The Before and After series focuses on the two or three key creative choices, in terms of composition and processing, that go into creating an image. Specific technical details about the shot have been left out — you won’t hear me talking about tone curve adjustments and whatnot unless it was a key component of the end result.
Some brown and green leaves along the Skyline to the Sea trail in Big Basin State Park.
Exposure
- Shutter: 1/125
- Aperture: f/2.8
- ISO: 800
- Camera: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
- Lens: Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM
Composition and Processing
- Almost everything was green during the late spring when I did this hike with my dad. We used to go all the way to the sea and back when we were both younger, but this time around we only went about 4 miles out before turning around and heading back. Everything along the way was green due to the wet winter and spring, so these reddish brown leaves easily stood out. I switch to f/2.0 to really isolate them, and then shot at an angle that would position more green foliage in the background. In hindsight, I think f/4 would have been better: the background still would have been pretty soft and the green leaves in the foreground would have been as sharp as the brown ones. That would have connected the foreground leaves better to each other and limited this to two planes of focus instead of three.
Original:
April 03 2012 | Photography | No Comments »
The Before and After series focuses on the two or three key creative choices, in terms of composition and processing, that go into creating an image. Specific technical details about the shot have been left out — you won’t hear me talking about tone curve adjustments and whatnot unless it was a key component of the end result.
An older shot from a 2010 KDH Dance Company rehearsal.
Exposure
- Shutter: 1/500
- Aperture: f/2.0
- ISO: 1600
- Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark III
- Lens: Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM
Composition and Processing
- With both knees bent curled in this way, all lines lead to the dancer’s head. Really, everything looks wound up around the center, and all those limbs conveniently lead outward to the corners too. The image probably would have been better without the mirrored reflection, which is a little distracting and pulls to the right. I centered the subject anyway and operated on the assumption the viewer would separate the reflection in their head and in a sense not consider it part of the shot. But it would have been better without it.
- I left the very faint bar in the mirror showing at the top to balance out the overall darker bottom of the image. While the subject is well grounded here and white space above would have been acceptable, it felt too empty at the top and heavy at the bottom without it.
Original:
March 31 2012 | Photography | No Comments »
The Before and After series focuses on the two or three key creative choices, in terms of composition and processing, that go into creating an image. Specific technical details about the shot have been left out — you won’t hear me talking about tone curve adjustments and whatnot unless it was a key component of the end result.
A patch of green three leaf clovers in Big Basin State Park, along the Skyline to the Sea trail.
Exposure
- Shutter: 1/60
- Aperture: f/2.8
- ISO: 800
- Camera: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
- Lens: Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM
Composition and Processing
- This felt like a shot that should be pretty flawless as far as the subject goes. Patching the chewed up leaves on the right, not to mention the larger gaps on both the top and right, was more work than necessary for this image. So I simply cropped in tighter and removed some of the twigs and dirt on the rest of the leaves.
- There’s no specific focus to this image, the eye simply wanders. It’s all pattern and color. Given that, I really punched up the green. Shots like these are always the ones I look back on years later and cringe at the processing, but for now I’m ok with it.
Original:
March 28 2012 | Photography | No Comments »