2010 Bruce's Caves Detail

I liked this image my friend, I kept viewing it for a long time and thinking and wising my English help me to add a complement for your very high skill work.

As usual, you know so well how to deal with light and how to make it serve your need to end with a remarkable photograph like this one, the whole low key zones add a great interest and a source of drama to this work while you allowed us to see more lights and details of the the tree on the background.

All of the dark zone on the left did maintain great details and textures of the rock while the right side darkens shifting the viewer to the mysterious part of this image.

Remarkable and very effective lighting, thank you for sharing it and wishing you all of the best my friend.

Thank you for the in-depth and thoughtful comment.  The 'Details' hint at the technique used here.  Knowing the mass of dark area would throw the meter off I went up to the tree and metered for that area.  I set the camera to 'Manual' so as to lock in the exposure, composed, and tripped the shutter.  The light for the hint of detail on the left wall comes from an open area, unseen, from camera right.  Win-win.  I should have used my Bronica SQ Ai for this and other shots here but a long hike over rough ground was involved and I just wasn't up to carrying that load plus the heavy Manfrotto tripod I use for it.  If I ever desire a 30"x40" print of this I may regret my choice.  On the other hand, I still live!  :-)  Best, LM.

Len, wouldn't it have been easier to just walk through the hole to get a picture of the tree?  :-)

Seriously, nice shot from dark to light. I'm sure it'd be a challenge to print too.

It would indeed have been easier if I wasn't afraid of getting wedged in the space between the rocks.  Gotta stay away from those Tim Horton's donuts. :-)  I haven't decided whether or not to print this one but since I have the exposure aced I don't think it's going to be much of a problem.  In fact I think my Epson R260 would add a tad more snap to it.  If I could come close to the   result on the screen I think I'd be happy.  Best, LM.

Hello Len... this is a great find,just like finding a gold nugget,so to speak. It's just

like ,one came from a dark and that outlet with a tree trunk was a beacon or

perhaps.... hope?

I noticed you do really addressed your visitors. For that I am sending you my

kudoses.. Warmth regards.... sally

Good to hear from you again.  It wasn't as scary as it looks since the other, much larger, entrance to the cave was only about 20 feet behind me. (source of light for the cave wall on the left)   As a sign of respect, I try to acknowledge everyone who takes the time & effort to comment or critique my humble offerings.  Then I go see what they have to offer and, if I can be constructive about it, offer a critique on one of their posts.  It's an interesting exercise if one is so inclined.  Best, LM.

Excellent textures, perspective and technique. Wonderful image to behold!

Regarding your policy for responding, I think you are the Big Ben And Leaning tower of Pisa rolled into one. You have the time and the inclination.:-)

Thanks for your thoughts on this one.  One of the reasons I converted it to B&W was it's lack of any vivid colour and it's richness in texture.  Your time & inclination analogy brought a smile to my face.  Best, LM.

Nice pix. beautiful composition. IMHO, slight enhancement of the shadow details may improve the quality of the image further. 

About your comment on my picture, manipulation is also a creative technique and it need not to look like original.

regards

Good to have your views on this one.  'Improvement' is very subjective.  Feel free to have a go at this one & post the result.  As for my comments, they are merely MY opinions.  Not intended to change the world, only to point out an alternative view to be embraced or rejected as the viewer sees fit.  :-)  Artistic License!  Gotta love it!  Best, LM.

Thanks for posting the picture of the outside of the cave. When inside I am sure you saw some details of the stones on both sides with your eye may be dim as you entered the cave but after dark adaptation of your eyes you could see lot more details of inside. With this assumption I did following:

Took the picture to PSCS3, made a copy (Cont-J) selected it and made adjustment in levels.  There i very little histo on the white side and lot of black clipping. I moved the right pointer to left till I saw good details of the stones, that was at 121.  Selected the same layer and Alt-click quick mask. That gave me a mask filled with black. Took a large soft brush and painted the dark stones with white to reveal the details.  Flattened the layers. The right side is still totally dark.

Made another copy (Contrl-J) Selected the copy and in levelels now I moved the central pointer to left till I saw some details in the stones on the right. It was 246. Again alt-quick mask and painted with white brush on the left to reveals the stone details. Flattened the image. Now I have fair details on the left wall and few on the right.

Play with it and see if you like it. 

Tricky lighting which you have mastered well. I think that everything that needs to be said has already been voiced. best regards,

Thanks for going the extra mile with this one.  I tried some adjustments myself, with only the levels slider (I don't have your PS skill set) and noticed an immediate change.  The left wall now has detail and the right wall just a tad.  It makes for a different, more detailed, though not necessarily better, image.  It would be up to the viewer to make the changes that most suited him.  Very subjective.  Great exercise.  Thanks for bringing it to light.  Best, LM.

Yah, lots of good suggestions and insight have come with this one.  Don't you just love this site?  Thanks for giving up part of your day to comment.  Best, LM.