When I saw these two musicians, I felt that I had seen them before. Sure enough, I found them in some previous photographs I had taken in Central Park several years ago. Their music and emotions added to another wonderful walk through Central Park.
It was a sunny but crisp (~40 degrees) day in NYC’s Central Park. I had passed this gentleman several times in the park. Each time I saw him, he was sitting in a different sun lit location with his eyes closed and a big smile on his face. Beautiful days are meant to be enjoyed.
In today’s environment of electronic games, iPhones, iPads, tablets, smart phones, and computers, it is very rare and enlightening to see children reading a book (even though it is filled with cartoons). About 15 feet from these three, a crowd of people were watching a “troupe” of street dancers performing unbelievable feats. The kids could have cared less. They were fully engrossed in reading. What an uplifting sight!
I usually do not photograph street scenes or people. I just could not help trying to capture this scene from NYC’s Central Park.
Every time I go past Bryant Park in New York, I look up at this magnificent building with its gradual sloping lines. I see something different each time. This time it was the graceful lines pointing up to the bright blue sky and white puffy clouds.
While walking back to the car after a long and productive day, I glanced up and saw the silhouette of multiple mountain ridges. A great way to end a great day.
As March is ending, this will be my last post on Death Valley … at least for a little while. The workshop gave me a much better understanding on what it takes to “see in Black and White”. John Barclay and Dan Sniffen put together a great workshop. Chuck Kimmerle provided a view into B&W photography that can’t be duplicated. The workshop participants included many great photographers on their own merits. My car pool mates, Arthur Ransome and Chuck Robinson are especially talented. I learned much from them as well. Thanks to all, leaders and participants, for making this a great workshop and experience!
I was looking for lines and shapes at Zabriskie Point. In the opposite direction of the point and in the shadows, I saw these repetitive V’s created by multiple ridges coming together. The sun had just started to hit the top of the ridge line on the right side of the image. The balance of the ridges were in a shadow from another ridge in the background. The overall image was very flat. Using processing techniques taught by Chuck Kimmerle in our workshop, I was able to pull out the shadows within the overall shadow. Thanks Chuck!
I had just finished shooting a wide panorama of a range of interesting rock outcroppings. It was a “ho-hum” image of what was going through my mind. Right before I left, I looked down at my feet and saw this interesting remains of a struggling sagebrush. It reminds me of a continuous theme that I need to embed in my approach: Look around and let the images come to me.
This was my original vision of Death Valley, pretty desolate. Badwater Basin, at 282 feet below Sea Level, it is pretty bleak. This image was taken about a mile in from the road. The salt/sand crust was pretty well broken up. The miles of salt flats gave me a very chilling feeling (even though it was over 80 degrees). Can you imagine what the first explorers thought when they came across this bleak landscape.
I have been following Chuck Kimmerle’s work for several years after I saw it in LensWork Magazine. Chuck joined John Barclay and Dan Sniffen as a guest instructor for the Death Valley workshop that I have currently been posting. He discussed his thoughts and feelings on Black and White photography, He emphasized creativity and how it reflects on evoking feelings and emotions. Below is Chuck’s Guest Post on John Barclay’s Blog. (Click on the Link)
I Didn’t See That – A Guest Post from Chuck Kimmerle.
Chuck – thanks for the great insights and help!
John and Dan – thanks for a great workshop!
I saw this image of Titus Canyon in two different ways. Our workshop group was photographing details on the canyon granite walls. I turned back around and saw the sun highlighting the colors on the mountain face above. Cool shadows in the canyon provided a sharp contrast. The color highlights are what caught my eye. But this was a black and white photography workshop. Throughout the workshop, Chuck Kimmerle had been emphasizing seeing and thinking in black and white as we take our shots. I tried to put on a “B&W filter” over my eyes. I started to see greater contrast between the sky, the highlighted mountain face, and two levels of shadow contrast along the canyon walls. Exploring further, I began to see the subtle (and not so subtle) tonal contrasts in the canyon walls as well as the mountain face. I locked the scene in my mind.
Reviewing my images back at home, I picked this image as one of my favorites. I processed it in B&W and was able to capture the B&W image that I had previously set in my mind. The following is the B&W version.
These images are not creative. However, for me they represent a step in the learning process of seeing and thinking in B&W.