I set out yesterday to record the sounds of the park but like any good photographer I brought my camera with me just incase I came across an image that needed to be captured. The recordings that I am doing is for a slideshow of my work that I hope to produce later in the year. I thought it would be a great way of showcasing , what I plan to be, some of my best images of the park. In order to capture the sounds I want I figured I would walk around to the different parts of the park and record as well as look for images to create or visit past images I have done. You know, multitasking.
One such area I revisited was an area where the top half of a tree had fallen and the undergrowth was in the process of covering it up. So there was saplings about 2 to 4 feet tall in the midst of turning color while the shorter growth was still green. All the while the tree branches were bare and a mix of light and dark grey. The flare of color seemed to spill out from the upper right corner of the image and pool near the middle giving a wonderful contrast to the green of the small growth and grey of the tree.
Now that a full season has past I thought I would revisit the area and see if there was an image to be had in black and white. When I arrived I was disappointed that there wasn’t an image to be created at that moment. The scene had changed a bit and that could be because of the lack of growth or the wrong time and the light wasn’t right, either way there wasn’t much to be had. As I was recording I walked around the scene to see if there was any possible compositions to be made and that is when I found a hidden photo that need to be created.
As forest go, this area is small, well traveled and always in a state of death and regeneration when it comes to the trees. Most of the logs that are in a state of decay are large and rather long portions laying on the forest floor. Anything that has been laying down for any length of time has completely discrentagrated and scattered about, but what I came across was different. I found a length of log that is on the path of being consumed by the floor of the woods. The wood is splitting lengthwise along the grains adding to the texture and weathered look. The small plants slightly obscure it filling some of the spaces in the curves of the log. Together the the light at that moment, the plants and the wood make a great study in the contrast in shapes and textures. I couldn’t help but observe and study it from all angles before setting up to capture the image.
Once I had it in Lightroom I worked the image so the weathering of the wood came out against the smooth surface of the leaves. Again, it needed to be black and white and for me, I’m drawn to the warmer toned black and whites and this image needed that treatment. I left it dark with the highlights in the mid greyscale with a lot of lower tones and blacks. Most of the warmth I left in the lower to black tones which for me gives it the that tone range a richness I am drawn to. I do believe there is something about a warm rich tone that pulls on the emotion on a viewer and give a calming effect.
I plan to visit that space again to see if there is an image to be had with different light and additional growth as well as see what happens to that log. This is what I like about this park, it’s not that it has great scenic overlooks but the surrounding areas have these great spots that, in the right light, pull you in and make great images. I definitely feel that these two images will be part of the bigger portfolio I am creating.
