[Leica] IMG: Blackwater "Original"

[hoppyman at bigpond.net.au (G Hopkinson)]

Barney, now that we know that your image was completely constructed, the 
discussion should change emphasis. For that level of
manipulation, there is only one best tool. You need to invest in Photoshop 
and jump in feet first. There are numerous resources out
there and you never stop learning. Half the list will tell you, DON'T DO IT! 
And half will admit that PS has almost limitless power.
Set your own level of how much manipulation is acceptable to you and start 
learning. Some people consider that emulating wet
darkroom practises is acceptable, some go all the way to illustration art. 
Don't be surprised when, as your skills improve, you find
that you are more willing to push the boundaries of image 'enhancement'. 
Note my carefully neutral stance on what may be considered
a photograph and what is an image ;-)
Cheers
Geoff

-----Original Message-----
Subject: [Leica] IMG: Blackwater "Original"


Moon rise on the Blackwater river in the late autumn and early winter  
after the Harvest moon is, for me, a stunning and mystical  
experience. The full moon is rising over the pine trees. You can  
smell the water. The Sun is setting over your right shoulder.  
Thousands of Geese are flying around honking at the top of their  
lungs looking for dinner and a place to spend the night. It's cold  
and windy.Things are happening very quickly. It's exciting and it's  
all over in ten minutes. I have always wanted to make a picture to  
share this experience. Here is the evolution of the Blackwater  
Moonrise I posted on Sunday.


If you just point a camera at the moon rise it looks like this.

    http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/Barney/Moon_1.jpg.html

If you wait a few minutes it looks like this.

    http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/Barney/Moon_2.jpg.html

The first doesn't rise to the level of a snapshot and the second  
doesn't exactly say what I wanted. So, I took this image.......

    http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/Barney/Base_1.jpg.html

And this image........

    http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/Barney/Base_2.jpg.html

To the lab which does my printing for me and had them combine them.  
This was the result.

    http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/Barney/Original.jpg.html

I didn't think that the colors looked natural. Could it have been  
fixed in photoshop? Don't know. I desaturated the image, cropped it,  
and posted it starting the pasted moon thing.

    http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/Barney/ 
Blackwater_Moonrise.jpg.html

Geoff Hoplinson made a few suggestions. I took his advice about  
changing the moon. Here is the result.

    http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/Barney/ 
Blackwater_Moonrise_2.jpg.html

There you have it. Those are all the pieces. Comments and ideas welcome.

Barney














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