In my last post I wrote about a recent trip to Vancouver Island. It was a trip I had anticipated and prepared for with great enthusiasm. Three mornings of rising well before sunup brought with it the hope of great light and wonderful images that ‘popped’ off the screen.
My feelings of success built when I reviewed the images on the camera’s screen. However, after transferring my images to Lightroom and examining them one at a time a feeling a disappointment built within me. Images I thought would look great look, did not. They were bland and uninteresting. I closed Lightroom and shut down my computer. I had the After Shoot Blues.
Five weeks later, I opened Lightroom and navigated to my Vancouver Island file. On second look, my images looked a little brighter than on my first viewing. Perhaps I expected more from my initial image review.
This time I saw potential. Image capture was only the first step. I needed to apply the power of the Lightroom’s Develop Module to make the most of the image.
Looking back I think I’ve felt like this before. Time away from the results of a shoot brought back that creative determination. A good reminder for future shoots.
Trees extend to water’s edge near the Crofton, B.C. harbour
Log strewn beaches, fog shrouded islands and tree covered slopes reaching to the water’s edge can be found up and down the British Columbia coast. This image was captured near the Crofton, B.C. harbour. Initially, it showed very little punch. A small exposure and clarity adjustment combined with a slight shift in the blue and yellow color channels resulted in the image I imagined.
2 Comments
Stu, the erasing of the horizon between sky and water, making them the same colour and hue creates a contrast between land and sea as when the sun disappears on the shore line on wet days. Yet you have kept a piece of sunset or sunrise on the beach debris. Nice touch. I think of Constable and English 17th century artists with this one. I painted a similar landscape at the Goldstream Estuary years ago as its image fell into the Saanich Inlet.
Don’t understand all the technical terms, but the end result is lovely!