Road Paint

[charlie chipman]

I am posting this picture in light of the thread titled "Digital Techniques That Call Attention To Themselves" posted in the Photography as Art section of the forum.

For the time being I will refrain from commenting about this picture other than it was taken with a D200 at sunrise in joshua tree national park on the south eastern side of the park where the joshua trees are not abundant.

I am interested in your thoughts of the final outcome

[Colleen Vermillion]

My first impression of it wasn't that you went crazy with the post work. The first thing I saw was blue against orange (for some reason this particular palette always draws me in - I just love the combination) Then my eye followed the snaking line of the reflective road paint down into the brush and then out to the horizon. All very natural feeling.

Now if you want the technique to jump out, you need to rotate the image 45 degrees and photoshop in some sort of surrealistic object into the sky (naked woman, an eye, an onion slice, really anything will do). If you really want to be admired, please add in a child and some sunbeams ala Rarindar.

On a tangent - Actually I really like Rarindar's work, it's just the attempted imitation of it that's getting tiresome. There seems to be a lot of interest in imitating Dragan also, with often really terrible results because the imitators don't really understand why his style works. I understand the impulse to try to reproduce each style, because both photographers really stand out, but I really hate that the discussion is always "what steps do I take in Photoshop to get the (x) look?" I'd rather people looked at the different elements of the entire image and how they work together. I'm not much of an art critic, but talking about Photoshop recipes seems like trying to reproduce a Byzantine mosaic by figuring out what type of grout was used.

-Colleen

[StuartRae]

...you need to rotate the image 45 degrees and photoshop in some sort of surrealistic object into the sky (naked woman, an eye, an onion slice, really anything will do). If you really want to be admired, please add in a child.........

Colleen,

Thank you so much for making me smile! I, too, am bored with the plethora of pseudo-artistic crap.

Regards,

Stuart

[StuartRae]

An addendum

I should perhaps make it clear that my comment does not refer to Charlie's image, which I like very much. It is a reply to Colleen's post and expresses my view on so-called art in general.

Regards,

Stuart

[Asher Kelman]

Originally Posted by charlie chipman

I am posting this picture in light of the thread titled "Digital Techniques That Call Attention To Themselves" posted in the Photography as Art section of the forum.

For the time being I will refrain from commenting about this picture other than it was taken with a D200 at sunrise in joshua tree national park on the south eastern side of the park where the joshua trees are not abundant.

I am interested in your thoughts of the final outcome

Hi Charlie,

I like this picture for it's simplicity and sense of mystery. The horizontal zone of "mist" through which the winding road must pass heightens the sense of the unknown future.

This picture, I believe is taken as seen. However, the texture in the roadway makes it appear more processed. The exposure might be quite long. I will not check the EXIF, since I'd then want to alter this post!

Images with paths that go to the future like this are part of the main metaphor of life itself. That, with all its hazards and diversions is "life as a journey. Here the viewer is allowed to bring his/her own imperatives to the interpretation. When that occurs, the art works best.

Not only then is the photograph and external expression of the artist but also a stage in which the viewers own needs and ideas are played out.

Thanks for sharing,

Asher

[Colleen Vermillion]

Originally Posted by StuartRae

I should perhaps make it clear that my comment does not refer to Charlie's image, which I like very much.

Also, it's been pointed out to me that my post didn't come across the way I meant it. I do indeed like the image, and as I mentioned it doesn't jump up and scream "look at the post processing". The rest of the post was joking about ways you could ruin it with post processing as if that was your goal.

If I end up offending someone, I guarantee you that it is never my intention. Please don't hesitate to call me out about my choice of expression. Sometimes my tone doesn't translate well to text.

-Colleen

[charlie chipman]

Stuart no need to explain, I read your comment as a reply to Colleen, and Colleen again do not fear, I also saw your comment for what it was :-)

Asher thanks for commenting, winding paths into vast landscapes or dense forest etc. are much like a hill with a lone tree at the top......there is sure to be somebody with a camera near by :-) The draw to this scene was first the winding road, then how the valley and mountains seem to mimic the curves of the road (or vice versa is perhaps the better way to put it) is what really pulls this together for me.

As far as post, I took many different exposures with HDR in mind however I am not a big fan of HDR so decided to use only one of the images with the best colour in the sky and brought that out as well as the paint in the road, I personally have never seen a scene look quite like this with my own eyes ;-)

[Michael Fontana]

Charlie
I wondered about how it looks like with a less accentuated road, just quick and dirt:



©charlie chipman

in comparison, the eye seems to make different movements:
in your version they switch between the sunset and the road (foreground-background), while my version is calmer, as the eye follows the road, ending in the "infinity" aka background/sunset.

[charlie chipman]

I do know what you mean, the road and the sky battle for attention however I feel in your version the road is a bit to muted leaving the bottom half of the image to dark, somewhere in between the two is worth trying out though.

Thanks for the suggestion

[Michael Fontana]

Charlie
its one of the positive aspects of digital age, that we can do such a comparison quickly and talk about - even over the ocean.

Yes, I tried to correct the challenge between the road and the sky. You' re right again, to make the road visually brighter - in contrast to the foreground - I darkend the foreground a bit. This allowed to keep the road looking "in twilight."

Basically, it's the question, if you intend the road to be more important, or the landscape/sunset, with a nicely shaped road in it.

[Colleen Vermillion]

I like the sort of glowing road lines - it's very "follow the yellow brick road" to me. I think the lines are what made this more than just another sunset picture. Maybe it's just my feminine fondness for sparkly things though :)

-Colleen