Midnight, or the "Witching Hour," is often a fascinating time of day. Many people are asleep, dreaming of a life well-lived or a road less traveled, while others are out partying and making mistakes they will later regret. Some, like myself, take this time to enjoy the stillness and sounds of the night. The house creaking as the wind blows, the crickets calling in the night, and the patterns made by my patio light as it leaks through my blinds and front door window. All while I unwind with a glass of wine and sit with my thoughts. No kids yelling, "Mom, he hit me," and no coworkers calling, "Dr. Becerra, we need you." Just me and the midnight hour.
Process:
I took this image with my iPhone due to the extremely low light; my camera picked up almost no light in the room. What caught my attention for this photo was how the light created so many patterns in such a dark room. For post-processing, I reduced the noise and added a sepia filter in Photoshop. When processing this image, I aimed to create a softer, cinematic effect.
This round’s discussion is now closed! 11 comments posted
John Roach
I very much like the background story and mood expressed that support the image.
Well done. I like the look and feel of the scene and believe you have an interesting image to share. For me this is a instant where there is just the right amount of lit detail to share...any more by opening more shadows, and the mood would be lost. Posted: 07/09/2024 19:44:31
Stan Bormann
Thanks for the story. Understanding it makes the picture come alive. With the story, I think the sepia tone was important for the image. In my opinion the story becomes stronger by cropping from the top and the right to increase the size and importance in the frame of the dancer. Posted: 07/17/2024 22:03:15
Chris Prior
I am finding the highlights very overpowering but if you crop out those on the far right on what appears to be a lamp shade I find it changes everything. They are not really needed and the resultant effect is you are left with a group of three distinct highlighted elements in a triangular format and it makes the composition tighter and certainly easier for me to comprehend. The sepia works well in making the image moodier. Posted: 07/19/2024 08:23:31
Don York
I agree with Chris. I find the lampshade distracting to the overall mood of the image. I think sepia works well with the background. Posted: 07/20/2024 17:24:31
Don York
I agree with Chris. I find the lampshade distracting to the overall mood of the image. I think sepia works well with the background. Posted: 07/20/2024 17:24:45
Don York
I agree with Chris. I find the lampshade distracting to the overall mood of the image. I think sepia works well with the background. Posted: 07/20/2024 17:25:21
Jerry Snyder
The sunlit flowers immediately caught my attention. There is so much to see and take in here. Even little things like the variation of one of the horizontal shadows on the fabric on the glass door narrows while the other shadows have more uniform width caught my attention. I like the wide tonal range that creates a calm subdued mood. I agree with other commenters that cropping the right side to remove just the reflections on the lamp would improve the image. This is a very thoughtful image. Posted: 07/22/2024 00:36:10
Stuart Ord
I'm struggling with this photo, trying to understand what I'm seeing, and what it means. A dancer? Where is that? The right area looks the best candidate to me, but I agree that cropping off those bright bits makes for a more restful result. Posted: 07/25/2024 19:45:45
Keisha Becerra
Thank you all for the feedback. This photo was my first attempt at visual storytelling, and I aimed to draw in the viewer and encourage them to pause and ponder the image. Based on the feedback, it seems the overall goal was achieved. However, I will address a few technical issues, crop the image more, and tone down the highlights. Interesting there was no dancer in the photo, but if some of you see a dancer in the shadows, all the better- the photo was taken at the witching hour after all! :) Posted: 07/25/2024 22:42:45
John Roach
I like the humor.... Posted: 07/25/2024 22:44:00
Jerry Snyder
The highlights were fine in my opinion. No need to tone them down. Posted: 07/30/2024 16:18:07
