The road twisted down into the open mouth of the parking garage. Slow. Slow. Slowly descending into the earth. We would be out of the searing sun and the heart of the day, no doubt. But what of the dangers that lurked below? There was only one way to find out. Down. down. Downward into the blackness. Day 299 of my 365 photo a day project.
I actually had a tough time coming up with something to say about this image beyond the title. I called it "Unzipping" for obvious reasons. And my goal in shooting it was very simple - I thought the graphic nature of the line of the zipper and the metal teeth coming undone would make for a very cool high contrast minimalist photograph. Beyond that, what was there to say? But after a bit of reflection, I thought the zipper could represent the undoing of civility and respect in our communities. It could also represent the opening of our minds to alternate realities. Or perhaps, if you turn things around, it could be symbolic of the coming together of two opposite sides to create a strong partnership. While all those interpretations of the photo are valid, in reality, not every image I create has a deeper meaning, at least at the beginning. Sometimes, I just thought it was cool.
Outside of the water droplets on the edge of this lily, it was the contrast of the orange against green that first caught my eye. Now as I have said before, it can be difficult to shoot macro hand-held and get the focus where you want it. And with this flower, I was close but did not get the proverbial cigar. Tonight, with the help of several Topaz plugins, a combination of added textures and Photoshop adjustment layers, and a lot of trial and error, I've got something that works for me. Is it exactly what I was looking for when I clicked the shutter? Not really. But in reality, the end photograph rarely is. Day 297 of my 365 photo a day project. Copyright 2016 Scott Norris Photography scottnorrisphotography.com
