I was photographing my typical assortment of flowers and insects at a local garden yesterday when I came upon a scene that grabbed my attention. A delicate vine was starting to wrap itself around an industrial-looking pipe. I was struck by the juxtaposition of the new life of the tiny leaves and the rusty, scuffed-up decay of the pipe. The scale of the two subjects and their very different colors also provided a sense of contrast.
I did not fully manage to capture the image I had in my head. However, I decided to share my favorite image of the pipe and the vine. Usually I crop at least a bit, but in this case I decided to use the full image as it came out of the camera, with some minor adjustments to the exposure. I composed it in the camera pretty much the way I wanted it to look (and yes I know I’m supposed to do that all of the time).
This was an interesting experiment in shooting something totally different, all part of a learning process as I seek to express myself in my images.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I love the light on the vine.
Great! Nice catch.
Thanks. I think that my eyes are starting to see differently now that I am shooting a lot (it’s like Spiderman, minus the radioactive spider).
I love this, Mike! Great contrast, as you say. And I’m glad to see I’m not the only photo-blogger that uses words like “juxtaposition!” 😉
Vines and tendrils are fascinating. I actually wrote an entire post about them on 09.28.11. Had to find out how the heck they MOVE!
Very nice!
RPRT Photo
Thanks for the positive comments. I am more used to expressing myself and words rather than in images, so using words like “juxtaposition” is no stretch for me. My friend, a photographer, got me started blogging about six weeks ago to give me a way beyond Facebook to show some of my photos. I am not sure she imagined that I would us it as a venue to write so much about my thoughts and feelings, my observations and my aspirations, and my reality and my dreams. My photos are often merely a catalyst, a spark that ignites a greater fire. One of my favorite quotes states that education is not about filling a bucket, but is about lighting a fire. Our job sometimes is to serve as pyromaniacs!
Excellent!