Connie Reinhart
May 2023 - Shadows
Original
About the Image(s)
The local Historical Society asked me to take pictures of each building along the main street. There is a railroad bridge overpass. I happened to look up and see these great diagonal lines. Processed in PS using NIK as plug-in. each step is on its own layer. First, brightened the entire image. The shadows were too dark, but this seemed to weaken the entire image. So I adjusted the midtones to give it some body. Converted to B&W using SFX High Contrast. I wanted to emphasize the shadows, and the color version distracted from them.
9 comments posted
One of the first lessons I learned when I took up photography was to look up and behind. I don't always remember this advice, but I'm glad that you did. This is striking. What is SFX High Contrast? I'm a fan of Silver Efex Pro, but am not familiar with SFX. I can't tell if your highlights are blown or your blacks are clipped, but does it really matter? The graphic lines create an abstract image that is original and fresh. Great job Connie! Posted: 05/08/2023 18:19:20
SFX is simply an abbreviation of Silver Effects in NIK. Posted: 05/20/2023 08:39:25
That's a lot of shadows! You editing andconversion to monochrome make the shadows pop! I start thinking about those Escher drawings where the stairs seem to go up and down at the same time. Well done! Posted: 05/10/2023 21:14:20
Fantastic shadows - lines of every length and width everywhere! Without the railing at the top right, I wouldn't have known that this was a photo and not a hand-drawn piece of art. Posted: 05/13/2023 11:13:48
Hi Connie: This is such a cool shot. When I look at the narrow shadows on the right I feel I'm looking down at a sidewalk. When I follow the narrow lines upward, I am looking up again. It's such a strange feeling. I like the conversion to B&W. Great example of shadows. Posted: 05/15/2023 18:34:16
Your shadows look like a great graphic to me. I immediately thought of the Escher drawings, but you did it for real! And the scene gave you a good variety of shapes and sizes. Maybe we should all give ourselves the self-assignment of taking photos of our own downtown area. I see several images within your image. I'm attaching a crop from the bottom and a crop from the top to illustrate it. Posted: 05/19/2023 12:09:22
and now the crop off the bottom... Posted: 05/19/2023 12:10:05
Oh, I like that. Posted: 05/20/2023 08:40:50
Interesting story about thhis image, one you all may have experienced also. This picture hung at a photography show in the local library. Everyone in town saw it (it's a small town) Although all the pictures were for sale, no one bought any. So it came home to hang on our wall. A friend came to visit and commented that he liked that picture best of all (Did he buy it? No.) So I gave it to him. He said thank you. Posted: 05/20/2023 08:44:00