I just love taking photographs and my second love is manipulating them to get the best from them. Personally I am not one for black and white photography. I love colour! After seeing a particularly striking photograph this morning that looked so much like a photo that I took on my travels last month I decided to do a bit of black and white conversion. The photograph that inspired me was of a stand of trees backlit, the sun was forming a bit of lens flare in the centre of the picture. My own photo of a stand of trees was taken just as the sun was sinking low in the sky behind me. I loved the pattern created by the tress and by their shadows.
If you were to look at earlier postings in my blog you will find a similar image taken in this same stand of trees of a sunrise. The effect is very different.
Many people, when manipulating black and white images, go for very strong contrast. Heavy blacks rather than bright whites. I prefer a softer look - but I guess we are all different!
Another aspect of photography that I enjoy is capturing a subject with a very narrow depth of field. This next picture is also from my same trip - and even taken on the same day! These are the sorts of photographs that can be enjoyed "at the moment" but when my family take a look through my legacy of shots would be tossed aside in favour of shots of people!
The focus is so narrow that only part of the head of the grass is in focus - and yet the other grasses give an atmosphere of place.
I like this - but my family (my critics!) would want to know why I took it! (And not really want to know!)
AJ
