Explorations in Photography: Black and White

A few weeks back, the weekly photo challenge in Ricky Tims' class was Black and White.  We took photos and transformed them to black and white using Lightroom (the same effect can be created in Photoshop).  I went out with the intention of taking a photo of some lion statues in downtown Bethesda, MD.  Yet again, though, my vision didn't materialize.  From every angle, the lions had cluttered backgrounds that I thought would be distracting.

So instead, I took a photo of the ever-patient Q.  I liked the way the line of benches stretched into the distance.  This photo isn't quite as clean in a black-and-white format, though -- there are a lot of medium values that make the photo look busy, and the dark lines of the window frames pull the eye away from the main subject.  I think using a slightly desaturated or tinted version of the photo would probably be more visually compelling

We then walked further into the downtown area and found a nice spot in front of the bookstore.  Q offered to be a model, sitting on the sidewalk with a marble block at his back.  This pose, particularly in black and white, seems to speak of sadness and hopelessness. (Of course, Q at the time was neither sad nor hopeless -- though holding this position was a bit of a strain after a while.)

Then I was struck by his hands and took some close-up shots.  I like this photo best.  Hands tell such a powerful story.  The sunlight and shadows provide beautiful contrast, further clarified by desaturating the photo.

One of the reasons I like photography is that it allows me to see the world differently.  Examining the photos brings out new details and realizations.  When I look at this photo, I realize afresh: Q's hands are beautiful.

What makes black and white photos so emotionally evocative?  Perhaps it is that removing the color helps us focus on value.  Or is it their historical appearance (calling back to the era before color film) that gives them extra weight?  As someone who loves color, I am surprisingly moved by black-and-white photos.

Explorations in Photography: Keeping things in focus

In yet another of Ricky Tims' weekly Photo Challenges, we were to take photos that were "tack sharp", meaning that the entire photo was in crisp focus.  For an image that involves some depth (with some parts of the image being close and some further away), this typically involves using a high f-stop on the camera.  Accompanied by the ever-patient Q, I tramped out in the snow to our local playground to find some shots.  

My original vision had been to take a photo of an empty swing, but that didn't work out.  First of all, swings move, which makes it very hard to get a crisply focused image.  Second, no matter what angle I shot from, there were always distracting elements in the background.  So much for my original vision.  

But Q suggested taking a photo of this springy duck. The duck is somewhat creepy-looking, but with my shadow cast over it, the expression seems more frightened than menacing. Putting the duck in the left edge of the photo gives room for the implied line-of-sight . . . what is it looking at?

 

(Did you know that there are quite a few unusual examples of playground equipment out there?  A Google search for "creepy playground equipment" brings up a startling array of images, such as these.)

I also took some close-ups of the merry-go-round.  I don't think this is "tack sharp", though -- the front seems in focus, but the back is somewhat less sharply focused.

I took some shots of the jungle gym and the steps up to the slide, too, but nothing emerged as a strong composition.  Finding good photos can be challenging!  After being out in the snow for over an hour, my socks and the knees of my pants were soaked, my feet were cold, and I packed it all in for the day.  

Lessons learned:  Your original vision may or may not work out; be open to other ideas.  And dress for the weather.  

We Who Believe in Freedom

This semester I've been sitting in on classes in Photoshop, television production, and video editing.  It's been interesting to be working so much on visual skills, particularly since I am typically so immersed in the world of words.  In my teaching, in my scholarship, and even blogging, I'm very verbally oriented.  To be sure, I have my visual side, as well, in my textile and photography work, but I am generally less well-versed in visual storytelling than in verbal storytelling.  So it's been a terrific opportunity to grow and develop some new skills (although quite a steep learning curve, as well!).

Our most recent video editing project involved creating a music video using still photographs using Adobe Premiere Pro.  I struggled for a while to develop an idea for the project.  I knew that I wanted to do something around the history of social activism movements, but I couldn't identify the right music.  I spent some time researching songs until I rediscovered a song I used to listen to years ago.  At that point, the vision for the video really came together.  Then I spent endless hours looking for suitable photos online (they had to be topically relevant, visually compelling, and sized large enough).  Thank goodness for the Library of Congress online database!  That was a rich trove of terrific images.  Of course, then I had to make choices about which photos to use (I gathered more than I needed) and in what order, as well as creating movement through the piece.  My first draft was good, but Q noted that the movement across photos was less continuous and smooth.  So I tweaked it to create more consistency in the movement across photos, which I think improved the flow of the video.  I spent another day looking for the source information for the photos (trying to find the name of the photographer, etc.), so I could give appropriate credit.  (Have you noticed how often websites use a photo without any information on its source?)

So it took about two weeks of work, but I learned a lot from the project, both in terms of working within Adobe Premiere Pro and visual storytelling more broadly.  I'm also fairly pleased with the final product.  Enjoy!

