Individual aesthetic

A few of the photos I have posted as part of my photo-a-day project and to the daily photo/fine art themes on Google+ have generated some good discussion. Many of the discussion points I have found most interesting center around what each individual looking at an image take away from it. What they like about it, what they would have liked to see done, and suggestions on how to improve/change the image.

As a photographer I am essentially self taught.  The only way for me to expand my comfort zone, grow my eye, and test my skills is to take lots and lots of pictures and to get feedback. I learned a lot with early feedback from college friend Dustin and his dad. I continue to learn with current feedback from the super active photographer and artist communities on Google+, and as I find my own personal aesthetic.  As a hobbiest, my own aesthetic is the only one I have to please. :-)

One of the things that initially really drew me to photography was the concept that 10 people looking at the same tableau will see 20 different views. And 10 people with cameras at the same spot will choose to take photos of different aspects of the spot, or shoot the same aspect in completely different ways. Then even if I take a few shots that are similar to those someone with me takes, how we post process those images further increases the variations that 10 people in one spot come up with.

I tend to try to keep post processing to a minimum, though in learning how to use my photo-processing software better, I do play with the extremes as well. I fairly frequently crop a given image in two different ways, "keeping" multiple crops. When I do play with extreme post processing, I sometimes keep several versions of an image as well.

Some examples of images that have generated some commentary and have been processed in more than one way are below.  In two examples below, the more heavily processed image went into my photo a day album, but I kept a minimally processed version as well.

This first image is the original of the business end of Fred. This is slightly cropped and very slightly edited for tone - fairly typical of how I typically post process images.  

In processing, I decided I preferred the square crop and slid the clarity slider all the way to the -100. I liked how it softened the edges on the leaf litter and the colors a little. 

With the one on the bottom I played with the the curves and liked the splash of larger than life color and how it brought out the spokes to me. The center image is my favorite and is the one I used for photo of the day.

This photo on the right  is close to original. I increased the blacks a little bit to obscure some of the detail in the reflection but otherwise it is pretty true to what I saw on that bridge.  The image on the right, I am not quite sure how I achieved that. I like how it turned the dark parts on the bridge - the reflected branches, the ends of the boards where the water wasn't pooling to gold, and added some color to reflected railings and completely flattened out the reflection of me. I like both: the organic simplicity of the almost monochrome original version, as well as the somewhat colorized and metallicized version. I like them for different reasons. 

The top one is the original image not even cropped (I forgot in my cold induced haze), just turned to black and white and posted as my photo of the day.

One of the comments I got on the image was a suggestion to crop it closer and maybe make it a little grainier.  I am not sure the best way to get the exact graininess I was hoping for (a task for the future to be sure) but I did make it a little grainier and I cropped it close.

The response to the second image was mixed. One person commented that they like the original better, and the person who suggested the close crop thought the foliage took away from message in the graffiti, and thought the second image worked better for him.

In all honesty, if I had cropped the image when I was initially working on it, I would not have cropped quite as close as in the second image. I like the implied line of rocks leading to the left corner of the bench as seen in the top photo. I am also not quite comfortable with the message so close to the top of the image. I guess I really need to do a take three on this image to see what I end up with.  I do like the graniness and the slight brightening. Adding grain is not something I would have thought of without a suggestion from others.

I love the discussion some photos generate, I love the post processing suggestions, I love the individuality of what each person sees in a given photo.

Keep it coming.

Help me keep on learning.

Singing rails

I have heard the expression "singing rails" but I hadn't really considered what it meant.  One part of my daily bike commute parallels a light rail line. The light rail cars are all electric and are fairly short and quite quiet. However, as one approaches, or after one has passed, the rails... sing.

Even if you can't see the train, you can hear the proximity of it. I assume it is a vibration travelling down the rails themselves. I would love to feel the rail after a train passes as well...  but I spent a formative year in England when young and they showed all sorts of nightmare inducing horror films about playing/hanging out/being near active rail lines... so I shall just enjoy the singing as I ride to and from work.

A few thoughts on commuting

To bike commute in the Newark area is many things:

It is 10 minutes of time stopped due to traffic lights.

It is afternoon sirens every day with the exception of this week Tuesday.  I start hearing them as I approach the 280 crossing and they seem to wail up and down both sides of Branch Brook Park until I cross under Bloomfield Ave and then things get quiet.  I have bike commuted every weekday I have been in NJ since January (with three exceptions) and this week Tuesday was the first time I have not heard sirens in the afternoon/evening on my way home.

With the exception of this week, mornings tend to be siren free.  Generally quite peaceful until I cross 280 and then it is city riding.  This morning, however, there was a moment of profound silence in the city.  It was deafening in it's utter lack of sound.

It is not necessarily a breath of fresh air.  I have had more second hand cigarette smoke while stopped at lights near cars where the driver/passengers are smoking with the windows open than ever before whilst riding.  Even when passing cars parked along side the road in Branch Brook.

It is not faster than the train, nor more relaxing for the first bit and last bit each way.

It does, however, make a huge difference in my daily outlook. I took the train yesterday out of pure laziness and I really missed the morning chill and the glow of the evening sun.

Tuesday was a bit of an odd day... Apart from the lack of sirens in the evening, the morning had two odd incidents. First, I came to a light that was red and stopped. Traffic on the cross street was moving normally and as expected their light turned orange, and one more truck turned left, and then the light turned red for the cross street and my light turned green. An ambulance, with no lights flashing or sirens on, stopped at the red light, watched me enter the intersection on my green light and then turned left (on red, on a two way street) across me. Again, no lights flashing or siren on.  The driver was looking me in the eye as he completely cut me off and made his illegal left turn.  The second was a police truck (around Newark there are cars and what look like armored trucks) came to a red light behind a car. The driver of the car was going strait, the police vehicle had no turn signals on... but went into the oncoming lane, went around the car, and turned right (on red at an intersection with a no turn on red sign) and again did not have emergency lights flashing or a siren on.  It reinforces being a defensive rider.

The closer to 5 o'clock I am on the road on my way home, the more encounters I have with impatient drivers honking at me or cutting me off or not acknowledging my presence.