Playing with the Landscape 1
October 29, 2017
One of the advantages a passenger has over a driver is being able to take photographs while the vehicle is moving. I took the opportunity on the drive back to the farmhouse from Ohiopyle State Park. Intentional Camera Movement is a crapshoot, and it’s fun to see what small treasures are caught in the net of mostly deletable photographs when whizzing past the landscape with camera set to slow shutter speed. Tweaking the images in Lightroom and Photoshop completes the lark.
Update, Later in the Day
Adrian says he likes the black and white. Lynn says she wants to see the color. Well, I really didn’t like the natural color, so below the B&W is a compromise image, put through Nik’s Color Efex filter (as are several others in this series).
Romancing Reality 
Love the effect, and black and white is a good choice. And I know exactly what you mean about being a passenger (which I almost never am) rather than a driver. A 🙂
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October 29, 2017 at 6:52 AM
Thanks, Adrian. I also am almost never a passenger. If I could always have my camera with me when a passenger, I might be more willing to give up the driver’s seat from time to time.
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October 29, 2017 at 7:53 AM
You’re whizzing along….contrary to what Adrian said, I find myself wanting to see this in color.
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October 29, 2017 at 2:05 PM
See above. 😉
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October 29, 2017 at 3:13 PM
I’m a big fan of photographic surprises and serendipity, and encourage you to do more in the way of experimentation. (Fortunately we don’t have to worry about wasting film any longer.) Makes me wonder about Ansel Adams and his emphasis on pre-visualization: How would that have changed, if at all, if digital photography had existed during his prime.
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October 30, 2017 at 1:18 AM
Thank you, Alan, for the encouragement. I really enjoyed playing with these ICM photographs. I took one of them (the last one, which will post November 3) way beyond adding some color in Nik’s Color Efex. I darkened and lightened rather mercilessly back in Lightroom after applying the Nik filter. Today I spent a long time looking at the work of Isabelle Menin (http://www.isabellemenin.com/). I was drawn to it for her ability to make flower photographs interesting, but then started to see why they were interesting. A lot has to do with layering, but she also messes with pixels, smearing them around. Maybe I need to cut down on the number of images I work with and concentrate on experimenting with only a few. One of my problems is being in love with the physical world as it is. I can’t imagine making a dumpster or a Leptothrix discophora film more interesting with my manipulations. But if I start with ICM photos, maybe I can get somewhere. . . . Oh, don’t we wish Ansel Adams were still with us to see what he would do now.
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October 30, 2017 at 1:58 PM
Thanks Linda for introducing me to Isabelle Menin’s work, It’s so breathtakingly beautiful that I have to wonder why I bother taking pictures anymore — it’s what I would imagine photographs of Creation would have looked like if God had hired a photographer for those six days.
Nevertheless, I will go on making photographs — just as Dylan continued composing songs after writing “Lay Down Your Weary Tune.”
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October 31, 2017 at 3:13 PM
Ah, so you do that, too. My answer to “Why do I bother” always comes down to “Because it’s fun.” Not a very sophisticated answer, but one that puts me back on track. And please, Alan, keep taking pictures.
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October 31, 2017 at 4:49 PM
Always fun to experiment; there is not much control and you have to find your way by trial and error. I prefer the color version.
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October 30, 2017 at 5:25 AM
Yes, I do need to experiment more. See my answer to ag above. Thanks for adding your voice to the discussion, Harrie.
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October 30, 2017 at 2:01 PM
I like both versions and your decision to be so experimental. The color version for me represents/suggests the current season (fall, Halloween) or even the fires in California. Subconscious serendipity ?
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October 30, 2017 at 9:26 AM
Thanks, Clare. I think it was only last week that I said I would be vigilant about photographs that disappointed me, looking at them as opportunities to work on them further. I think that’s part of what I was doing with these images made with Intentional Camera Movement. I had such hopes for good images right out of the camera, and that didn’t happen. I had to fuss with them. I thought I’d chosen the colors in the color version just based on colors I liked, but maybe it was subconscious serendipity . . .
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October 30, 2017 at 2:06 PM
On fire!! 🙂 I enjoyed your comment conversation with Alan…the part about being in love with the physical world as it is, and certain subjects being ones you wouldn’t want to play with. Yesterday I went to an arboretum in Seattle where I knew the trees would be looking great, and took my favorite prime lens and a vintage lens that gives warm-toned, soft results. The vintage lens gave some beautiful results the other day with Fall color, but yesterday I didn’t even use it, I was so caught up in just wanting to record what I was seeing – granted, different versions, angles, etc. than other people were probably recording with their cameras, but still faithful to the scene. There’s room for both techniques though.
I wasn’t aware of Isabelle Menin’s work – glad you mentioned it –
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October 31, 2017 at 11:41 AM
I don’t know why, but I need to remind myself that I can have multiple bodies of work. So thanks for the reminder to remind myself. I first saw Isabelle Menin’s work on the Fine Art Photography section of Edge of Humanity Magazine. Looking forward to all your tree photographs.
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October 31, 2017 at 2:19 PM