Black & White Photography

One of my earliest influences in getting into photography as a kid was Ansel Adams. His iconic black & white photos were amazing, I still think of him as one of the best photographic artists of all time. I started out shooting black & white film then graduated to color negative and transparency film as I got older. It has been only in the last couple of years that I long for the beauty that black & white captures in so many subjects. Although I shoot in digital, I really enjoy the challenge of creating a visually pleasing black & white photograph. These are a few examples of my work.

This was taken at the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls, MA. It is a walking bridge that displays hundreds of blossoms from spring to fall, the variety of flowers is breathtaking. I captured the bee using a Sigma macro lens mounted to my Nikon D80 at about 3 inches away.


Here is an infrared image of the Quabbin Tower situated in the Quabbin Park in Ware, MA. It sits at the southern end of the Quabbin Reservoir, the largest man-made body of water in the state. It provides drinking water to the suburbs of Boston and is a protected wildlife area with restrictions on fishing, boating and trail use.

On a recent visit I captured both images above of the Quabbin Tower. There is no charge to climb the tower for fantastic views of the Quabbin. On a clear day it is said you can see views of 5 states. My trip was really to photograph the tower and create a black and white image. I had seen many photos of the tower but none of them seemed appealing to my eye. This view, taken from ground level, I felt best shows not only the detail in the stone structure but the scale as well. For the final image I added a bit of grain to give it a more nostalgic feel.

"Shipwrecked", that's the name I gave this image. I came across this large rusted and crustacean covered piece of iron a few years ago on Salisbury Beach, MA in the State Park. Here's the story: around the turn of the century a cargo ship ran aground in a horrendous storm just off the southeastern coast of NH, the ship broke apart in shallow water and many pieces ended up ashore. This is the only remaining piece of the ship that remains on the beach. It has been left there as a memorial to the many crew members that perished. At least that's my story. It was fun thinking about how it really got there and what it was. But I felt the image needed a story. After converting the image into black and white I added some texture and adjusted the contrast a bit.

One of my goals is to start to photograph subjects on black and white film. I bought a vintage Nikon 35mm for just this reason. Soon I will begin to experiment with film and post processing to hopefully create stunning images to sell.

Stay tuned...there is more to come.

Fine Art America

I have begun to offer many of my images for sales on Fine Art America. These are a collection of watercolors, photographs of flowers and soon a new series of images titled "After Glow". You can find many of these images under these pages nature photos, flower photos and watercolor photos on Fine Art America. Here are a couple sample images of "After Glow" that will be made available soon:


You can access my page at fineartamerica.com/profiles/david-wornham

Here are a few more watercolors and paint effects of flowers I recently photographed at my wife's aunt's and uncle's home over July 4th holiday. To preserve detail in my prints, I use a macro lense and shoot from 3-5 inches away.

My preferred tools are Nikon D80 with Sigma 17-70mm 2.8-4 macro lens and Photoshop Elements 9.0. I have been experimenting with a variety of paint effects to create this works of art.




This last image was not converted into watercolor, I was more impressed with the detail of the stamen against the deep yellow petals of the lily.


I now have many prints for sale on matte paper and canvas at both www.redbubble.com and www.fineartamerica.com. Fine art prints are available matted, framed and as greeting cards.

Watercolors and more watercolors

Here is a collection of watercolor images created from photographs. I use a couple of filters in photoshop to create each one. To truly appreciate the texture and color, they are best printed on matte paper or canvas.

I am always on the hunt for new images to transform and will try to share them as I create them. You can find a collection of my watercolor fine art images at www.redbubble.com/people/dwornham

Photo of the day

Summer Daisy. Simple. Elegant. Innocent. Sure there are many flowers considered more beautiful, but to me nothing says summer as much as a field of Daisies. The simplicity of this flower makes it especially beautiful. I have photographed Daisies dozens of times and never get tired pointing my camera at a single flower or a patch of them.


I really enjoy photographing flowers. Their beauty is timeless. My favorite lens is a Sigma 17-70 Macro 2.8-4.5. It allows me to get up close and bring out the details.

These are Dandelions I shot near the deck in our back yard. I know they are a pain in the you-know-what for anyone with a lawn but what surprised me was the complexity of the flower itself. Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to pick a handful and place them in a vase in our kitchen but this has become one of my favorite shots that I've taken.

I have many more that I will eventually share and I am still looking for new subject matter. A few of my favorites can be found on my website www.davidwornham.com on the photo art page.