I was walking in the woods yesterday, enjoying a a cool late-Autumn afternoon and learning about a new camera I recently got. I thought you might enjoy seeing these photos.
The late-afternoon sunlight was slanting through the trees, dappling the forest floor and making some leaves turn a warm translucent brown. I tried to capture it.
The camera wanted me to use a flash, so I tried it, but the shot came out flat, overlit and not very good at all:
(click images for larger version)
The natural-lit shot was better overall, but too dark and without really getting the translucence I was hoping for:
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Later, at home, I used imaging-editing software to play with the contrast. That helped open up the shadows and emphasize the light.
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I then tweaked the red and yellow channels to bring out the warm browns my eyes originally saw. I tweaked the contrast again a bit, as well:
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That (above) is probably as good as that shot was gonna get while leaving it as a photo. At a reasonable size, it looks pretty good with lots of detail.
But I wasn't after detail. I was after a subtler lighting effect. I wondered if doing a major manipulation of the photo might help achieve the effect I wanted. I tried an "oil painting" effect (really needs to be at larger size to see it well):
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I liked it: the image was a play of lights and darks, without the distraction of lots of fine detail.
Next, I added a canvas effect, generated a fuzzy border, and then did a final brightening to compensate for the slight darkening the canvas effect caused. Click to see it larger:
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You know, printed on high-quality glossy photo paper, that'd look halfway decent.
Anyway, it was fun to play with. I have a lot to learn about the new camera, but the potential sure is there, if I can live up to it!
Interesting effects. You were having fun. So what kind of camera?
ReplyDeleteTell us, what camera did you get?
ReplyDelete