick, compositing, I've done it. But somehow it just messes with my head to see too much of that in a sitting.