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Jennifer Wise's picture

Last Day September Challenge Post: Minimal, Abstract, Experimental

Hello Everyone!
I wanted to work on the challenge this month so badly, but the month got away from me in busyness. I took these photos recently; so I thought I'd just post them here for the challenge this final day of the month.

Minimalism
f/5.6, 1/125, iso800, 135mm
Just a morning glory that was closed up for the night.

Abstract
f/4, 1/640, iso6400, 70mm
In-The-Round photo of a tree in the neighborhood. I took 6 shots in 1/3 of a circle, layered, and played with the opacities.

Experimental

Mushrooms – f/5.6, 1/320, iso800, 135mm
My daughter loves mushrooms and fantasy worlds; so I experimented with PS filters to get a fantasy feel. She appreciated them.

My granddaughter – f/5, 1/640, iso1250, 170mm
It was a hot, full sun day. We were all sitting in the shade around a fire pit. My granddaughter was using a stick to play around in the fire. She was bent over horizontally in front of me; so I snapped a quick shot of her. I didn't have any hopes for it, and sure enough when I opened it in PS, the sky was blown out and the photo was terribly exposed in general. Instead of getting rid of it, I turned it 90 degrees so that she'd be upright then played with the exposure sliders & dehaze to get the dreamy sort of look.

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the beginning of fall (or spring).

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6 Comments

Thanks for posting Jenny. I know you were keen on getting something out before the deadline, so applaud your persistence.

I am liking all of your images, the first really pops with that sharp contract both in color and sharpness.

I think the pic of your granddaughter is precious. Although over-exposed and the sky blown out I feel there is an artistic element to this.

The mushroom shots have a great atmosphere - I love what you have done with processing here.

On your tree shot - did you switch layers on/off (including the base layer) to judge impact on result?
I only ask that as it is quite common to either have upper opacities set too high (so lower layers have no effect) or set so low where the base layer dominates.

It's fine as it is, and level of detail retained could well be due to the limitation of exposures used, but I feel understanding this is a key point.

Ready for the next challenge?

I agree on it the ITR tree. Thank you for the advice. I think I'll try reworking it accordingly. I've tried this tree several times (without posting), but for some reason it's a tough one. Thank you for the advice; I appreciate it!

DRATS. I accidently switched pages and my comments in progress disappeared.

I agree with Mr. Brown assessment.

We have may Morning Glory vines and the morning light as they just begin to open in a wonderful sight. And as you have observed, evening as well.

I wish I could capture and edit mushrooms as well as you have. Then I'd consider myself a real photographer.

The 90° turn of your daughter really makes the hair wonderful and I really like the High Key edit.

Great job! I am looking forward to see what you do for Octobers challenge.

Thank you, Dean. I appreciate your feedback.

Wow, I like them all.

- The mushrooms have all the tones I dig
- Don't know the first thing about ICM and whether it's supposed to look a certain way, but know that I like how your image turned out
- From the light to the angle, shot of your daughter is splendid

Thank you, Robert! Hope you are doing well!