In an earlier blog post, An Abstract in Red, I wrote that I don't often do abstract work. That's true but I do enjoy it from time-to-time. I decided to have a bit of fun with this image, the unretouched image is shown above. This was taken in my backyard a few years ago as I was about to enter the woods for a hike. It was a sunny day and by exposing for the underside of the leaves I totally blew out the sky - not always what you want to do but in this case it made the photograph.
I decided to take the original image and play around a bit. I recently wrote
Improve Your Photography: Editing - Selective Color where I discussed highlighting elements of an image by making everything around it monochrome - I did that here. I then decided to invert the mask I used and make the single leaf black & white.
Lastly I just got tight on some of the leaves to make it a little more abstract.
I used this technique just to mask the color but there is so much more you can do - I could have change the black & white selection to red, for instance. This is a great "rainy day" project and a lot of fun. You will need an editing package that allows you to work with masks - I use Photoshop but there are many others, including the freeware GIMP. You can get Photoshop & Lightroom on a subscription basis for $9.99/month - just follow this link
While I guess these aren't "true" abstracts it is about as close as I usually get. It's a great exercise to break out of your comfort zone from time-to-time and shoot things in ways you never have before. In this case I was shooting up which is not something I do a lot of, at least not in this manner. Try getting down on the ground and shoot from a low angle, climb a tree and look down. The possibilities are endless and you will be surprised at how fun it can be.
All photos are copyright Joseph S. Valencia All Rights Reserved They may not be used in any way without express written permission of the photographer. If you wish to use any of the photos you may contact the photographer at valencia32photo@gmail.com
In an earlier blog post, An Abstract in Red, I wrote that I don't often do abstract work. That's true but I do enjoy it from time-to-time. I decided to have a bit of fun with this image, the unretouched image is shown above. This was taken in my backyard a few years ago as I was about to enter the woods for a hike. It was a sunny day and by exposing for the underside of the leaves I totally blew out the sky - not always what you want to do but in this case it made the photograph.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for commenting!