Tag Archives: black


Photo: The Night of Eternal and Unrelenting Darkness

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darkness eternal, insurmountable and unchallenged

Every once in a great while, I create a photograph that is so provocative, so controversial in its unorthodox message, that it sends waves of shock around the world. THE NIGHT OF ETERNAL AND UNRELENTING DARKNESS does just that. I woke up at 2 A.M. with this post-modern vision, immediately going to work on the complex issues of subject matter, composition, and lighting before my dream was forever lost. It is only through my hours of toiling that this ground-breaking achievement can be the domain of all humanity. This is the bifurcation point where new splits from old, from which a whole wave of art can emerge, disrupting our predilections and engaging our senses in new and unstable ways. Can the darkness inspire you? Of course it can. The question is, are you willing to let go of what you’ve learned, to accept that which you now believe you cannot accept? If you cannot, you are the same as the lowly rat, who goes through thousands of generations, never challenging, never innovating, never evolving, never thinking. My highest hope is that you can accept and befriend the darkness, for it represents the darkness of life. The darkness which we cannot escape, the darkness which is always there no matter how we struggle to drown it in light. The darkness which represents what we do not know yet attempt to explain—the darkness which we cannot understand and yet fight so bravely to understand. To know, we must know we cannot know. To understand, we must understand we cannot understand. These are the essential principles of this photograph, THE NIGHT OF ETERNAL AND UNRELENTING DARKNESS, and I know I can pass them on to you.

I had to put all my editing skills to use here, but the end result is so worth the days of torment.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/4000, F22, 50mm, ISO100, 2008-05-05T02:55:41-04, 20080505-065541rxt

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: The Gaze

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The Gaze — a couple looking into each others eyes

Through the eyes of love… or something like that. These are students from my college, who posed for this photograph.

Some of my classmates think they’re about to break into a fist-fight, or that she is backing away fearfully. That wasn’t my intention, but the interpretation is your call.
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Canon Elan IIe, EF 50mm 1:1.4, Kodak 125PX 35mm film, 2008-04-14, the-gaze-rxt

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

You can use the model’s likeness for anything not defamatory. You are one of my “licencees.”

Photo: The Stuccoed House

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The Stuccoed House — a lit, yellow home at night, with three ghosts

A thirty-second exposure of my house at night, with the lights on. Our house has creatively applied stucco that is painted yellow, so it makes an interesting and reflective texture, particularly with the yellowish indoor lights. The ghostly figures are of me standing next to two windows and in the light behind the house; I stood still in each spot for eight seconds to achieve the effect (took four tries). I don’t own a proper tripod, so I used a step-ladder; it does well in a pinch.

For the glowing effect, I used a gaussian-blurred layer with soft-light blending in Adobe Photoshop CS3. Other than that, I added contrast and color, burned the sky, and dodged the ghosts.
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Canon Rebel XTi, EFS 18-55mm, 30″, F3.5, 18mm, ISO400, 2008-03-22T22:11:14-04, 20080323-021114rxt

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: The Green Vortex

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The Green Vortex — green leaves through a pinhole

Some leaves on a tree, through a rolled-up poster right in front of the lens. The reflections on the glossy paper inside make it look like a vortex… a vortex of doom, of course. Green and black are the colors of spring.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/160, F4.5, 50mm, ISO100, 2008-02-29T12:19:33-05, 20080229-161933rxt

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: Ashes and Embers

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Ashes and Embers — fiery red embers in a fireplace

Leftover embers in my wood-burning stove. The foreground is crumpled paper that didn’t burn thoroughly; makes for some interesting folds, colors, and patterns. There is still a bit of fire left in them.

I burned in the highlights a bit, made the colors redder, and added contrast. I was hand-holding the camera and the scene was dim, so I went up to ISO1600; the original is grainy. It’s nice grain, though, which I kept, though you can’t see it except at higher resolutions.
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Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/30, F1.8, 50mm, ISO1600, 2008-02-28T21:00:45-05, 20080229-020045rxt

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: Golden Tapestry

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Golden Tapestry — a golden sun behind silhouetted branches

A golden sunset behind a mess of tree branches. Took this right across the street of my house. It’s the same location and type of tree as A Morning of Fog, but very different lighting.

Darkening and added contrast give this its feeling, though the original is more technically accurate.

Canon Rebel XTi, EFS 18-55mm, 1/3200, F9, 55mm, ISO100, 2008-03-19T19:03:08-04, 20080319-230308rxt

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: The Sky’s Camouflage

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The Sky's Camouflage — a cloudy car in nine colors

Reflections of a vivid sky on a black car. This is my new vision for Sky’s Camouflage; it started with the blue version in the center, and the others I digitally colored for this arrangement.

I’ve been trying this out on my bedroom’s wall for a while; looking at it everyday hasn’t annoyed me yet, so it must be good.

I increased contrast and saturation on the original (blue, center), and mixed up color channels for the eight variations.

Fujifilm FinePix A360, 1/278, F2.81, 5.8mm, ISO64, 2006-06-17T14:44:08-04, the-skys-camouflage-rxt

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: Leafy Droplets 5

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Leafy Droplets 5 — sparkling raindrops on a leaf, in black and white

A leaf with raindrops, in black and white. The sun came out after the rain for this photo, so the contrast was high.

I converted to black and white in Adobe Photoshop, then did basic sharpening and contrast enhancements.

Canon Rebel XTi, EFS 18-55mm, 1/250, F8, 55mm, ISO100, 2007-10-31T16:09:32-04, 2007-10-31_20h09m32

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

More of the Leafy Droplets series.

Photo: Leafy Droplets 4

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Leafy Droplets 4 — a green leaf with dark raindrops

A leaf on a tree in my back yard, which raindrops stick to with ease. This composition was the best; the leaf looks flat, till you get to the top where it fades out like a horizon line. I like how the droplets are linked together with water resting on the veins of the leaf. It was still raining at the time; I was struggling, holding the umbrella while using my camera. :grin:

I burned in the areas that were too bright, and added contrast to achieve the dark mood. This was a fun edit, as I got it to look just as I wanted.
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Canon Rebel XTi, EFS 18-55mm, 1/80, F5.6, 55mm, ISO400, 2007-10-27T17:13:25-04, 2007-10-27_21h13m25

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More of the Leafy Droplets series.

Photo: Leafy Droplets 2

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Leafy Droplets 2 — a dark orange leaf with raindrops

A dark, orange leaf with drops of water. It was still cloudy so the lighting gave contrast, without being too harsh. I decided to fade to black at the top-left, which should add intrigue. This is a re-edit (old version); the leaf started as green, but orange is more interesting and stylish.

I changed the colors through curves in the Lab color space, burned in the parts that are now black, added contrast, and cropped from 1:1.33 to a 1:1.5 aspect ratio.
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Canon PowerShot A620, 1/25, F2.8, 7.3mm, ISO50, 2006-11-08T07:46:00-05, 2006-11-08_07h46m00

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

More of the Leafy Droplets series.