Stairway to The Top
How I did it: I went to one of the tallest buildings in Merced, a three story parking garage. There is a stairway leading down and there are the most wonderful shadows and lines, both in the stairwell and looking over the side down onto the street. Today, the sun cooperated beautifully! I'm happy with the lines and shadows and shapes. I used my Canon 90d and my new-to-me lens, a 10-22. This was at 16mm, f 11, 1/50, ISO 100. In Lightroom, I deepened the shadows and darkened some light areas in the structure so that the viewer's eye is drawn up the stairway to the sky. I tried to remove the bit of wall beyond the top of the left railing, but it wouldn't cooperate. A skill for another day... Oh, two notes for you all: the mama dove has returned and rebuilt her nest, apparently revived by her little vacation. She is hard at it, setting on her eggs. So happy to have her back! Also, at someone's suggestion (was it Wes?) I checked out Black and White magazine. Very nice! I will be enjoying it! Thanks for that tip.
8 comments posted
Diana Magor
Really super shadows! I found their spikiness fascinating. I looked at the wall you didn't like and wondered if the answer was actually to crop dramatically so that it disappeared which then gave a different pattern picture. That also got rid of the awkward darkness at bottom right. I took a little off both sides to give symmetry. Do you think this helps or does one's eye flip around the image too much? Posted: 09/10/2023 09:58:24
Candie Autrand
You pose an interesting thought: is this photo about the stairs or about where the stairs are taking you? I'm torn between! Both approaches work, thanks. Posted: 09/10/2023 15:41:30
Somdutt Prasad
I rather like Candice's crop as the top of the stair railng sort of natural end to the eye sweeping up.I might have tried to heal or clone out the bits of rubbish lying on the stairs, to give it a cleaner look. Posted: 09/10/2023 10:49:56
Candie Autrand
I seriously considered removing the litter, but as it is a parking garage, I thought the litter was a part of the general feel. Sometimes its a hard call, huh?
Posted: 09/10/2023 15:39:12
Tom McCreary
This is very interesting with the spike shadows. I think that this is a great use of mono. I, like Somdutt, like your crop showing the sky. I reversed the image, so that it goes from light to dark. Posted: 09/10/2023 16:56:38
Stephen Levitas
A sure winner. Diagonal shadows on rectilinear surfaces.
I like the original, or Tom's flip, showing both the stairs and the sky. Posted: 09/10/2023 22:30:50
Candie Autrand
Wow, Tom, very cool! I don't know how to do that. Lr or PS??? Posted: 09/10/2023 22:46:24
Tom McCreary
I don't know if you can do it, or how to do it in Lightroom, but in Photoshop, go to: Images, Image Rotation, Flip Canvas Horizontal. Of course if you do not like it, then you can always go to Edit, Undo. Posted: 09/24/2023 12:10:41
