Hi ,

I can't believe it's February already!! It's been a busy winter so far, with most of my free time taken up with shoveling the record breaking 104+ inches of snow we've had in Anchorage this winter, and doing long bike rides as I train for my upcoming 24-hour mountain bike race in Arizona, which is happening next weekend, just in time for my 56th birthday!! 😀

I'm so excited for my race, as I've been working really hard on my recovery and training, but I'm also excited to have it be done so that I can move on and get back to more photography stuff. 

I haven't shot much during the past few months, but I always feel that it's good to take time off to explore other interests. When you do return, you usually come back with renewed motivation and inspiration. 

Sometimes having a specific creative project or idea can help motivate you, and it can inspire you to look at the world in a slightly different way. 

One of my favorite creative exercises is to create monochromatic images, effectively paring down your scene into a single dominant tone or color family. 

By narrowing down the content of your images into a single hue, you remove one of the most prominent visual element that our eyes are used to seeing when we look at the world, which forces you to focus on the basics of light, frame and moment. 

That said, since you’re not limited to using only black, white and varying levels of gray, your creative options are wide open. You can use any color as the basis for your scene, but the trick is to try and use only that color, or hues that are in the same family, or that live near each other on the color wheel.

You’ll find that your technique for creating these types of images will vary greatly. With some subjects, it will be relatively straightforward. Think closeups on foliage, flowers, or other monochromatic landscapes. These kinds of scenes easily lend themselves to a single color approach.

Other times, your effect will be created largely by the prevailing light, as with the portrait above, and sometimes you’ll need to stretch your visual skills and use creative framing in order to make this work. You can also create these kinds of effects with post processing.

How much color you use in your imagery is totally up to you. There are no rules; you can use a single hue or add small bits of other color in the image for added interest. Personally, I like the challenge of minimizing or entirely eliminating secondary colors other than the primary hue.

Check out this video below to see examples of how I use this technique in my photography. 

Have You Considered 1:1 Coaching?

I've been doing a lot of sessions lately, and I see the impact I have on the photographers I help, when I give them advice, help them set up their cameras, or share insight that they might not have ever thought of or used in their own image making process before. 

If you'd like to kick start your new year with some added insight that can help you take your photography to the next level, consider a personal 1:1 coaching session with me. 

I've even extended my special $20 coupon for another month!  Simply checkout here and use coupon code NEWYEAR20 to book a discounted session and give your camera skills a boost.

"I wanted to let you know how valuable I found our 1:1 coaching session last week!" 

-Susan W.

"Dan is very approachable, extremely knowledgable and patient, all one could ask for in a mentor!"

-Dot W.

I hope you're enjoying 2024 and the creative possibilities that lie ahead! Thanks for reading and I promise I'll be more in touch after my race. 

Take care and happy shooting!