I believe it’s important in photography to seek to capture different contrasts in many of your images. Here are two examples. First, the rusty fire extinguisher apparatus with contrasting green vines growing around, and the second with cut logs contrasted behind yellow and green vegetation. Your eye has to see this first, and that’s the key to success…if such is your objective.
I bet a lot of you have had something like the photo image below sitting on your kitchen cabinet counter…sometime “after the party.” Not so in our case in years, but in the past such was a frequent experience on many weekend mornings. In Germany, for example, we used to gather for wine tasting parties (well, maybe more than just tasting) and it was hardly acceptable to serve such excellent beverages in anything but glass. The problem afterwards was cleaning up the evidence of the festivities. The wine glasses we had in Germany were much fancier than these show here, and they were much more expensive, given the motivation of many of our wives to purchase as many European-made crystal glasses as possible…various sizes, shapes, purpose…quantity was all that counted. I remember one family we served with in Karlsruhe Germany who (probably) set a record for the number of shipping container dish-packs when they moved back state-side. We had our share of dish-packs too, but nowhere near the record. These crystal glasses of ours sit largely unused in a cabinet today, their insides filled mostly with dust instead of recent memories of holding some sort of tasty beverage. I have to say that if we were to have a party today, there would be much less” after the party” clean-up involved, because plastic or paper would have ruled over crystal.
As an aside, I made this photo through the front window of a nearby community activity center. I assume no one was that much concerned with clearing up “after the party.” The scene made for an interesting photo, however, so I am glad they were not so motivated.
I’m not sure why anyone would want to hang these ornaments on the outside brick wall of their home, but they did…and I recorded it with my camera. Makes for a better photo than it does an improvement to the looks of their home. But, to each their own.
Sometimes distorting reality can be a good thing…like in this photo. The scene is reflected on the chrome side of a semi-truck’s trailer, and makes for an interesting composition. I’ve done this before in large cities such as St. Louis, Greensboro, etc. using the large expanse of windows on the sides of multi-storied buildings. The patterns that result can make for some excellent photos. You may want to try this sometime.
A bit of creativity. Small puddle of water on our driveway, with trees reflected. I “flipped” the image vertically so the trees looked upright. I saw this out the kitchen window while washing dishes. Like I say, once you get a “photographic eye” it’s always with you to take advantage of…so long as you have a camera handy…which I always do.
This image fits the title of this post and vice versa. I first took a telephoto lens shot of some tulip poplar trees in our back yard on a recent cold, cloudy day, and then processed the image using computer software (Silver Efex Pro for those who care) to achieve the look I wanted. It took the word “moody” and tripled it in definition, plus gave me a very nice and creative image that would look nice after being printed on glossy paper (at say 18×24 inches) and then framed and hung on one of the walls in our home. This is what I really like about digital photography these days. One can capture a very simple image such as these leafless trees and then give it a look that has much more impact and meaning.
I used a telephoto lens to capture this image of a circular window near the roof top on an old house. I liked the way the shadows contrasted with the circular lines of the window. Same with the photo below, but now we’re using straight lines and shadows. Those shadows in the middle look a bit like Roman numerals…whatever. The original color photos look better (to me) in black & white (sepia actually).
Like the wooden rocking chair sitting on our home’s front porch, my photo blog has been “vacant” since last October. That’s soon to change, and I hope to be able to “fill” that vacancy with lots more of the type photos I have been posting for several years. Why the temporary absence you ask? Well, in a word “cancer.”
When I stopped blogging late last October I was scheduled for a blood related cancer bone marrow transplant at Duke University Medical Center and that month-long treatment made it impossible for me to get out and take the sort of photos I post here. All went well thanks to the good Lord, and while recovery from such a medical procedure can take months, I am at a point now where I feel ready to resume my photography, and to again be able to share my work with anyone so interested. But, enough of my medical story!
So, I invite you to bookmark my blog and to return often. I am going to resume my photo work slowly, so don’t expect new photos every day. But it won’t be too long before I’ll be able to meet that objective. Cheers and good health to all!
Artificial flowers behind this frosted-glass window make for an interesting image. I have taken and experimented with similar images before. I like to work with different ways to create a “new look” each time I see this sort of window-frame with somewhat recognizable objects behind the glass. To see more detail of the glass itself, click the photo to enlarge it.
How’s this curb-side mailbox for creativity? Too bad the pump is not real or the mailman could stop for a drink of water.
