I often get interesting trains of thought before I head to sleep. Here’s what I was thinking last night when thinking of how to improve my wide angle photography and methods of increasing the dynamic range of imagery. Don’t worry if you have no idea what you are reading.

If I look at the world through eyes of steel, an objective realist look, the result is a mixture of beauty and flaws; of black and white; an image wtih no greys, no mystery. Having developed much of my photography in Japan - a land of great contrast - as an outsider, the natural point of view is unusual. The visual translation of a jumbled architectural montage can be easily lost. Do the questions an outsider asks about what they see and experience change their way of thinking? For many, once home is left, their view is changed and transformed. In lands of extremes, the truth of what we experience must sometimes give way to emotion. Subjectivity must be regained to seek meaning.

The thing about a lot of HDR photography is that the midtones are all off; a self-composed life of greyness that shadows emotion. It is well known that ‘Contrast begets meaning’. Yet does that make the Greys meaningless? Take water for example; a giver of life. It not only non-grey, but is transparent and yet reflective. What does that make the opaque silver? Is the mirror in liquid metal a reflection of light and shadow, or is it the Medium? It is a common technique to achieve a single 360 degree point of view using a mirrored sphere. What is the importance of the middle light? Silver media may have gold plating. Is Au (gold) the sepia of the Greys?

Water may be the medium of life that links outer and inner soul
A relationship that must be made to become entire and whole

If silver is to bounce, then water is to communicate; to give and receive. Life is not just the people you’ve met, the placed you’ve been, the experiences you’ve had. Life is you, and life is now. It always changes, develops, and shows you a new thing every day. Drive your passion forwards. Reach for the horizon. You might sometimes go in circles, but a little bit of imagination can lead you to great places. The horizon may be a constant, but is not the core of the Earth. The highs and lows of life are good and bad. Those on the side of the road may not be progressing, but are thinking; observing; becoming. The greys of life are the medium of transformation. When a link is formed between the grey and the contrast, it is perhaps then that true beauty is revealed. The horizon may be heavenly, but even in life, there are ways of seeing the Other side of the sphere.