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Similar to a chaptered work of fiction ,,or not , the posts of pictures making a thread have a overall effect as well as individual effect. I’m glad all the shots have been restored..from sharp Wind and Fire to the soft cumuli. May they all inspire.
Just today, Hans , I experimented with a few shots taken during last cloud cover. I shot into a very flat stratus ,seeing just barely a hint of contrast. I set on red filter effect and took several bracketed exposures( incremental degrees of under or over exposure). Again, ” experiment” is the key word. Then Lightroom process was twisted and squeezed for just about everything I could get out of the turnip. Hans, you have a Mainly White with cumuli,,below is a lot of white with stratus.
Wow, All the pics are disappearing,,a lot of them anyway…anybody else not seeing a bunch of photos? Difficult to talk about them when they are gone Keelin, but there is a..way..to get that lustre you reference..Its in the gray tones. If pure white is 100,,pure black 0..then maybe somewhere around as low as 60 and as high as 85..these gray tones can be pumped up a tad with micro amounts of light until they gain a lustre. Adobe Lightroom has a nice feature than can do this in the right conditions. The group of effects is under ” Presence ” The effects include,,Clarity,,Vibrance and Saturation. Meant more for color manipulation, these have effects in B&W as well. Clarity I use a lot,,because I usually shoot for a flat original, thus able to bring it to ” depth” I want when processing. Shooting RAW is some what the same way..The photo is made at the Printer rather than at that camera.
Anyway ,,some photogs call the few hours before sunset and the hour or two from sun rise the magic hours because thats when the gray tones are “alive ” and with a little processing help can gain a lustre. Clarity seems to know alll by itself what ur foto needs..to add lite to which greys or just the opposite which greys to make darker to get the depth and “lustre’ ..So what happens depends on what you are giving to ” clarity”. You learn and if something doesn’t work out ,,no big deal. You start over and try a different way .
The variables are endless. There is the exposure of the original, Do you want to add or take away from the original.. Then there is just the middle ,,think bell curve the 80 %,,more lite? less lite? The Highlites..more? Less? Same with dark..middlle tones, darker ? then the shadows Darker, Lighter ? Remember..highlights and Shadows loose detail when increased. So, clarity acts as a ” separator.” gives separation between the tones, not like the heavy handed Contrast effect but in conjunction WITH contrast, lights highlites darks and shadows,,you find or create the amount of ” lustre” you want. Another way to see or think about it is..Does the AIR in you photo have Light? Thats something Painters master..putting Light in the Air. Turner was great at that.The Clarity tool can do that if presented the right opportunity. Whats neat is , Clarity is also available for just small areas as in burning and dodging..Now we’re talking about making a Picture..not just a shot. Some Photos I’m happy with, with no more than 5 minutes of processing. Others I’ll spend a few hours or more on,,adjustments on small levels and areas can add up to make a very good photograph and never be noticed. Remember,,You Control EVERYTHING the observer sees. The photograph you mention about lustre..now missing..I waited until I had the time to process it. I spent around a hour on it.
For color,,vibrance and clarity in tandom can produce the Light in the Air..but as in all cases,,be judicial with the effect. It shouldn’t be noticeable or sticking out like a red thumb,,like so many over saturated color shots ( im just as guilty on that as anyone).
Sorry, I’m not posting a pic rite now only to see it disappear soon after. When things get straightened out here I’ll post photos. Soon I hope.
MEL
Thanks K & H for your kind words!.. Wow, gel filters..I haven’t heard of those in a while. I gave them a try when I was in the army. I never went back to them since. For clouds I would think they are too slow Keelin. I suppose You could do a whole shoot with a filter in place tho. But thats not my style. That shot was taken as dusk approached if I recall correctly. Contrast mellows out in the later afternoon as the greys come alive.
Heres a shot at just about sundown, sun almost on the horizon line. A bit of processing time brought the cloud formation forward in time by 2 or 3 hours. Lightroom has ” gradual filter” that is worth its weight in gold. Big Sky presents a unique set of problems. Even lighting across the ” Big Sky” is the main one along with distortions. This shot is an example of what good processing software can do to get the lighting the way you want.. Digital ” burning” and ” dodging” is quick, easy, and cheap compared to the same in analogue.
Herald
I Luv Clouds
btw Hans,,I got that Are You Sure Error message a few times also. Haven’t seen it recently. Seems a constant refresh at every step keeps things current.Uh Oh! Nice Contrast Between Your Shots Keelin and Hans; the horizontal and the vertical as well as the all grey tone and the Black to White, the very relaxing and the Frenetic (i apologize)..So, coincidentally having just today reviewed the pic and wondered if I would ever post the pic, this is as good an opportunity as ever, it fits in between your two opposites Keelin and Hans.
Keelin, Thanks for Your Kind words! Clouds take us to the dream world . Your “From The Sea” shot there has all the elements but like a dream , not held to rules, and goes about their ways freely. The pic seems to be looking at the viewer..a Keelin selfie?
Heres a shot that evokes memories of sand dune beaches of the East Coast Atlantic .ok, for me anyway. A red filter effect turned a dull low contrast sky into something I could work with . Like eating a bowl of hot chili right before bed time…OH The Dreams!
HAA! Nice Work there Hans,,Dimension, texture, direction; very interesting thus fun! …ooopps this should be posted below after Han’s Django post..hey everything else is weird here.. so..
I notice that two of my shots have disappeared . So please allow me this opportunity to repost them here.
This one is slightly different than the on missing,so everyone gets a 2 for 1.
My ego likes this one too much to let it vanish.
Also..yes Hans all sorts of weirdness going on..I think the sign on still isn’t right. The only way for me to sign in a current time is the regen option you have pointed out,,Yet I still seem to be out of synch somewhere either in Gallery or here or etc. Its kinda fun except when you don’t have the time to bounce around in a bunch of yesterdays.
Apparently a regen or renew at every step of the way gets the newest..Its 6:37 PM and I JUST got to see todays gallery shots..nice Crow Instability Hans.. and when I came back here..Guess what wasn’t visible..but a renew brought it back,,yea..this and the above shot..uh oh.
btw Hans,,I got that Are You Sure Error message a few times also. Haven’t seen it recently. Seems a constant refresh at every step keeps things current.
