For Christmas, Lee Ann reached a little too deep into her pocket and got me an incredible gift. Photoshop. I cannot thank her enough. For the longest time I stood proudly with the intent on not using software systems such as Photoshop as it seemed that it revolutionized the photography world. What I did not realize until a couple months ago however was that many of the same alterations can be made with film in a darkroom. Then, once giving it a try, I realized that there was indeed a whole new world that was yet tapped into with the use of these software systems.
The first photo is the Metro system during rush hour in a holiday season. Using a neutral density filter I was able to use a longer shutter speed giving the effect seen below. A neutral density filter is essentially sunglasses to the camera lens which results in the need for a longer exposure time. After altering the saturation levels of individual colors I then was able bring the reds and oranges to life while reducing the saturation of all the other colors within the photo.
In the following photo, again I used a neutral density filter. This photo was taken at dusk so that all the cars had their lights on, but there was enough light to illuminate the buildings with natural light.
"The Fast Life"
I love the metro pic. Warp 9, engage! I'm a sucker for the photos where every color but one is muted.
ReplyDeleteAt first I didn't like fast lane. Now I realize that I just don't like the title. "Life in the fast lane" is too easy to associate a value judgment with. Maybe I don't want that context. Maybe I just want to admire the amazing collection of colors. There's a scene in the book Choke, which I am about to butcher, but hopefully you will get the point: A woman sniffs glue and looks at a mountain and says, "I saw the mountain for just a moment, without the politics of strip mining, 6 o'clock news stories of bear attacks, without celebrities paralyzed in skiing accidents, just the essence of the mountain."
Sometimes I would prefer to vanish the titles away with a sniff of glue. The context they add detracts from the picture by forcing a perspective on the viewer rather than allowing the viewer to form their own perspective.