Photo: Assimilation

Assimilation — a lone red leaf in a sea of death

A bright-red leaf out-of-place in a field of sickly brown leaves. I happened upon this idea as I saw a red leaf amongst all the brown leaves in our yard, so then I went and found a better leaf and positioned it like this. It was rainy and overcast, so the lighting was lower contrast and a bit blue, which is fitting for this image.

This didn’t need much spot editing, but it did benefit from added contrast and a shift to cooler colors. I added red to the leaf and desaturated the background (just a tad) to make it stand out more.
[quickshop:4*6 Assimilation (lustre):price:0.95:shipping:0.45:shipping2:0.45:end]

Buy a 4*6 copy for $0.95 (USA only). Lustre finish. After adding, go to your shopping cart.

Canon PowerShot A620, 1/10, F7.1, 7.3mm, ISO50, 2007-01-08T14:07:05-05, 2007-01-08_19h07m05b

Download the high-res JPEG or download the source image.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry Tomatoes — eight bite-sized tomatoes in a row

Cherry tomatoes that I arranged in a line. The yellow table makes a great background for red-colored still life. They look good enough to eat!

I cloned out the dirt that was on the tomatoes and table, removed background reflections and distractions, brightened the image, and added contrast.
[quickshop:4*6 Cherry Tomatoes (lustre):price:0.95:shipping:0.45:shipping2:0.45:end]

Buy a 4*6 copy for $0.95 (USA only). Lustre finish. After adding, go to your shopping cart.

Fujifilm FinePix A360, 1/74, F2.81, 5.8mm, ISO64, 2006-08-07T14:27:03-04, 2006-08-07_14h27m03

Download the high-res JPEG or download the source image.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: The Stuccoed House

The Stuccoed House — a lit, yellow home at night, with three ghosts

A thirty-second exposure of my house at night, with the lights on. Our house has creatively applied stucco that is painted yellow, so it makes an interesting and reflective texture, particularly with the yellowish indoor lights. The ghostly figures are of me standing next to two windows and in the light behind the house; I stood still in each spot for eight seconds to achieve the effect (took four tries). I don’t own a proper tripod, so I used a step-ladder; it does well in a pinch.

For the glowing effect, I used a gaussian-blurred layer with soft-light blending in Adobe Photoshop CS3. Other than that, I added contrast and color, burned the sky, and dodged the ghosts.
[quickshop:4*6 The Stuccoed House (lustre):price:0.95:shipping:0.45:shipping2:0.45:end]

Buy a 4*6 copy for $0.95 (USA only). Lustre finish. After adding, go to your shopping cart.

Canon Rebel XTi, EFS 18-55mm, 30″, F3.5, 18mm, ISO400, 2008-03-22T22:11:14-04, 20080323-021114rxt

Download the high-res JPEG or download the source image.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: Ashes and Embers

Ashes and Embers — fiery red embers in a fireplace

Leftover embers in my wood-burning stove. The foreground is crumpled paper that didn’t burn thoroughly; makes for some interesting folds, colors, and patterns. There is still a bit of fire left in them.

I burned in the highlights a bit, made the colors redder, and added contrast. I was hand-holding the camera and the scene was dim, so I went up to ISO1600; the original is grainy. It’s nice grain, though, which I kept, though you can’t see it except at higher resolutions.
[quickshop:4*6 Ashes and Embers (lustre):price:0.95:shipping:0.45:shipping2:0.45:end]

Buy a 4*6 copy for $0.95 (USA only). Lustre finish. After adding, go to your shopping cart.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/30, F1.8, 50mm, ISO1600, 2008-02-28T21:00:45-05, 20080229-020045rxt

Download the high-res JPEG or download the source image.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: Leafy Droplets 6

Leafy Droplets 6 — liquid drops on an colorful orange leaf

An orange leaf decorated with water drops. It’s unconventional, but I decided to fade to white at the top of the frame, as though the scene is overwhelmed by fog. Like with Leafy Droplets 2, I changed the leaf to orange, though this photo is brighter and composed differently. This is on my point-and-shoot camera, as it focuses closer than the lenses I have for my DSLR.

I changed the colors to orange, added contrast, cropped, and dodged and blurred the top part so the photo fades to white.
[quickshop:4*6 Leafy Droplets 6 (lustre):price:0.95:shipping:0.45:shipping2:0.45:end]

Buy a 4*6 copy for $0.95 (USA only). Lustre finish. After adding, go to your shopping cart.

Canon PowerShot A620, 1/60, F3.5, 7.3mm, ISO50, 2008-02-24T10:49:51-04, 20080224-154951rxt

Download the high-res JPEG or download the source image.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

More of the Leafy Droplets series.

