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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