COLD BLUE DERIVATIVES.

My proclivity is to shoot warm.

There’s no specific reason for me in doing so except for the simple fact that I “like” it. This isn’t to say that I haven’t ever considered shooting cold…how was it on the other side? Were the colors as bold? As sharp? Would I feel the shift in mood? I knew only one way in reaching that temperature; white balance was always the bridge.

When wanting to experiment I always use the same two word spell: “What if…?”

“What if’s” ask what needs to be asked and “What if’s” bring discovery. So when I asked:

“What if I used American Gothic’s presets, but with incandescent?”

BLUE GOTHIC’S INCEPTION WAS INEVITABLE.

**Blue Louis**, 2024

Especially since the Triple Layer Editing workflow I established for American Gothic would be exactly the same: manipulate white balance “in camera”, apply a Lightroom preset, then apply an RNI Films preset.

Blue Gothic uses the same recipe as American Gothic:

American Gothic X + Emperor
American Gothic Y + Emperor
American Ricoh + Emperor

Unlike the blue photography I was showcasing for my Esplanade Mall documentary work, this new blue photography had been tempered over the course of two years. This sort of blue had a well defined color range—the blues were deeper, and the reds, oranges, yellows, greens…all of them harmonized. These secondary colors had a more pronounced vibrancy.

Finding subjects to photograph became far easier too since I knew what colors had a reaction. Plants, traffic lights, bodies of water, food waste, American interiors…

**Power Lines at Lake Pontchartrain**, 2024

Experimenting with white balance and preset combinations from previous findings is critical to aesthetic discovery. Meaning, aesthetics are inherently derivative.