I am continuing to work through my archive of unprocessed files and processed-but-never-finished-and-shared files. At each turn, it feels like the scope of the project grows, mostly because integrating new photos into existing portfolios means that I also need to spend time updating and revising formerly finished files since my tastes have changed significantly over the last few years. I am making slow progress in the right direction so I hope to have a lot of new photos to share as I plod along through my Lightroom catalog.
One of my recent projects focused on finishing some new black and white photos of plants. I added about twenty new photos to our website and then split up a single gallery into three galleries for more cohesive organization. You can find a small selection of the new photos below and you can see each revised here (scroll down to the black and white portfolios).
I find great joy in presenting photos in black and white because of the creative freedom that comes with immediately departing from the expectations of “reality” that come along with color photography. Compared to landscapes, I find it easier to approach a plant and come away with a photo that feels more unique to me even if it is only through a simple technique like using very shallow depth of field. Add black and white processing to the mix and it feels possible to add another layer of personal interpretation to a subject through applying a heavy hand with regard to contrast, dodging, burning, and emphasizing texture. Some of these photos look nothing like the original subject, which for me is the most fun and expressive part of photographing and presenting subjects in the way you see below.
