Light Meets The Dark

I took this a couple of days after I got the dslr. It was just at sunrise on New Year's Day morning and I had been out in the dark waiting for dawn. It was a rather extraordinary morning with extremely dark cloudy skies and when the sun peeked over the horizon I was able to get some unusually contrasting photos at a site where a farm had burned down. I left that place when the sun disappeared behind all the clouds and as I was driving up a country road the sun burst out again for about 2 minutes. It was an incredible 'light moment' so I slammed on the breaks and got a photo of this farm. I was only able to get three shots before the sun hung up its 'closed for business' sign and this is one of them.

I've had mixed reactions from people who've seen this picture but to me it's almost symbolic. Light meets dark at the dawn of a new year. I only wish I'd had more time to take more shots or get closer before the sun disappeared. I haven't adjusted the levels in this, other than a crop and some sharpening, this is the way the camera 'saw' that sky with the exposure stopped down a bit.

I aim to take most outdoor photographs now either in the early morning or late in the day which gives the dramatic effect I like but I'm still trying to find my own 'photographic vision' as it were. The reactions that 'this is too dark' or 'not enough light and definition in the sky' have made me wonder whether stopping down the exposure was the wrong move with this sort of situation?????

Holly

this is a great shot holly! and your title works well with it.
i too sometimes tend towards the dark in landscapes. it is an issue with those first light/last light shots ) i deal with it in various ways...usually i bracket the shot, ie, take multiple exposures with different shutter speeds. that way back at the computer i have a lot of material to work with. do you shoot in raw or jpg? i shoot in raw, so if i can only get one good shot (and as you know the light can change rapidly so sometimes that one shot is all you get!) i expose it several different ways. all this leads to blending and layer masks in photoshop. with one shot/one exposure only you can try some adjustment layers and blend/layer mask them.
the challenge is to keep the soul of the shot intact while bringing out more details. you should play with this in photoshop ))) have fun!

Holly,

I like that shot. I took the liberty of downloading it, and was able to extract detail in the sky and buildings, although the 8-bit file didn't really stand up to it very well.

But then it becomes an ordinary shot of a farm, and loses its impact. Much better to leave it it is.

Regards,

Stuart

Thank you Marian. Taking as many shots at different settings is something I've started to do as well. I haven't quite made the step into RAW yet, though I've had a few people advise me that I should. I'm not sure if I have the appropriate software for the editing since this is still quite new to me. I'm still working out those tools and brushes in PS Elements and finally figured out how to make a layer but I have a friend who is sending me step-by-step tutorials and I keep climbing the learning curve. I print out all suggestions and put them in a notebook...your's has just been added to my growing file!! I really appreciate your help!!

How very kind of you to make an attempt with it Stuart--I really am thankful if somebody has a bit of a 'play' with a photo....I've discovered that I learn a lot from another perspective. For now I'll keep the photo as it is and it has printed surprisingly well. Of course, the fun is that a year from now I can take another look at it and who knows? I might be able to make something more of it.

Holly

Holly Cawfield said:

I aim to take most outdoor photographs now either in the early morning or late in the day which gives the dramatic effect I like but I'm still trying to find my own 'photographic vision' as it were. The reactions that 'this is too dark' or 'not enough light and definition in the sky' have made me wonder whether stopping down the exposure was the wrong move with this sort of situation?????

Click to expand...

We really need at leasttwo shots to get the dynamic range. Then we work with RAW.



I too examined the single jpg file and there is sky data so here's my attempt



Is that more like it?

Asher

BTW, if you do have RAW, then perhaps we could try with that?

This type of high dynamic range shot going from extreme dark but important tones to the brightest lighy cannot be captured in one go by any camera. However, one has a mich better go at it with sensors that can grab that 2 extra stops.

For this I'd suggest the miraculous M8 or a MF digital back. Short of that we must use bracketing, hence the needs for the heaviest tripod, mirror lock up and cable release.

Now with films there are additonal problems. For example color polaroid film which actually shift color when you have an open long exposure or even if it's ultrashort.

Gray card at dawn or sunset? Nope! No use, you will remove the hues you need for the scene!

This is why a Leica M8 is portable magic!

Asher

Thank you Asher...for the reply and the edit. I was up quite early this morning reading through threads on this forum and my brain is firing in so many directions I hardly know where to begin! The desire and determination is rampant but at times I feel like I'm trying to run before I've learned how to walk. LoL

I haven't begun photographing at all in RAW but that is going to be my next step. Bracketing is also something I've not done before ....oh my, so many wonderful new things to try. It's an odd this with this photo...on one hand I rather like it with that very dark sky and then I look at it with more mid-tones as you've edited it and find that quite pleasing as well although it seems the sky may be less 'smooth' while achieving more definition. I will again say I am one who truly appreciates it when another, more experienced photographer 'has a go' at one of my photos because it does help me to crank open the mental windows and see what's possible. As a beginner to all of this I have had moments of feeling overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of information and learning curves but then that's the very thing which makes this an overwhelming joy to pursue. It takes me a while to decifer some of the 'photospeak' but that's what Google is for! :-D

When you refer to having two shots to get a more dynamic range, does this mean to then blend the photos in the editing process... ie bracketing? Apologies for a question that must appear ignorant but that was something I couldn't find when I googled.

