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Photo of the day: July 2011

23560495.jpg
 
TheReef said:
Beautiful colours, I'm interested in your bracketing methodologies (software wise), keen to share? :D
Click to expand...

Thanks, Reef. Actually, that shot wasn't bracketed. I don't often combine exposures for the purpose of increasing dynamic range, but when I do, I go the manual route, using layers and masks in Photoshop to add a bit of detail only where it's really needed. With that shot of the church, I didn't need to use a separate exposure for the shadows, which is the case more often than not. My technique is the reverse of how most people talk about handling a scene with a challenging dynamic range: instead of bringing up the shadows, I bring down the quarter-tones and midtones. By exposing to the right (using UniWB so I don't clip highlights on any of the three channels), I get the most dynamic range I can out of my camera to begin with. Then I darken whatever is too bright (which might be the greater part of the image) and may also use some generous fill light until I get the tonal balance that I want. If the histogram of a scene is clipped by a lot on both ends, then I may need to resort to blending in bits of a separate exposure. I've also found that painting in subtle color balance adjustments can restore life to areas of a photo where the limited color depth of a camera sensor has made the image too dull--this also has the unexpected effect of influencing the perceived dynamic range of a photo. In any event, the key aspect of my method is working selectively in order to maintain control over which parts of the image are affected by any adjustments.

If my planning, shooting, and post-processing techniques seem onerous to some people, I think they have to understand that it's all part of an enjoyable artistic process for me. Before I got into photography, my art was oil painting, and one of my painter friends referred to me as a "dinker." That was because I seemed most happy after the broad forms were down and I had reached the process of using a dinky little brush to finesse the details of a painting. I preferred oils to acrylics because it was so easy to paint in layers and make subtle adjustments with translucent glazes of color. I often painted "en plein air," which involves a looking process very akin to the approach of a landscape photographer: look carefully and translate what you see. It took a while before those old painting methods started to manifest themselves in my photography, but in retrospect, I suppose it was inevitable. At first I was very much confined by my camera; I let it get in the way until advice I got on internet forums eventually helped me to liberate myself from the limitations of my new medium. The first step was to get the camera on a tripod as often as possible, which naturally reminded me of standing behind an easel--the tripod helps enable unmediated looking. The logical extension of that kind of looking is trying to make an image that matches the vision (which is part looking and part imagination), and for me, no amount of "dinking" is too much, if it means I can have some fun getting that vision to the point where I can share it with others. :)

I considered posting this lengthy reply in another thread (perhaps the recent one on post processing), but since the July thread is now done, I suppose there's no harm in getting a bit chatty here. ;)
 
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Phrasikleia said:
Thanks, Reef. Actually, that shot wasn't bracketed. I don't often combine exposures for the purpose of increasing dynamic range, but when I do, I go the manual route, using layers and masks in Photoshop to add a bit of detail only where it's really needed. With that shot of the church, I didn't need to use a separate exposure for the shadows, which is the case more often than not. My technique is the reverse of how most people talk about handling a scene with a challenging dynamic range: instead of bringing up the shadows, I bring down the quarter-tones and midtones. By exposing to the right (using UniWB so I don't clip highlights on any of the three channels), I get the most dynamic range I can out of my camera to begin with. Then I darken whatever is too bright (which might be the greater part of the image) and may also use some generous fill light until I get the tonal balance that I want. If the histogram of a scene is clipped by a lot on both ends, then I may need to resort to blending in bits of a separate exposure. I've also found that painting in subtle color balance adjustments can restore life to areas of a photo where the limited color depth of a camera sensor has made the image too dull--this also has the unexpected effect of influencing the perceived dynamic range of a photo. In any event, the key aspect of my method is working selectively in order to maintain control over which parts of the image are affected by any adjustments.


If my planning, shooting, and post-processing techniques seem onerous to some people, I think they have to understand that it's all part of an enjoyable artistic process for me. Before I got into photography, my art was oil painting, and one of my painter friends referred to me as a "dinker." That was because I seemed most happy after the broad forms were down and I had reached the process of using a dinky little brush to finesse the details of a painting. I preferred oils to acrylics because it was so easy to paint in layers and make subtle adjustments with translucent glazes of color. I often painted "en plein air," which involves a looking process very akin to the approach of a landscape photographer: look carefully and translate what you see. It took a while before those old painting methods started to manifest themselves in my photography, but in retrospect, I suppose it was inevitable. At first I was very much confined by my camera; I let it get in the way until advice I got on internet forums eventually helped me to liberate myself from the limitations of my new medium. The first step was to get the camera on a tripod as often as possible, which naturally reminded me of standing behind an easel--the tripod helps enable unmediated looking. The logical extension of that kind of looking is trying to make an image that matches the vision (which is part looking and part imagination), and for me, no amount of "dinking" is too much, if it means I can have some fun getting that vision to the point where I can share it with others. :)

I considered posting this lengthy reply in another thread (perhaps the recent one on post processing), but since the July thread is now done, I suppose there's no harm in getting a bit chatty here. ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing, very interesting. I'm afraid I can't do it justice by posting an equally lengthy and juicy reply :eek:
Your recent works and images from the link you posted in another thread; Difruscia Photography really motivate me.
At the time of taking the picture many of my favourite shots have wide range light levels, but have had limited success pulling them together back at the computer to the way I originally envision, most get lost. I've had better milage with brushes but they only get you so far.
I had a go at Photomatix but isn't what I'm after really for most of the time. I like what a little tone mapping does to reflections in water but little else in the image.
Ultimately I'm looking for the best way of selectively painting parts of one image into another with a digital brush.
Interesting that you came from painting, I think it shows ;) :)
 
^ ^

You could post this in the August thread. Not many people looking at this one now. ;)
 
Ish said:
^ ^

You could post this in the August thread. Not many people looking at this one now. ;)
Click to expand...

I didn't even remember that it was the first already. And to think I spend my day looking at a computer and I didn't even notice the whole month changed.
 
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