Morning Shadow**

'Morning Shadow' is deliberately underexposed to bring out the

contrast, a very valuable technique. Your ratings and comments are

invited and most welcome. If you rate harshly or very negatively,

please submit a helpful and constructive comment/Please share your

superior photographic knowledge to help improve my photography.

Thanks! Enjoy! John

The old adage 'never shoot into the sun' is turned on its head here, and you might be well advised to consider that, if you want to achieve such a photo, but be sure to bracket or take a series and discard those photos that are seriously 'blown' due to overexposure. To achieve a high contrast, it is important to underexpose. The effect can be heightened in Photohop. Color is natural, and saturation is NOT increased (that is to say as recorded by the camera -- it is NOT as the eye saw it but as the camera recorded it . . . the eye corrects for such unnaturalness in its own way.)

 

Here, other photos were quickly taken of others before a proper exposure was settled on, and this person walked into the frame. However a rising sun changes the exposure value rapidly and a proper exposure one minute may not be correct 10 or 15 minutes later. (helpful hint for the uninitiated)

 

John (Crosley)

John, the shadow owner is walking to the right. Because of you? The result is deadly.. His sihouet should at least have been free from the wall, building. The other guys are great! (Perhaps you were sitting to much to the left too, seen the direction of that shadow)Regards, Olaf.

That separation of his right (I presume he's coming towards the camera) leg and its shadows is crucial for me, and that makes it all the more compelling... Without the intentional underexposure I believe the top part of the lightpost would not be so distinct as it is now. Personally I have to agree with Olaf about a possible detatchment of the silhouette from the buildings beyond. A pleasure to share.

 

Best regards.

Olaf, though I understood and believed when I first reviewed this that the walker was walking toward me; he actually is walking AWAY from me.

 

Walkers toward me were in 'short supply' and I was pushing a luggage cart, I recall, with its brake engaged and full of five bags on this incline -- a precarious load -- as I attempted to photograph, and that was a considerable handicap, although I had a helper, but that helper had previously dropped two camera bags full of cameras/lenses and a computer bag with my laptop from that same luggage trolley when I left the same with that person, so I was none too trusting.

 

In other words, you take what you can get -- I agree, I'd have liked a full diagonal across the frame from the walker's shadow, and if I happen to be in this same place at that hour, same season (or complementary season in the Spring/Early Summer), I'll try to retake it, but the background guys won't be there in the same way/manner.

 

And the term 'trompe l'eoil' means 'mistake of the eye' in French, which is exactly what both you and the next commentator were drawn to do because this IS a silhouette, after all, and maybe I have a slightly better view (or more time to review). And of course, I also made the same mistake.

 

Thanks for taking the time to remark.

 

John (Crosley)

This is a woman, wearing wedgies, with an ankle strap showing on her right foot, if you look closely. She is walking away from the camera.

 

The left foot (left as you look at her, her left foot also) is raised as she steps away from the camera.

 

Above where I said this person 'walked into the frame' was exactly wrong. I had assumed that this was other walkers I had photographed . . . and had not looked so closely.

 

You just have to look closely, something I failed to do. (Apologies.)

 

John (Crosley)

John.., It is indeed very clear the person is walking in the opposite direction! I was sleeping! The photo without that person would have been nice too. Reacting seriously, somethimes means: to serious.. Where are we talking about. Just a pleasure..! Photographing! When we would discus our meals in that way, all potatoes would have gone cold.. Enjoy your dinner! (photographing)Olaf.

Indeed, photographing is a pleasure, and in my case good therapy from pain. The intensity of concentration takes my mind away from the latter, and provides a satisfaction.

 

Thanks for the helpful words.

 

John (Crosley)

The eye is a funny thing, as is the camera. I thought the woman was walking toward the camera, but when you corrected my view, it seemed obvious (the left foot) that she was walking away. I think I was misled because THE SHADOW is coming at me. If this were MY picture, I would crop the bottom because I like the negative spaces surrounding the silhouettes.

This would be a different picture and not what you intended, but there is no reason, of course, why one shot may not be as many pictures as you like. I think this an interesting proposition. I often feel that I can make but one 'best' image from a photo, but this shows a lack of imagination on my part. Truth is...I often save several versions (different crops, different treatments) of one photo, a habit I acquired from Photoshop, where saving is important. I suppose everyone who works with digital must do likewise.

Interesting comment.

 

From my short time as a photo editor, I learned to make decisions and stick with them.

 

Nevertheless, I sometimes also make alternate editing/crop decisions and save them. Often I vet such choices when showing people my portfolio on my personal computer and get feedback. When I get enough, then I usually make a choice.

 

At some point, I usually narrow my choice.

 

The one sticking point is when a photo does quite well both as a color and as a black and white image -- sometimes they are quite different appearing or impacting because of the presence/absence of color.

 

You make very literate comments; feel free to visit any time.

 

John (Crosley)