Women's Studies Silent Auction

The annual Montgomery College Women's Studies Program Scholarship Breakfast is on Wednesday, Mar. 3 (8-9:30am), which showcases the achievements of Women's Studies students and faculty.  This is also the main fundraiser for the Women's Studies Scholarship fund, and I am coordinating the silent auction part of the breakfast.  Thanks to our generous donors, we have a wonderful array of items for the auction, and all proceeds from the auction go toward student scholarships.  If you see something you want, I am happy to arrange a proxy bid for you.  Just email me by Tuesday, Mar. 2 at 5pm to let me know what item you wish to bid on and how high you are willing to bid. 

I did some new kinds of lighting for some of the pictures, as well as using some different editing options in Photoshop, and I think most of the photos of the silent auction items came out quite well.  Many thanks to Robin Atkins for her post on photographing beadwork, which inspired me to try out these new techniques. 

Silent Auction Slideshow

Rain beads

It rained today, and I love the way that the water forms beads along the bare branches. I didn't manage to get pictures of today's rain beads, but here is a photo of the rose bush outside my front door in November, 2009.



I see beads and adornment everywhere. Q and I met up with friends to see Avatar yesterday (in 3-D). It was a visually lush film, with all kinds of creatures and plants, but I spent a lot of it looking at the Na'vi jewelry and clothing. I started getting visions of new designs for beaded necklaces and fabric accessories. I'm easily distracted by bright colors and shiny baubles . . . it just made me want run back to my fiber studio and play with my stash. Instead, I'm still working on organizing and clearing out my office. I seem fated to be surrounded by piles of paper.

Happy New Year!

I've never been much into celebrating New Year's Eve -- it's just not a holiday that speaks strongly to me. Some years we've gone out to a party. One year we hosted a party. One year I had a gig. But our latest tradition is my favorite. We stay home, build a fire in the fireplace, and spend the evening together. Q does a great job of building a fire, and we have fun putting in special pinecones that make colored flames. A quiet, peaceful evening is just what I most need after the stresses of end-of-semester grading and holiday shopping. And I get to start the new year with my best friend and beloved. What could be more perfect?

I hope you all have as much fun as I will. Happy New Year!

Winter has arrived

Baby, it's cold outside -- a good day to curl up at home and stay warm.

And today, we got our first snow of the season.

Why are these slides a funny color?

I've been scanning in old slides that I got from my maternal grandparents. It's been fun to have more family photos from long ago, as I have very few photos from that era. But I've also learned the importance of color correcting these slides. When they are scanned in, they have a colored cast that is quite distinctive and makes them look dated. I have been using the color correction tool in Photoshop (I use AutoCorrect so I don't have to set the levels myself), and the difference can be quite dramatic. Here's the original scan of my mother and her parents (Christmas, 1962?):


Here's the color corrected version:


Here's the original scan of my brother and me (note my anxious look -- this shows up a lot in my childhood pictures):


Here's the color corrected version:


Here's the original scan of my brother (whose own son looks *exactly* like him at this age). I love this picture -- just look at that big grin!

Here's the color corrected version:

I'm curious about why there is this colored cast, though. It could be a function of the film developing techniques at the time (movies from the 1960s and 70s have a very different color cast because of changing film techniques, for example). Or it might have been done intentionally for slides, as a way of compensating for the effects of the warm light being cast by the slide projector (which would have been yellowish). Or is it just a function of these slides being old, and that the colors have changed as they aged? If anyone knows why these slides might be off-color, I'd love to know the answer.

Pondering the elements of design

I came across three photos I took of this lighthouse on the St. Lawrence river (near Tadoussac in Quebec, Canada), while we were on a whale-watching/fjord boat trip last year. Each one placed the central design element (the lighthouse) differently within the frame:

The lighthouse is centered, small and distant

The lighthouse is centered, larger and closer

The lighthouse is still larger and closer, but now off-center

How do these different types of placement affect the response to the photo? I generally like the main design element to be large, close, and centered (as in the second photo), but in this case, I didn't. The second photo is fine, but looks too much like a stock picture or a postcard. The first photo, while not providing as much visual punch, gives me a sense of the lighthouse being lonely and isolated, which seems appropriate as a theme. In the third photo, I get a sense of movement and energy that I don't get in either of the other two -- I should remember that an off-centered design element can be very engaging. Which one do you like best, and why?
Addendum: I hadn't thought of it, but someone pointed out that the horizon line also differs in these pictures -- the third has horizon line more horizontal and the line of the hills is just below the largest part of the lighthouse, which is part of why it is so pleasing.

Backyard wildlife

I think it is so cute when our bunny stretches up on its hindlegs:

And here he brought a friend (Did you hear that?):

The birds love it when I put on the sprinkler, and they fluff out all their feathers (I'm huge):

Doesn't this cardinal just look fussy?

Baby bunny

Just for faeriemage, here are some photos of our resident baby bunny. This first one is when it was very little (taken about a month ago).

These were taken today; note the yummy weeds in our lawn which we grow just for the bunnies. . .


In the middle of a hop . . .

Latest backyard sighting

This is for Q