Today I learnt something new and exciting from my PPSOP classmates which sent me into the “dim room”. Several people have been showcasing photographs that are both black and white and colour all in one image. They are very interesting photographs as they throw the emphasis on the subject in colour by neutralizing the background or any other elements that are in black and white. Sometimes this technique seems to have the effect of rendering a two-dimensional image in three dimensions which brings the subject matter to life. It also is a very forgiving technique in that it can hide some mistakes in the grey by drawing the viewer’s attention to what is in colour instead. Above is a picture I recently took at the Vancouver Aquarium where I applied this selective colouring technique with the hope of having the frog “leap” off the screen.
Excited by the result, I went back to some previous photos taken at the Butchart Gardens in Victoria in May of this year. The tulips were in full bloom and filled almost every corner of the gardens. The photo below was a tulip that appealed to me because it was all alone. I titled it “Touch” and I think that using this new technique makes the title even more appropriate.
When I first started taking photos late last year, one of my instructors told us to keep all our images as we will never know when or how we might bring them to life later on. He showed us a composite image of a sunset and a sillohuette of a man walking down the hill. The two were taken about 15 years apart and one in Holland and the other here in Richmond. It was good advice, given what I was able to do today with something I had captured almost five months ago. I wonder what I will be able to do 15 years from now? Stay tuned!
P.S. I submitted the frog photo for this week’s assignment and here is what Robert Lafollette had to say: Sabrina, LOVE this!!! I also like the fact that you are trying new things here, and this is a classic of using selective coloring to make a very dramatic image. That background is just amazing, for the little bit of light makes this very three dimensional. I would call this one of the finest frog photos I have ever seen, and looks like a fine piece of art. Great job Sabrina and a well deserved PERFECT PICTURE. Wow.-robert.
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