Color or Black and White?: the Power of the Digital Darkroom

Photographers today have some amazing tools available to them in the digital darkroom! The ability to to produce either a color or black and white image from a digital file today gives the photographer great control and allows  vision, experimentation and choice in bringing the final image to life as a fine print.   I recently started using Silver Efex  Pro, a photo shop plug-in from Nik Software, and for someone who originally did B&W burning,dodging, and toning in the chemical darkroom , the control over the image that this  digital tool  allows is is amazing.  As an example I present a macro image of Broadleaf Chasmanthium, a grass species I photographed this Summer in Oklahoma. Although I do  really like the color image, I believe the  B&W version is a bit more “artistic” and has its own unique beauty.  As an artist I find it very liberating to have such tools available to me as I pursue my creative vision to capture the beauty the natural world.

Advertisement

Taking another look: finding new images among the old.

In getting ready for the upcoming Colorado College Arts and Craft show I have been revisiting older images in my files looking for new stock to print.  I impose on myself very high standards for images that  I offer  for prints so usually very few selects from a particular trip  ever become  a fine print on paper.   However sometimes  a subsequent look after the passage of time will reveal an image that  deserves to be printed, and in my search for some new images to offer  I did indeed find a few more gems on my hard drives:

Aspen,Willows and Pines, Teton NP, Wyoming

I made this image in Teton National Park in the Fall of 2007.  The soft cloudy afternoon light that made the Autumn colors pop, and the strong composition of layers of grass, willows and aspen make this image worthy of  printing. Enjoy.