My most common use of backlighting is for flowers and leaves. This scene caught my eye the other day:
ISO 25 f/2.2 4.15mm 1/506sec
The square crop is this:
ISO 25 f/2.2 4.15mm 1/506sec
I used Hipstamatic to create the square, but other than the crop, I let the photo stand as is. What is and is not in focus I found visually interesting, so I didn’t attempt to “fix” it.
The Instagram version is here:
Added to January Squares Day 23.
Cheers!
Some of the most interesting and ornate patterns can be found in nature. Every year, we have an interesting combination of man made structure and natural elements that comes together in our driveway. As the leaves pile up on damp days, they leave an impression on the driveway. It only lasts a few days, but I love the patterns the leaves impress upon the asphalt:
ISO 800 50mm 0ev f/7.1 1/200
This was the image that I created from this year’s offering. I started here:
ISO 800 50mm 0ev f/7.1 1/200
This is one of the original photos. I shot a bracketed exposure and this was the darkest version. I used Photomatix to create my HDR version. The original HDR version looked like this:
ISO 800 50mm 0ev f/7.1 1/200
The final version, which is the first photo in this post has been cropped in Photoshop and then had a warming photo filter applied to it. I also sharpened the photo to bring out the texture of the driveway. In a few days it will rain and these impressions will be gone.
What do you think of these fleeting natural impressions? Do you have a version that you prefer over the others? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Cheers!
As I was thinking about how to respond to this week’s photo challenge, serenity, it occurred to me that I would say serenity is an idea that shows up a lot in my photography. For this week, I chose this image:
ISO 100 185mm 0ev f/5.6 1/100
The image itself was taken this past fall. I stopped, looked up, and saw this lovely pattern of light that I thought would turn out well in a photograph. This final edited version is actually a fusion of two identical images shot using different exposures and then edited in Photomatix Pro. Here are the two originals:
ISO 100 185mm 0ev f/5.6 1/100
ISO 100 185mm 0ev f/5.6 1/100
I felt that creating an HDR image would bring out the jewel tones in the leaves and the bokeh effect in the background of the image. When I took the original photos, it was a bright day so I had lowered my ISO to 100. It was also a bit breezy, and in this case I wanted the leaves to be still, so that is the reason for the fast shutter speed. I settled on an f-stop of 5.6 after a couple of other tries, because I felt like that was the right balance of bokeh in the background and clarity in the leaves.
As for serenity, it’s been a bit elusive in my life lately. I’ve missed the last few photo challenges. It’s nice to be back, and I’m looking forward to getting caught up on my comments and visits to other blogs. As for serenity in a photo, this particular image works for me but what do you think? your comments are welcome below.
Cheers!
I was out hiking and taking some photos of the fall leaves:
ISO 500 50mm 0ev f/5.6 1/100
These leaves I shot and then wanted to bring out their golden tones. In Photoshop I made some changes to the hue and saturation. I then changed the blending mode to darker color. I also sharpened the image. Here is the original:
ISO 500 50mm 0ev f/5.6 1/100
This post was written in response to Prompts for the Promptless at Queen Creative. The prompt this week was Kintsukuri which is a Japanese noun meaning “to repair with gold”; the art of repairing pottery with gold or silver lacquer and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken. However, the original idea came from Braith an’lithe, which is a beautiful blog as well.
So, what do you think of my golden leaves? Is it fall where you are? if so, how are the fall colors this year?
Cheers!
A little over a week ago I wrote about a photo I had taken of leaves in black and white. The post can be found here. One of the things that I had been hoping to do was show the frost on the leaves. Lori Ono, who commented on the original post, suggested some ways in which I might bring out the frost in the editing. I used some of those suggestions to make this version:
ISO 1000 50mm 1ev f/2.2 1/640
This time I think the frost, particularly on the stems of the leaves, is visible. In order to get this effect, I first put the photos into black and white with a blue filter in Aperture. Then I edited the bracketed photos in Photomatix. I cropped and sharpened the photo when I brought it back into Aperture.
If you click on Lori’s name above, it will take you to a photo challenge posting she wrote that I think turned out really well.
Cheers!
It is interesting that both my digital photography and design class are dealing with black and white this week. While I don’t do a whole lot with black and white photography, I do enjoy it. Here is one of my images from this week:
ISO 1000 50mm 0ev f/3.2 1/160
Some of you that read the exif data I include might wonder why I used an ISO of 1000 and the answer is simple. I forgot to change it when I was setting up for these photos. I did use a bracketed exposure for this image and then used Photomatix to edit.
What was most interesting to me in making this image is that the color version showed the frost on the leaves, while in black and white you pretty much can’t tell it’s there.
Cheers!
It is getting cooler and the leaves are turning. It was raining and I got this shot in front of my house:
ISO 320 70mm f/5 1/13
I love the color of fall!
Cheers!
Well, in this hemisphere anyway. Here is the first leaf of the season:
ISO 125 f/9 0.5 shutter 56mm
This was taken with a tripod. I will try some shots with the 50mm lens also, when I borrow it from my friend again. Next time I will try for more depth of field. When this photo is magnified it is just a little bit fuzzier than what I was really going for. I cropped, boosted the saturation of the yellow, and sharpened the image in post processing. I am using Aperture now as my image software. Overall, I really like it, but I am still learning how to use it.
Cheers!
I guess I was just thinking about fall, but I found these leaves in the park the other day.
ISO 125 50mm f/3.5 1/50
So, I brought them home and took some shots with a 50mm lens. Maybe I should have tried some individual pictures of just the green leaf as well. Of all the leaves, I think the color and texture turned out best on that one.
Cheers!
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