simple gifts: roadside bouquet

mouse over to see the original

***

Notes:

INSPIRATION
noticing the weeds/flowers along the road
(as usual)
during a bike ride last Sunday;
I drove back right after our ride
and gathered
'a roadside bouquet'

SETUP

Side Lighting

(Be Still 52 Assignment: Week 5)

early morning, before work

summer sun streaming in thru patio door

north-facing, with a covered patio...

more light than I expected

IMPROVISATION

I just needed a bit more height:

two tuna cans under each tripod leg

worked just fine.

I hung a black t-shirt from the chandelier

opposite the light source

to heighten the effect.

Subtle, but definitely noticeable

in the photos.

I tried various backdrops...

After reviewing the early morning shots

with the light quilt background

I realized that the white dandelions

needed more contrast.

Home for lunch on a mission:

arrange dark fabrics

and re-shoot

the whole thing.

I should have listened

to Lillian

in the first place.

I also noticed

the different quality of light

in the early afternoon -

again, more noticeable

in the photos.

original photo SOOC

I purposely over-expose my shots

(+2 on my camera's Exposure Level Indicator)

because most of the data is located

on the right end,

giving me more digital 'stuff'

to play with in Lightroom.

David duChemin explains this

much more clearly in his book

Vision & Voice:

"The more elasticity my digital negative has,

the greater chance that I can make

a gorgeous print

that expresses my vision."

LIGHTROOM

I cropped (4x5),

started with Auto Tone

then adjusted Exposure and White Balance;

I experimented a lot with the Tone Curve

then several presets

before settling on Kim's

kk_daysofold.

PHOTOSHOP

one layer of kk_simplemagic (Screen 64%)

with the blossoms masked off

Font:

Dearest Script

***

Linking up with

Texture Tuesday

Start to Finish 2

Be Still 52

Friday Finds