Beauty Within Series

I’ve spent the past few months working on a series of photographs that I call Beauty Within.

I look for scenes that have strong elements of light, shadow, shape and, or texture. Here are some examples of the images I’ve used for the jumping off point for the series.

I took the photo on the left in the Spring of 2008 on the Black Ash Creek Trail in Collingwood. I particularly liked the way the light played on the vegetation just below the surface of the water. The light, watery texture is in direct contrast with the solid, heavy rock.

The edited image on the right gives prominence to the shimmery, spring green of the vegetation.

Black Ash Creek - Collingwood

As you can see, the original image has been turned “inside out” taking the center focus to the outside, wrapping it around the rest of the image – hence the title, Beauty Within.

In the second example below I’ve chosen spring magnolias as my subject. I liked the contrast between the strong branches and the delicate, “ephemeral” blossoms.

Spring Magnolias - Collingwood

Polarizing the original image allowed me to bring greater emphasis to this contrast.