I have always been fascinated by effects like chromatic aberration and whats commonly referred to as “glitch” when it comes to photography. This style of editing, or filter, creates a unique but subtle color separation in the RGB channels of images. There are also more extreme examples where instead of having the effect applied throughout the image, its only specific groups of pixels.

I enjoy color correcting and editing, but I have been wanting to experiment with more artistic styles and effects like this have quickly become my latest obsession for adding unique visual interest to my work.

Having applied similar effects to other photos, I was inspired to apply it to this photo I took not so recently back in the summer of last year. This building is the Milieu apartment complex in the West Loop (Chicago). At the time, I was experimenting and playing around with framing and this is a great, although not so subtle example of that.

I started off by applying the effect to the entire photo. While I did like it, I felt it could be more interesting so i created a couple copies to compare the effect applied in different ways. I quickly realized that a more selective approach would yield more interesting results.

I focused the effect on the main building, or subject, but something felt off. No matter how intense of an effect I added, the colors did not appear as dynamic or as captivating as I had imagined.

I flipped my approach and applied the effect to the surrounding elements instead of the primary subject (i.e. the building). This felt more natural and more intriguing as an extra method of accentuating the framing of the main subject. I feel like it draws viewers’ attention more so to the focal point while adding depth and a bit more visual intrigue to the overall composition.

I have always approached editing like this (experimentation and playing); however, recently, I feel as if I have fallen off. Traditionally, I have had a more “spray and pray” approach when it comes to photography, but with so many photos to cull and edit, it can feel monotonous and overwhelming trying to create different versions of the same photo. Moving forward, I plan on being more intentional with my photography and focusing on the core elements. I feel this will help me develop my eye and artistic expression better while also allowing me to experiment more with my editing.