It is always good to learn the past history of doing “things”, but it is bad if you blindly follow a set of rules -especially in art. The above image breaks many rules in photography. It is taken at an F stop that has sharpness issues due to diffraction,it was taken without a Neutral Density density filter to blur the water, and it was taken with a lens seldom used for landscapes (long telephoto). But I didn’t have a ND filter with me, I only had a really long lens, and I needed low ISO, slow shutter speeds, and a small F stop to get the proper exposure for the effect. So I ask you, did breaking the rules work?

For Dramatic B&W images use HDR
When you convert color images to B&W for digital, if your software has a HDR filter use it on the color version before you convert to B&W for maximum tonal range:

I know so many photographers and other types of artists that are afraid of doing something different. Here is an exercise for you, take a picture or painting you really like that you’ve done and change it. Make several different versions in different styles – go from oils to water colors, color to black and white, or from realistic to interpretive. Experiment and find a new point of view:

I liked the photograph but not nearly as much as this digital art rendition.

For me, the importance of the name of an art project should help the viewer relate to their life experiences.

Shovel’s End

In the end your want your art to speak to the person and the very best way to help them with that experience in my opinion is tying it to their life experiences or learned knowledge. Help them get past the perceptual defenses everyone puts up to stop the thousands of messages aimed at them throughout the day. If your art’s name ties into the persons life experiences it will help them see the message in your art – even if it is “art for art’s sake” only.