seeing twice

As the images from our Tampa weekend begin to trickle in, I am most curious to see how each of the workshop participants viewed the world around us. Standing in the same spot, it seems our photographs would be similar and this is made even more so because we are also receiving technical instructions on creating our images, for example, “shoot this at f/16 or f/22” or “this is all about the background“. However digital photography affords us an opportunity to revisit what we first see by using tools like Photoshop and Photomatix to change or enhance our images.

Since I now shoot only in RAW, I’ve spent the last few days going through my images, deleting what I consider irredeemable, and focusing on processing the files that I like. This second round of “seeing” has resulted in images I think are sufficiently different from the others to be interpreted as my evolving personal style. Take for instance the image above. It’s your standard Florida palm tree against a sunny blue sky. But make some adjustments in Photoshop and voila, it’s a different palm tree. In particular I find that converting mundane colour images into black and white often reconnects me with what I originally felt at first sight.

Above is an HDR image taken at Ybor City, a historic neighbourhood founded in the 1880′s by Cuban and Spanish cigar manufacturers. In colour this scene felt devoid of the area’s rich history. In black and white, there is a feeling that romantizes the golden age of the 1920′s when Ybor’s cigar production hit a peak of 500 million. At least that’s what I hope this image conveys to each of you.