Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Always Winter

This next photo is one of my favorites....so much so that I actually printed it out, and it stayed on my desk for a few months. This is an icicle hanging from my roof, clearly with the sunrise behind it.


I believe I took this picture in early January of this year....

So, I've discovered lots of different effects and adjustments in the course of my experimenting with photography. I think the most effective one that I've used (in my opinion) is just simple Contrast. I increased the contrast a little before uploading this picture, and I think I've greatly improved it.... What do you think? Is it too extreme? Does lots of contrast make artsy photos? In this particular situation I'm going to defend my case by saying that the extra contrast brings out both the color in the sky, and the depth in the icicles. The original is the one I had printed out on my desk, and I loved the picture that way, but now I really like the added contrast.

Below are three versions of the picture, the original, the post, and the one I thought I wanted to post, but changed my mind because the colors were too extreme.

Extreme
Original
Medium

The difference is much more subtle when they're lined up next to each other....whatever, you get the point.

Addressing some of the comments I've received, I use both a GFM 10MP digital point-and-shoot camera and a Fujifilm Finepix S2800HD (14MP, also a point and shoot). Now of course I would love to have a DSLR someday, but I think that you can make some great art with just a point-and-shoot. I've discovered that my previous background in the fine arts--in particular having a good eye for composition--is way more important than having fancy equipment.

In conclusion,
Good photography = aesthetically pleasing subject + good composition + lots of extra contrast?
 

19 comments:

  1. I dont know squat about photography, but that photo looks awesome. Nice job!

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  2. I really like vivid colors, so the extreme one looks the best imo.

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  3. I agree with Al3xaG. Extremem looks a lot more vivid. Following!

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  4. I like photos with more contrast in colors, extreme is the best imo :3

    Very nice photo!

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  5. You certainly prove the point that you don't need an SLR to create a good picture...

    I'm in two minds on the photo editing front, I can certainly see the improvements but like the whole purity of what you take…

    still with digital camera doing so much of the grunt work these days, even manual taken photographs get so much assistance it kind of wipes out my purity argument….

    which I guess leaves me with just too lazy to learn Photoshop

    Top tip when you get an SLR , better to buy a cheap body and expensive lens’s as good lens’s, if looked after, will still be usable years down the line, while the camera body will quickly go out of date….

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  6. Nice photo. Medium version is probably the best. It makes the photo more colorful, but not overdone. All three look good though.
    It's the magic blue/orange formula! :P
    http://www.slashfilm.com/orangeblue-contrast-in-movie-posters/

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  7. Medium is the winner, the third is too contrasted. Epic photos though.

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  8. wow amazing photos you got here!

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  9. Colours on "extreme" make it look as it an A-bomb was dropped far away...

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  10. wow, all of them make for a great picture!

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  11. Holy cow that is seriously awesome.

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  12. these are amazing photos in every way

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  13. Wow, that is an amazing photo. I'm following you for sure.

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  14. cracking photos mate. Loving the extreme one but i can see why you went for the medium

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