Monday, April 14, 2008

Twisted trunks in Moonlight

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Back to posts that I love.

Photography
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Nature
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Today’s post is about Photography.

I read a good discussion in the comments section yesterday at "A Photo a Day" by Donald Kinney about California Poppies and saturation…click here. They got me to thinking about the use of saturation. (Be sure to check out his Douglas Iris photos while you are there – they are terrific).

I ran across the following photograph which I made a while back and thought it made a point about degree of saturation.

In this photograph, I wanted to emphasize the texture, smoothness and twisted nature of the trunks, so I isolated the trunks from the background and strongly de-saturated them and readjusted the levels to obtain the effect I wanted. I could have converted it to a black/white photo, but that would not have left the impression of almost no color as viewed in Moonlight. I hope the title sets the mood for viewing.

Twisted trunks in Moonlight

Click on the Photo for full effect.
Comments Pro & Con are welcome, just remember to play nicely.

Troy and Martha

17 comments:

Pappy said...

No wonder folks think they see boogers in the darkness. Old trees are some of the worst offenders when you are out alone at night far from familiar surroundings. I've seen all sorts of threatening things on a moon lit night.

AphotoAday said...

Great shot, Troy!
Love how you desaturated it almost completely, but left some...

Reminds me of a fellow who my dad used to know when I was young -- he used to go out at night and shoot up into Cypress trees (Carmel) and illuminate them with a flash. They were stunning, and he did a pretty good job of keeping detail and not letting them go stark white.

So, can I ask how you did this shot? I know you desaturated it, but what kind of illumination? Nice tones and composition.

Texas Travelers said...

Texican: Amen to that, when coon hunting and the dog runs off.

Donald: Uniform sky lighting at twilight.

Duncan said...

Very very nice Troy. You've seen and done something that I've vaguely thought about occasionally when driving home at night along a bush track. The pale trunks of the redgums are spectacular in the vehicle headlights and would make a great picture given the right technique.

Texas Travelers said...

Duncan: Go for it.

Stacey Olson said...

Great photo and thanks for the link.. Have a great week..

dot said...

Interesting what you did with the photo. I'll have to think on that and maybe try it out sometimes.

Michele said...

You have done great job on this twisted tree. It really does bring out what this tree is all about. Incredible design shows the patterns associated with type of tree you wouldn't see otherwise... real cool!

The Rocky Mountain Retreat

judi/Gmj said...

Man, oh, Man!! So that is how you make petrified wood! :) I'll just keep watching and reading and listening and learning, and pretty soon I will be able to do more than point and shoot! Seriously, this is really interesting stuff to me I'm gona try it. I like this word verification; "ptlepn".
like petal pen as in flower bed .. would make a great licence plate?
My mind has gone ...

Anonymous said...

Fantastic photo with great aspect.

Rurality said...

Interesting -- I am always wanting to saturate photos... never thought about DE-saturating them!

Sandpiper (Lin) said...

I love old, twisted trees. Nice work on the tweak!

Janet said...

Very artsy!

Snippet said...

I think that's absolutely awesome, ghostly and haunting.

Very awesome.

Marvin said...

A very ghostly and spectral apperision ... nice work.

Anonymous said...

I like your list of favorite things to blog about as it is the same as mine... ;-), cheers to you ramblings (oh I love it when you talk about your photos and how you ehance them...keep them coming...)

chanpheng said...

Very nice use of your computer to enhance this photo! I followed the link to California poppies - interesting. There's a lot to learn with this digital stuff!