Young ferns, fighting through the recently-cut grass in our backyard

Sometimes it’s hard to be motivated. For me, this usually means that I’m too busy – working long hours, not enough time away from the computer, and not sleeping enough. When I get to that point, I go numb. The world is flat and uninteresting.

I can usually snap out of that by doing something new and interesting – going to someplace new, or finding a new perspective.  Witness the rooftop pic I took recently – that was inspiring.

Today?  Not so much.  It’s drizzling, but not heavily.  The mosquitoes are out, and I’m itchy.  It’s not warm, kinda dank and grey.  I’ve fought my way to the end of a tough week, but I haven’t had my normal opportunities to exercise.  I’m tired and somewhat cranky.

So I’m fairly unmotivated.  How to get around that?  Shift perspectives!  Yesterday I decided to find something that would come out decently in black & white.  Witness the ferns to the right (click for a larger pic – the larger one is much better!).

Details on this: completely manually focused.  In the flat, grey light it’s pretty uninteresting, but by boosting contrast in photoshop, the fronds begin to stand out.  Shift to black & white with NIK Silver EFex, work in some grain & add to contrast & you have this.

Not bad for 5 minutes of work.