Water painting in the swamps. Well that's what it looked like to me anyway. I've been working through some old images, and applying creative editing when looking at them because frankly sometimes the image just wasn't that interesting to begin with. Learning which photos are worth spending time on is a learning curve that I'm still working on. My post processing style is still evolving so I never look at a story, a trip or any single image with a set idea for the look and feel I'm after. I'm really looking to create images that make me smile rather than trying to be a travel blogger. Telling people how much better their life would be if they were here right now is such false advertising. If you go here you can see this awesome thing or place, or meet these wonderful people. That's what I'm trying to convey with my photos. No marketing here, just something pretty. Wow, I sure got sidetracked on a soapbox didn't I?

The original image was kind of ordinary. I tried to make it bright and infuse it with a fake sunlight that clearly didn't exist. It was an overcast day with very little sun coming through the canopy of trees. So I tried instead for a moody feel and that felt more...honest I guess.

Magnolia Plantation in South Carolina

But it was still not that interesting so I turned to something I've been doing more often which is to try a black and white edit on a photo when there's no dynamic light in the scene. For me, the black and white version draws my eye through the photo much better and gives it more depth than the color version. Why some people only edit in color or only in black and white, I'll never understand. Use whatever the scene is giving you I say. For this water painting in the swamps, the black and white gives it a mood and even a nostalgia that suits the grand Magnolia Plantation.

Swamps of Magnolia Plantation in South Carolina with Intentionally Lost and Kevin Wenning #intentionallylost
Devil\'s Water Painting

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