Recently, Candice, a good friend visited from Milwaukee. She brought on her laptop pictures from her spring vacation out west: Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. I loaded them on to a memory stick so that we could see them on our TV’s larger screen.
As we watched the slideshow it became apparent that while some of the images were the typical vacation shots of friends and sights that we all take, there were others that went beyond collecting memories. Several times, as Candice narrated the show, she said how much she had enjoyed taking the pictures and how the act of concentration enhanced the overall experience.
My wife and I told her that we thought she had a good eye and that many of her pictures were good. After Candice went back to Milwaukee I looked at her pictures again. More than a few caught my attention. I decided to process and print five and send them to her.
Most folks do not take full advantage of the photos they take because of the additional time and cost. For everyday uses online printing services offer high quality generic processing and the bonus of easy distribution to family and friends. The downside is that you only get to see a hint of the beauty that is hidden away in some of your photos.
That is why I decided to spend a few hours tweaking a handful of Candice’s photos. I wanted to share with her some of the buried beauty she had captured and show her that she is on the right track and that there was much more to her photos.
The adjustments that I made were what I imagined. Candice may have an entirely different visualization of the scene. And that is the beauty of the digital image. With practice and the right tools she can express her own vision or multiple visions of the same photo.
Playing with Candice’s images got me thinking about the last time I was in the mountains. It had been in December, 2008, in an area in the French Pyrenees. Becky and I had spent a quiet week in a charming stone gite in a narrow valley about a kilometer from the town of Fosse. Near the end of our stay fall departed and roaring mountain winds ushered in winter. The heavy roof tiles rattled, the thick stone walls shook and the temperature plunged. It was the customary start of winter.
The picture above was taken along the road that leads to St Paul de Fenouillet and before the entry of winter.
As I worked on this image, I remembered our walking along roads in the crystal clear air, pale watery fall light, amongst blue mountains with bleached bone stone outcroppings, and the early golden sunsets.
When I fine tune and print my images I feel the full power of the photograph to retrieve memories.
This photo is available as 13×19 giclee print and as a stock photo file. Visit Road to St. Paul, Pyrenees Orientales.