In case you hadn’t noticed already, my processing style is changing and becoming more involved. At least, some of the time. The dichotomy between my love of traditional black and white and fascination with where we’ve taken the Experimental Series is substantial. They are two very different styles of photography serving two very different purposes.

So, what happens when we mix the two? How do we determine which photos get processed in black-and-white or the Experimental format? There are a lot of questions I’m still working out. Part of it has to do with the concept and vision at the time of shooting. When we look at the photos along the wall, it’s difficult, at least for me, to imagine them being processed in black-and-white. The concept didn’t fit. In fact, it didn’t really fit any traditional form of processing. The photos shot in the window, however, would have been diminished had we not left them at their prime form.

When planning a complex concept, though, one has to shoot with some understanding of what is involved in the end process. There, I was lacking information. The first three images from the wall set are pretty much what I had imagined. What disappointed me, though, was the length of time necessary to create that effect (nearly ten hours per image) and the degree to which it didn’t work with every pose I’d planned. I was disappointed and stumped. So, I stopped and walked away from the set for a little over a month.

The intervening time gave me the opportunity to explore and fidget more, finding some combinations that I like for the two remaining poses. Yes, it is ultimately a different style, building upon the first, but there’s enough similarity to hold them together.

I cannot emphasize enough how much I appreciate Ashley being patient with me as I’ve worked on these photos. We shot these all the way back in September! It certainly is not my intention to ever hold a set of pictures this long, but in this instance, I think it was necessary.

Enjoy the photos. We’re going to be flying back and forth between traditional and experimental styles with almost every shoot we do this year. I do hope you’ll join us!

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