Experimentation is sort of like R&D for my creative mind. It can fuel my inspiration and lead me enthusiastically in new directions or let me wander and simply provide rest and distraction from the normal routine. Once started, an experiment can quickly run it's course, amble on for long periods ultimately leading nowhere, or even pause for a while until the time is right to pick it up again, tomorrow, next week, next month, a year or more from now.
A creative experiment underway the past few months had me working on winter scenes of rural homes and farms. Inspired by the work of a watercolour artist, I set out to capture and process images for a very specific look. I needed deep snowy foregrounds, barren surroundings and even skies and now that we have reached the last day of winter this experiment must pause. Whether I will pick it up again next or some future winter remains to be seen.
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' rural winter - I '
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The experiment produced just five images that come close to the result I was looking for. This week's image (above) is the best of the lot and as serendipity would have it, was my first attempt, capture and post process. A number of learnings came out of the experiment to date. First, not all rural scenes lend themselves to this process. The watercolour artist starts with blank and builds the scene with only the elements that are desired. Any photograph captures everything already in the scene and some elements could not be eliminated either through altering composition or in post processing. A scene with snowy or light plain foreground with minimal detail provides the best starting point as does a plain brighter sky. Dramatic or abrupt transitions to open space at the sides of the scene also allow for isolating the scene through heavy vignetting and transition to full white at the edges without appearing to be sharply cut out. Starting with captures having these characteristics allows processing to create an image where the main subject elements float within the frame or on the final print.
DJE
