After participating in the WordPress’ weekly photo challenge for around 8 years, there is a bit of sadness in learning that this week’s challenge is the last edition. Don’t know why this decision was made and so with a bit of confusion and resistance I wave farewell and say, “thank you, it has been great fun. If you wish to return, there is a welcome back, awaiting.”
All-Time Favorites
Watching the moon
at dawn,
solitary, mid-day,
I knew myself completely,
no part left out.
~Izumi Shikibu (J Hirshfield & M Aratani, The Ink Dark Moon)
In this mountain village
where I’ve given up
all hopes of visitors,
how drab life would be
without my loneliness.
~Saigyō (Trans. B Watson, Poems of a Mountain Home)
Nikon D750 f/7.1 1/320 24mm 100 ISO
The practice of the presence of God as being
comparable to that of consciousness
finally makes possible “full awareness” applied
to every thought, word, and deed.
~ Unknown
Nikon D750 f/4.5 1/320s 85mm 100 ISO
This week’s photo study is inspired by my initial reading of Bruce Percy’s ebook, “The Art of Tonal Adjustment.” Thus far into this photo study project, the majority of discussions about composition generally concentrate on the basics of photography; such as, the rule-of-thirds, rule of odds, leading lines, the color red, and so on. Tone, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be a popular subject and one that has a variance of definitions. For example:
Hue is the color. Saturation is the purity/intensity of the color. Tone is the degree of lightness and darkness.
Nikon D750 f/4.5 1/160 85mm 100 ISO
Tone is probably the most intangible element of composition. Tone may consist of shadings from white-to-gray-to-black, or it may consist of darks against lights with little or no grays. The use of dark areas against light areas is a common method of adding the feeling of a third dimension to a two-dimensional black-and-white picture. The interaction of light against dark shades in varying degrees helps to set the mood of a composition.
Nikon D750 f/4.5 1/160 85mm 100 ISO
A picture consisting of dark or somber shades conveys mystery, intrigue, or sadness. When the tones are mostly light and airy, the picture portrays lightness, joy, or airiness.
“Tonal range” is another way of saying what the difference is between the darkest and the lightest parts of a picture.
Nikon D750 f/4.5 1/4,000 85mm 800 ISO
“Tonal contrast” is created when light tones and dark tones lie alongside each other. In any photograph it is natural for the eye to go straight to the highlights and then move about the image, taking in the details.
Nikon D750 f/4.5 1/320s 85mm 100 ISO
Tonal contrast is the basis of many successful black and white images. If you need help to see the tones in your color photos an easy way to do so is to reduce the color saturation to zero. It is easier to see tonal contrast in black and white images because there is no color to distract your eye from the brightness values within the photo. It is important to note that reducing the color saturation to zero is usually not the best way to convert a color image to monochrome.
Nikon D750 f/4.5 1/320s 85mm 100 ISO
Throughout my inital research, I found Bruce Percey’s articles about tone to be an invaluable read. Hope you enjoy.
https://www.brucepercy.co.uk/blog/?category=Tonal+Relationships
How do you understand and demonstrate tone within your photographs?
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Nikon D750 f/11 1/1,000s 85mm 800 ISO
This week’s photo study is a sharing of blog that discusses focal points in landscape photography. Enjoy.
Photo by 12019 / CC0 When it comes to landscape photography we should consider exactly what we want the viewer to focus on and where. This sounds very…obvious. But how do we do so? There’s a certain amount of nuance that photographers don’t always take to heart when looking at a scene. So let’s explore…
via How to Choose a Focal Point for Your Landscape Composition — Loaded Landscapes
For this week’s photo study I am sharing a link to a photo educational post written by Etienne Bossot, a travel photographer based in Asia. I found this discussion on composition templates valuable as it expands upon a number of my past photo study blogs.
How to Use Composition Templates to Improve Your Photography
I will be having the first of two scheduled eye surgeries this coming Monday. I was told that my vision will be greatly improved so am hoping to be back on photo walks, in the digital darkroom, and blogging within a couple of weeks.
Nikon D750 f/4.5 1/2,000 85mm 800 ISO
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