Photo of the Week 2012-05-28

... time to break out the infrared camera.

backyard stairs - IR

I haven't been satisfied with much of my photography in recent weeks. At times I've really just been going through the motions hoping I'd end up with some respectable images. 

When I get into a creative slump like this, it's time to change things up a bit. The change can be going to a new location, switching up subject matter or any number of other things that force me to see differently. In this case, I broke out the camera that I had converted to infrared (IR) and headed out with some friends to add to my portfolio of Guelph images. Working in IR removes the influence and familiarity of colour in my images putting the emphasis on form, line, tone and texture even more so than regular black and white.

Our destination was St. Patrick's Ward and some of the grand old properties of the neighbourhood. Aside from the relaxing morning walk, I actually made a few images that show some promise and I may have broken out of the slump ... we'll see
DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-05-21

battered but bloomin'

When I head out to shoot trilliums in the spring, I always look for an example of the purple variety, trillium erectum. This year, my favourite location for shooting Ontario's provincial flower did not yield many purple specimens in good health. All that were there seemed distressed, I assume it was due to the unusual spring weather we had experienced.

After a while of searching around the UofG Arboretum, bending over and crawling around, I noticed one flower in particular with a dew drop forming on one of the sepals. Shooting with a shallow depth of field, the forest floor in the background blurred very nicely to provide a complimentary setting for this image.

Although distressed and battered, this purple beauty was still bloomin'

Photo of the Week 2012-05-14

trillium trail

The Trillium Trail at the Arboretum, UofG is a favourite morning walk in early May when the trilliums are blooming. One could spend a couple of hours enjoying the morning sun rising to shine on a carpet of white and green. I did, ...

... trying to capture the feel of cool morning air warming to the touch of the sun as the day begins.

It is a quiet, peaceful time  to be out in the spring air. The smells and songs of the forest calmed my senses as I roamed around watching the light and shadows flowing across the scene.

As I often do, I became engrossed in making images. I lost track of time, became completely absorbed in the process and didn't notice the joggers approaching on the trail until they passed by.

I wonder what they thought of the guy lying on his stomach in a patch of trilliums wit a camera?
I did manage to make this image before they came along and startled me.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-05-07

... continuing with my exploration of warmtone monochrome images, I recalled a podcast from Lenswork, the excellent podcast by Brooks Jensen, fine art photographer, publisher and visual artist. In the podcast, Brooks explained that warmtoned images appear more three dimensional when compared to images with a neutral tone. He referenced a survey, that I have yet to find online, stating that two thirds of people see warmtone images as having a three dimensional quality not present in images using other toning hues such as neutral, selenium etc.

decimated

 

 

 

 

I'm not entirely certain that I would say I find warmtone images more three dimensional, but I do find the resulting images quite pleasing and quite like the result. Perhaps I am in the one third, or I have not seen enough comparative examples to this point. One thing I know, I will continue to experiment with warmtone on my photographic journey.

DJE