…and I rather like the color, actually. No need to paint it black.
Photographing subjects we don’t normally photograph is a great way to train the eye to see differently in order to improve our art.
I am naturally drawn pretty things (like flowers, and butterflies and plants) which tend to be easy to make nice images from. But there are so many other subjects out there that make interesting photos.
It doesn’t always have to be pretty to make a compelling image.
This is why the photograph-a-day challenge I did a few years ago was so valuable to me. Because I was disciplining myself to take and upload one photo a day I was forced to overcome my “photographer’s block”. I learned to see things differently and wound up with photos I never would have taken before–some of which I really liked!
Photos like the one above are a good example of something I wouldn’t normally think to capture. It’s not pretty. It’s not a subject I’m particularly interested in (it’s a door. And a wall. And a… thing.). But it is still a compelling image because of the lines, the texture and, of course, the color.
It may not be something people are going to come in droves to admire for hours, but it’s useful for training my eye to see the world around me differently so that I can learn to make more compelling images overall.
What kinds of images can you make that you wouldn’t have considered before?