ART OF MANIPULATION

Converted with the antique plate filter

No one sees things exactly the same as another. If you put 10 reasonably creative people with cameras in the same situation I suspect you'll get 10 different photographs. Not only that, but someone else looking at those photographs then interprets what we have seen in their unique way. Pretty cool on one hand, because all we can do is what we do, then put it out there for others to see in it what they will. However, as an artist, we have many options to create a portal or path for an observer to follow into our own special world of visual delights. I find there are times I have a specific intention for a photo, and want to make a particular statement. Sometimes it's more illusive.....an image seems to make it's self intuitively, the outside beckoning me from within; a feeling sparking pure consciousness into being, connecting perfectly into a form in the confines of the camera's window frame. Those are magic times; I think that's what keeps many of us clinging to our cameras as one would a love interest. (that sounds weird, huh?) Anyway, with new technology adding more possibilities to extend our photographic vocabularies and flights of fancy, visual impact becomes more and more available and sometimes overwhelming. If money were no object, I'd probably overdose on lens and software, like a diabetic run amok in a candy store. I should probably be grateful I'm being protected from myself. That said, I found an interesting program that I'm using on a 15 day trial download (thank you photo-god.) It's Silver Efex Pro by NIK Software. It's a filtering program that goes into Photoshop and lets you create very interesting black and white conversions. Since downloading it yesterday, I've been experimenting with how one image can be altered to create an entirely different emotional feel.

This is the original photo of Central Park in NYC

Converted with yellow filter and some contrast fiddling