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| Baker River upstream of Baker Lake. Aug08, 2019 |
High Noon
Of late I am enamored with creating painting effects out some of my photographs. In particular, I am enjoying creating such photographs out of images taken in bright noontime light.
Traditionally photographers are coached to take images in soft light; especially favored are the hours around sunset or sunrise. During this time of day shadows are less harsh and subjects are side-lit. Contrasts are less severe and colors, if not muted, are generally more pleasing. These times of day are referred to as the Golden Hours. I do like morning and evening photography, but it can be inconvenient to locate oneself several miles up a trail or in the wilderness in low or fading light.
Recently my wife and I took our 4 dogs for a walk along the Baker River Trail. The trailhead is about 2.5 hours from our home. We arrived in late morning and returned mid afternoon. The only option I had for photography was during bright midday light. The sky was nearly cloudless. It was a beautiful day for a walk but less than ideal for photography. To record our trip I took several shots of the dogs and Deb as well as a few of the surrounding landscape. such as the image below.
The river was a crystal clear turquoise blue with some of the deeper pools taking on an emerald green tone. The river bottom and banks are lined with multicolored granite boulders. However, the bright sunlight washed out much of the colorful beauty and limited my ability to adequately capture the look and feel of the place. Back home in the computer, after doing a bit of standard processing to adjust white balance and tones, I played around with processing filters provided by my copy of Topaz Labs software and decided I liked the creation atop this page. Perhaps a less realistic look, but to me, a more realistic feel.
