Tagged: silhouette

I do like these photos, but … (see previous post)

I don’t click the shutter button nearly as often as I used to; it’s not that I don’t take my camera out as much, it’s that I take fewer photos overall but have a higher percentage of photos that I like. Most often, I know before I click if the photo will be worthwhile, and I’m much more willing to wait for the right shot, scene, or composition. In short, I’m much less “spray and pray” with the shutter button that I used to be.

But barns? I found it very difficult to find inspiration and compositions with the barns and other abandoned structures on our trip. It’s not that the buildings weren’t interesting; it’s that I haven’t developed the mind’s eye for it. Once I brought the images into Lightroom, I couldn’t “see” why I took the photo to begin with – or worse – I could see and now I thought it was weak or absent.

Perhaps I need more practice (I do), but as I mentioned before; there’s only so much time to take pictures, and maybe I’d rather spend it with the subjects and scenes that I already love.

 

 

At some point in life, most of us realize that we don’t have time for everything that we’re interested in – we’re forced to drop a hobby because we don’t have time.

Photography reached that point for me a few years back; I used to photograph anything, but I discovered that I wouldn’t edit certain photoshoots or would be annoyed at editing certain shoots. I enjoy certain subject matter and certain photo topics and would like to spend more time with those.

Old, abandoned buildings is one of those topics; it’s not that I don’t like the photos that I come up with, it’s that I’d rather be photographing something else. This was true on our trip to Southern Illinois with Keith French; on two days, we visited abandoned churches and barns, and I found myself wanting to wander through the woods instead.

I do like these photos, but …

 

   

 

 

 

I’ve taken many photos along this theme over the years – I absolutely love the strong silhouette border and pop of colors in the sunlight.

   

 

 

There are two easy rules to follow when you start photographing the world around you: always have your camera ready and always look for a great photo. As I was driving home from the girl’s high school, I spotted the sliver of the moon with the dusk colors; the water in the pond offered a wonderful blue hue as well, so I turned on my hazard lights and hopped out of my car to capture the scene.

 

At this particular corner at the southwest corner of Herrick Forest Preserve, there are two trees standing alone.  They’re not full, in fact that they’re kinda odd, but they make fantastic silhouettes against the pre-dawn hues of the late summer.

 

 

 

I took quite a few photos of this sunrise before the sun peeked above the clouds, and they’re great photos, but they simply don’t hold a candle to the all encompassing orange as the light crested the foggy horizon.  The scene was simply incredible.

I pass by quite a few nature preserves and parks on my normal commute to work – or I can, if I drive a bit off of the beaten path. Last year, I discovered that there is a month or more than the fog hangs thick in the autumn mornings. Stearns Road is a four lane highway, but as it passes between Highway 31 and 59, there are so many beautiful spots.

 

One of my favorite things to do in the winter in Chicago is to visit one of the conservatories to see the plants and blossoms. The splash of color does wonders to invigorate my spirit.
But then I tend to create monochrome images out of my trips because I love the textures.

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I don’t ever shy away from editing an image from cropping to color correction to contrast; I almost never show an image before editing.

But every once in a while a scene presents itself that needs no editing, like this one. I did crop this, my lens simply didn’t have the reach for the crop that I wanted; and of course, I changed it to black & white. Some won’t like this image, even more will find an aspect to critique; and that’s fine, after all art is subjective.

 

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During her interview, Lauri Novak showed us her photo project where she photographed shadows around the house – this photo is an homage to her project!

 

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I drive past these wide open fields every morning, and in the winter they are typically very boring. But on Friday morning, the fog was perfect; just dense enough to conceal the horizon, and just thin enough to show the small patches of forest in the middle of the flat fields.

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“Reflection”

January 2nd, 2024

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“Last Flight of the Day”

May 11th, 2023

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In mid-December, I drove past the Indiana Dunes and stopped and took the first image; around this time, I’d decided that February would be all black & white images – more on that at the end of the month.  I invited a photographer friend to come along on a dedicated trip back to the dunes and took photos with the intention of creating a week’s worth of black & white images.

We had a fantastic day of photography and conversation, and I ended up with quite a few more than 7 images and some images with fantastic texture and composition.

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see more photos of Indiana Dunes

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In October, I led a workshop on “Night photography & Light Painting” at Elgin Area Camera Club.  The only problem was the weeks leading up to my workshop; they were rainy, overcast, and generally not friendly to those kinds of photography.  Instead, Sarah and I purchased several different kinds of glow sticks and LED lights, and over the next week, we tried all sorts of photo experiments with the new toys.  

We enjoyed this so much that even after the workshop night, Sarah and I continued playing with the lights and having fun.

For those that are intesterested, we used regular white Christmas lights, Super Z Outlet Upgraded Light up Foam Sticks (link), Lumistick 12” Jumbo Glow Light Sticks (link), and SurLight 4 Piece Car 72 LED Strip Lights (Amazon no longer lists the items that we bought, but here’s a very similar link).

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