Coloradorailphotographer
Through the Cut
Number 5 touches the flange oilers near Pinecliff on its way west to California on an early winter’s morning.
How did I do it?
This was a scrapped shot from a series taken prior to a significant upslope snow event that didn’t quite pan out so I stayed and shot anyway despite no precipitation. Later that day was another story. The winter cloudy flat light was begging for a black and white, and with the conditions the shadows were 2-3 times darker than normal and the stops between the light filtering in from the left and the deep canyon in shadow made me look at the possible use of these elements to make a dramatic contrast black and white that can be used to focus on the subject.
I shot on camera to post process to preserve as much detail as possible carefully to not blow out the highlights or crush the blacks. In Lightroom I made 3 independent exposures from the same image a 1/2/3 thing. I layered them and worked between the 2 darker layers to push back the shadows that were already very strong but carefully keeping the detail, dodge and burn, Mr Steinheimer on my mind maybe Ansel Adams too. I especially liked South Boulder Creek it had just enough light coming through the the right side of the bridge and the left to preserve some of highlights on the surface.
The rest is what I use in making an illustration really no different using the light and shadows provided I played them up to enhance the composition. I was especially excited about the bridge with all the details in highlight while the surroundings were dark. It’s tempting but always pulling up the shadows on your images can sometimes take away from the quality keep on the light side of train and watch your framing every scene despite being bad can make an interesting image.
Through the Cut
Number 5 touches the flange oilers near Pinecliff on its way west to California on an early winter’s morning.
How did I do it?
This was a scrapped shot from a series taken prior to a significant upslope snow event that didn’t quite pan out so I stayed and shot anyway despite no precipitation. Later that day was another story. The winter cloudy flat light was begging for a black and white, and with the conditions the shadows were 2-3 times darker than normal and the stops between the light filtering in from the left and the deep canyon in shadow made me look at the possible use of these elements to make a dramatic contrast black and white that can be used to focus on the subject.
I shot on camera to post process to preserve as much detail as possible carefully to not blow out the highlights or crush the blacks. In Lightroom I made 3 independent exposures from the same image a 1/2/3 thing. I layered them and worked between the 2 darker layers to push back the shadows that were already very strong but carefully keeping the detail, dodge and burn, Mr Steinheimer on my mind maybe Ansel Adams too. I especially liked South Boulder Creek it had just enough light coming through the the right side of the bridge and the left to preserve some of highlights on the surface.
The rest is what I use in making an illustration really no different using the light and shadows provided I played them up to enhance the composition. I was especially excited about the bridge with all the details in highlight while the surroundings were dark. It’s tempting but always pulling up the shadows on your images can sometimes take away from the quality keep on the light side of train and watch your framing every scene despite being bad can make an interesting image.