I have managed an image for March! I will still be in and out as my treatment progresses, but will do what I can.
1/250sec, 62mm, f/7.1, ISO125.
So, what can you photograph when you're confined to bed? Anything around you of course! This image is of a table - I quite liked the juxtaposition of hard, scratched stainless and wood grain. I thought it might be a good image to add to my texture library.
I didn't like that I had a soft, out of focus corner, and wanted to amplify the hardness of the metal against the softer woodgrain. I opened in Photoshop, copied the background layer and changed the blend mode to Vivid Light. I then inverted the layer and applied the clipping mask. I then applied a surface blur, adjusting the sliders for the amount of detail I was looking for.
I copied the background layer again and applied the diffuse filter, ticking anisotropic. I grouped my working layers and changed the group to Overlay blend mode.I masked so this effect applied only to the metal.
I improved the tonal range of the woodgrain by duplicating the background again, moving to the top, adding a clipped B/W adjustment layer, inverting, and adding a Gaussian blur. I grouped these together and changed the blend mode to Overlay. I masked to apply to the woodgrain only.
I tried to sharpen the soft corner using a high pass filter, but ended up cropping it out instead. I added a curves layer finally to slightly darken selective areas.
Not sure if I've overdone the effect, but it's been a process I've been playing around with, so at least I have had more practice with it!
This round’s discussion is now closed! 5 comments posted
Cindy Lynch
I am so sorry that you are having health problems and hope your treatments are helping. I think you have two interesting textures here to add to your collection. Great clarity, texture and details. I'd love to see a photo in which you used them. Posted: 03/14/2025 16:56:26
Tom McCreary
Sorry to hear that you were in the hospital, and hope that you get well soon. You did find an interesting thing to photograph. The textures are very good, and your editing brought them out very well. I also like the crop. To play with the image, I flipped it both vertically and horizontally. To me the center of interest is the dark area in the wood (maybe a small knot?) So by flipping it, that wood area is now in the upper right corner. Posted: 03/19/2025 18:31:53
Bob Crocker
Hope you feel better soon. Congrats on using what's around you to create an interesting shot. I like the contrast between the wood and scratchy texture. The curved diagonal line creates a strong point of interest. I like your delving into the world of Blend Modes for your creative post-processing. Posted: 03/19/2025 19:49:59
Jessica Manelis
I love your positive attitude Mary! I like the contrast of textures you captured. It makes a very nice abstract image. I also like how you punched up the textures and enhanced them. Posted: 03/25/2025 23:39:33
Andrew Carstensen
Compliments on this simply yet profound example of shapes. It opens the doors to multiple subjects. I was thinking about Bob's Feather picture and how we should be able to photograph anything and bring out a subject. Peace be with you and hope you are back to normal soon. Posted: 03/30/2025 02:40:59
