This time of year has continuously been a struggle for me in that the landscape is under a post winter, colorless spell and as hard as I try I cannot strain out one decent image that gives me even a small thrill. The above shot was taken in Arizona and is of the Tucson Mountains that are just west of the city of Tucson. I happen to catch this from The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum park area and it was a layered look that I had been hoping to find while near a more elevated landscape as compared to Northwest Iowa.
After processing the image, changing the contrast and other lighting elements, I used my Topaz plugins to tweak the color and to give it a more "painterly" effect. It also was necessary to crop out upper and lower portions of the image as these contained little substance to support their inclusion. Of course this was taken a couple of weeks ago and since my return to Iowa things have been sunny, but dreary with respect to color. I know, I know, Spring is right around the corner, but I'm losing my patience for the sight and smell of new life.
It's during this time of year, every year, that I fall into a artistic slump and I usually, internally, fear that I'm never going to produce another image of any quality. It's like I lost my creative credit card and I'm out of cash. A trip to the local florist and purchase of a bouquet of flowers will usually give me something to shoot while mother nature toils with the release of Spring and the celebration that follows, but even this extravagance has been unfruitful. I was walking in a local prairie yesterday and found some green sprigs of prairie grass making their entrance into the light of day while ahead of me a rising 3/4 moon was advancing skyward. I was excited as this reminded me that this weekend will mark the rising of the full moon which is another opportunity to get out, wake the sleeping spirit, and again try my craft of photography.
I am reminded of the movie "Miracle On 34th Street" during which a little girl repeats "I believe, I believe, I believe..." while trying to evoke the granting of a wish from good ol' St. Nick. That would be me, either beside my tripod or on my knees next to my bed....I believe, I believe, I believe that Spring is really coming!
For more views of my work visit:
"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa www.apieceofworkinc.com
Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com
Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com
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