Barbara Friedman
May 2023 - Shadows - Alter Ego
About the Image(s)
While I was on a hike last year, I saw the interesting shadow that this flower cast on the rock behind it. The shape of the rock gave the flower an entirely different personality. There were a couple problems with the original: the petals, which were originally white, lost definition against the light-colored rock, and the sunlight which made the shadow so interesting in the first place caused the petals to cast harsh shadows on the inside of the flower.
So, I decided to give the flower more personality, mostly using Lightroom masks. I made the petals purple to distinguish them from the rock and to tone down the harsh shadows; I de-saturated the rock and the ground; and I used temperature and tint on the different parts of the flower’s shadow to give it a little personality of its own. I also tried desaturating the original flower and leaving color on the shadow, but it looked too washed out.
This round’s discussion is now closed!
16 comments posted
Barbara, you really put a lot of thought into this with a successful result. I think it's very clever what you did with the shadowed flower. It really does stand out against the desaturated rock. Was the desaturated rock the same color as the rocks where the plant emerges? It looks different and the transition is rather abrupt. I may have tried to lighted the darker rock or clone the desaturated rock to make it more cohesive. Don't know if that would work for you. Good catch while you were on your hike. Posted: 05/08/2023 18:40:52
Thank you, Joan. Here is the original image with the colors in the rock and the ground. Nothing cohesive about those two. I wanted to make the flower stand out so I chose to desaturate everything else. I also tried lightening the rock, darkening the rock, keeping the flower white (instead of purplizing it), and some other things. I'm still not settled on it. Posted: 05/08/2023 19:14:56
My first wow when seeing this was - that's the best flower shadow I'm ever seen. Then, when I realized, shadows don't tend to have much color, I thought - wow impressive editing!
You have used creativity to craft a great fine art photo. Great vision. Well executed.
I was looking that the flower and shadow so much I overlooked Joan's comment. However, now that I see, it consider using some of your magic to make it a non-issue.
Posted: 05/10/2023 21:40:09
You have used creativity to craft a great fine art photo. Great vision. Well executed.
I was looking that the flower and shadow so much I overlooked Joan's comment. However, now that I see, it consider using some of your magic to make it a non-issue.
Posted: 05/10/2023 21:40:09
Thanks Chane! I've been struggling with how to treat the rock and the ground. Do you have thoughts on how you'd do it? Posted: 05/11/2023 06:42:36
If you have a photo of gravel around, try replacing the ground with that and the flower growing through it. I suggest gravel because I think it fits well with the rock background and avoids being a distracting element. On the style of the gravel, consider having direct sunshine that appears to have similar light angles as the shadow. Nice looking, yet boring - if that is possible. Posted: 05/11/2023 08:48:02
Thanks for the tip and I'll see what I can do. I feel like there's a lot of potential for this capture, with the shape of the shadow (and I had fun playing with the color!), but I agree it's missing something. Posted: 05/11/2023 08:51:13
Hi Barbara: When I first peeked at your photo, I was very confused as to what I was looking at. I was so impressed that you captured a shadow with color in it. Then I thought it might be two separate stems, but one was see through. I was beginning to question my sanity! When I came back to read your description, I knew was I okay. I love this image and the way it made me question reality. I like everything you have done including leaving the rope. Is the plant emerging from rocks or dirt? I see dirt and dead leaves. (Thank you for providing the original.) The way you changed the image is perfect. I don't see that anything else is needed unless you could clone a blue petal and place it on the ground. (Rule of Odds - Ha Ha.) Posted: 05/15/2023 18:58:08
Thank you, Lee Ann! I appreciate your comments. The plant is emerging from dirt, but there's probably only about a half inch of dirt -- it's very rocky around here (we're surrounded by quarries). The plants here are very hardy! Posted: 05/16/2023 10:34:18
I've re-worked the ground at the base of the flower to make it less of a jolt. At first I tried to just up the exposure, but the leaves were still a little distracting, so I took a picture of some mulch and used that. Here's the result. Posted: 05/16/2023 16:51:32
Barbara: I like this version better. There is no questions about "what should I do?". I suggest cropping the left side so the flower is more on the 1/3rd of the image. I also cropped down some. I really love the image you took and how you edited it. Posted: 05/23/2023 09:59:21
Thanks Lee Ann! And I like your crop. Posted: 05/23/2023 15:33:41
This is such a fun image to look at. A fantasy of a shadow! It is curvy! It is colored! I wonder if I'll ever find anything like it in person for myself! Lucky you! Composition-wise, I like the effect of the diagonal line of the mulch dirt. It gives a nice foundation for the image and the stem. It contrasts well with the very straight vertical line of the live flower and the curviness of the shadow. How about a rule of shape odds - diagonal, vertical, and curvy! You did an excellent job of turning the "white" flower into a beauty. I really enjoyed this image. Posted: 05/19/2023 14:07:12
Thank you Carole! I smiled at the curvy and colored comments. :) Years ago I saw a wonderful leaf shadow on a rock while I was hiking, but it was gone by the time I got my camera out and my husband wasn't willing to wait with me until the sun came back out. :( It took a while but I finally found a good natural-object-on-rock photo. I enjoyed your curvy and colored comments! Posted: 05/23/2023 15:36:29
Curvy shadow! I'm still looking to see one in person!!! Posted: 05/31/2023 10:55:11
What a creative interpretation of this scene! One does see colored 'shadows' when light shines through colored glass, but this is great fun. You added the color to the blossom very well; I thought that was the natural color. Yes, desaturating the flower would make it too pale. If anything I would deepen the petals a little. Posted: 05/20/2023 12:12:07
Thanks for your comments - I think I'll give those darker petals a go. Posted: 05/23/2023 15:37:04