Shadows: anticipate the moment!

On September 12, 2020, I started as a participant in the mentorship program of Nature Photography by famous Dutch photographer Bart Siebelink. I wrote about this for the first time in an earlier blogpost, see this LINK.

For today I will discuss two other photographs that I created on the first day of mentorship. The first one to address is this black and white image:

Title: Crawling on my skin.

Process: I see a beautiful, lined bark with shadows from leaves.

Idea: the shadows seem to crawl on the bark like a horror image, shadows that creep on you. The bark of the tree is like the human skin. 

Digital Editing: the photo was taken Low Key (strongly underexposed) and then I lowered the black tones even further in PS Elements.  Contrast and brightness slightly lowered via the Levels. Then converted to black and white with the filter Vivid Landscapes. Used shadow / highlight only slightly to further enhance the drawing of the lines in the photo.

What do I think of it? Very successful, graphically. The photo shows what I was looking for, namely something that creeps up like hands on one's skin. The intention is to look at the image just a while longer, before you realize it is a tree.

The second photograph to digress a bit further on, is this one:

Title: There is always hope.

Process: shadows are crawling over a tree bark in the warm, low sun. At the bottom of the image is a small green leaf as a beacon of hope.

Idea: warm sunlight can be seen between the dark shadows and new life is sprouting from the tree bark. This photo is quite the opposite of the black and white photo with the shadows. This is about warmth, hope and love for new life.

Digital Editing: only slight editing in PS Elements (saturation/contrast/dust removal). And the image has been rotated a quarter to the right for a strange effect: the shadows almost have a kind of free fall, leading you to the green leaf.

What do I think of it? Very successful, I do get a warm feeling with hope in these strange times.

Next issue will address one other photograph of the same assignment that I took that day! Till next time. Shadows: anticipate the moment!