monochrome

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Cemeteries

I have discovered that I like the effect of using infrared to photograph in cemeteries. Somehow, the technique seems to suit the mood of these places. This image is from Naseby.

The light coloured path through the centre of the image seems an appropriate route to be taken by the resident ghosts. Misty conditions accentuated the ‘other worldly’ feel to this image. The trees are less substantial when their foliage is reproduced in lighter tones. Turning slightly to the left at the end of the path, the space between the trees indicates to me a route into the unknown.

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Aoraki – Mount Cook

Recently I have been using monochrome much more to interpret landscapes. Although colour is assumed to add life and vibrancy to an image, black and white is simpler and in some ways easier to work with. I think this preference for black and white was enhanced as I began to dabble in infrared photography. There needs to be adequate contrast for monochrome to be effective, but textures become more expressive. I use Nik Silver Efex Pro to transform my colour images. Dust spots are a scourge; they show up so much more in these images. I hope that I have removed them all here.

I made this image of Mt Cook, or Aoraki, (the highest point in New Zealand) during a clearing storm. The green foliage in the foreground was distracting in the colour image and the sky is more dramatic after the Nik transformation.

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Welcome to my New Place

2021. From 2018 my life changed inexorably. Death, reality check, adjustment, Covid, travel restrictions, breast cancer, more reality check, more adjustment.

This blog has languished for years as I reinvented myself. A work-in-progress. Isn’t life always that anyway? Now I am keen to return. My early posts are still here as a benchmark. They are boring. Too long winded. An attempt at completeness, perfection; now my aim is more a commentary on my perceptions of life. Changing through time. More frequent posts. One photo at a time. I thought to change the title. Nature is still my primary interest so I left it the way it is. You won’t see too many humans here so the title mostly serves.

I made this image in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens when I was feeling hemmed in by too many people on a Sunday afternoon. Not the time of day I’d choose to go. I was there with a friend and my infrared-converted Nikon D750. Looking up at the sky for a means of escape, these two trees asked me to express their relationship. I called it Canopy Dance.