As many of you who have seen my previous entries here, you know that I like to "bend" the parameters of what I am doing. By "bending" it, of course, I mean putting it through whatever filters or processes that are unique to me and, more often than not, discovered "by accident." My "electric" photography is one way I bend it and the twists I make are catching the eyes of those who have never quite seen anything like it before. Electrifying my work always gives me a bit of a charge in the process....and in that process, I look for even more ways to change it. For instance, I am interested in HDR and have put a few up of those but have backed off a bit in favor of others whose work speaks for itself and makes me wonder "WHOA! how does he do that!" but I keep at it. Doing it is better than the alternative. I'll put some more up when I feel a bit more confident about the process.

In my never-ending search to tweak my photography, I find myself going back into my archives of work that I have shot in the past. That is, anything from a few months ago....to a few years ago. Case in point: last year, I spent the weekend at a friend's property in the mountains southwest of Ft. Collins, Colorado. This place, Shoshoko, is the most wonderful spot that is within striking distance for me (as opposed to, for instance Pt. Lobos, near Monterey CA, which is, frankly, Heaven on Earth for me, and is also 1200 miles away); I get up to Shoshoko as often as I can. Last September while there, I took this photograph:

Going back to it, the "electrifying" process didn't have the effect I was looking for so I ran it through some other moves instead. So, this is where my tweaking took me:

I really like the resulting photo, especially the outline of the tree images. In the same sort of way, those shimmering lines show up in the "electric" images. I had to tweak the photo a bit more, clone some stuff out and generally clean up a spot here or there, but that is all just a part of any photo, if it needs it.

Consequently, I began looking in yet another way with the images I am taking (or have taken).
Let me explain that for a moment: when I look at an image, I don't simply look at the composition of it, as many photographers do. I look at an image and then run it through various shifts in my head, imagining how it will look when I run it through, for instance, the "electric" version of it...or the electrified version that looks more like a sepia drawing...or the process I used to use that looks like this

In other words, my mind simply doesn't stop by just looking at the composition of the photograph...it looks a lot deeper and in several different ways. Calculating these moves in my head may seem simple enough but, for one who oftentimes has difficulty maneuvering how to get from Point A to Point B in the city, the process can be a bit taxing. That said, it IS an enjoyable task, especially turning out the finished product, which may, or may not, end up looking what I had envisioned at all!

This explanation is the longer way of saying that I have begun to look for (or see) what I am now calling "negative space". These photos, more often than not, are shot at night. Some, like the photo above, can be shot during the day; however, the background is better subdued, or fog-like, than bright, as in a clear blue sky. Darkness plays a much more important aspect to the study of "Negative space" to me...and the use of a flash to highlight the foreground in a more pronounced way. Imagining this idea in my head can have its travails, such as actually figuring out just how different the darkness may shift. In the end, it's all relative since I can manipulate it until it serves my purpose.

To wit, an original, taken a couple of weeks ago, while out for the evening on one Denver's First Friday Art Walks. [This one was taken out the side door of an interesting artist who extrudes his oils through a screen to produce his paintings. It seemed quite apropos at the time, since his process is so dependent on how it is conceived as opposed to the difficulty of the end product. His process includes painting upside down, requiring him to get underneath the screen and pushing his acrylics up through it....which makes for a lot of up and down body movement. Frankly, it seems to me quite a dizzying effect....and, sometimes, equal to what my brain goes through to imagine how my images will end up!] I walked around this tree and took several shots of it, much to the scratching heads of those watching me. Why on earth was I shooting up into this tree, taking what looked like as just branches?

Here's the resulting "negative space" shift:

By the way, I didn't actually SEE the acorn until after I processed the photo; it was simply indistinct in the tree when I took the original photo.
While I have taken few photographs after dark in the past, that will likely change now!

Have an excellent day!

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I take many of my images in local preserves and wetland areas. Most of them incorporate walking and/or biking trails to enhance the nature experience for the visiting public. I liked the way this path snaked back and forth through the woods, narrowly missing, yet preserving, a number of the mature trees. When I got the image home and began looking at it more closely, I decided to try changing it to sepia tone. It was perfect! Black and white was too stark, but the sepia gave it a softer, more peaceful look.

This photograph also has a more personal meaning for me. A few months ago, I gave this image to my niece and her husband as a wedding gift. They believed, as did I, that the photograph served as a representation of the path their lives were to take together for the future. Congratulations Jen and Zack...may you find joy along the road ahead, and lean on each other when life throws you a curve.

This image may be found on page 2 of the "Landscapes" gallery at:

www.michaelcartaimages.com

Drew this from a photo taken on my first trip to Denmark (strawberries, adidas shorts, 1995), strøget in Copenhagen. The photo itself is bright and sunny and colourful, but for some reason I changed it to sepia and old-fashioned. Well, it's historical, for me. I was nineteen and adventurous (and skint). I just decided one day to go and pick jordbaer in the south of Fyn, meeting lots of interesting people along the way. Back in those days they didn't have the long road bridges between the isles: a trip across Denmark meant getting on lots of ferries. There was a great ferry that the train rolled onto, and off again once in port, straight onto the tracks. That hot summer, the night in Copenhagen came last. I must have had about ten quid's worth of krone left. Doesn't get you very far in Denmark. I went to an atrociously bad hostel, paid my money, sat on the bed (with the hudnred or so other beds in the converted gym around me, got up, went to the front desk, got my krones back and went off into the night. My bags were locked at the station, and went to a karaoke bar, and while singing 'going underground' I told Denmark about my predicament, and I swear I didn't have to buy another drink that whole night. I was younger then. I got on the bus for London the next morning (the bus! Back before the cheap flights boom, the 24 hour eurobus ride from hell was the way the poor travelled) I had one Danish krone left, one of those coins with a hole in it. I threaded a piece of string through it and made it into a necklace. I probably still have it somewhere.

I've been back a couple of times since, each with different stories. A friend of mine just had his stag do in Aarhus, another place I've been a couple of times; wish I could have gone this time! I could at least afford the drinks now.  I love Denmark, it's expensive but the people really are the friendliest.

Sunstream, originally uploaded by Richard Adams.

Another taken at the same time as the one below. I left the colour in this as it added to the intensity of the sunlight and teh effect of the sun streaming through the leaves.

A single black-eyed Susan standing bold and alone…in sepia.

2008 D L Ennis, All rights reserved.

NOTE: Permission for the use of my images is granted for personal websites and blogs (THAT MEANS NO ADS AND NO SELLING OF ANY KIND) but is to include a link back to this site and proper credit given to me, D L Ennis. Link to be used...(Visual Thoughts http://dlennis.wordpress.com/)

NOTE: Commercial use, and the creation of prints, must be purchased! For more information you can contact me here.

...think..., originally uploaded by ZildjianPro.

I took this pic in my yard a while back. Original was shot in .raw format and then edited on Photoshop CS3. What do you think?

The Monochrome 2009 calendar has been released.   If you'd like to explore the contents of the calendar then have a look here

Missie, did you figure out what the symbol on this one?

I told Harry that I was going to get a August and Minerva photo.  For anyone that has been reading Harry's story, August is loosely based on himself, and Minerva is loosely based on Missie.  I think this one will do nicely.

Or any of them really.

Here are some interesting stones.

I saw this in a side section that didn't have too many stones.  It's in French.

Alice in Wonderland (Laced)

Alice in Wonderland (Unlaced)

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