Recently, I had someone ask me if I saw myself as an artist; my first reaction was, "Uh, No, I just take photos!" My questioner gave me this puzzled expression and said, "Really, Hmmm"?
Now, I considered my grandmother an artist, she designed jewelry, crocheted, knitted and painted amazing landscapes; there wasn't much "creatively" she couldn't or wouldn't try, even when she went partially blind. I resigned myself to the fact that I acquired none of her artistic ability.
But lately, I've been thinking about that conversation and appreciating that there IS an element of "artist" when taking and editing photographs. When shooting photos, having a creative eye for details, like lighting, shadows, location, props, all come into play before and during a session. In the editing room, the skill to effect colors, hue, lighting and even remove and add elements to the photo all lend themselves to creating a "work of art."
This week, I've been playing around with a "run of the mill" photograph I took during a camping trip. Here are some of the artistic liberties I took with it...
The original photograph with no editing
A quick color adjustment with a dark vignette around the edges
Keeping the "mossy" colors, I added back in a few warmer reds and browns; then I used an "Night/Fate" element to give the photo a more eerie affect.
Building on the eerie affect, I added some darker tones to bring in the "Spooky."
Taking the "spooky" look as far as I wanted it to go, I lighted the dark edges and added a warm cream element.
Here, I continued "warming up" the photo by adding a burnt Cinnamon element.
I take pleasure in editing and adding those little extras that I didn't quite catch with the camera!...
I enjoy the process of creating something different from what my camera lens captured!...
Robin
