Posted by Tim Mulholland on November 22, 2013 at 2:56 PM
Over the past couple of years, I've been working on different techniques to express my photographs. Sometimes, I don't quite get what I want, but I learn something. Over the past few months, I've been developing a pastel painting technique that I employ through Photoshop.
You all have likely seen images of Gibraltar Rock in Wisconsin before. It's been photographed dozens/hundreds of times, so I was looking for something different to do with the image. I like the pastel treatment as you still have a sense of the base photograph, but also a slightly different take on the scene that might be a little warmer, a little more inviting.
What do you think?
Thanks for looking,
Tim!
Posted by Toni Lankerd on November 23, 2013 at 9:35 AM
I like it.....in my opinion, the scene does look warm and inviting. I also like the composition, with the tree and rocks in the foreground leading the eye further into the scene. Good job, Tim :)
I have returned to the image a couple times, so it did draw me in. I just keep being distracted by the bales in the field, and the lightness of the second field. I think this is a good image to employ the technique. I had not seen any images of the area but have researched it since and looks like a fine place to visit.
Posted by Tim Mulholland on November 26, 2013 at 9:23 AM
Hi Kendall,
I appreciate your comments! That's one of the things that's interesting about this technique - you can increase or decrease the visual interest in particular areas depending upon how much of the pastel effect you apply. Unconsciously, I'm guessing that I tried to create what you see, in that I wanted to create some stronger interest in the lower left corner and decrease the interest as my eye moved to the upper left corner.
But, photographers have been creating various degrees of visual interest in their work for the past 150 years! :) I've been to a particular Ansel Adams exhibit a couple of times where I've seen his final prints contrasted against straight prints and the differences are astounding. Adams really had to work in the darkroom to create just a one-off version of his final image, and sometimes it took him years to get what he wanted. There's one particular photograph of his from Alaska, with Denali in the background and a lake in the foreground (if I correctly recall; or, maybe the Brooks Range). In the final print, you can see Denali and the reflection of Denali and the sky in the lake, but much of the other details (rocks, forest) have been dodged out of the print. Found it! Click here to view
This technique makes for a different view of Gibraltar Rock. I like it. We didn't make it to Gibraltar Rock this year because there was so much fog in the area they you couldn't see anything. We did make it to Pewit's Nest and Parfrey’s Glen. The fog made for some nice shooting conditions.
Posted by Darren Huski on December 4, 2013 at 12:36 PM
Discussion
6 repliesYou all have likely seen images of Gibraltar Rock in Wisconsin before. It's been photographed dozens/hundreds of times, so I was looking for something different to do with the image. I like the pastel treatment as you still have a sense of the base photograph, but also a slightly different take on the scene that might be a little warmer, a little more inviting.
What do you think?
Thanks for looking,
Tim!
I appreciate your comments! That's one of the things that's interesting about this technique - you can increase or decrease the visual interest in particular areas depending upon how much of the pastel effect you apply. Unconsciously, I'm guessing that I tried to create what you see, in that I wanted to create some stronger interest in the lower left corner and decrease the interest as my eye moved to the upper left corner.
But, photographers have been creating various degrees of visual interest in their work for the past 150 years! :) I've been to a particular Ansel Adams exhibit a couple of times where I've seen his final prints contrasted against straight prints and the differences are astounding. Adams really had to work in the darkroom to create just a one-off version of his final image, and sometimes it took him years to get what he wanted. There's one particular photograph of his from Alaska, with Denali in the background and a lake in the foreground (if I correctly recall; or, maybe the Brooks Range). In the final print, you can see Denali and the reflection of Denali and the sky in the lake, but much of the other details (rocks, forest) have been dodged out of the print. Found it! Click here to view
Again, thanks for commenting,
Tim!
Thank you all, Gracias, Aciu, Danka, Merci...
Tim!