Tag Archives: interpretation

Black and White Dunes

I have always believed that photography is not necessarily about capturing what you see, but rather what you feel: an emotional connection, a sense of place, an experience. There is no better example of this than black and white photography. Black and white photography is a form of visual expression that looks nothing like what the photographer actually saw, yet it’s readily accepted by the general public as being “real” or “real photography.” Some photographers actually believe and espouse the notion that black and white photography is the only real form of photography. There’s that word again. What rubbish.

I don’t practice many black and white interpretations because to me, color is a big part of my experiences in nature – not always, but it’s usually the case. Sometimes, however, a black and white interpretation does a better job of emphasizing the elements that were important to me. This is one of those instances.

Technical details:

Hatteras Island, Outer Banks of North Carolina; Canon EOS 5d Mk2, Canon 17-40L @ 20mm, 1/30 second @ f20 ISO 160

February 13, 2011 | 8 Comments

Posted in Images | Tagged black and white, Cape Hatteras, Creativity, digital processing, interpretation, landscape photography, Nature Photography, North Carolina, outer banks

Color Casts: What’s Wrong with Magenta Anyhow?

Coral Cove State Park, Jupiter Island Florida

Technical details:

Coral Cove, Jupiter Island Florida; Canon EOS 5D mk2, Canon 17-40L @23mm, 0.6 second @ f18 ISO 320

(RANDOM THOUGHTS ALERT)

When I take a spin through any of the Internet image forums these days, I will soon encounter an image comment or critique imploring the removal of a color cast of some type. Magenta, for some reason, seems to be a popular target. Blues too. What’s with all the magenta hating anyway? The last I looked, magenta was a real color and it’s revealed in nature all the time during the diurnal hours of the day.

The same goes for images being “too dark.” Is there a threshold of brightness that must be attained before it escapes the slings and arrows of the offended? Maybe it actually WAS dark…….and magenta!

Then again, maybe it wasn’t dark. Maybe the artist (yes, photographers are artists) wanted to portray the scene as dark on purpose.

Photography is about extracting and sharing feelings – and a little bit of yourself – not just faithfully reproducing the scene in front of the camera. Darkness has been a visual metaphor for sadness for ages – just to throw out one example. The image should represent how the scene makes you feel, not necessarily how it actually looks! So, don’t let the tyranny of the status quo strip your image of its perilous soul. Embrace darkness, lightness, color casts, and other subjective tools to actually say something.

February 8, 2011 | 10 Comments

Posted in Essays, Images | Tagged coral cove, Creativity, florida, interpretation, landscape photography, magenta, Nature Photography

Interpretation

From now on, I refuse to use the words manipulation or alteration or futzin’ or any other pejorative words photographers (and critics) want to come up with to describe digital processing. I’ll use interpretation because that’s what it really is!