COLORLABS
PHOTOGRAPHy by THOMAS PORTER
Thomas Porter. Ph.D. is an awarded photographer living on a farm named "Thimbleberry Farm" in Northern Virginia. Its name is derived from the large patches of bright red thimbleberries on the farm.
When not in the studio, I enjoy shooting farms, parks, animals, & landscapes that enrich our existence. In truth, I’ll shoot anything that looks interesting.
I believe that art is art. Everything else is everything else.
→ About Thomas
“You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at a picture for a second and think of it all your life.”
– Joan Miro
Autumn COLLECTION
There are more than four seasons. Many photographers understand this, but most do not.
Understanding the various phases of the seasons is crucial for landscape photographers in the middle latitudes – those places that have a traditional cycle of seasons.
For instance, the light in early Autumn is significantly warmer than the thin light in late Autumn.
The calendar year unfolds not merely into four chapters but into an anthology of moments, each defined by its own unique light, colors, shadows, & subjects.
For photographers, each season is less of a span of time & more of a map of fleeting lights & colors. Autumn, particularly, is a wild distribution of unique moments.
There are always two people in every picture: the photographer & the viewer.
— Ansel Adams
"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera."
- Dorothea Lange
Early Autumn is a precious time for photographers to chase that elusive golden hour. Now, the light lingers, wrapping the earth in warmth.
Young Autumn brings a subtle shift, the light retreating as if it senses the coming winter. The trees start to show speckles of gold, their first change of the season. This cooler, gentler light, & crisp air offer a canvas ripe for capturing the changes from active life to dormancy.
It’s a period of subtle transformation where each snapshot encapsulates the promise of rebirth.
Middle Autumn casts a sharper, starker light as the sun bows in a lower arc, creating long, dramatic shadows that delight the photographic eye.
The first frosts dust the earth, inviting the contrast of warm colors against the cold blue of the dawn.
Cloudier skies prevail, painting the landscape in a somber palette that challenges photographers to find beauty in that flat light.
winter COLLECTION
Early Winter offers photographers stark contrasts and the sublime beauty of simplicity. This is a time when every frozen detail, every sparkle of ice under the sun's gaze, can be captured as a testament to nature’s grandeur.
Middle Winter finds the season at its nadir, with ridiculously short days & the sun a distant, low-watt bulb in the sky.
Handling the camera becomes challenging as we fumble with buttons through thick gloves. The prevailing light is soft & often imbued with a bluish hue, painting the world in the colors of solitude.
For photographers, this light offers a canvas to capture serene landscapes where the quiet of nature whispers in each frame.
Late Winter begins a gentle shift towards renewal. The light slowly softens, inviting the thaw that brings intricate textures & patterns in the snow and ice.
This period challenges photographers to capture the dramatic interplay of light & shadow; the gratitude of another death survived.
Spring COLLECTION
Spring unfolds both as a season & as a series of transformative phases, each with its own details, capturing the evolution of awakening.
Early Spring arrives like a whisper, breaking the winter's silence as the first foolhardy buds pierce the snow.
This is the time when we wait impatiently for the first Redbuds, Daffodils, Dogwoods, Wild Cherry Viburnum, & Yarrow to appear – the first vivid colors of the new year.
The light during this phase is crisp & luminous (although it can still be quite flat). This light is a photographer’s friend, emphasizing the delicate color of petals & the fine structure of new leaves, perfect for capturing the beginnings of nature’s reawakening.
Middle Spring is a celebration of life.
The air fills with the scent of blooming flowers & the lush, translucent greens of new growth.
As the sun rises in the sky, the light begins to warm as it moves through less atmosphere, causing the entire day to bask in day-long warm light.
It is the perfect time for photographers to capture the fullness of entire landscapes in bloom.
SUMMER COLLECTION
The transition from Late Spring to Young Summer is seamless, as the cool, gusty winds give way to warm breezes & longer days.
For a photographer, Young Summer is an extended golden hour, where the unfiltered sunlight bathes the world in warm light. Early morning shoots are filled with a lazy amber light that flows across the landscape -- where the dew glistens on new growth.
The world feels fresh & vibrant.
Early Summer continues this narrative of growth, extending the days under a sun that illuminates the world with direct light.
This brilliance can cast annoying deep shadows but also highlights the dozens of flavors of greens --from new light greens to lush darker greens & the short-lived splashes of floral colors – all red, blue, orange, white, gold, yellow & purple.
Photographing during these hours requires an eye for the subtle play of light, as the overhead sun creates a puzzle of high contrasts.
Middle Summer's (or Midsummer’s) light shifts; it becomes more direct, a high-arching sun that – at midday -- leaves few shadows. This can be a dynamic time for capturing the chaotic energy of nature.
MODERN COLLECTION
This modern photo collection employs a refined visual language characterized by high dynamic range, sharp micro contrast, & deliberate compositional geometry.
Each image is meticulously framed using techniques such as leading lines, rule-of-thirds deconstruction, and asymmetrical balance to guide the viewer’s eye.
This collection leverages contemporary post-processing methods, including selective color grading, localized exposure adjustments, & high-resolution detail enhancement to accentuate tonal depth & texture.
The work reflects an architectural sensibility, emphasizing form, light falloff, & the interplay between synthetic structures and natural forms.
“A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know.”
– Diane Arbus
ANIMALS COLLECTION
“I love this life. I feel like I am always catching my breath and saying, ‘Oh! Will you look at that?’ Photography has been my way of bearing witness to the joy I find in seeing the extraordinary in ordinary life. You don’t look for pictures. Your pictures are looking for you.”
– Harold Feinstein
