This morning, I rowed my dory north to the Essex-Willsboro line. Temperature was 60° when I set out, cooler than other recent mornings. Although a subtle NW wind was freshening, I was rowing along the west shore of Lake Champlain, so I was able to take advantage of a wind shadow. The low, densely mottled cloud ceiling contributed a strange cinematic atmosphere to this Thursday dory sunup, distracting me as I turned to begin my row back to Rosslyn. Perfection.
It struck me as an opportunity to revisit different ways of perceiving and representing the same subject. 
I invite you to consider the many ways of seeing… Looking at the same subject from the same perspective at the same moment in time, the focus and feeling can differ widely. (Source: Bloom Flanked Gate)
The black-and-white watercolor above and the vibrantly colored one below are derived from the same photograph (bottom of this post), but they provoke a different feeling.
What is the difference? And one way they are both present in the original photograph. 
It’s as if the first and second photograph have pulled out an aspect of the original. And the move away from verisimilitude engages the imagination, solicits participation, and interprets more freely than the photograph. At least I think so.
The row back to our boathouse was even more enjoyable than the journey north. Just a hint of a following sea, and I was warmed up, loose, confident. Each pull of the oars, each lean of my core, each inhalation, moist and warming, put my premature 4:45am wake-up behind me and drew me closer to a day ripe with possibility.
Perfection.
[NB: You may find John Berger’s Ways of Seeing www.ways-of-seeing.cominteresting if this post kindles your curiosity. And you may enjoy experimenting with Waterlogue to explore relationships between photography and watercolor.]
What do you think?