Light & Shadow

[Kaushik Balakumar]

http://jjd.pbase.com/bkaushik/image/104954146/original.jpg

Made this image one evening in a local nature park. For a change we had some good weather which usually otherwise is overcast & cloudy. Nice warm light was very inviting. The image might look just a bit dark but I deliberately left it that way since by brightening it, the mood was lost. The last rays of the sun hitting the ground created some lovely warm colours and was looking beautiful.

Would like to know ur thoughts, critiques...

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Kaushik,
I played around with this one in PS2 for a bit..........I didn't do a re-post because i want to try something with you........First let me say that I really like the comp........and I agree with you .......that if you lighten the whole image.........the shadow area loses some of it's impact..........so I want you to try this for yourself.....try lightening only the deep shadow areas and lighten it more than you think you should...........using the Dodge toll in PS.........lighten the top shadow area a bit as well as the tree trunk and it's shadow. Also do a little dodging in the LR shadow area..........then I did a local contrast adjustment, using USM, of around 21/50/0 on the settings. This kept the shadow areas with a bit more detail.......while it made the sunny areas pop. If you have questions let me know .......but IMO it is something worth exploring.

[Dave Mills]

Good eye on this comp...you saw something that most people would overlook. I like the mood this image this image emits also...

[Cindy Cone]

Very interesting and unique composition, Kaushik. I really like the mood and the contrast of light and shadow.

[Bruce Murden]

Kaushik, you have another winner on your hands. The mood, the shadows, and the colors are wonderful here. I can't wait to see a shadow tweak per Roman's suggestions to see what that view brings!

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Thanks Roman. Will give it a try today & post it back.
:)

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Hi Roman,
Tried some tweaking of shadows to bring out some details. I began from the original again and have arrived at this. Not sure if I done it well & the way u'd imagined. Your inputs would help :)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3193/2971643364_ea88221bb3_o.jpg

Should I increase the contrast a bit more ? :confused:

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Kaushik,
Maybe it is just a contrast tweak.........because that is what I did on your original post. I used the dodge tool.......and went just in the darker shadow areas.........I then boosted the contrast +6........then did a further LCE usning unsharp mask amount 30 radius 60....threshold 0.......this seems to make the image pop more and that may be all that is different than in your re-post

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Kaushik,
I think I like your shadow area better than mine...........so just tweak the contrast.

[Robert Amoruso]

I like the original Kaushik but I think Roman really made this POP.