Sally D’s Mobile Photography Challenge: Black and White (and Visualization)

19 September 2016

Lens:

I. Taken with Camera+ and edited in Snapseed:

1. Black-and-White Architectural Abstraction; Copyright © 2016 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved

II. Taken with Camera+ and edited in Snapseed and Pixlr:

2. Black-and-White Architectural Abstraction Photomontage; Copyright © 2016 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved

Let me know which you prefer and why. Click on image to enlarge, which takes you to another page. If you decide to leave a comment, please return to this page.

Pens:

Recently, I watched a video with Ansel Adams, the legendary master of black-and-white photography. The turning point in the execution of his art was the discovery of a process that he called visualization–a process that changed the course of his photography and life.

As Adams explained his idea, I realized that over the last few years most of my work emanates from a similar place…that interior space. It is the place where an instinctual force weds with the internal eye to create the image before it is taken: the precise idea that Adams’s advocated and taught. This reliance on the inner senses has become more and more a drive in my own photography.

As an example I selected the photograph in the Lens section. I took it in 2014, a time when this kind of seeing was becoming more and more apparent to me. While I might be able to envision the subject through my own inner lens, the reality is not always as it would seem.

Statistically, I cannot even state the number of images that I forecast, as opposed to the ones that actually are realized as equivalent to my internal vision. Regardless, the architectural abstraction was exactly as I imagined it. I knew that it had to be converted to black and white, that the light hit the building in just the right angle and place, that it sang with a cadence and rhythm. It was the confluence of a vision between the scene and me. The image became fully actualized in the instant of the seeing and reality in print.

The second image is a photomontage that came to mind as I revisited the image this week. I could see nature wrapped around the graphic lines and shapes. The architectural abstraction became a nod to Mother Nature, a consistent theme in my work.

Visualization is a legacy that has remained a force in the practice and teaching of photography. It’s worthy of the attention that it gets.

Tip of the Week:

Here are a few quotes by Ansel Adams. His poignant words are followed by a link to a YouTube video where he explains his philosophy of visualization.

“In my mind’s eye, I visualize how a particular… sight and feeling will appear on a print. If it excites me, there is a good chance it will make a good photograph. It is an intuitive sense, an ability that comes from a lot of practice.”

“…one sees differently with color photography than black-and-white… in short, visualization must be modified by the specific nature of the equipment and materials being used.”

“We must remember that a photograph can hold just as much as we put into it, and no one has ever approached the full possibilities of the medium.”

“To photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces.”

“A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety.”

“A photograph is usually looked at – seldom looked into.”

Click here to watch the short film (5:45 minutes) where Adams discusses his theory, which is a way of seeing with the mind’s eye and applying it to the external subject. I suggest that you skip the ad, and click onto the red-orange box to see the updated version.

Half Dome, Yosemite National Park

View other entries for this week’s challenge:

https://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/2016/09/19/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-white-from-the-cia/

https://patchworkponderings.wordpress.com/2016/09/19/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-and-white-curiosity/

https://ohmsweetohm.me/2016/09/19/

https://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/2016/09/19/kings-cross-train-station-in-black-and-white/

https://decocraftsdigicrafts.wordpress.com/2016/09/20/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-white-landscapes/

https://piecesofstarlight.wordpress.com/2016/09/19/playing-with-goddesses-for-sally-ds-monochrome-challenge/

https://traveller2006.wordpress.com/2016/09/20/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-and-white-2/

https://zimmerbitch.wordpress.com/2016/09/21/a-cube-of-sunlight/

https://christinejrandall.wordpress.com/2016/09/22/a-daily-walk-in-greyscale/

https://chasinglifeandfindingdreams.wordpress.com/2016/09/22/the-act-of-life/

Note:

As always I welcome comments about this post or any part of my blog. My photographs for the mobile photography challenge are taken with an iPhone 6.

****If you would like to buy a print of any of my photographs or have any questions, please view the Contact Information found on the masthead. Thank you.

If you’d like to join this Mobile Photography Challenge, please click here for details and history of the challenge. If you have any questions, please contact me. Below is a reminder of the monthly schedule with themes for upcoming challenges:

1st Monday: Nature.

2nd Monday: Macro.

3rd Monday: Black and White.

4th Monday Challenger’s Choice (Pick One: Abstraction, Animals, Architecture, Food Photography, Night Photography, Objects, Panorama, Portraiture, Photomontage, Still Life, Street Photography, and Travel).

5th Monday: Editing and Processing with Various Apps Using Themes from the Fourth Week.