Photo: Leafy Droplets 4

Leafy Droplets 4 — a green leaf with dark raindrops

A leaf on a tree in my back yard, which raindrops stick to with ease. This composition was the best; the leaf looks flat, till you get to the top where it fades out like a horizon line. I like how the droplets are linked together with water resting on the veins of the leaf. It was still raining at the time; I was struggling, holding the umbrella while using my camera. :grin:

I burned in the areas that were too bright, and added contrast to achieve the dark mood. This was a fun edit, as I got it to look just as I wanted.
[quickshop:4*6 Leafy Droplets 4 (glossy):price:0.95:shipping:0.45:shipping2:0.45:end]

Buy a 4*6 copy for $0.95 (USA only). Glossy finish. After adding, go to your shopping cart.

Canon Rebel XTi, EFS 18-55mm, 1/80, F5.6, 55mm, ISO400, 2007-10-27T17:13:25-04, 2007-10-27_21h13m25

Download the high-res JPEG or download the source image.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

More of the Leafy Droplets series.

Photo: Leafy Droplets 3

Leafy Droplets 3 — drops of water on a vivid green leaf

A rainy green leaf reflecting the bright, overcast sky. This is the same type of leaf from Leafy Droplets 2, but with natural colors and a new angle. My reflection is in some of the raindrops, but I don’t think it hurts the piece.

There were some specks of dirt on the leaf that I took out, and I added contrast and sharpening. I exhibited a lower-contrast version of the photo before posting it here.
[quickshop:4*6 Leafy Droplets 3 (lustre):price:0.95:shipping:0.45:shipping2:0.45:end]

Buy a 4*6 copy for $0.95 (USA only). Lustre finish. After adding, go to your shopping cart.

Canon PowerShot A620, 1/160, F2.8, 7.3mm, ISO50, 2007-01-18T13:33:17-05, 2007-01-18_18h33m17

Download the high-res JPEG or download the source image.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

More of the Leafy Droplets series.

Photo: Leafy Droplets 2

Leafy Droplets 2 — a dark orange leaf with raindrops

A dark, orange leaf with drops of water. It was still cloudy so the lighting gave contrast, without being too harsh. I decided to fade to black at the top-left, which should add intrigue. This is a re-edit (old version); the leaf started as green, but orange is more interesting and stylish.

I changed the colors through curves in the Lab color space, burned in the parts that are now black, added contrast, and cropped from 1:1.33 to a 1:1.5 aspect ratio.
[quickshop:4*6 Leafy Droplets 2 (lustre):price:0.95:shipping:0.45:shipping2:0.45:end]

Buy a 4*6 copy for $0.95 (USA only). Lustre finish. After adding, go to your shopping cart.

Canon PowerShot A620, 1/25, F2.8, 7.3mm, ISO50, 2006-11-08T07:46:00-05, 2006-11-08_07h46m00

Download the high-res JPEG, download a green version, or download the source image.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

More of the Leafy Droplets series.

Photo: The Rebel

The Rebel — a girl smoking in front of a no-smoking sign (shameful!)

Sarah rebels against the no-smoking signs. I posed her for this; she didn’t notice the sign till afterwards. Somehow, we didn’t get in trouble. It was noon-time, but fortunately the light wasn’t too harsh.

This is from 35mm black-and-white film (developed, printed, and digitized). I decided to burn in sign (in Adobe Photoshop); it adds punch. Don’t smoke kids! Cigarettes are too expensive.
[quickshop:4*6 The Rebel (lustre):price:0.95:shipping:0.45:shipping2:0.45:end]

Buy a 4*6 copy for $0.95 (USA only). Lustre finish. After adding, go to your shopping cart.

2008-05-22 Update: This is on my new Gawker Artists page! Read more here.

Canon Elan IIe, EF 50mm 1:1.4, ERA 100 35mm film, 2008-02-29, the-rebel-rxt

Download the high-res JPEG.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

You can use the model’s likeness for anything not defamatory. You are one of my “licencees.”

Photo: Ketchup 3

Ketchup 3 — a row of black ketchup bottles

These are the evil, dark ketchup bottles. This is a normal still life arrangement, but I used a shallow depth-of-field which I find more interesting. Enjoy!

I made the background pure white, added contrast which darkened the bottles, and brightened the labels. The labels look weathered and are dodged unevenly, which is the look I want.
[quickshop:4*6 Ketchup 3 (lustre):price:0.95:shipping:0.45:shipping2:0.45:end]

Buy a 4*6 copy for $0.95 (USA only). Lustre finish. After adding, go to your shopping cart.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/5, F1.8, 50mm, ISO100, 2008-01-20T20:23:20-05, 20080121-012320rxt

Download the high-res JPEG or download the source image.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

More of the Ketchup series.