Results 1 to 14 of 14

Thread: Marsh ghost story

  1. #1
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    The Netherlands
    Posts
    1,991
    Threads
    192
    Thank You Posts

    Default Marsh ghost story

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    A little ghost story for Halloween: a long long time ago, much of Holland consisted of extensive marshes and bogs. Many travellers and outcasts that ventured into the marshes were never to be heard of again. The ghosts of their lost souls were believed to haunt the marshes and lure people to a drowning death. Survivors reported seeing floating white shapes and dancing white lights trying to confuse them and lure them further and further into the marsh.

    In our current era of computers and rocket science (not to mention digital cameras to capture anything out of the ordinary!) these ghost stories have long been reduced to old wives' tales, mistaking fog and marsh plants for supernatural manifestations. But seeing a field of Common Cottongrass in the twilight on a gloomy day on the marsh still gives me an eerie feeling. I can understand that the contrast between the bright fluffy white of the flowers and the dark marsh could spark one's imagination and lead to stories about dancing white lights.
    I tried to capture the mood in this image.

    Nikon D7000, Nikkor 80-400 @ 400mm, handheld, ISO-250, f/5.6, 1/1600 sec, -1.7 EV.
    ACR/CS5, minor PP work with local exposure adjustments to preserve the details in the whites while maintaining the contrast.


    Last edited by Peter Kes; 10-31-2012 at 05:01 PM.

  2. #2
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    The Netherlands
    Posts
    1,991
    Threads
    192
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Woa! I'm just watching this on another (crappier) monitor, and the BG is much brighter than on my editing monitor, which ruins the mood of the whole image. How bright are you seeing this? It's supposed to look about a stop underexposed and at least two stops darker than the bright whites.

  3. #3
    Forum Participant Valerio Tarone's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    800
    Threads
    211
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Jerry,thank you for the story, I like it. But I think the image is 'poor',I mean it doesn't say too much.

  4. #4
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Mifflin, TN
    Posts
    2,799
    Threads
    379
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Jerry, I think you did a great job of creating the mood you were aiming for. The white fluff makes a perfect ghost! Did you arrange it that way or is this natural?

    Because of your comments in pane #2, I downloaded this and took a look at the whites. Taking them down at all loses that ghostly glow so I think you should leave them as they are. The rest of the image looks slightly underexposed which is perfect for this type of image.

  5. #5
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    The Netherlands
    Posts
    1,991
    Threads
    192
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thanks for commenting!
    Valerio: any suggestions for improvement?
    Ken: given your comments, you appear to be seeing the image as I see it on my editing monitor. The fluff is purely natural. If I had to go to the plant and arrange it, I would have turned into a lost soul myself.... This plant is from the family of Cyperaceae (also known as sedges) and produces 3 or for indistinctive flowers. When the seeds ripen, however, the tiny leaves of the flower turn into this bright white fluff.

  6. #6
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    southeast Michigan
    Posts
    2,846
    Threads
    208
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I like this a lot, and I think it tells the story very well. It's a great representation of the ghost tale. The tones look just great on my monitor. The only thing I'd like to see different would be to have the ghost moved to the left side instead of the right. That's because it looks to me like it's moving to the right and that would give more room in the direction of motion.

  7. #7
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    The Netherlands
    Posts
    1,991
    Threads
    192
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thanks Dennis! I think there is very little room to the right in the original (this is only a modest crop). I composed it like this because the white fluff is blown to the left by the wind, so it sort of follows the natural movement now. But I can see that the diagonals of the white fluff are guiding the eye from left to right, by which it would make sense to have more room to the right.

  8. #8
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Millington Md.
    Posts
    2,513
    Threads
    365
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Jerry...The tones look good to me and i believe you have achieved the mood you were seeking. You might consider toning down the whitish spot directly to the left of our ghost. Works for me!

  9. #9
    Forum Participant Valerio Tarone's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    800
    Threads
    211
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Jerry, you're right.< I understand you would the erioforons looks in gosth-like mood. I should prefer if you had shoot with a lesser aperture. in PP. it'certanly possible to defocus the BG as the many lines disturb a little bit. I use PP. only for crop, sat., levels, curves, sharpness, not other part. Thank you for sharing. I think you live close to a she friend of mines, area full of boglands, in Raalte. She works for the natural reserve. (I don't remember the name of the rserve).

  10. #10
    BPN Member Steve Maxson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Bemidji, Minnesota
    Posts
    5,801
    Threads
    818
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Jerry. Cool ghost story. The ghostly whites of the cotton grass set against the dark background works for me - and looks fine on my monitor.

  11. Thanks Jerry van Dijk thanked for this post
  12. #11
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    The Netherlands
    Posts
    1,991
    Threads
    192
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Valerio, this is the widest aperture this lens allows at this focal distance. Raalte is a 2 hours drive from my home. Your friend probably works at the Sallandse Heuvelrug National Park, for Natuurmonumenten. It's a beautiful area that I have visited several times.

  13. #12
    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Cheshire UK
    Posts
    17,015
    Threads
    2,604
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    An interesting image an appropriate to the time of year, I like the exposure. I am familiar with the cotton grass, in early summer these boggy area are good for dragonflies.
    I like the image as presented.

  14. Thanks Jerry van Dijk thanked for this post
  15. #13
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Romania
    Posts
    637
    Threads
    164
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    It really looks like a ghost! I like the mood of it and also the story....On my monitor looks good, on my iPad too...

  16. Thanks Jerry van Dijk thanked for this post
  17. #14
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Trinidad & Tobago
    Posts
    329
    Threads
    17
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Jerry - perfect mood to this shot! Together with the story it makes a perfect combination. The wispy whites blowing mysteriously along with the underexposed reeds gives us so much mystery. A work of art - how about a B&W version? I'm thinking high contrast B&W, hung large in an art gallery with the story in a glass case below...eerie huh?

  18. Thanks Jerry van Dijk thanked for this post

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics