This week our theme was to learn about consistent color pallets. When doing a body of work, a photographic series, it can be powerful to think about a color pallet, with the images sharing a set of hues and tones. Per David Duchemin in his book, The Visual Toolbox, "This creates a flow when the images are presented together, creating a common mood or emotion through the work". He goes on to say you can choose the pallet as you photograph, refining it as you see what you are shooting, and you can further refine it in post process. As you work, you may find an evolution that leads to a stronger, unexpected work that you did not imagine when you started.

I started this week with the thought of using this time of year in Texas... Bluebonnet season! There is a color pallet for you... all those wonderful blue and purplish flowers that cover the countryside of every highway and field. True to Duchemin's experience, as I worked the shots morphed. I had wonderful late day sun. I had my old girl, 14 1/2 year old Meg'n. I really want to take as many pictures of her this year as I can, I'm not sure how much longer I will have this special friend. As I was taking shots, I began to notice this rim light and fill light I was getting. She is a black dog, with a lot of grey and white nowadays. Her eyes have cataracts and she squints in the sun, but I really liked the warming effects I was getting. I boosted it a fraction in post, not much, just a smidge and here is what I got. As with all old dogs, she ran out of energy pretty quick and by the last shot below she was pretty much snoozing in the sun.

So, I started out thinking I was going to have this sea of blue with an old dog. But, what I found was I still wanted the bluebonnets with my old girl, however I  found I really wanted to catch the warmth of the sun as she was in the flowers. I went from my original vision of a cooler tone to this warmer set after the first few shots. Yep, it evolved, and the series has a consistent feel no matter what old Meg'n was doing, standing or napping!

Next up in this blog ring is Dog Walker turned Dog Photographer, Kim Hollis, See Spot Run Photography in Charlotte NC.