Chane Cullens
May 2023 - Shadows - Checkerboard Path to the Mountains
Original
About the Image(s)
About a half-dozen years ago I was hiking in a state park about 10 miles from my sister’s ranch in Oregon. Just before getting back to the parking lot, I saw these patterns on the trail and just had to stop and capture them. Canon (FYI I’ve been using Canon since 1987), 70-200mm lens at 70mm, f7.1. ISO 400, 1/320 second. I post-posted with Adobe Camera Raw, plus NIK Color Efex with Gold Reflector and Tonal Contrast. OK, some background to make this paragraph more interesting. Growing up, every year my family spent at least 2 weeks camping and hiking in Oregon in similar terrain. Albeit, there is was never any human-made trails. Thus, the photo’s storytelling ability is much stronger in my mind than yours.
This round’s discussion is now closed!
9 comments posted
Chane, this certainly has the Wow effect. There is so much to study and dwell on in this picture. I have to ask you about the Gold Reflector. Is that in Nik Color Efex? I did't see it. The enhancement of the golden touch adds to the ambiance of the image. I'm thinking you replaced the sky. You chose one that works well with the overall image. This east coast woman is envious of your glorious mountains. Posted: 05/08/2023 18:10:18
Hi Joan
In my note I merged two things, In Color Efex, the filter is Reflector Efex, inside that filter, you have three "color" choices - gold, soft gold and silver. I find the gold color is similar to the great light from sunrise/sunset. I've lived in the east coast for the last 30 years but go "home" to Oregon every year. Every state has some amazing places in them, but the western states just seem to have more amazing places.
Posted: 05/10/2023 20:56:45
In my note I merged two things, In Color Efex, the filter is Reflector Efex, inside that filter, you have three "color" choices - gold, soft gold and silver. I find the gold color is similar to the great light from sunrise/sunset. I've lived in the east coast for the last 30 years but go "home" to Oregon every year. Every state has some amazing places in them, but the western states just seem to have more amazing places.
Posted: 05/10/2023 20:56:45
I had no idea that was there. Thanks for the tip. Posted: 05/11/2023 16:36:40
I agree with Joan, this *is* a WOW! My eye was drawn to the path first with it's angular checkerboard and matching fence... leading to the majestic mountains and beautiful clouds. Great catch and great treatment. Posted: 05/13/2023 11:12:04
Hi Chane: I love this picture. It screams "hiking". I imagine an all-day hike and seeing this on the way down the mountains. I'm heading to the car and home to rest my tired legs. Fabulous. The thing I might change is the color of the trees on the right. They are so sun-bleached or maybe had too much gold added compared to the ones on the left. I would just kick up the green a little to make them more the color I imagine on the trees. Posted: 05/15/2023 17:23:18
Good point on too much sunset on the right trees, thank you! Posted: 05/15/2023 19:57:11
The checkerboard shadows you found in this special location in front of the mountain peaks make this image unique and compelling to me. It's always fun to see something I haven't seen before. I can feel how it was when you were standing there. To turn the image into less of a snapshot documentary image, I put a -10 dark vignette on the entire image. That changed the impact of the scene. That helped me concentrate more on the path rather than my eyes wandering over to the left and right so much when I first saw the image. That seemed to make such a pleasant difference in your lovely image that I continued on as if it were my own photo. I tend to look for little bright areas that don't really add to the impact and then turn down their impact by darkening or removing bright areas not in the main subject area. Our eyes do go to the brightest areas. I got rid of some bright areas around the edges to keep my eye following the path to the mountain. I know I still look all around your image to take in the beautiful scenery. Your new sky has a lovely blue area exactly at the end of my eye's trip from the base of your image, through the path, and then to the wow mountains and complimentary sky. That intense blue area is like a distraction but a GOOD distraction, because it draws my eye to it...right from the path into the photo and up to the sky. Great trip! I want to go there now! Thanks for the story behind the photo. Posted: 05/19/2023 11:49:47
Oh, I also lightened the Highlights on the middle of the path. Now the area with the shadows isn't all the same levels of bright and dark. I made it lighter in the center so that our eyes are drawn down the middle of the path to that brightest area in the distance. Posted: 05/19/2023 11:51:55
While the checkboard shadows are the main subject, they lead quite nicely to the mountains in the background. Your post processing brought out details in the trees and rocks very well. You turned a blah sky into something interesting. The end result is the pale gold of an early morning scene. This assigment is 'shadows' so this cropping is good. If you crop a couple of rows of checks at the bottom, these is more emphasis on the mountains; a different look for the same image. Posted: 05/20/2023 08:30:59