Thank you to everyone that participated in the "Impressionism" assignment. The
guidelines for this assignment were to create an image in the style of impressionism. Impressionists emphasized color over "line" in an attempt to re-create the sensation felt by the viewer of the original subject (to recreate the "impression" of a subject), rather than recreating the object itself. One of the primary goals of impressionists was to emphasize the "play of light" on the subject or scene, and the techniques employed emphasized vivid overall effects rather than details.
This was another assignment where I had a difficult time choosing a favorite. As a matter of fact, I voted for my favorite, but then changed my mind after considering what image best conveyed the style of impressionism.
Dave's
Woods-Lined Bank and Cabin kicked off the assignment with a beautiful image that emphasized the play of light on the scene, which was the primary emphasis of the impressionists. This image was a great inspiration, and made me resolve to concentrate more on the play of light in my future images.
Woods-Lined Bank and CabinPhotographed by Dave Leiker (prairiedust)
Michele's
Interpretation of Impressionism emphasized color and softly defined forms to convey a beautiful impression of spring of flowers. I appreciate that Michele
described how she created this image. We had an interesting discussion in the Gallery about the various compositions until Michele decided on this composition. I found it fascinating that simply rotating this image changed the "mood" of the image. You can see how "weight" and empty space come into play in an image by rotating this image and observing the overall change in mood.
Interpretation of ImpressionismPhotographed by Michele Bollhalder
Lars'
FlowerPower was a striking image that used bold colors and post processing to replicate the broad brush strokes of unmixed, high contrast colors of the impressionist style. Lars did a wonderful job creating a three dimensional sense of depth that was greater than life.
FlowerPowerPhotographed by Lars
Lars'
Walking out from Photoshop image was a very successful creation in the impressionist style. Not only did his post-processing techniques in Photoshop replicate the vibrant colors and broad brush strokes of that style, but they also emphasized the "play of light," reminding me of several paintings by Manet. In addition, this is a great "study" of everyday life, and as with many of the great impressionist works created in Paris in the early 1800s, I found myself wondering what social commentary was implied by the image. As several people commented, it is an unusual composition in that the man is walking out of the image, which flies in the face of normal convention. However, it is this break with convention that strengthens the sense that there is an implied symbolism associated with the man leaving the scene, and this sense is reinforced by the man's downward gaze, his slight slump, and his reliance on a cane. I think is was both the implied social commentary and the wonderful recreation of the style of impressionism that resulted in this image being selected as
People's Choice. This is an intriguing and thought provoking image, and I've awarded it
Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit.
Walking out from photoshopPeople's Choice and
Editor's Choice for Artistic MeritPhotographed by Lars
Sue's
Rasta Rick was a fun image that reminded me a bit of our weekly assignment way back in October of 2008 where we tried to reduce each image to the bare minimum required to convey "The Essence" of our subject. It is fascinating how little detail it required to convey Rick's personality in this image. Studying images like this can help us to recognize how sometimes stripping a composition down to the bare essentials can result in more effectively conveying the essence of our subject.
Rasta RickPhotographed by Sue Pepin
Michele's
Backyard Tree, softer image reminded me most of Monet's later works, most specifically his
Haystacks series which dealt primarily with the perception of light. Michele created several different renditions of this image, some with harder light, and this one softer, in an attempt to replicate the style. Although this image comes close, I think the version with the "harder" light might have been a better portrayal of the light; however, the area below the tree in the harder image was very distracting, and based on our discussions in the gallery Michele ended up posting this softer version.
Backyard tree softerPhotographed by Michele Bollhalder
Here's the "harder" image, which had better defined light, but had a distracting "double vision" effect in the area below the tree that caused my eyes to continually struggle to focus:
Backyard tree (original "harder" version)
Photographed by Michele Bollhalder
In an effort to retain the well defined light and beautiful colors, but "soften" the distracting detail in the area below the tree, I modified the image with the "dry brush" filter in Photoshop, to obtain this effect:
Backyard tree (original "harder" version, modified by Keith with dry brush filter)
Photographed by Michele Bollhalder
At least with the "dry brush" version, we've managed to retain the character of the light, while eliminating the "double vision" effect in the area below the tree that caused my eyes to continually struggle to focus. What do you think?
As a last thought, I liked the play of shadows and light in the grass below the tree, but felt that the bright green grass in the immediate foreground stole too much of the viewer's attention from the primary subject, and so tried this crop:
Backyard tree (original "harder" version, modified by Keith with dry brush filter)
Photographed by Michele Bollhalder, dry brush and crop applied by Keith
Marilyn's
Wind chime before the storm was an evocative image that successfully conveyed the feeling of a moment before the storm. At first glance I thought the wind chime was a "spirit catcher" and that sense stayed with me as I viewed the image. This image has a "presence" and life to it that makes it seem as if it is an image of more than just inanimate objects. I can easily imagine the wind and the sway of the trees, (and music of the wind chimes) from the approaching storm. I think many of us were challenged to create an image in the style of impressionism straight out of the camera (without resorting to Photoshop), and Marilyn successfully pulled it off with this image, with its wonderful sense of movement and light. I've awarded this image
Editor's Choice for Technical Merit.
Wind chime before the stormEditor's Choice for Technical MeritPhotographed by Marilyn McKinney
Michele's
Impression of Lauren was an ethereal high key image that evoked the feeling of a child's fantasy. Well done Michele!
Impression of LaurenPhotographed by Michele Bollhalder
I enjoyed Lars' image of
My spanish guitarra gently moving, and somehow the image captured Lars' affection for the guitar. I can imagine the beautiful music Lars and his guitarra make together.
My spanish guitarra gently moving
Photographed by Lars
My
Impression of Tulips image was an attempt to recreate the style of impressionism "out of the camera" without resorting to modifications in Photoshop. I shot the scene with the tulips backlit by the mid-morning sun in order to replicate the distinct changes in tonality common to impressionism. I also wanted to capture the rough forms of the tulips without the realism of too much detail, and so focused in front of the tulips in order to produce the appropriate amount of blur on the tulips in the background, trying to make them appear as if they were daubs of paint on a canvas.
Impression of TulipsPhotographed by Keith
I thought Dave Leiker's description of Rebecca's
Water Garden image as "romantic impressionism" was very appropriate. It's a simple, calming image, and evokes memories of wonderful, relaxing strolls through the garden in a gentle rain.
Water GardenPhotographed by Rebecca
Dave Leiker's
Rainy Day in Arkansas image had wonderful depth, and as I commented in the gallery, I can almost smell the rain and the damp leaves, and hear the patter of the raindrops. This image evokes memories of a cold, wet, wonderful day I spent photographing in a forest outside of Yellowstone. It was a different forest, but it is amazing that this image was so successful at bringing back the memories of the smells and sounds from that day. This image is the one from the assignment that most makes me want to step into the scene and go exploring, which is one of the highest compliments I can give. The opening in the forest on the right side of the image really draws me in. This is an outstanding image, both technically and artistically, and the post-processing is exquisite.
Rainy Day in ArkansasPhotographed by Dave Leiker (prairiedust)
Marilyn's
Salt Flats image was a wonderful example of how atmospheric perspective (haze) can be used to convey a sense of distance and depth. As others mentioned in the image comments in the gallery, the wonderful layering, and the way that the salt flats accented the light were what made this picture a success. Great eye, and wonderful composition Marilyn!
Salt FlatsPhotographed by Marilyn McKinney
Thank you again to everyone that submitted such wonderful images for the assignment. This was one of my favorite assignments, and your amazing images made my week.
Keith