Thursday, January 19, 2012

monochromatic landscapes


I am not going to lie living in Southern California there isn't much to complain about. The weather forecast usually reads something like: sunny mid to upper 70s for the next five days. We wear bathing suits under our holiday clothes and apply sunscreen on Christmas. All that sunshine can make it difficult to capture the imperceptible weather shift come January.

I can tell its winter right now, we are seeing less blue and more gray. Everything monochromatic.  Leaves drop and shadows run long. Converting shots to black and white help me squeeze every drop of winter I can out of an image.  My favorite way to enhance lacy tree branches is to convert to black and white and add contrast.

Bright days of sunshine are common in the high desert, the chaparral goes dormant while the cactus lies in wait. The sun low in the sky casts a misleading softness to the needles. I see things differently with each season. I think the ambient light of wintertime brings out great detail you otherwise miss on a sunny filled day. A winter day can provide a nice neutral canvas to highlight your subject like the corroding scrolls of this iron gate. Winter is the perfect canvas.


 
untitled by *esra*

7 comments:

Simon said...

Bathing suits under holiday clothes. Hmmmm. That sounds good. I love your barren tree image-great winter mood.

Kat Sloma said...

I love the idea of the "neutral canvas" of winter Lindsey. That backlit cactus is gorgeous, and I love the wrought iron gate.

Kelly Warren said...

Beautiful shots. I'm in Florida, so no, we don't get much winter either. And the sun is always pretty harsh, no matter the season.

Holly ~ Soupatraveler said...

i love that light on those cacti, so beautiful. yes, the winter light is definitely different. each year i forget how it changes and then come to reappreciate its possibilities.

Anna said...

Hey Lindsey,
You're making me incredibly jealous, as we had 15 below this am! I like how you've pointed out the difference in winter light, regardless of where one lives. These are wonderful B&W's!

Kirstin said...

I'm slowly coming around to appreciating that winter light. Ever so slowly. Thank you for encouraging me to take a fresh look at it!

christina said...

so beautiful! and the earthy grays are amazing.
xo

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