The weather on Sunday morning, when we went on a walk over the dam over Lake Zurich wasn't too great. it was sunny but very hazy, which turned the sky a blurred grey/white. Also, at 10 in the morning, the sun really was already to high and the light a bit too harsh. I liked the reeds reflected in the water, but it was facing the sun and the angle limited. But I thought it might make a nice b&w picture for the 52 weeks of no colour project (where I'm still terribly behind).
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| Original shot |
When I started processing it, I thought that it might make a good abstract image, with strong contrasts and where it only becomes obvious what the subject is at a second glance. I also thought that a square crop might work well, so I cropped and straightened it.
I tried adding a bit of a Gaussian blur to make it even more abstract. I like the softness it gives, but I think that in this case, it really is a bit too much (I actually quite like the sharpness of the first).
After looking at both square versions, I decided that actually, I liked the upper part best and that maybe, it would actually work better in landscape format than in square format. So I cropped it again, choosing a 10x15cm, and I think that this really works much better here.
I tried adding a bit of Gaussian blur again, but this time trying not to overdo it. I quite like the soft, dreamy effect, but the one above, landscape crop with no added blut, is actually my favourite version.
But I really love what you can do with post processing, how on thing leads to another and how you can create different moods. It's such fun to play around, and by trying out different options and creating different versions to compare with each other, you can learn so much. Only downside is that creating many different versions takes up a lot of storage space....
I like the third one best.... the one put on flikr.
ReplyDeletethanks!
It's so fascinating to see how such completely different moods can be created from a single starting point. I think at the moment I prefer the two blurry ones - they seem to have a slightly sinister, dark mood to them, whereas the sharp ones are less emotional and more graphical. But this opinion only counts for about an hour. I will probably change my mind completely if I looked again later, and that's the beauty of more creative photography like this - it stimulates the mind and the emotions rather than just being an accurate reproduction of a scene.
ReplyDeleteAgain, you inspire me to think more about my photos, and not leave so much to luck.
Have a fabulous week!