Mary Hinsen, BPSA
February 2025 - The Fright
Original
About the Image(s)
Camera settings: 1/30sec, f/5.6, 54mm
I took this image in an old abandoned house some time ago, with a friend who is also a photographer. I had set up a light on my tripod, and put flour between the pages of an old book. It was pretty much an experiment to see if I could get something interesting.
My intention with processing was to work with the atmosphere of the old house.
I cropped in to focus on the action. I cloned in a piece of flour burst to even it out, and removed distractions, such as the designs on his t-shirt and glare on his glasses from the light. I added grain, overlaid an old glass texture and used curves layers to simulate light leaks.I added the vignette and black frame. I wasn't happy with the colour, so darkened his face, and added a black and white adjustment layer. This was a bit boring, so I used a colour balance adjustment layer to add tone. I then lightly painted back some colour into the book and his face.
I look forward to your suggestions :)
4 comments posted
I have two suggestions. In my opinion, there is too much clare from the flour. I prefered the image of that exploding flour in the original. In my opinion, the increased glare of the flour in the final made the book almost undefinable. I would prefer the book should show a marked distincion in tone. As it is, I didn't even realize there was a book there until I read your description.
It was good that you brought back some distinction in his face. In my opinion, his face needs more distinction. Maybe a little bit of color brought back with a mask whitened around his face, so the background layer would show through on his face just a tad more. Posted: 02/10/2025 20:21:01