PhotoChallenge 2017 Week 22: Silhouettes

Last year I discovered the online PhotoChallenge.org weekly photography challenges and it encouraged me to try a bunch of new techniques and subjects for my budding photography skills.  I've continued this into 2017, and this year promises to be a good one!  I have fallen behind in posting, but have done a few of the older challenges so here's some catch-up!  The idea is to actively take pictures each week but I may also post some older photos that fit the bill on some of these blog posts.

PhotoChallenge 2017 Week 22: Silhouettes

This week I was on the ball and actually got a few shots in time to post them!  The challenge was to get a silhouette shot of some type. The goal was the do this in camera with a minimum of change in post production.  I was up at the cabin of our friends Jim and Lori Stroner during this challenge so I had access to some great subject matter!  Jim is agreat photographer and taught me a lot this weekend--check out his photography HERE.

1) Pink Sunrise:  This one is my favorite shot for sure and probably the best landscape I've shot to date.  I did have to darken the shoreline a bit to cover up a few pops of white from some boats on the distant shore, but really didn't have to tweak this one much at all.  I woke up early on accident (or because of loud birds) and saw this rosy dawn outside, causing me to struggle into clothing, grab my tripod and go running out front while I could.  By the time I got everything set up I had only a few minutes to snap some photos before the sun was up and the lightshow over.  

2) Evening Blues:  This shot was taken looking the other direction out on the lake at nightfall.  Storm clouds had been present just before this and cleared for about 15 minutes prior to full dark.  I did minimal processing on this shot other than erasing one stray bouy from the foreground.  Loon calls echoed around the area while I set up for this shot and were haunting to say the least.

3) Reflections In Foliage:  This one was my attempt at being "arty" and getting the setting sun's reflection of the foliage in the pond.  I came close in what I was attempting but the color shot had a spot of birght green off in the distance where the sun was hitting some tall pines that ruined the silhouette effect.  Answer?  Take out the color!  I added a little split toning on this as well (red to the highlight and green to the shadow) to make it more interesting. 

PhotoChallenge 2017 Week 15: Low Key

Last year I discovered the online PhotoChallenge.org weekly photography challenges and it encouraged me to try a bunch of new techniques and subjects for my budding photography skills.  I've continued this into 2017, and this year promises to be a good one!  I have fallen behind in posting, but have done a few of the older challenges so here's some catch-up!  The idea is to actively take pictures each week but I may also post some older photos that fit the bill on some of these blog posts.

PhotoChallenge 2017 Week 15: Low Key

This week's challenge I actually posted on time, but am only getting around to doing my short blog post now.  Low key photography usually uses a black or very dark background and most of the tones are in the shadows.  This effect is easy to pull off with post production, but this week's challenge specifically required getting this effect in camera.  

I took this following picture of the outside of the Smithsonian Castle in Washington D.C.  This arch was in the shadowed side, away from the sun, but I really wanted to get a shot of the details.  I did take a few more shots with a lighter exposure, but they lacked the impact and shadows of this one.  I did nearly no manipulation to the shot in Lightroom other than basic boosts that most RAW shots require.  

Here's a bonus older picture from when I first got my DSLR camera in 2014.  I took this wild flower shot in a shady forested area.  The flower was in a ray of light so the dark background really seemed darker.  I'll admit this shot was a bit of luck, but since then I've learned how to do this on purpose!

PhotoChallenge 2017 Week 17: Storytelling--Emotion

Last year I discovered the online PhotoChallenge.org weekly photography challenges and it encouraged me to try a bunch of new techniques and subjects for my budding photography skills.  I've continued this into 2017, and this year promises to be a good one!  I have fallen behind in posting, but have done a few of the older challenges so here's some catch-up!  The idea is to actively take pictures each week but I may also post some older photos that fit the bill on some of these blog posts.

PhotoChallenge 2017 Week 17: Storytelling--Emotion

This one I actually posted on time!  The idea is to tell a story with a picture--harnessing some human emotion to get more impact from the shot.  Some pictures are just "pretty" while others may not be beautiful but can still have emotional impact.  

For my shot I used a WW1 memorial that I came across in my home town of Waconia, Minnesota on a walk with my wife.  The memorial is small and frankly the soldier has seen better days, but I wanted to make this work for photo.  I tried several angles and nothing was looking good.  Finally, I joined my wife in the shade of a drooping evergreen tree and realized I could get a picture through the dangling boughs.  Once I got this back into Lightroom I turned it black and white and then added some split toning to add a bit of tint back in.  Almost a low key shot, this one is dark, but the light is mostly on the age-scarred face of the soldier.