Grayscale

Howdy gang, 

Kind of in a grayscale mood this evening and was going through my library of images and felt like posting these. No message or sermon on the art of black & white photography, just sharing some images that I found interesting.  

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

all photos by Tom Rothenberg 

Maymont

Had a nice trip today to Maymont Park in Richmond - 100 acres filled with exhibits, beautiful gardens and wildlife.  Carried a full backpack throughout the hike and I am pretty tired.  If you go, wear comfortable shoes and go on a day it isn't too hot. 

 

Here are a few images from my trip - click on to enlarge.

 

 

 


The Camera looks both ways......

You may have heard that expression before.  Lately, I can’t go a week without it being mentioned either in an article or a podcast.  I believe the first time I heard it was from the great Rick Sammon

I have found it to be very true and also very thought provoking.  The general idea is that there is something of you in every picture you take.  I suppose that can mean a lot of different things.

For some the meaning is that your subject will take on the same emotions you have as the photographer.  If you are unhappy or uncomfortable - you will probably get the same results from them. 

This was one attempt of getting an Easter picture of my son.  Joshua didn’t have much interest at the time for sitting through it.  So instead of postponing it, I pushed through while getting equally frustrated.  I think we both had the same expression when I snapped this one.


But maybe more importantly the phrase also speaks to what is important to us.  We tend to take pictures of things we care about or at least interest us.  We obviously take more pictures of friends and family then acquaintances. 

Even in other types of photography, it is common for people to have a special interest.  Whether you like landscapes or wildlife or whatever -  there is a good chance you shoot a bunch of the same stuff.  Or maybe not.  Perhaps you have a wide range of interest and your’e all over the place.  That’s cool, too.  Either way I think what we shoot reflects something about us. 

It’s almost like creating a pictorial autobiography for others to learn about us.  It’s too bad our ancestors didn't live in this digital age where they could have left a Flickr pool for us to review.  We would know so much more. 

What will your pictures say about you?


your best camera

To quote Chase Jarvis, “the best camera is the one that's with you”.

 

I was reminded of that during a recent post processing job for a client.  Besides my own photography, I often help others with their own images.

 

We all remember the snow, right?  Well during the first storm in December my neighbor decided to take a walk in the Battlefield to see all the snow.  It was very difficult to simply walk - much less bring along a heavy camera.  So off he went armed only with his Blackberry.  He took a series of photos of the wintery landscapes and lived to tell about his multi-hour journey.    

 

I’m not certain what resolution camera is in a Blackberry, but I can tell you the images were small and of low quality.  That is to be expected, it’s not a Nikon for gosh sakes:)   But that is not important.  What is important is that it was the camera he had with him and that was his best camera - at the time.  Without it he would have lost the opportunity to capture that moment in a photograph.

 

So with his series of small Blackberry pictures I was able to enlarge them to 16x20’s and fix them up a bit.  This is one of my favorites of the series.

 

click image to enalrge

 

I suspect the primary purpose of taking his Blackberry was to call for help if he got stuck.  Luckily it didn't come to that and instead it became his Best Camera.


Is it Spring yet?

Today was as warm as it has been for many weeks.  Still far too cold for my taste but I know it is just a matter of time before all the snow melts and we see blossoms on the trees.  I have a few trips back home to Florida coming up and excited for the opportunity to wear my preferred photography uniform of shorts and a t-shirt.  

photo by Tom Rothenberg

 

Like many, spring is one of my favorite times to capture landscape images.  From blooming Pear trees to the blossoms at the Tidal Basin our photography palette welcomes the colors we have missed for so long. 


photo by Tom Rothenberg

And for me, it cannot come soon enough.

photowalk with Tom

I decided to take a short photowalk around town today.  Everything is still such a mess with all the snow so I only hit a few spots.  I put this quick slideshow together for you to join me in my travels and share some of the images. 

Also, I just realized I misspelled Expodisc in the slide show. Not going to recompile it again, so were just going to let it go :)

 

Monticello

I was in Charlottesville today so I took a quick trip over to one of my favorite American's home.  Yep, Thomas Jefferson. It wasn't really a photography trip but I did get a chance to capture a few images. It was a mild day and the sun was out by noon.  The grounds are beautiful and there is so much to learn.

photo by Tom Rothenberg

photo by Tom Rothenberg

It is amazing how much Thomas Jefferson accomplished in his lifetime.

If you are ever near the Charlottesville, VA area, I encourage you to stop by Monticello for a visit.  Of course, you also want to see the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC.

 

photo by Tom Rothenberg