My last post was September 4, so it’s been close to two months since I’ve shared anything more professional.
I haven’t been idle during the interim.
After taking care of some necessary “adult stuff” (getting my car worked on), I’ve been up and down New England and into New York seeking autumn scenes to capture.
This last weekend I was in Vermont, both for photography and to get away.
It’s already dropping into subfreezing temperatures at night that far north.
Anyone who knows me knows that the cold is not my favorite.
I didn’t like it this time either, but I quickly became obsessed with the dichotomy between warm autumn colors and cold textures and started looking for it everywhere.
The window each morning was pretty narrow, with the sun warming things up enough by 09:30 AM that all the intricate shapes and structures had returned to liquid.
The kind of images I began making are a bit out of my wheelhouse compositionally.
It was a lot of trial and more error than success as I looked for striking scenes close in.
I didn’t exactly point my camera and hope for the best either.
I knew, for instance, that I’d want to create some separation between subjects and the busy “background” so chose a shallower depth of field.
I also initially wanted to showcase the autumn color, but for today’s selection and a few other photos that were in the running I ended up getting rid of that and converted to monochrome.
In this case, I wanted to emphasize the chill and naturally chose a selenium tone.
I think monochrome really plays to what is going on this photo.
Stripped of its color, you’re left with ethereal light areas and softer shadows. As one friend put it, the result is a wispiness. Perfect for late October!
An x-ray also comes to mind.
There’s also still just enough sharpness in the center to accentuate the delicate crystals encrusted on the edges of the leaves in the center of the frame.
Thanks for checking my work out. More to come soon!