This week’s theme is “Dark.”

Joey’s Interpretation: Can there be darkness without light? Can we perceive the night without first living the day? Along a forest trail littered with fallen oak leaves, a sunspot and shadow catch my eye. The illumination on the left gives context to the darkness on the right; can there be one without the other? In keeping with that spirit, this photograph attempted to represent the duality and interconnectedness of light. Therefore, my interpretation of darkness only makes sense when seen alongside the light.

Rey’s Interpretation: I would say that Joey and I are on similar wavelengths this week, which is not surprising given that we had a chance to photograph together for the first time in over a month. We saw, and captured, the same scenes, though as we generally find, our visions were quite different. This week’s theme of “dark” was more challenging in that photography is all about capturing light. Without at lease some light, there can be no photograph. So, the emphasis here is on those portions of the scene where there is darkness. Joey describes the interplay of light and dark above quite well.

In my image, I was struck by the sun shining through these bright yellow leaves along our trail. The black and white conversion allowed me to play with light… and dark. Highlights… and shadows. And though this image is about the radiance of the sun shining through the leaves, without the darker areas, I don’t think this would have worked as well.