Recreation Densification

I strolled out this morning for a little recreational cross-training and came home with a new word. O.K., it was Free Tuesday at Balboa Park, our town's cultural heart. I was practicing two of my principles: that writers need to get away from the keyboard regularly to recharge, and that contact with works and artists of different disciplines strengthens creativity. After indulging in floral enjoyment in the lath house, I popped in to see The Photographs of Edward Burtynsky at the Museum of Photographic Arts. I think the fine resolution of his prints of industrial sites prompted me to muse for a moment, "Wow! This looks like a watercolor." Silly me. The scene was one that I would have chosen to paint. The title of another amused at first: "Densified Tin Cans" (a shot of cubes of squashed cans.) The exhibit and other titles were serious and straight, so I assumed I'd learned a new verb, to densify. I'm puzzled, though, because dictionaries have no such word. Densification, yes. Now, to work that into a conversation.[Tectags: photography words]