Pink Perspective III

Perspective © 2008 Bo Mackison

My first dip into ‘real’ post-processing, or at least post-processing as more than a corrected exposure or a heightened saturation. This is a first, tentative step into manipulation of a photograph, not to fix it, but to actually make it speak a statement.

I have mined this photo several times – first for a study of composition and contrast, then from a story-telling focus. This third attempt – this third perspective – takes me towards a different place.

I did not think I would try this type of post-processing. I thought it more important to work on very basics, and stubbornly to figure it out on my own. Why I insist on re-inventing the wheel, I’m not quite certain.

When I was faced with one of those ‘life-changing experiences’ last fall, I could no longer do the type of visual arts work I had done for the past 25 years. I tip-toed my way into photography, not willing to entirely delete ‘meaning-making’ from my life. Thus far I’ve been ‘taking pictures’ and creating them by eye. This is a foray into the territory of making a photograph by feel.

I cannot pull myself away from the many textures and layers of this photograph. I feel as if I am taking a class on capturing the nuances of this shot. I once considered doing a 100 photo challenge using a single subject. I don’t think the project’s conceiver meant to take a single photograph and work it a hundred ways, but sometimes I see so many ways I want to experiment with this one image. Not a hundred, but more than one or two.

I have no idea where this leads – I think it’s just another avenue to explore and maybe learn something while enjoying the walk.

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Now Open For Business – Pink Perspective II

Taken in a place with no name (See more photos here)

gardengrow.wordpress.com/2008/01/20/green-window/

This time the photo works as a writing prompt with only minor cropping. For me, it opens an imagination bank and makes me want to tell a story. Why is this building “now open” and what is it open for? Do the two men have a part in the story? Why is this building in the center of Nassau’s Main Street, sharing territory with jewelry stores, high-end imports malls and tourist, duty-free liquor stores?

See, it’s definitely a story photo. I have about 5 photos now, both mine and other photographers – from whom I have written permission to use their photos. The photographs are all stored on my private, story-seed blog. I am writing, using the first one and I may post the photo/story combo when it is finished. If nothing else, I think it’s an interesting challenge.

Main Street
Nassau, the Bahamas
January 3, 2008

Snapper

Snapper © 2008 Bo Mackison

The bright yellow and blue tugboat floats in its dock, ready to take control of the ships. Sometimes little is mighty. Why do you think its name is Snapper?

Port of Nassau, Bahamas January 3, 2008

Little Boxes on the Main Street

Pastel Houses © 2008 Bo Mackison

Main Street in Nassau, the Bahamas.

Such lovely houses with bric a brac and hidden architectural beauties. Reminds me of the song about all the houses…

“Little boxes on the ‘main street.’
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
There’s a green one and a pink one
And a blue one, “brightly painted ones”
And they’re all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.”
lyrics by Malvina Reynolds (1960)

Sunday Morning Windows

Stained Glass Window in Christchurch Cathedral, Bahamas © 2008 Bo Mackison

Some see these beauties every Sunday morning. Others of us have to be satisfied with a photograph. Christchurch Cathedral, a short walk from Nassau’s Main Street, is a haven from typical tourist fare. The original Gothic structure was built in 1861. Besides its beautiful stained glass windows, it has embedded stone memorials and epitaphs of church members – civic leaders and seafarers alike – that cover the church’s interior walls.

Nassau, the Bahamas
January 3, 2008