Featured Artist Dave Maes

Photographer Dave Maes selectively incorporates color with black and white, creating a visually intriguing portfolio. Visit his website to see more.

 

 

Since I was very young, I have always loved hiking and exploring the amazing and inspiring mountains of my home state of Colorado.

 

 

I acquired my first film camera when I was sixteen. This gave me the opportunity to combine taking photos of nature and anything unusual with my love of adventure. I also learned the entire darkroom process, from developing film to printing the final image in black and white and color.

 

 

Photography became my life-long passion. I was able to display my work in galleries and museums and sell many of my images.

 

 

The introduction of digital photography provided new opportunities and allowed me to capture interesting images. I quickly embraced this new technology which gave me more artistic expression.

 

 

After my retirement from the fire service I was able to devote all my time and effort into fulfilling my life-long aspiration to travel and capture images of the many wonderful things in the world. I strive to capture the essence of a scene. I tell a story through the image, whether it’s complex or even as simple as an old barn or abandoned relic.

 

 

My photographic collection grew so much that my wife and I decided to enter the art show circuit. From there, I quickly understood that to stand out I was going to have to come up with a fresh angle.

 

 

This was no easy task.

 

 

One day, after experimenting with an image and changing it from full color to black and white with color in a specified area, I realized that I really enjoyed the transformation and artistic intent that this provided. I started to incorporate this technique with more photographs.

 

 

I tentatively introduced my first black and white with selective color photograph, “Ridgway Firehouse,” at a show where it was well received. From there I began to look for opportunities to feature the remarkable contrast that can be found in the procedure of selective color.

 

 

I now feel that I have developed my own personal style. I have found my niche and I am inspired to produce a collection of black and white with selective color images.

 

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