Making a Statement

There are all kinds of ways to make a statement with a photograph, and many reasons for doing so.  Sometimes a photo just seems to cry out for different treatment.  My view is that if you have the means and the skill why not make it (the statement that is)?  The shot of the fountain plaza and the student center at the University of Memphis is a good example.  It was taken on a bright sunny day with a few puffy clouds and a clear blue sky.  I shot it with an extreme wide-angle lens (7 mm) on the Panasonic GH1.  It was really a nice enough photograph, sharp and well exposed.  It was also somewhat boring from my point of view so I thought I would make it different.  In this case, I began to play with it in SilverEfex Pro, which is a third-party filter sold by Nik software.  The end result was something that resembled an antique post card.  While the effect is not far off of one of their default selections, I did do some minor tweaking to get what I wanted.  There is not much point in going through the process as I believe everyone needs to find their own way through the software maze.

As a finishing touch, I found a complimentary color and added a border.  As stated in the beginning, I wanted to make a statement.  Why?  I was trying to say something different about a rather banal subject, or maybe I was just bored and needed to entertain myself.  The reason isn't important.  What is important is the end result.  I happen to like it because I think it worked.