Challenge: Shadows.

[Deleted member 55]

Shadows at the beach

Well mostly.

Hard to put my finger on why I like this one.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Shadows?

asher

 

[nicolas claris]

Shadows?

asher

Shadows… in the shade… border is sometimes hard to define…
With shade, you're inclined to be in. With shadow(s) you're out… I mean the photog point of view ;;-))

 

[Asher Kelman]

As a reminder. The challenge is for images in which the shadow is the dominant, significant or key element that gives the picture meaning and strength.

A slihouette is not a shadow. Likewise, an area in shade is not a shadow. However, we are getting the right kind of pictures and that's wonderul. The wasp shadow surpised me!

Andrew and Charles' contibutions are excellent.

Jack breaks the rules but his pictures are enviously good! His shadows are shading that give his pictures dimensionality!

Not to leave anyone out but I really like all the effort that has been taken. We are still open to more images!

Asher

 

[Mary Bull]

As a reminder. The challenge is for images in which the shadow is the dominant, significant or key element that gives the picture meaning and strength. ...

The wasp shadow surpised me! ...

It both surprised and delighted me!

.. We are still open to more images!

It's not so sharp as Sean's wasp, nor so dramatic in impact, but I do have this foreshadowing of what's ahead for the vine-leaves still green on my back fence.

Critique welcome.

Mary

 

[Asher Kelman]

I love the picture Mary!

Two shadows. A very nice close crop. A sign of an artist!

Did you have pics in which the serrated hole in the leaf was shown in the shadow?

One last question, the edge of the red in the upper leaf, is it hard in reality? You certainly kept the shadows soft below.

asher

 

[Mary Bull]

I love the picture Mary!

Two shadows. A very nice close crop. A sign of an artist!

I've been learning from you, and from Dierk, and from all the other artists here at OPF. Thanks for the praise, Asher.

Did you have pics in which the serrated hole in the leaf was shown in the shadow?

Yes, I shot about a dozen from various heights and angles.

One last question, the edge of the red in the upper leaf, is it hard in reality? You certainly kept the shadows soft below.

Yes, it is hard in reality, although not so hard as the green leaves.

I am still having a lot of trouble holding focus on the leaf I want. It seems there is always a breeze blowing just when the light is right.

I did a fairly severe crop to get this image. I had the entire red leaf showing in good rosy light, in the original image, and I wanted to have the sharpest focus on it. However, the wind blew, and the sharp focus is on the green vine leaves.

I did quite a bit of noise reduction on this image, also, both before and after doing the crop.

Mary

 

[Joe Russo]

While the shadow in this image is not the dominant subject, I don't think that this photograph would be as complete without it.

 

[Jack_Flesher]

Okay, how about this one? Soft shadows are there, so it should qualify. But IMO in this image it is really shadow (and to a lesser degree, light) that is adding dimension, shape and form to the image... I'm curious what others think:

(4x5 w/Betterlight using portrait lens. Single hard light left, dark reflector on right, converted to B&W in Photoshop.)

 

[Mary Bull]

I think it is lovely.

It feels like a well-done charcoal drawing, to me.

Beautiful accent, with the highlight on the back pear.

But the tall pear in shade is what draws the eye in, with the long, soft shadow of the plate in one's peripheral vision. And then the curl of the stem makes everything complete.

Mary

 

[Asher Kelman]

Okay, how about this one? Soft shadows are there, so it should qualify. But IMO in this image it is really shadow (and to a lesser degree, light) that is adding dimension, shape and form to the image... I'm curious what others think

(4x5 w/Betterlight using portrait lens. Single hard light left, dark reflector on right.)

The shadows here, because they are beautiful, are no less valid!

The challenge is to find a subject where the shadows themselves are the dominent forms of interest, mystery and or "strength".

The pears have potential throught the composition, As Mary aptly pointed out. This is brought to importance by the shadows. It is these that which give the reality to the pears and the sense of a time of day that we are not sure of.

So I think this qualifies, although I never thought of this previously.

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

Joe,

I like your sunset image. Have you tried increasing the contrast. Thay moight make the shadoes a little more dominant as the details of the gazebo diminish. I'm not saying you should do it, but you might like the result.

asher

 

[Joe Russo]

Asher -
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give it a try and if I think it helps I'll post that version.

 

[JimCollum]

Alcatraz, Sunset

this was taken with the Betterlight scan back and pano adapter, and is in IR/Color mode (captured both IR and visible light).

 

[Asher Kelman]

Jim,

That's wonderful. I took the liberty of putting it on my desktop to see the full splendor (then deleted it!)

This must have a zillion way of preparing it for printing. This has to be a very unique pano.

