Otto Berkeley
Enchanted
I first heard about an illuminated woodland in the southwest of London about a year ago, but it wasn't until this winter that I had an opportunity to visit Syon Park's Enchanted Woodland. Syon House is the 500-year-old London home of the Duke of Northumberland, but its 200-acre parkland dates even further back, and is now home to more than 400 specimens of trees in its gardens, orchards and meadows, part of which is beautifully lit by Imax Lighting for a brief period each Christmas.
The Enchanted Woodland is now in its 11th year, but only opens for three weekends at the end of November and start of December, and on each evening for only a few hours. From a photography standpoint, this presented a challenge, not only because of the crowds that were eager to get a glimpse of the scene, but also because of the limited window of opportunity to capture the scene in the right weather conditions.
I visited on two of the three weekends, contending with heavy clouds and rain on the first occasion, but capturing the image I had in mind -- a view of the woodland from one of its two bridges on a calm, clear evening, reflected in the lake at its centre -- on the second occasion. The only challenge when capturing this vantage point was the small size and light weight of the bridge, where everyone was heading for the same view and where it was difficult to keep the camera steady on a surface that was constantly vibrating beneath the crowds. With patience, though, I was able to capture all of the exposures I needed.
Nine exposures were bracketed and blended in Photoshop using luminosity masks, with the aim to preserve detail where the floodlights were highlighting the tree trunks and to bring out the texture within the woodland's branches and leaves with the cleanest possible finish.
The colour-grading process was straightforward because the scene was already filled with dazzling colours that seemed to complement each other perfectly, but I wanted the viewer's eye to be led towards the centre of the frame and to ensure the image wouldn't feel chaotic. I toned down the blues from a floodlight along the edge of the lake, as well as reducing the luminance in the green of the trees. Next, I applied a gentle Gradient Map to set the precise tone of blue I wanted in the shadows and a low-opacity Colour Lookup set to Soft Light and using the Candlelight preset, which helped to emphasise the orange and magenta tones among the branches further upstream. I also used a radial gradient mask to incorporate the higher exposures at the centre of the image, excluding the highlights and shadows from the mask and therefore only brightening the horizon, which I hoped would guide the viewer's eye to the light on the horizon and the lake as it vanished into the distance.
Using Silver Efex Pro set to Luminosity, I lowered the midtones to enhance the scene's mood, and reduced the structure within the foreground of the lake to prevent the reeds of grass and algae from becoming a distraction. I also lightly increased the sensitivity of the yellows and blues to play up the lighting within the trees, which, along with sparing amounts of the Pro Contrast and Detail Extractor filters in Colour Efex Pro, added a little more definition to the branches.
The final touch was a very small amount of vibrance to the horizon, which was isolated using a Colour Range selection. The peachy tones in the sky were fading quickly, but thanks to the woodland's doors opening earlier than usual that evening they were still faintly visible, making the view of this unique scene that much more memorable.
You can also connect with me on Facebook, 500px, Google+ and Instagram.
Enchanted
I first heard about an illuminated woodland in the southwest of London about a year ago, but it wasn't until this winter that I had an opportunity to visit Syon Park's Enchanted Woodland. Syon House is the 500-year-old London home of the Duke of Northumberland, but its 200-acre parkland dates even further back, and is now home to more than 400 specimens of trees in its gardens, orchards and meadows, part of which is beautifully lit by Imax Lighting for a brief period each Christmas.
The Enchanted Woodland is now in its 11th year, but only opens for three weekends at the end of November and start of December, and on each evening for only a few hours. From a photography standpoint, this presented a challenge, not only because of the crowds that were eager to get a glimpse of the scene, but also because of the limited window of opportunity to capture the scene in the right weather conditions.
I visited on two of the three weekends, contending with heavy clouds and rain on the first occasion, but capturing the image I had in mind -- a view of the woodland from one of its two bridges on a calm, clear evening, reflected in the lake at its centre -- on the second occasion. The only challenge when capturing this vantage point was the small size and light weight of the bridge, where everyone was heading for the same view and where it was difficult to keep the camera steady on a surface that was constantly vibrating beneath the crowds. With patience, though, I was able to capture all of the exposures I needed.
Nine exposures were bracketed and blended in Photoshop using luminosity masks, with the aim to preserve detail where the floodlights were highlighting the tree trunks and to bring out the texture within the woodland's branches and leaves with the cleanest possible finish.
The colour-grading process was straightforward because the scene was already filled with dazzling colours that seemed to complement each other perfectly, but I wanted the viewer's eye to be led towards the centre of the frame and to ensure the image wouldn't feel chaotic. I toned down the blues from a floodlight along the edge of the lake, as well as reducing the luminance in the green of the trees. Next, I applied a gentle Gradient Map to set the precise tone of blue I wanted in the shadows and a low-opacity Colour Lookup set to Soft Light and using the Candlelight preset, which helped to emphasise the orange and magenta tones among the branches further upstream. I also used a radial gradient mask to incorporate the higher exposures at the centre of the image, excluding the highlights and shadows from the mask and therefore only brightening the horizon, which I hoped would guide the viewer's eye to the light on the horizon and the lake as it vanished into the distance.
Using Silver Efex Pro set to Luminosity, I lowered the midtones to enhance the scene's mood, and reduced the structure within the foreground of the lake to prevent the reeds of grass and algae from becoming a distraction. I also lightly increased the sensitivity of the yellows and blues to play up the lighting within the trees, which, along with sparing amounts of the Pro Contrast and Detail Extractor filters in Colour Efex Pro, added a little more definition to the branches.
The final touch was a very small amount of vibrance to the horizon, which was isolated using a Colour Range selection. The peachy tones in the sky were fading quickly, but thanks to the woodland's doors opening earlier than usual that evening they were still faintly visible, making the view of this unique scene that much more memorable.
You can also connect with me on Facebook, 500px, Google+ and Instagram.