Another dilemma

In looking at the photos from this post I realized it would be very difficult to color-correct them in an aesthetically pleasing way...so, I'm wondering if black and white is the way to go?

From Star Island 2009

From Star Island 2009

Keep in mind I don't have much experience or knowledge when it comes to converting to black and white, and this is basically just the automatic conversion in Lightroom, plus a little exposure and contrast tweaking. Basically, I really like this group of images (there are many more than I've shared) and I'm trying to find the best way to present them.

Star Island - More Macro

First off, thanks Frank for your response to my last post. Having a fresh look at those photos made me agree that uncropped is the way to go - and made me realize they need more color correction! My monitor isn't really properly calibrated...maybe someday.

I've been continuing on the macro kick on the island...And yesterday was my birthday and I got the new Lensbaby Composer and the macro adapters, so I think I'll be doing close ups for a while. Here area few images from last week:

From Star Island 2009

What else but lichens?

From Star Island 2009

Sun-bleached crab shell

From Star Island 2009

More lichen...

From Star Island 2009

From Star Island 2009

Rosa rugosa starting to bloom.

A dilemma

I'm beginning to notice more and more how much I miss an art community. There are some times when you really need some critique and advice, and this is one of those times. Last week, I took quite a few pictures one night while a few of us on the island were hanging out. It was a dark, cozy space, and it feel like a good time and place to experiment a little bit. One of the many wonderful things about Star Island is that many of the people that work there are artistic or creative in some way. This means they are usually more comfortable being photographed, or at least seem to be used to it or able to ignore it or accept it. This makes my life much easier. I think I tend to get fixated on one thing or one person at a time when I'm taking pictures and for most of that night last week it was Mandy. The combination or lighting and gesture made her a really great subject, but I'm struggling with some of the images I got. I like the movement of her hand but I'm unsure about the framing. I think I'm a bit of a purist, so part of me gravitate towards the full-frame, the unadulterated shot as it was when first taken. At the same time I understand that there are times when extraneous objects are distracted, and need to be cropped out, and I really enjoy a square crop in the right situation. So, I'm left trying to figure out what feels right and I think this might be a good opportunity to get some outside input. So, what do you think?

(Just FYI, these are each a different image, but they all started basically the same in concept and composition. The gesture itself is the only difference)

Uncropped:

From Test Shots/Experiments

Cropped at the same aspect ratio:

From Test Shots/Experiments

Square crop:

From Test Shots/Experiments

Different square crop, excluding the spoon:

From Test Shots/Experiments

More Star Island Eye-Candy

I'm writing this post on the weekend and hoping I've set it so it will automatically post in the middle of the week. Just thought I'd share some more images from my first week on Star Island. As I mentioned before, I've become interested in lichens and moss, and exploring the smaller plant communities on the island (though I'm not sure lichens qualify as plants. Do mosses?). I'm reading a book called The Granite Landscape by Tom Wessels, which had a chapter on mosses and lichens and spotlights various areas of the Northeast with granite features. It's really fascinating for some reason I can't explain - learning the geology of granite and glaciers and the juxtaposition of tiny organisms thriving in such huge, barren places. My interest is always pulled in so many directions, I haven't been able to find a way to combine or tie everything together - I also really enjoyed shooting some candid portraits of people on the island last week, and I love fiber arts, felting, and sewing, and feel the need to create tangible objects. How do I get this to all work together? Or find enough time to pursue everything?

That's a big conversation, and obviously a tangent, so for now, here are more pictures.

From Star Island 2009

From Star Island 2009

From Star Island 2009

From Star Island 2009

From Star Island 2009

I believe the white lichen here is reindeer lichen, which is a fruiticose lichen. Fruiticose lichens are the most plant-like in form, and are the most advanced form of lichen. In order for this reindeer lichen to exist, three other types of lichen had to come and go. I'm sure most of you know lichens take a very long time to grow, since they are most common in barren, extreme environments. It's amazing to think that this tiny organism has probably taken centuries to come into existence, and that could so easily be destroyed by a careless step. (By the way, it's called reindeer lichen because it is a food source for reindeer in the Arctic).

From Star Island 2009

From Star Island 2009

From Star Island 2009

From Star Island 2009

First rainbow of the season!

From Star Island 2009

Star Island 4/20-4/24

Here's a few images from my first week on Star. I still have a ton of images to process, but it's a start.

From Star Island 2009

From Star Island 2009

From Star Island 2009

From Star Island 2009

From Star Island 2009

From Star Island 2009

From Star Island 2009

Spring Flowers

I've been really into my macro lens lately - I've been on the island for a week and I've become fascinated by all the lichens and mosses out there. Before going to the island, I started shooting a lot of rocks and seaweed up close (something I'm still interested in). Star Island is beautiful and really needs to be examined on many different levels, but I see myself sticking with the macro lens mostly for now. I shoot some portraits this week too, but haven't processed any photos from the island yet, so instead, here are some flowers I shot today at the Pawtuckaway Nursery in Lee, NH.

From Pawtuckaway Nursery

From Pawtuckaway Nursery

I find dominantly yellow images really hard to edit, the yellow seems to overwhelm the camera. Reds and magentas do it sometimes to. Makes it hard to figure out white balance vs. saturation.

From Pawtuckaway Nursery

From Pawtuckaway Nursery

From Pawtuckaway Nursery

From Pawtuckaway Nursery