Shadow and light

9 August 2010

The first photo in this post was inspired directly from the work of Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916), a Danish artist. There is a certain pleasant serendipity in this image being shot today, since it was taken in Charlie and Lulu's dining room and Charlie and Lulu were the ones who first introduced me to Hammershøi's work. The painting below, known in Danish as "Sovkornenes dans i solstalerne," was the piece I had in mind when I saw the photo opportunity this morning.



I think the first shot is even more interesting in black and white. iPhoto makes that conversion with just a click. I dialed down the contrast to get the image to the following form.



The remaining shots were taken late this afternoon on our walk through the Thompson Park, just a few miles away. I was playing with the theme of shadows and light…



… reflecting off of the water surface with ripples in deep shade



… on the closely spaced trees in the forest illuminated by the low sun angle



… and on the trunks, pavement, and walkers along the tree-lined path through the park.