With gratitude and a hope of eventually learning to move past the snapshot stage!

Holly

Hi Holly,

I wouldn't every want to have you re-engineer skies.

If you have RAW capability, use it. Then use Adobe's RAW developer to open the file and you will have fun with your image.

In that form, there's so much more robustness of the file anything you do to adjust shadows or highlights or change contrast and more.

Take small steps. It's very easy, just it seems complicated.

Tonality is just a a description of the quality of the brightness and the shades of shadow and dark areas that give the image a sense of dimension and reality.

Tonality and shading is what makes a picture of a pear look delicious as oposed to a flat shape.

Dynamic range describes the number of steps of increase in brightness we can see going from complete darkness to bright white.

When you find out if you have RAW, take some pictures, get stuck and we'll get you going!

Asher

I'm smiling even as I re-read this Asher: "Take small steps." That's indeed what I'm telling myself to do. After I read your reply I went back to my well-thumbed manual and from there set my camera on RAW and tried my first photo. The composition of the tulips was terrible, but oh the fun I had when I discovered playing with the exposures and such. This weekend I'll start with an empty memory card and go after a few things in RAW.

So I'll go ahead and 'get stuck' and appreciate the "we'll get you going!"


Thanks!
Holly

P.S. This just get to be more fun every single day!

Holly,

Glad you have taken the step to RAW! This is where serious work begins for bringing out the best you can imagine. Your efforts are now isupported by great latitude for bring out your creative intent by adjusting all parameters and so perfecting the image.

One thing for sure, we all made great pictures with lesser cameras and jpg files and were even very proud of a few! I think that there must be a lot of your pictures that have much more information than you would believe possible. So if you have a bunch that you really like to have processed. Try and rescue the image in Lightzone. You can download a trial for free here!

This is a very special program that deals with tonalities in a way that relates to the zones of great photographers, especially, of course, Ansel Adams who established the zone System of 10 levels of BLACK TO BRIGHT to use in making pictures.

Light zone pays homage to the concepts of the zone system but allows you to just experiement until you get it right too!

Good luck!

Asher

I have indeed taken my first steps Asher. And I'm chuckling as I type this because I want to say, "yippee, more good stuff" with your link to LightZone. :-D I have some time this week which means I am now going to download this as well as the suggestion from Stuart for Shadow Illuminator. I'm rather glad I haven't deleted too much during my recent housecleaning of files.

On the basis of some misinformation, I only took a couple of RAW shots yesterday. I had been told I wouldn't be able to get more than 15 on a 1gb memory card and I hadn't brought any other card with me, so I was a bit leery of what effect RAW would have. I now realize that in spite of the size of the file, I can get quite a few more than 15. What I discovered with this photo below, taken yesterday on the dullest of grey winter days imaginable, was the immense amount of colour in all those pixels. It was as if the colour was thick--like working with oil paint instead of water colour. Quite amazing. The original is so remarkably dull and seemingly colourless that finding so much rich blue sky was a bit of a delight and, as it happens therefore, perfect for such an experiment.

This beach hut stood out to me because it's in Toronto on one of the city beaches. From this photo you'd think it was somewhere in the far and lonely north and yet the city is only a very short few blocks away. It would have been interesting to have that in the background but alas the recycling plant had a way of obliterating a background cityscape. So, not a very exciting photo but certainly an exciting lesson!

Holly

welcome again Holly! this time to the wonderful world of raw LOL!!
does your camera not include in the display on top how many shots are left on the card at your current quality choice? check the manual for that feature.
warning: you will soon be spending many hours playing in raw conversion...you will soon need more/bigger cards for shooting and hard drive space for storing and saving and working...it's a slippery slope )))))
enjoy!!

Thank you Marian! Yes, the display is on the camera which is how I discovered I'd been misinformed.

And I can see that slippery slope right before me. I'm going to need more memory and a toboggan!

Holly :-D

Holly,

Just to let you feel better, snap shots for memories of a ski trip with friends always are great since the memories themselves are precious and give back time and again.

However for a photograph that get's attention it must rise above the personal. Then the actual snow might (or might not) be important.

If you want to present the delicate shading of snow irregularites, mounds, hillsides and bushes etc, then you have chose one of the most difficult challenges. Here you are then working to discriminate what to must people's minds is white snow into a whole orchestra of white towns.

The lights plays a melody over the white terrain.

That's a challenge for anyone and then to keep the shadows and mid tones too!

Do you always ski black diamonds!

Asher

Ah yes.... the issue of snow and light. I began in the autumn when the foliage was stunning and discovered how those colourful leaves didn't always translate as well as I hoped and then came winter and the challenge to keep the snow white. However, the joys of living in Canada are such that I am getting many opportunities to practice on the white stuff. I wonder what the challenges of spring will be?!

The experiment with this RAW photo above taught me a good deal about the variety of colours in the sky..the rock and ice strewn beach and the variety of 'whites' there will teach me more as I go back and work with this one some more. What a fine opportunity RAW provides!!

Holly

Niether of these are RAW, but they did provide an interesting opportunity to try and see what I could do with snow.

This photo was one I converted primarily because I was fascinated by all the shadings on the snow and in the sky...



And this scene intrigued me because the sky was such a blue as we seldom see here in the winter...the red barn though is wonderfully typical in this area.