Oncatography: Shadow and Light

Safe Places: The Royal Summer Residence

Living Room, a lazy August Sunday morning...

Patapsco River Stories No. 2: Industrial Decay

Funhouse

Exit Tunnel,  a.k.a. "Funhouse Mirrors",  Virginia Aquarium,  April 2011

On A Winter's Day A Hiker...

Detail, Hitchcock Hall, St. Elizabeths Hospital, Washington D.C.

Tigh na Gumbo

Summertime, and the living is...well, not exactly easy, but I am blessed with this:

There is an Irish saying: "Bricks and mortar make a house, but the laughter of a child makes a home."

How true, how true...the walls can vouch for the presence of her laughter, and I can vouch for love.

Pretty Colors

Oh, Photoshop, what have ye done? Now I can finally watercolor! Sort of.

The image on the left is from the actual photo I took. The image on the right is one that I "watercolored" via Photoshop Elements. At this size the difference is hard to see, but if you click on them, the zoom will show you what I mean.

I always wanted to watercolor, never had the time or patience. And now? I still can't paint with watercolors, but I can pretend I did so.

Wish It Were So

We all know the difference between color and black and white. Right? We see in color, we think in color, we describe in color, so one would think it would be easy to photograph in color, yes?

Maybe for some. Alas, not for me.

Don't get me wrong, I like color. I am fascinated by it. There are certain shades of blue I find mesmerizing, and could stare at them all day. Just wrap myself up in all that blue-y goodness. The flip side of that is distraction. For me to take a picture with the intent to display in color is orders of magnitude more difficult than if I were to display it in black and white. This is because it amounts to information overload. I like it, desire it, chase it...but often the result doesn't match the expectation, and I find myself in these recursive loops of color to print to color to print, ad nauseum. To my architect mind, the analog is making the transition from 2D computer drafting to 3D computer drafting. You can achieve spectacular results with both, but the "Z axis" (the color) adds layers of complexity quite different than that of just X and Y axes.

Occasionally, I hit it just right, but right now it is more guesswork than skill.

I do know this: black and white satisfies a subconscious desire of mine. I didn't know it until tonight while printing some images from color to grayscale to black and white. Watching the b/w print coming out, I finally understood why I have been chasing the b/w images so much. They represent a view of the world that I wish existed, that I wish I had created. The black and white I love so much...I suppose deep in my mind it seems simpler, less complicated.

Which is really all I want my life to be.

 

On The Road From Black Mesa

Approaching this building always makes me feel like Gordon Freeman*. Remember, aim for the head...

*This one is especially for you, O Captain My Captain. Lock and load, let's write a story...

Sarcophagi

Approached with respect, they reveal much to those willing to see...