Theme 2- Event- The start of spring

Filters and Alterations

This is a photograph of a plant in a local field. I like this photograph because of the colours.  The angle, which I have taken the photograph in relation to the sun, make the main image a sort of silhouette. In this photograph I tried to use the basis of Rule of Thirds. I tried to position the photograph slightly off centre. I like the angle of which the plant is at in relation to the horizon and picture frame. I created a blurred background by using a close up setting on the camera and macro setting on the lense so that maximum detail is put into the plant, and as less as possible into the background. This helps it stand out against the blue and grey/white background, which is the sky. The colour differences of the horizon and the sky create an interest, as it is very bold. I like that the plant is a similar colour to the horizon/land as it protrudes out into the bright yet gloomy sky.

 

This is the same photograph but with a filter over the top of the original to make it more interesting. In this photograph I have used the ‘Film grain’ filter for this image because it creates a good effect. The settings that I have used make the image, mainly the background more grainy and make it look although it fades better on the edges. Creating a softer photograph.  By creating a much more brighter background, there is a much greater difference between the lighter and darker areas which I believe to make the photograph look more interesting. The settings that I have used in this filter are below:

Grain: 2

Highlight Area: 20  

 

This is a filter, which I have added on top of the original photograph. The filter that I am using is called ‘Glowing edges’. The original settings that the ‘Glowing edges’ filter was on made the horizon show up as well as the main plant.  So I changed some settings so that only the plant was visible. I like this photograph because only the plant silhouette stands out, like the original but now with glowing edges. This is a good effect because it is very interesting. This is because the glowing plant stands out very easy against the blacked out background. This piece looks very abstract, which is why I like it. It is much different to most of my other photographs, which is why it is special, and stands out from the crowd. The settings that I have used for this filter are below.

Edge width: 2

Edge brightness: 5

Smoothness: 0

This is a filtered photograph which I created using the plastic wrap filter. I like the photograph with this filter on it because it helps to create some form of 3- Dimension. It lifts up the image of the plant and brings it forward slightly which helps to create some form of depth in the photograph. I also like that there is more of a shine, as the light is more visible. It seems to reflect off of the background, which is a good effect. I carefully selected the correct settings for this particular photograph because the correct balance between the settings is needed. In this I reduced the detail so that things like the horizon and the clouds flow a bit more smoothly. But not too much that the plant becomes distort and blurred. And I increased the smoothness slightly so that this would work a bit more. I altered the highlight strength so that things like the plant edges were a realistic strength and size. The settings that I have used are found below:

Highlight Strength: 11

Detail: 12

Smoothness: 15

 

In this photograph what I did is I changed the lighting effects. I have moved the lighting from the left and right to primarily the right and upper right. At first I positioned the light straight off to the right, no angles etc. But then I decided to create some more depth and interest. So I positioned a second lighting effect to the more upper right looking down on the plant itself.  You can see this more clearly in the screenshot of this process. I really like this effect as it lightens the one side of the photograph, but then also darkens and shadows the over side. This is a good effect because it adds yet some more complexity to the photograph and a more clear difference between the lights and the darks. Another reason, which I like, this photograph is because it seems that the plants is caught between the battle of light and dark, which is a very appealing sense, and idea. The screenshot of myself in the process of editing this photograph for this version can be found below.