Apple Season

Excellent Jim - the lighting really makes this shine!

This is the right gallery as far as I'm concerned Jim. Beautiful lighting and image. Strong composition as well.

pat

Nice selection of apples and leaves for the composition. Lighting evokes the feeling of fall.

Jim:
Delicious image. Like the muted light.

I really like this image. The colors and lighting say autumn to me. Great detail and comp. Well seen.

Lovely. The muted light is evocative of a 17th c. Dutch still life.

Jim I really love the lighting on this image and the fact that you kept it on the darker side.

Very nice shot Jim. It has a bit of a "baroque" feel to it that I really like.

Ditto on the great lighting and the comp! Care to share your lighting/processing secrets?

Excellent image. Do you know what cultivar of apple it is?

Thanks for all the great comments!

Morris - No secrets!

I am a big fan of natural lighting and this image is a good example of using the ambient conditions to your advantage. The day was heavily overcast and it had just rained heavily. The apples were located in large wooden crates outdoors in the orchard rows. The lighting is all natural ambient, no flash. The overcast made the shadows very soft, which highlights the natural roundness of the apples. I exposed at -2/3 stop from the metered ideal to darken the exposure. In Photoshop, I used a combination of light high pass filter and sharpening to bring out the details, especially the rain drops, after deepening the shadows in ACR. The leaves were subject to a little more sharpening to further highlight the structure. Finally, I then flattened the layers and copied the resulting layer. The 'lower' original layer was then lightened using the 'levels' option in the 'adjustments' drop down menu - NOT an adjustment layer. I then very judiciously erased the areas of the top layer I wanted to highlight, exposing the lighter underlayer. This method works better than simple dodging as it has no effect on color or toning and can be easily reveresed if taken too far. It is important to not overdo any step. A delicate touch is the name of the game here.

David - if memory serves (and it might not!) I seem to recall that these are Fuji apples, a very common variety here on Long Island.

Hi Jim This is beautifully crafted! marvelous light and natural color
Albert Darmo
Canada

Jim: I've been gone the past couple of weeks but this is certainly a delight to return to. Remember If it grows, it goes! so this is absolutely the right gallery. Superb subject, comp and arrangement and the light isn't half bad either. Most excellent. >=))>

Thanks for sharing your lighting and processing, Jim!

Jim, it's a splendid natural photo, where the play of shades and lights creates a beautiful mood and an illusion of three-dimensionality. Beautiful light.
Take care.

Jim, Love the processing and the soft muted tones. Superb Autumn feel to this frame. I cannot say I love those dried leaves in the frame, but I guess one of the apples had them.

Beautiful light and comp - congrats on the EP!
Sandy

Wonderful image, I love the light and the rich colors. Congratulations on the Editors Pick.

Ray