Photo of the Week - #38 6/6/22

[samstevens]

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[michaellinder]

If this were my photo, I’d do some dodging along the sides. As is, the predominance of jet black is somewhat heavy - handed.

[Ricochetrider]

I think this photo has a feeling of intimacy. I really like the textures and earthy tones, and the way the grasses are lit up by the sun. The darkest area at the left is pretty strong but it does sort of balance the lovely light n the rest of the shot. I also like the geometry of the angles and shadows and shapes in it all. I personally like ground-level living, and this scene & space seem very.... "connected", with the outside and inside kind of in sync with one another. IMO it's a lovely photograph of a peaceful refuge in a busy world. It makes me want to be there.

[httpwww.photo.netbarry]

I love the spaces, and the warmth and lived Inness. It warm and sunny and reminds me of summer at a beach house.

[michaellinder]

Barry and Tom, I agree that the image portrays a warm home environment. Yet I still think that slight dodging along the sides might improve the shot.

[samstevens]

Funny how noirish sunlight can be when captured (and presented) a certain way. It doesn’t always take dark streets and neon! This does create something familiar, that inner/outer feel I can get sometimes on a sunny day when the outside looks so natural and the indoors feels strange and haunting.

[httpwww.photo.netbarry]

Funny, this doesn't seem nourish to me at all, just the opposite. Generally in noir, the scene has a sense of foreboding to it, of something bad about to happen. This photo makes me think some one is going to walk in the door brining me a daiquiri :)

 

I wouldn't mind seeing it dodged as Michaelinder suggests. I don't know if it would improve it, but certainly worth looking at.

[samstevens]

This week’s photographer asked me to post this dodged version …

 

[michaellinder]

This week’s photographer asked me to post this dodged version …

 

[ATTACH=full]1430181[/ATTACH]

 

I like this version much more. It retains the at-home feeling, warmth, and welcoming.

[Ricochetrider]

Looks great, definitely an improvement. :)

[mikemorrell]

I like the original more. The darker 'frame' draws my attention toward the garden bench with the backlit grass and its reflection on the floor. The largely hidden 'content' in the darker areas adds a sense of mystery. I like the way the two rectangles (door and window) echo each other.

[PapaTango]

It is the play of shadows against light that makes a statement to me. It was not until @samstevens presented us with an adjusted and dodged version that I became aware of other "minor" details--such as the shoe and the door hardware. Bringing everything up as a 'final' post version IMHO makes for a fine shot for the pages of some home magazine. That's OK too.

 

I have always had a soft place in my head for the Dutch & Flemish masters. Their ability to work with shadow and light--and tease out many small details in both is astounding. That was my first thought on seeing this image, that it had a painterly quality. Light is working from three directions. The color gamut is full and rich. And after seeing sam's take on it--as the photographer saw in the view field--is nearly perfect. Elements and shadow lines draw the eye. We have a bit of Frank Lloyd Wright's "outside in". Except for the tennis shoe, there is no real place in time this speaks to.

 

As others have noted, any photo can benefit from a bit of post. As the first sally at "The Photoshop Challenge" was had, I will add something to the mix.

 

A basic diagram of what I did was this. No adjustment was made on either levels, gamma, or exposure. The newly 'discovered' elements were isolated and dodged on shadow and midtone at 26%. This brought out the shoe in the shadows while preserving the tone and adding a bit of pensiveness--action surrounding possible human interaction with the space.

 

There is just so much tone and texture in this shot. Well chosen! Keeping the overall shadow depth, elements of the window were burnt to bring out those textures and reduce blowout. Taking the door and revealing the hardware adds visual interest and was isolated and dodged as well as opening up the lines of the door and lightening up the door window. The door is now an element that draws the viewer along a path to the outside.

A bit more burn and dodge on the outside for contrast and texture--the same repeated on the rugs and parquet.

 

The electrical receptacle bothered me. It must have felt this animosity to its presence because it seems to have disappeared... :cool:

 

[samstevens]

So there’s no room for misunderstanding, the second photo is the original photographer’s work. I was asked to post it for them.

[Glenn McCreery]

 

I like the original poster's second version as well as Papa Tango's edit. I think that either could be the start of a fine black and white conversion.

[samstevens]

The photographer asked me to post this …

 

[httpwww.photo.netbarry]

Interesting, I think I like Papa Tango's version better than the OP's dodged version, but I like the original best as it creates the strongest shapes of light and shadow. If just a slight dodging on the door handle without affecting the floor shadow might be nice.

[mickeysimpson]

This week’s photographer asked me to post this dodged version …

 

[ATTACH=full]1430181[/ATTACH]

I prefer the dodged version. Very inviting and I agree that it has a nice play of light and shadow.

[samstevens]

Something that intrigues me about the photo is how the graphic and narrative elements intertwine.

[je ne regrette rien]

The photo "needs" the shoe. Less so the details of the door.

It also "needs" the colours, as a way to show depth and differentiation of the different areas of the photo.

Conveys the feeling of a much wider context.

[mikemorrell]

I don't like the B/W version. I miss the warm colors of the original, especially on the floor and in the windows. I also miss the backlit grass in the garden. But I do see the point of 'focusing' just on the bench and on its reflection. It's an interesting variation (as is the dodged version).

[samstevens]

From this week's photographer ...

 

Many thanks to all for your comments—I very much appreciate the opportunity to better understand how others perceive and interpret my images. My major take-aways from the comments:

1. There are two fairly evenly-split camps regarding the dark framing of the original—some like the way it contributes to the mood, creates strong graphic elements, and focuses attention, while others prefer the dodged version because of the added warmth and presence it brings to the room. (The dodged version required some manipulation in Photoshop to straighten the left side of the door. The original door edge nearly hits the left edge of the frame at the top, so simply straightening it would have required me to crop out everything beyond the door—you can probably detect some hasty cloning where I filled in missing information.)
   
2. After I’d dodged, I decided I liked the door handle and I modified my master copy to reveal it. I was interested to see that several others came to the same conclusion.
   
3. I was startled to see the appreciation for the shoe—I’d assumed that viewers would see it as a distraction rather than as a feature. It does make me smile to see it.
   
4. Because I’d conceived the image as depicting a warm bridge between a cryptic interior and a cryptic exterior, it hadn’t occurred to me to try a B&W conversion. I’d originally arranged the bench to aim its shadow onto the rug, so Glenn McCreery’s comment prompted me to work up a new image, this one all about the shadow.
   

Because of all of your comments, I now have two images I like, along with a much better understanding of how those images come across to others. Thanks! I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did.