Tree Garland

Tree garland is taken to a whole new level in this Winnipeg neighborhood.

Keep your eyes out for the unusual. Look down or look up instead of only straight ahead. Here the wires strung from pole to pole are heavy with ice and drooping, drawing my attention and interest upwards. A snowy scene, I can't help but let my mind go to Christmas garland being strung through the trees.

I shot this picture at a focal length of 70, aperture of f/7.1 and with a shutter speed of 1/60. I added a texture layer and increased the contrast to draw further attention to the wires.

Subject Matter

The delicate petals are better seen in black and white photography. Though not the same image as the one in my previous post shown in colour, it was take during the same shoot. The light shone through the window and then through the petals, creating a translucency best seen stripped of all colour.

When shooting your subject, determine what in fact your subject is. In this post and the previous one, we might immediately say the subject is the flower. But is it?

What Was

The light is just right. Shining in and through this olive oil bottle, it highlights the dust that sticks to the inside of the glass. Some may have done their best to clean the bottle before the camera came out but that can wipe away the reminder of what was.

The oil in this bottle was used up. We can imagine all the different ways, including the sounds of chopping and dicing, sizzling and boiling. We can hear the laughter or maybe loneliness that may have surrounded this bottle. The dust shows time has passed and invites us to remember or imagine what was.

Keys and Pedals

Sometimes the expected works well with photography. Here, the piano keys are the subject. It works well. You can almost get a sense of the music with the movement in the image. Though not played, they play.

Other times, the unexpected can work equally as well. The pedals of the piano are not often the subject of the picture. This image is quieter, not unlike the workers behind the scenes in an organization or office or church group. Though integral to the music, to the whole, the pedals lie quietly in the shadows of the keys.