Figure 1 – Photopictorialism study #19, “The Path through the Meadow.” Rock Meadow Conservation Area, Belmont, MA. August 1, 2020. (c) DE Wolf 2020.
It has been almost a year since I last posted a photopictorialism study. The goal is to create an image that mimics, at some level, painting, particularly in the style of photo bromoil prints and impressionist painting. What these studies have taught me is the spectrum of techniques that can be used to add noise or confusion to a photograph, in a pleasing and artistic way – enhancing the story by shedding the detail.
Today’s image is the 19th such study in my collection. I call it “The path through the Meadow.” I took it last Saturday at Rock Meadow Conservation Area in Belmont, MA. From its conception, I knew that noise needed to be used to create a veil of mystery in the image. After all, we are never quite clear where a particular path will lead, and, of course, the very term path is an allegory for the journeys in our lives. A hot mid-summer evening, golden setting sun, a sultry atmospheric feeling. I added noise in the simplest of fashions using the “add noise” feature of Adobe Photoshop.
There are so many quotes concerning paths. I will resist Robert Frost and the Road not Taken and use instead
“There are no wrong turnings. Only paths we had not known we were meant to walk.”
― Tigana
Such is the fundamental philosophic conflict. Is our journey merely chaos? Is there a method to our madness, our seemingly mindless wandering? Or just possibly are we preordained to go this way?
Canon T2i with EF70-200mm lens at 70 mm, ISO 800, Aperture Priority AE Mode 1/250th sec at F/7.1, with no exposure compensation.
I wanted to get inside this image and walk along the path…all the more special since I lived in Belmont when I was a child.