Just to get mind ticking as we move into September.
I'm sure there are instances in your experience where you have looked at some of your past work and find that it no longer reflects where you as an artist. Let's face it, I'm sure we are all guilty of using sliders to excess and finding that a short-lived euphoria of creating something 'special' later turns into a 'what was I thinking' result.
This is the chance to right past wrongs. The challenge this month is to look back at older images and reprocess one or more to better reflect your current style. This may be as simple as pulling back the saturation, getting rid of a horrendous blue cast (that seemed a good idea at the time) or simply adjusting a bad crop to better suit the image.
Who knows, perhaps you'll come up with a gem that has been hidden in plain sight for years.
To start off I have included a rework on an image taken some years ago. This was taken very early one morning, capturing sunrise as it illuminates a nearby mountain and fog lingering in the valley below.
The original edit was embarrassingly bad, so this rework is long overdue.
C'mon, Alan! You've got to show us the original edit for comparison. Purely for our educational benefit, of course...
Sure Chris, I'll show you mine if you show me yours :-)
Great to hear from you, hope you're now getting back out shooting.
This is a great idea, Alan; and this image is beautiful. I love the colors, softness, and calming glow.
Thanks for your kind words Jennifer. As this is the opposite of the original edit those words have added meaning to me.
So what does the original look like, Alan?
I'll hold that back for a while and see what you/others post. I don't want to be the only one embarrassed by my earlier ineptness. It will come.....
Anyone willing to present a before/after?
OK Chris, you have worn me down. Here's the original - processed a time when new to Lightroom and driven by a thought that sunrises needed to pop.
Pretty garish I'd say, and one that was quickly pushed to one side.......
It's over-egged for your tastes as I know them and mine, Alan, but still a fine image, and more typical FS fare in that regard than your refined, more understated newer edit. The play of light on the foreground grass is pleasing, but sacrificing this in the recent crop makes for a more coherent composition - this early one has a slightly disjointed sense as the top & bottom compete for attention. Those are my reactions to your changes - I'm curious to know if they parallel your reasons at all.
I understand your feeling looking back, but you are very modest and your work is of a high standard; I'd stll have praised this (you know, a solid one-star - just kidding!).
Your idea of the before/after is well illustrated here. You've taken a solid image and then really distilled it, largely by subtraction. Thanks for the insight.
Yes, it's way overcooked for my current liking. I agree with your feelings on the crop - the foreground was adding little to the overall composition, and I like your reference to it competing with the background
This has actually led me to revisit others taken at that time with a new set of eyes, we'll see what comes of those.
To use one of my favourite complimentary analogies, Alan, I find this image to be very painterly, reminding me of a gentle, soft watercolour image. There's an inviting sense of depth and atmosphere I can almost breathe, the warm glow complementing the cool feeling that mist engenders. Great job, very "you" somehow.
Thanks Chris, as I always I appreciate your expressive and generous response.
Here is my revisited image I took in 2014 in my second year of using a Canon EOS Rebel T3 and EF 75-300mm kit lens and learning to shoot RAW. The original was edited using Lightroom version 5 (...for some reason I still have the software download card🤔 ).
I was new to post-processing so the image was flat and a bit heavy on the vignette.
f/8 ~ 1/250 sec ~ ISO 100 ~ 100mm
Thanks for posting Dean. It would be nice to view the original to compare, but this image does have a certain depth and mood to it.
Before and After
Memory fades and I did not keep notes. This started out as a series of five discrete images when I was playing with panoramas a few years ago (2020.) With Alan's challenge, I went back and redid it. I do not know if I used all five originally, but I only used three of the five in the redo. This redo was not to improve it (the transitions are cleaner in the older image) because it already met my limited objectives for the image but to incorporate new imaging concepts whether they were appropriate or not. You be the judge.
FYI, this was shot on New Year's day 2020 at the Corner Bakery in King of Prussia just before we went into Covid-19 lockdown. We have not eaten at an indoor restaurant since then.
They're both fine images, Andrew! The second is perhaps more interesting, but as someone who gravitates towards "straight" photography rather than photo-based art, I prefer the first. But keep doin' what you do! Always intrigued by your experiments.
I think this certainly reflects who you currently are Andrew, the 2nd is unmistakably you.
It's wonderful that you continue to look for new ways of displaying your work.