Featured Artist John Hintz

Photographer John Hintz uses inverted color to capture fascinating details of the flora of southwest Florida. Visit his website to view more of his striking portfolio.

 

 

As you will see in my “Inverted Color Images of Nature Series”, my approach to nature photography is noticeably different from the norm.

 

 

When I head out onto the swamps, preserves, beaches and more of southwest Florida, my focus isn’t so much on landscapes, still lifes or particular objects, but on uncovering the often amazing natural details and compositions contained within those views. You will also see that the inverted colors I use aren’t just added as a novelty, but are actually employed to assist in accomplishing my intent.

 

 

There’s a whole fantastic, almost otherworldly layer, of abstract lines, shapes, colors, textures, shadows and reflections out there hidden within stray vegetation and terrain. It’s my goal to seek out this extraordinary, nature-made art and digitally capture as much of it as I possibly can.

 

 

Then, back in my office, after all the usual processing steps are completed, the last thing I do is invert the original colors in the image to their direct opposites in the color spectrum. In other words, greens become reds, blues become oranges, yellows become purples, blacks become whites, and so on.

 

 

The effects of this are twofold. Not only do the unusual colors make my images a bit more intriguing, visually appealing and even somewhat surreal, they also, in fact, help enhance subtle details within the image, especially in darker areas.

 

 

It’s really not until after the color inversion is made that I can finally evaluate the quality of a photo and determine if I successfully got the image I had originally envisioned—a tantalizing view of our world that, if not for my efforts, would most assuredly go unnoticed. Bottom line, it’s nature that actually creates my art. I just do what I can to help make it more visible.

 

 

My interest in art goes as far back as grade school. Later I attended institutes, colleges and schools for both fine and graphic arts. This all eventually led to a very long career in industrial advertising.

 

 

Art, photography and design have been dominant factors throughout my life. It wasn’t until I retired to Florida, however, that I also developed a deep appreciation for the awesome beauty of nature. Much of it is strikingly obvious, but it’s the subtle beauty—the beauty within—that which is not easily seen, that excites me the most.

 

 

Noted in my images are ribbon-like fern leaves, surreal looking lily pads, the bold, rigid veins seen on crotons, reflected plants growing in or floating on bodies of water, the breathtaking variety of colors in sea grape leaves, the simplicity of thin, delicate grasses and the fury of palm fronds being buffeted by strong winds.

 

 

Through my art, I seek to reveal and capture the astounding scenic treasures obscured all around us and, in doing so, help others rediscover and/or experience a deeper splendor of nature as I have.

 

Artist John Hintz invites you to follow him on Facebook.

 

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