experimenting backlighting, angled and shadows C&C plz

Rudha · Apr 25, 2009

hi guys....more pictures for C&C ...this time i took advice from our own Sherman Banks (just a shout out that was a kickass advice) to go shoot at evenings or early morning and here are the results....still need lot of improvement :mrgreen:

here the last photo the focus is misplaced ..i could not tell that in the tiny lcd ...in fact thousands of other photos looked 1000x better but turned out to be disappointment

is the plant much of a subject i couldn't tell but i just loved the scene so i shot it :lol:

In2daBlue · Apr 25, 2009

They don't call it the Golden Hour for nothing... but I digress.

The shots don't do much for me, personally, but I like the direction you're heading using backlighting. It can be tough but rewarding. The only suggestion I would have is on the shot 2 you have the sun totally visible through the tree. I find you can get a really good effect by blocking the sun behind a large branch or the trunk so that you get the effect of the light and color but aren't having to work around the bright ball, if that makes sense. If you're going to keep it in the shot, try exposing so you get the star effect around it. At least that way you're making something out of it.

My two cents.

Mendoza · Apr 25, 2009

You might also try using backlighting or severely angled lighting through atmosphere -- e.g. sunlight through clouds, mist, or otherwise thick air. This can create some interesting effects, like capturing visible rays of sunlight. And of course altering the aperture/F-stop with silhouette-type photos will determine the extent to which detail in the silhouette is visible; sometimes it's preferable to have a totally black silhouette and other times one might want to see a bit more (without being overexposed). For instance, it's neat how in your second picture a bit of the leaves are visible and appear reddish-orange.

Sherman Banks · Apr 25, 2009

Nice work! Here's my 2 cents:

1. Looks boring with the subject matter but the softer lighting is nice. I think you need to capture more of the light highlighting your scene here to add to the tonal range and balance it out better.

2. Sometimes these shots work, but when you have too many lines confusing the viewer's eye as to what the focal point is, you lose the impact. Try to use less linear motion in the silhouette, and use what lines you have to move the viewer's eye around the frame (preferably to a focal point or subject). Setting the sun behind an object as stated above also helps take the contrast down a bit.

3. I love the tonal quality of this shot as it reminds me of a Polaroid's warmth. I think a tighter crop might be needed here though to better isolate the subject, and you have a couple distracting elements (the stick on the side, and the tree stump up top). I like it though.

4. My favorite of the group although the plant is a bit dark due to the sunlight in the upper corner. I think it does a great job at capturing what a nice evening in the spring is like, and you have some nice bokeh going on too thanks to your shallow depth of field. The only thing I'm not sure about compositionally is the dark tree in the background, although I'm kind of mixed about it. Without it, the DOF might not look as shallow, but it does kind of bring the plant out a bit too. Either way, I like it and think these are a big improvement upon your other set. Keep it up!