Right Back Where You Started ~ Mono Monday!

"Salt & Pepper Skies"

Ever feel like you're being taken back to school in order to move forward? To go back to where you started just to get to where you're going? Caught yourself wondering if the author of this blog has a clue in her pretty little head... never mind, don't answer that last one.

I feel like this is what's happening with my photography lately. After reading several books on photography and art over the holiday season, not only did I feel inspired to keep photographing what I love, but to do it with the intention of creating themes, stories, and showing content with real quality. Something I had left out of the equation lately.

Yesterday I scouted an area about an hour from me where I knew there were some fabulous structures and examples of architectural design. I really took the time to make photographs that will lead to more photographs, if that makes any sense... I had never been to the area before with the camera, so I simply went with the intention of bringing home visual notes if you will, photos that will remind me of the approach I want to take the next time I go back. Not that I didn't get photographs I like, I did. But I'm determined to learn to bring more to the table visually. To do that I had to make sure I could remember to shoot with purpose.

And that starts with the beginning. What lines are powerful? What shapes need featured? What POV is the best vehicle for why I saw what I saw? Is there something I'm neglecting? Should the photograph be improved by switching the time of day? Switching what season I take it in? And do I keep it simple in Processing? Or do I choose to present certain ideas through editing?

Today's photograph is a start. Nothing more. I have loved the look of these urban condos since their early construction. And they tower over the other residential buildings, perched way up in the sky. The glass and metal patterns reflecting the sun, nearly blinding the camera's sensor, but accentuating the wavy aesthetic of the architectural design. I immediately think of them as salt and pepper shakers! Taken from an adjacent parking garage, I chose to compose the shot to eliminate the scrubby landscaping below, instead, giving them a feeling of isolation, which is how I think it would feel to live so far above everyone else in a building so different from the surrounding habitats. I think I knew right away it'd be B&W, it resonates with the lines against the cloudy skies and adds to it a more formal feel.

But in the end, it's a simple photo. I'm okay with that.

More photographs from yesterday to come, some better evolved, some revolving around one simple concept. But I knew what to do and how to shoot, when I remembered to go back to the beginning and went from there.

Thanks for the ramble... have a great day!