Tag Archives: dark


Photo: Blue Marbles 4: 4 Blue Marbles

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Blue Marbles 4: 4 Blue Marbles — light, reflections, and spacing make for three-dimensional orbs

The fourth entry in the series, containing four of the respectable spheres. You already knew that from the informative title, though.

I was innovating with placement of the still life here; one is at the front, two far back, and one back even further. It’s pleasing to my eyes, as is the contrast between the sky reflections and dark marbles, even if the table goes to white.

I added contrast, removed dust, and kept the blues under control, as normal.

Fujifilm FinePix A360, 1/185, F2.81, 5.8mm, ISO64, 2006-05-31T14:21:36-04, 2006-05-31_14h21m36

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

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Photo: Blue Marbles 2: Darkness

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Blue Marbles 2: Darkness — stacks of marbles, with a touch of purple and black

The dark marbles, with traces of black and purple. This has colder lighting. The stacked marbles contribute to an interesting composition, as does the stray line in the background. I picked marbles that were cracked and weathered, to oppose the smooth perfection of the first photo. This is a sub-par entry in the series because the purples are ugly and without detail, but it’s been in the series for two years so it’s worthy of staying. This new edit is an improvement over the two-year old original.

I set tungsten white balance on this, over-exposing the blues horribly. I had no concept of color back in early 2006, and because this is from a low-end JPEG only camera, the detail is unrecoverable. In the new version above, I darkened the marbles, desaturated the clipped blue hues and cloned in the color of the dark marbles, giving purple, and added contrast. It’s a big step up from the original.

Fujifilm FinePix A360, 1/8, F2.81, 5.8mm, ISO100, 2006-03-21T06:46:32-05, 2006-03-21_06h46m32

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

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Photo: Leafy Sunset 6

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Leafy Sunset 6 — silhouetted leaves and an orange evening sky

A stately orange sunset in my yard is the backdrop for silhouetted leaves of an American sycamore tree. Some of the leaves have been chewed by bugs; as you can see on the left. This only adds to the beauty, of course. :cool: There are even some raindrops on the leaves, left over from the storms earlier that day. I didn’t notice those till way after the shoot. This is the best of the Leafy Sunset series, trailing fifteen months after the fifth entry.

Initially, I underexposed to keep the sunset’s highlights from being clipped in the red channel, knowing that the leaves would be pure black anyway. I finished this up in editing, by bringing up the colors without any clipping, and I made a shift from red to burnt orange, which I find more appealing. The edited colors also print more faithfully.
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Canon Rebel XTi, EFS 18-55mm, 1/40, F3.5, 18mm, ISO200, 2007-08-31T19:52:43-04, 2007-08-31_23h52m43

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Photo: Night Meets Day

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Night Meets Day — sunlit leaves against a moonlit sky

Leaves from the American sycamore tree in my yard. This photo is with my new polarizing filter; I made the sky look as dark as possible with it, and put the moon in the frame to make the scene a cross between night and day. So the moon didn’t become a blurry white blob, I closed down to F18, so I increased the ISO speed to 800, but the grain works well here. So you have the sunshine of late afternoon, but the dark blue sky of a moonlit night.

Though the polarizer took care of making the sky dark, I added some contrast, toned down the colors of the leaves, and added heavy vignetting (darkening at the corners), to keep your eyes from wandering off the edge. I also brightened the moon a bit.
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Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/50, F18, 50mm, ISO800, 2008-04-11T18:15:36-04, 20080411-221536rxt

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

Photo: Golden Tapestry

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Golden Tapestry — a golden sun behind silhouetted branches

A golden sunset behind a mess of tree branches. Took this right across the street of my house. It’s the same location and type of tree as A Morning of Fog, but very different lighting.

Darkening and added contrast give this its feeling, though the original is more technically accurate.

Canon Rebel XTi, EFS 18-55mm, 1/3200, F9, 55mm, ISO100, 2008-03-19T19:03:08-04, 20080319-230308rxt

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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 5

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Leafy Droplets 5 — sparkling raindrops on a leaf, in black and white

A leaf with raindrops, in black and white. The sun came out after the rain for this photo, so the contrast was high.

I converted to black and white in Adobe Photoshop, then did basic sharpening and contrast enhancements.

Canon Rebel XTi, EFS 18-55mm, 1/250, F8, 55mm, ISO100, 2007-10-31T16:09:32-04, 2007-10-31_20h09m32

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Photo: Leafy Droplets 4

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

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Photo: Leafy Droplets 2

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

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Photo: Ketchup 3

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

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Photo: The Red-Brick House

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The Red-Brick House — black clouds threaten a lonely abode

A house of red bricks stands alone against an impending storm. This is my neighbor’s yard; the clouds formed into an ominous circle right before the rain. The phone pole was not optional, as I couldn’t compose the frame as such while excluding it, but I’ve come to like it; its crookedness keeps the level horizon from becoming boring. I made a decision in post-processing to not give color to anything except the red house, and a tiny bit of green to the grass, which gives punch, and makes this conceptual; the house is unique and alone. Hope you enjoy it; I don’t do many landscapes, but this one I’m proud of.

This was challenging to edit; all the elements were there to start, but needed to be perfected. I burned in the clouds, telephone pole, trees, and edges of the frame, then remapped the tones through curves in the Lab color-space, including the contrast and color channels. I had problems with the shadows remaining dark-red, but corrected them by desaturating everything but the house, grass, and trees in the center. I debated placing the colors as more yellow or blue, but found this compromise to be the most natural and compelling.
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Canon Rebel XTi, EFS 18-55mm, 1/25, F3.5, 18mm, ISO400, 2008-02-26T17:55:09-05, 20080226-225509rxt

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