Ode to Black V – Endless Black
“I’ve been forty years discovering that the queen of all colors was black.”- Auguste Renoir
I’ve always had a strong affinity for the color black.
When I was little and someone would ask us the kids what color we like I never knew what to answer because I was thinking: I like black, but black is not a color (that’s what I kept hearing for years in a row) so I would every time answer something different: blue, green, orange and so on, just to say something that was considered “right”. And even now, every other color that I like and impresses me comes after black.
Black is the absence of light, they say. I say black is the hidden light, it’s the absorbed mysterious light, it’s a promise and a question at the same time. There is plenty of light in black, it’s just not obvious, one has to discover it. It takes time, and you have to watch very carefully and be prepared to discover a secret.
Black is a secret in itself …and I’m trying to find this secret… I just hope I won’t need 40 years as Renoir did.
This image is in a way a sequel of my Ode to Black I – Whispering Black image and it might be the beginning of a series, of a study about the color black and the subdued light, also a question I have and that I’m trying to answer and which is how far I can go with dimming the light till I will feel I have reached the edge.
It was not a conscious decision to follow this path, in the beginning, it just came as a need to explore the darker zones and it came gradually, but now I have some more ideas in mind and they will probably follow this pattern in the months to come.
Technical data
Camera Settings
271 sec. @ f/9, Nikon 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 @ 10mm, ISO100, 10+6-stops ND filters (Hoya Pro 1 Digital ND64 & B+W ND110)
Processing:
LR4, PS CS6, SilverEfex Pro2, Topaz B&W Effects (Topaz Labs B&W Effects 2 Full Review) +Topaz DeNoise + Topaz Detail
FURTHER STUDY RESOURCES
FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY, ARCHITECTURE PHOTOGRAPHY, LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY
Find more resources about fine art black and white photography, (en)Visionography, long exposure photography and architecture photography in Julia Anna Gospodarou’s extensive collection of photography tutorials. To receive free future tutorials, you can subscribe here.
Learn more about how to create fine art photography, from vision to processing and the final image in Julia’s video course From Vision to Final Image – Mastering Black and White Photography Processing, in the video tutorial Long Exposure, Architecture, Fine Art Photography – Creating (en)Visionography, and the book From Basics to Fine Art – Black and White Photography, or by attending one of her highly appreciated workshops.
Find Julia’s recommendation for the best software and gear to create fine art photography and curated deals and discounts for these tools.
To study with Julia Anna Gospodarou personally, find out about our
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Founder of (en)Visionography™ and creator of Photography Drawing™, internationally acclaimed fine art photographer, architect, educator, and best-selling author, with 25+ years experience in photography and architecture, Julia Anna Gospodarou is a leader in modern fine art photography who shaped with her work the way architecture fine art photography looks today.
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