How can I use these shadows to best advantage?

I'm embedding a full jpeg of a photo I took on Wednesday, September 20, at about 8:00 a.m. There was full sun on the back fence and I decided to try to capture the shadows the leaves were casting on it. I deliberately included my own shadow, taking frames from different angles and distances.

This is the frame I liked best. I liked the colors just as they came from the G2. I sharpened it 13 per cent to make the green leaves more visible. Then I tried various crops. The one I liked best completely took out the silver maple tree and the smaller trees adjoining it, leaving a shortened fence as the top edge of the picture.

Now I think I'm ready to learn from any ideas others may have on what to do with this image and how to make it better.

I do know one thing, that the camera needed to be held steadier. I have a tripod on order, and I'll try again the next sunny day after it arrives.

Meanwhile, I like this picture very much and would like to rescue it to the extent that is possible.

Morning Shadows on the Backyard Fence



Mary

Here is my stab at this.

I was going for texture, color and shadows.

Sorry I cant go into more detail I am at work at the moment.

Brian

Mary,

I suggest trying shadow/highlight in Photoshop CS2. Also, did you take the image in Raw format or jpeg? (it is better to shoot in raw format rather than Jpeg because the dynamic range is larger in Raw format and the exposure far less critical). I don't see any blur due to the camera being handheld. If noise is under control, then increasing the ISO is a good alternative to using a tripod.

Brian, thank you for your prompt attention to my post.

I like your idea a lot.

You found the green leaves against the fence, and you have showcased them nicely in this crop.

Mary

Alain Briot said:

Mary,

I suggest trying shadow/highlight in Photoshop CS2.

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I don't have Photoshop CS2 but I can do a similar thing in LightZone, which I have been using for nearly 3 weeks now. I shall bring LZ up and use its Shadow and Highlight tools.

Also, did you take the image in Raw format or jpeg? (it is better to shoot in raw format rather than Jpeg because the dynamic range is larger in Raw format and the exposure far less critical).

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I took it in RAW. I have posted the full jpeg from the TIFF, here, but if anyone would like to use the RAW file I can upload it to yousendit.

I don't see any blur due to the camera being handheld. If noise is under control, then increasing the ISO is a good alternative to using a tripod.

Click to expand...

Thank you so much for this advice. I did not know what to make of the sharper leaf shadows at the far right side of the image, as compared with those in the middle of the fence. I thought I had let the camera shake, since that is one of my faults which I am presently working very hard to correct.

The next sunny morning, I shall try this again, with increased ISO.

I am so thrilled to get so much help, so quickly.

Mary

Mary Bull said:

I did not know what to make of the sharper leaf shadows at the far right side of the image, as compared with those in the middle of the fence. I thought I had let the camera shake, since that is one of my faults which I am presently working very hard to correct.

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Mary, that tree was simply closer to the fence, hence a sharper shadow. Note the even sharper shadow on the left (of Brian's crop, center in the original) from an even closer branch.

- DL

Don Lashier said:

Mary, that tree was simply closer to the fence, hence a sharper shadow. Note the even sharper shadow on the left (of Brian's crop, center in the original) from an even closer branch.

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Thanks a million, Don. It's this kind of analysis which I need to learn to do, as much as, or perhaps even more than, the technique and vision to be used in actually taking the picture.

Mary

Mary, if there's one fairly consistent failing I see in your images, it's failure to get in close enough. You see the interesting shot but simply take in too much, even for cropping. Get closer to the fence and look for interesting compositions. Here's one quick example - the ghost of your rabbit is eating the leaves! And a quick bw version (just desaturated, not channel mixer).

. . .

- DL

Don Lashier said:

Mary, if there's one fairly consistent failing I see in your images, it's failure to get in close enough. You see the interesting shot but simply take in took much, even for cropping. Get closer to the fence and look for interesting compositions.

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This advice I've heard before here, both from you and from others. It's apparent that I'm still not applying it sufficiently.

Maybe it will stick, this time around. Thank you so much for taking the time with me, Don. Next sunny morning I shall apply closeness to the fence!

Here's one quick example - the ghost of your rabbit is eating the leaves! And a quick bw version (just desaturated, not channel mixer)

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Good idea about the ghostly rabbit!

And I was wondering how it would go in b/w. In fact, was just setting up to play with it that way in LZ, when the e-mail notification of Alain's post came in. So all this time I've been experimenting with highlights and shadows, between reading OPF posts.

It's quite an interesting afternoon here on my monitor screen.

Again, thanks a whole bunch for your tutoring help.

Mary

Just for the Fun of It

Don Lashier said:

Mary, if there's one fairly consistent failing I see in your images, it's failure to get in close enough. You see the interesting shot but simply take in too much, even for cropping.

Click to expand...

I did, indeed, totally fail to focus on the idea I had when I took the series of frames. I wanted my own shadow to be the subject, contrasted with the shadows of the leaves.

If it's sunny in the morning, I intend to see how close I can get to taking only an image of my own shadow.

Meanwhile, I've been playing a bit. There really weren't enough pixels to crop as severely as I wished to, but I did it anyway. Here's the result:



And I'll stop bedeviling you and everyone else here, Don, at least for the night.

Mary

Mary Bull said:

I wanted my own shadow to be the subject, contrasted with the shadows of the leaves.

Click to expand...

Mary, try moving in to get an area similar to my crop, with your shadow in the "sunny" area, perhaps in profile (will require a little blind shooting). The closer you are (zoom out as required) the sharper your shadow will be contrast to the softness of the other shadows. Also might be interesting to keep a bit of green leaves in the shot. Try different areas of the fence to see what works.

- DL

Mary Bull said:

I sharpened it 13 per cent to make the green leaves more visible. Then I tried various crops.

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1. Never use sharpening. [There's a lot of technicalities involved in sharpening for when it should be used.]

2. Push the green channel to emphasise the leaves. Or make a not too detailed Region around the leaves in LZ and play a bit with the feather area and the ZoneMapper.

3. I'd try to get in such that the fence is the major part of the image with lots of clearly delineated leave shadows and only one or two actual leaves in one corner. [You need to shoot again, I just tried and found it nearly impossible to come up with something.]


Don't try b/w, this is clearly a colour motive!

Dierk, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this advice.

It's stormy here, at the moment--at least, one thunderstorm has just finished its rumbling and drumming--but if it will have cleared up by between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m., I shall go out and shoot again.

I'm going to discard all the two dozen frames of this idea that I made on Wednesday. They all have the same faults, some more than others. And I'm not going to try rescuing the image posted here any more. But will keep in mind your notes on what to do in LZ for the images that result from my next shooting.

Mary