Figure 1 – The maelstrom of the potamoi, South Lee, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2019.

Hmm! I find myself working on the last images of the old year. It has been a fun one photographically. Last night I downloaded a trial copy of Topaz SharpenAI. I am very interested in Artificial Intelligence as it relates to images. Recognize that AI offers a wholly different approach to processing than standard algorithms. In a sense the computer becomes you or more importantly becomes the photographic expert. More on the comparison later, after I’ve more critically reviewed it. So far, I have found that I can do better, or at least as well, with the usual toggles in Adobe Photoshop’s Smart Sharpen tool. 

Case, in example is Figure 1, which shows “The Maelstrom [of the potamoi]” of a stream in western Massachusetts that I photographed a couple of weeks ago after pretty torrential rains. Here I much preferred the sharpening that I achieved with Photoshop. 

Maelstrom is a great word, connoting the anger of the River god. Or perhaps it is the fury of a jilted water nymph. The potamoi were the gods of the rivers and streams of the earth, all sons of the great earth-encirling river Okeanos (Oceanus). Their sisters were the Okeanides (Oceanids), goddesses of small streams, clouds and rain, and their daughters were the Naiades, nymphs of springs and fountains.  While we know so much now from science and nature about the origins of natural phenomena such as the furious roaring of a brook in the woods, seeing it inevitably conjures up the ancient ones. They are figments of our imagination for certain, allusions to classical themes. Yet they remain poetically placed in our collective imaginations.