This morning I was walking, and came across this sign:
ISO 400 78mm 0ev f/11 1/125
Only, it didn’t look like that. That is more what it looked like in a final version that existed in my head and was going to be put in this week’s alphabet photo challenge. Here is what I actually saw:
ISO 400 78mm 0ev f/11 1/125
It was a cold and grey morning, and I knew that I was going to want to edit this photo into something that I didn’t see, so I took a bracketed shot, of which the shot above is the middle exposure. When I got home, I edited the photo into an HDR image using Photomatix. Then in Photoshop I added some grain and an over the top sepia layer. The result is the top photo. I think you can tell that I was cold when I took the picture from the warmth that I insisted upon that is shouting a bit too loudly in the edited version. I think though, that the sign is trying to invoke another time and place, so bringing an additional layer of fiction is ok in this situation.
Have you ever taken a photo knowing that the final image you wanted to see was something entirely different? What do you think of my take on this photo? Your comments are welcome below.
Again this year I am using a widget in my sidebar for this year’s photo challenges. I am using this widget courtesy of Cardinal Guzman. The link is to the post of his with this year’s widgets, it would your while to have a look at some of his other creative posts as well.
Cheers!
Photography Journal Blog 
This is a great interpretation of the challenge !And I like how you mentioned all the little tweaks you made in the picture, good job ! 🙂
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Thank you 🙂 Part of the reason I write this blog is to keep track of what I have tried in terms of photography and editing, kind of like a reference for myself.
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Hi A! I keep seeing C’s widget – so thx for the link-
And I do not think I have imagined the final version of a photo – so maybe this is what u pros do – ha! But in my amateur world where it is more my art and kept informal – I often know I have no idea as to how or IF I will ever use an image – and then when I do it really unfolds-
Anyhow – before I read your text about how you imbued warmth into the image- which was super cool – well I noticed the glow – and felt the touch of mystery – and reading your text just added to it –
Oh and Route 66 just screams America and so this also is a nice way to begin your departure to move –
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I’m not sure what the pros do 🙂 but I suspect that varies. I’m been to enough talks and presentations to respect that each photographer approaches their work differently. What tends to be the thread through all their work is that they are doing it correctly in that moment, even if they change their method a few months or years later.
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Well that makes sense – thanks
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🙂
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I like your take on the photo. The words really do stand out, and it looks like a scene from an old Western movie. Or a moment in the summer in a quiet town. I don’t usually think about post-processing when I’m out taking photos. Sometimes I do, though. I generally like colour in my photo, or a sense of vividness and think about that when I’m taking a photo of something that looks dull.
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I don’t always think of post processing when I am taking photos, but even sometimes when I am not, I still find myself bracketing photos so that I can play with the exposure easier or create and HDR image later.
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Pingback: Alphabet (T for Tea) | Chris Breebaart Photography / What's (in) the picture?
Typically I shoot landscapes to look very different from what I actually see in real time or make them what I imagine them to be in my imagination versus what I see with my eyes.
With other types of photography, I’m usually disatisfied when a shot doesn’t come out as how I literally saw something.
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I find it interesting that you shoot landscapes to look differently as I would generally think that is the thing most folks would expect to look the same as the way it was shot. Now that I am thinking of it, your street photography and landscapes are very different from one another, that’s an interesting tension.
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I like your edit. So much better than the original photo. I’m glad to see that my little photo challenge badge/widget.thing is being used too. 🙂
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Maybe it’s just who I tend to visit on-line, but I have seen your widgets all over the place. I’ve noticed too, that among the people I see regularly, the one I picked is the one they have picked, a case of “birds of a feather stick together” perhaps.
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The top photo looks like an illustration from an old magazine. I think you did a great job with the editing.
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Thanks very much!
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I like your editing because I can see why you saw it that way.
janet
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Thanks Janet!
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You did a great job, Amy. I love both images. 🙂
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Thank you!
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I like the mood of your edited photo. My kids have been watching the animated Cars movie lately, which deals with nostalgia for Route 66 and life before the freeways were built, and your photo reminds me of that 🙂
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That’s funny, that it would remind you of that movie. It’s interesting, I think, the nostalgia for life before the freeways considering how many more times we would have heard “are we there yet?” coming from the backseat.
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Lol good point! 🙂 I’m going to think of that next time the kids watch it, and then I won’t get suckered into James Taylor singing about the town and feeling sad about it haha
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Ah, that James Taylor, he’s a tough one to resist, stay strong 🙂
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Lucky for me, the DVD goes back to the library today. Whew! Until next time that is… 🙂
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🙂
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My photographer’s eye isn’t good enough yet to be able to see the photo I want to wind up with after post-processing…but it’s good enough to look at the photos I wind up with and realise they weren’t what I had in mind when I took them!
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I guess that’s a good thing too; gives you an opportunity to go and take more photos 🙂
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The way I see it. It is better to snap a shot if you have the chance. It’s worth it for art. The funny things photographers do for the perfect photo. Good photo. 🙂 I would love to see more of your work do you have a facebook page?
Here’s mine.
http://www.facebook.com/kandgphotos
Thank you for the lovely
blog post
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Thanks, and thanks for leaving your Facebook contact, I am not on that platform at this time.
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