The fact that I have been slacking on posting about Orchids, and the fact that I am a 'Member' of the Shadow Hunters Community, and have not posted there in quite some time either. Double tragedy!!! I must fix this tonight. So as I sit here twiddling my time away, waiting for bed, I begin to play with an Orchid shadow picture I captured.
The end result of my progressive manipulation, was both surprising and quite cool.
Of one of my blooming Orchids. She's a real beauty too. Bright pink shaded flowers in full out bloom. I'll share another post soon on that .. Be patient and check back soon .. For now I wanted to focus on the artistic manipulation of this Orchid Shadow.
Let's start with the original photo Nothing real exciting, but okay I suppose. The morning sun was shining into the room, through a side window, when I took the shot. The suns rays were being filtered by both a screen and a slatted shade that was mostly open. This created a backdrop with a bunch of vertical lines. I for one think that these lines add to the depth and the movement, of the monochromatic picture.
The photo needed some cropping.. And so I cropped out what I didn't want and was left with this; A nice shadow but just a little drab.
Lets try enhancing the sepia like feel .. WOW.. I am really liking this washed out look. Almost reminds me of the late day sun casting bright inconsistent shadows, here and there, just because it can. Hey, after all it is the sun we are talking about here.. unlimited permission to do as she sees fit.
I then decided to play with this idea some .. I changed the color to Pink, the color of the flowers to begin with. Just maybe not this hot of a pink shade.
This one looks pretty cool and kind of electrical if that makes sense to you.
I darkened it up
The I went the complete opposite way, and lightened it up in a BIG way..
I really REALLY loved this silhouette look of the Orchid shadow. I ended up cropping it further at this point, to come up with more of a square appearance. Simple yet powerful in my opinion. Would you know it was of an Orchid, if I didn't say anything? If you have Orchids on the brain like me, then the answer is probably 'Yes'.
I retreated back to the safe zone after all of this playing around with Pink. I set all of the above photos to good old, plain old, never fails, Black & White! I like black and white and find myself creating tons of photos using these tonal values. I like letting my brain fill in the blanks that are left when all color is removed.
I will end my shadow display and manipulations here, with this final photo. It, like it's pink counterpart, is one of my favorites.
“You need to spend time crawling alone through shadows to truly appreciate what it is to stand in the sun.”
― Shaun Hick
My art work incorporates a wide variety of subject matter, including landscape, seascape, cityscape, and still life images. My works are the product of a continuing process of exploration through which I seek to portray personal and visionary interpretations of my surroundings. My paintings are impressions of places and events from everyday life, an interpretation of my imagination, and personal responses to what I see and feel on a daily basis. More recently I have invested generous amounts of time into my landscape painting. I am surrounded by natural and man made beauty, which inherently presents itself in the tri-state area, and almost demands that I paint it.
Not everything is art. Art is not everything, but it comes close. Art is everywhere and all the time. Art makes you experience the beauty of the world, the people in it, and the places we call home. Art itself is so influential that it can tell stories, show feelings, and express passion or fury. Art exists in addition to language; expression of sensations and thoughts, revealing a way of thinking too subtle and delicate for words.
For me art requires love, honesty and perseverance. In return, it reveals some personal, non-analyzable, and creative untamed passion. For the public, art with its magnificent beauty, improves mood and health and builds better human beings and communities. It engages the intellect, softens the heart, strengthens the soul and frees the spirit.
A place for people who Love Orchids!
I am happy to have made 
