The Window IV :: Almost a Still Life in Available Light

 I must admit I love the dappled light coming though the window in the late afternoon

PhotoProject :: Overexposing to the right

Something I have been continually remining myself of is, that colour quickly loses it brilliance (vibrance) as the light increases in digital images, put another way colours stay richer in the shadows. I’m not sure I have the full technical explanation of what is driving this observation yet, However today I had the opportunity to put my observation into practise.

It was very grey and overcast and a number of Rainbow Lorikeets were enjoying a good feed on the silky oak in my backyard, However they where on the dark side in the shadows and silhouetted against a grey but still bright sky. A recipe of black birds hidden in black foliage against a white sky. So I set my camera to just focus and take the exposure from a central spot and zoomed in on the birds. Immediately the sky was blow out but because my little Olympus is a mirrorless camera I could see the immediate results into my view finder and the beautiful colours of the Lorikeets was showing, Great, but these little parrots jump around a lot so I had to up the speed (and significantly up the ISO) to get them sharp and colourful. I even started to adjust the EV to +1 in this case. Being able to see what was going to happen when I pressed the shutter was amazing. Basically I was shooting to the right, shifting the shadows up into midtones albeit overexposing the sky (which doesn’t really matter pictorially in this shot).This is the Jpeg straight out of the camera (no lengthy post processing required (other than cropping and scxreen capture of the histogram).

PhotoFriday :: Shadows

For PhotoFriday‘s topic Shadows

Looking for Abstract Compositions in Late Afternoon Shadows

Out of the shadows

PhotoFriday :: Sunshine

An AutoAwesome HDR, that nicely captures the setting winter sun.

For PhotoFriday‘s topic Sunshine

PhotoFriday ::Vanishing points (and posts)

For PhotoFriday‘s topic Perspective

The Shadow of Technology

PhotoFriday :: Shadows

For PhotoFriday‘s topic Shadows

Still Life in Light & Shadows

The Patch :: Procrastinating about Negative Space

I have been planning to include some sort of ambiguity into my negative space/compositional/modes of transport submission for this week’s The Patch theme. Alas all my plans subjects seemed to have occurred to the other participants who beat me to upload. Here area couple of ideas I was following. I liked the simplicity of the view of a wing tip through an aircraft window, maybe a bit to much like the frame theme and +Emo Castle has done a much stronger job. Next I was think in terms of a strong silhouette, such as a yatch or kite surfer against the dawn of sunset. Ok +Alexandra Rose has created a beautiful example and the weather and my schedule hasn’t given me the right opportunity to capture another image like this. I was also interested in stronger shadows being the positive aspect of the composition and shadows through a bike wheel had promise butmy cyclists where off and away before I had a chance to get the composition I wanted. Also +Roz Batten had already uploaded her stronger example. Back to thinking about shadow just carrying the subject information. Hmm I’ve left this project a bit late on my upload.

I finally decided to stick with the shadow Idea, and when to sun came out again I quickly conscripted a couple of willing walkers into my plans (I shouted morning tea). Fortunately they were slow enough and cooperative so I could get the shadow composition I was after. The ambiguity here is the compositional negative shape is actually the well lit pavement. The shadows are the positive shapes in a compositional sense because they let you figure out what the subject of the photo is and what they are doing and maybe even their age. Damn after I uploaded my entry I see walking/feet shots have become all the rage. Such is life.

Late Afternoon Spring Light

The spring weather, particularly in the period from the grand final until the Melbourne Cup is normally pretty special. A great time to enjoy the garden and wonderful lighting for keen photographers. This year the weather have been fluctuating been cold wintry days and hot almost summer patches. Today however it was near perfect,

PhotoProject :: Shadows

Often the power of light is more strongly captured in the shadows

PhotoFriday :: Natural Light

For PhotoFriday‘s topic Natural Light

Into the Shadows

The summer sun came out after a cloudy morning and things began to heat up. This cockatoo found a nice cool spot in the dappled shade with a light breeze to keep cool. Great for the cockatoo but a challenge to photograph.

   

On automatic the light meter, has correctly exposed the sky but left the bird and foliage very dark and essentially in silhouette. Whereas a spot metering on the dappled shadows on the cockatoos white feathers as caused the sky to be blown out. So I took a bracketed exposure set, recording both RAW and jpeg versions. Then I selected the best looking exposure and took the RAW file into Lightroom and rather than adjust the whole image I used the adjustment brush in the development module to just lighten the shadows and increase the clarity of the cockatoo and branch. Not quiet dodge & burn but similar results.

Out of the Shadows

Kangaroos grazing in the late afternoon sun at the Cardinia Reserve Park picnic area.

Happy River Gum

River Gum on the edge of Dandenong Creek enjoying the regular rainfull this year.

Autumn Afternoon

 

Shadows

In the shadows

Any painter will be familiar with the contribution of (large) negative shapes to composition, and particularly as a good device to focus the veiwers attention on the center of interest. Note to photographers, strong shadows do this perfectly.