Asher

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Kind of self portrait in shadows...

Hi All,

After going through my files, I have found this holiday snapshot I took some 16 years ago (using my trusty old Nikon SLR on Kodak Gold film). It is nothing special, but since it falls nicely into this category I thought I might as well share ;-). I coudn't get hold of the negative, so I had to scan it from a 6x4 lab print. That should explain the image quality issues, in case you were wondering.

My wife and I were in a horse drawn carriage, travelling along the countryside during dusk. When I saw our reflection on this nice wall, I instantly grabbed the camera and took the picture. You can see me doing it actually.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Wonderful Cem,

You treat your wife well!

Asher

 

[Dierk Haasis]

Alcatraz, Sunset

2 things:

- Isn't there an 800 px limit to the biggest side of a posted image?
- Haven't I seen the exact same photo (in colour) done by Uwe Steinmüller? could be purely coincidental, I guess the motive lends itself to photographers (better yet: it forces otself upon).

 

[Don Lashier]

2 things:

- Isn't there an 800 px limit to the biggest side of a posted image?

Yes, but I think an exception for panoramas is reasonable - I took similar liberty with my motocross panorama. Fortunately this board is smart enough to not stretch out the entire thread when a wide photo is posted.

- DL

 

[JimCollum]

2 things:
- Haven't I seen the exact same photo (in colour) done by Uwe Steinmüller? could be purely coincidental, I guess the motive lends itself to photographers (better yet: it forces otself upon).

Not a coincedence. There were 40 photographers there that evening, i'm sure others besides myself and uwe capture the image.(although i can say i was the first into the room with a tripod set up and shooting... even with a 4x5, betterlight and a pano adapter

as far as the same? nah.. don't think they are

and as far as 800 pixels.. i don't like posting images on the web to begin with.. most of my images are about detail, and at 500 (uwe's site), to 800 (here), you really can't get a feel for the actual image as presented. when i do post an image from my blog, it's typcially 1024 at the minimum.. but often 2048 pixels across)..

as you can see from the changed image above.. at 800 pixels, it looses a lot.

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

My vote goes to the larger image. The 800 px convention should not apply to panoramas of this quality with such details IMHO. Thanks for sharing Jim, I have enjoyed the picture very much.

Cheers,

Cem

 

[Asher Kelman]

Yes, Dierk,

800 pixels is the limit, except where the image cannot otherwise be reasonably shown and in this case, Jim has already checked with me about his panos months ago.

It is 1200 pixels limit for posting a TIFF for retouching if that is needed.

Anyway, people are doing a great job at self discipline and the forum is not being abused. It is a good point to note that rarely is more than 800 or even 600 pixels one side needed.

asher

 

[Dierk Haasis]

800 pixels is the limit, except where the image cannot otherwise be reasonably shown

Good to know, since I have always constricted myself with my panos [not just here, even on my own site]; just look at the vulture I once put up or the deer. Truth be told, most of my panos are very wide and need a lot of space and room, to shine. They are definitely not Web-ready, last month's Picture of the Month, the Alster with Blue Goals, a prime example. Hard to sell panos over the Web.

 

[KrisCarnmarker]

Here's my contribution to the thread.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Kris, that is powerful!

A great compositon. Nice pinks in the stone. You might consider sharpening the front stone.

Asher

 

[KrisCarnmarker]

Thanks Asher!

Funny, the front stone is very sharp in the original and I rezised using Bicubic Sharpen. I didn't look very closely at the result. I think I will redo it.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Kris,

How are you sharpening? Also maybe add an S curve in the luminous blending mode first.


Asher

 

[KrisCarnmarker]

OK, that should be better.

Asher, I normaly use either PhotoKit Sharpener or FocalBlade for my sharpening. I think I was tired last night and just forgot.

I took your suggestion and added more contrast as well. What do you think? Better?

 

[Ray West]

Seeing Jim's photo of alcatraz, reminded me of this, the 'sky walk' on 'Ocean Princess', iirc. taken with canon s70, P&S, handheld, not much processing, except straightnening (1.3%) and a bit of whitebalance - it was in fact more blue - tinted glass and bright sun. I particularly like the moire fringing of the walkway surface ;-)

Best wishes,

Ray to get shadows, you gotta get light.

 

[Jack_Flesher]

I was out shooting last weekend and thought of this thread as I grabbed this image. I was shooting landscapes and came across some skaters in an abandoned motel pool. Since I was just looking I only had my 'manual focus' 45 TSE with me -- good to know I still have the knack to manually focus action

Anyway, more images from this series can be seen on my blog, but give it a sec to load as there are some larger images in the recent entires. Scroll down to "Skaters": www.jack.omniblog.com


Shadow: