Photographer's Journal

                            
                                       
Chicago

                                              
This photograph won a 3rd Place ribbon at Art with a View, 2012. I call it "Chicago" because it is reflections of buildings and a bridge on the surface of the Chicago River.

Folks at Art with a View who spoke with me about this photo were amazed that I had not created it on a computer, or done a lot to intensify the colors and so forth. In fact, this image did not require much editing at all. I cropped it a little on the left because the darker colors on that side were overpowering the others. I enhanced the contrast slightly. Otherwise, it is SOOC, or "straight out of the camera" in photography parlance.

However, that does not mean it was an "easy" photo to make. Rather, I almost missed it.

I was standing still and sort of gazing at the river for a moment--indeed, waiting on a friend who was photographing the underside of the bridge to my left. Suddenly I noticed the amazing colors and how they appeared to be paint poured on the surface of the water. I raised my camera and shot one frame, then tried moving a step or two to the right to see if a slightly different angle enhanced the effect. IT DID NOT!

Indeed, moving to the right or left just a few inches weakened the image. Moreover, the light was changing as the sun fell. I shot one more frame but it is not as good. And then the moment was gone.
                           
                       

Photographer's Journal

                                          
The Color of Light                                           

              
I am part of a group of photographers who know each other only through Google+ and who participate in "Photography+ Project." The founder of the project, Christina Lawrie, picks a theme each month and each of us makes two photographs that interpret the theme. We then gather in online discussion groups called "hangouts" and critique each others' work. It is fun, educational and inspiring.

I took this photo for the September theme, Shadow. It is a view of the vineyard at Landry Vineyards out in west Ouachita parish. I was standing on the edge of the patio in front of the tasting room, and the sun was low in the sky, casting long shadows over most of the vineyard on the opposite hill.

I was struck by how different shades of green in the vines interacted differently with the indirect light of shadows and the direct light of the late afternoon sun coming through a break in the trees behind me. Clearly, the shadow light brings out the blues in the greens and the direct sunlight brings out the yellows in the greens.

I presented this photo to my hangout group in a much wider form, such that the entire image was dominated by shadows. They made several small technical suggestions, but the most important one came from Tamara Pruessner, who said I had included too much shadow. She urged me to crop the image almost square to emphasize the slash of direct light angling across the image. I did and it is much improved!