Value in BW photography

When Light Prevails

This photo was taken randomly when water dripped on me while walking along campus. Naturally, I looked up and the sun was so bright all I could make out was the dense center of sun rays and as my eyes adjusted, the silhouette of the leaves and branches. The overpowering of the light was inspiring and this setting is why very little adjustment was needed in the final photo. This photo has an almost framed containment yet the main point of interest is the dense, bright center. At first sight, the viewer will gravitate to this center then the movement of the rays will lead the viewers’ attention out to the darker corners of the photo, to then analyze the silhouette of the beautiful tree.

Stairs into the Sky

This photo I believe has a great compositional balance. The darker rooftop spans from the bottom left corner all the way to the upper right and in the upper left is the sun, providing a nice range of highs and lows. It is an asymmetrical piece but because of the geometrical shapes it almost appears to be symmetrical. The Horizontal direction causes the viewer to focus in a linear manner. Also, the contrast between manmade material and the organic sun plays a game of conflict, hopefully triggering analytical thoughts in the viewer.

Florescent Skyzz

As for mood and feeling in this photo, it has a very hard edged, manmade, almost industrial feel. This photo has the most enhancements and this is also an attribute to the urban feel. It is a very symmetrical piece, not only in mass but in color distribution. There is an even amount of high and low values. The focal point is most definitely in the horizontal light. The pattern is very teasing to the eye, especially lying within the same piece with such an interesting, spattered texture.

Useless find

This particular photo was my favorite of the set. There is an eerie mood to it and a bit of a contradictory idea being presented. The photo is of a power outlet and the way I manipulated the contrast and levels, along with a layer mask made the photo appear to have been taken in the dark. The areas in the photo with the highest values are around the holes to the power outlet and around the actual plug. This makes it appear that there is a light being shined on it. I like this because to me the setting of the photo falls into place as that of a person looking for power in a scary dark room possibly because the power has been cut out. Yet if it is found it would be useless, thus the name.  The composition of the piece is set off to the side and there is a large amount of negative space in the piece, despite this I feel the piece is quite balanced.

Decipher Me

This photo is all about the texture. With just a bit of manipulation on the contrast I was able to bring out the cracks and grain quite well. Along with the various textures there is a full range of value. There is a small amount of tension created in the upper right corner because of cropping issues, this causes most of the visual weight to be in a C shape around the left side of the photo.  It is an asymmetrical photo, but the rhythm created by the movement of the grain will cause the viewers’ attention to cover the majority of the piece.

Circular depth

This photo has a nice rhythm about it. The repetition of the circular pattern draws the viewer in and causes the focus to be all around the piece, leading in towards the middle and into the background. The texture I obtained from playing a bit with the exposure adds a bit of visual weight to the outer parts of the photo, this helps it to balance out the piece. The leaves in the background are not the main focal point but give the viewer an interesting transparency aspect while following the circular patterns.