Sometimes I see something in my mind’s eye and have to see what it actually looks like. This photograph of Aspen in autumn was taken earlier this fall in Kebler Pass, CO. As I was processing it, I began to visualize it on a background of Aspen bark. Fortunately, I frequently photograph textures such as brick walls, peeling paint, bark, etc. for possible use as backgrounds or for adding texture to an image and I had several images of Aspen bark in my files. Using Photoshop, I placed the Aspen photo over one of the bark photos and feathered the edges to provide a soft transition between the image and the background. Then, to add some interest to the background, I painted a burnt edge onto the bark. I think that the result tells more of a story than the original image by itself.

I frequently re-visit images that I have previously processed in Lightroom and/or Photoshop. I’ve found that I respond to photographs differently at different times, probably based on my mood or what else I’ve been working on during that session. This often leads me to tweak the settings or completely reprocess the image to achieve a different effect or create a different mood. The picture above is one of those images. It’s from a 2009 trip to Acadia National Park. While my first attempt at processing produced a good photograph, I wasn’t really happy with it – it seemed flat and uninviting. Earlier this week I decided to work on it again. After completely reprocessing it to enhance the sense of depth and increase the saturation of some key colors, I find it much more engaging. I feel more drawn into the image – it takes me back to the northern New York woods near where I grew up.

Images such as this have taught me that there is often more than one “right” answer.

As you may have noticed, I’ve enjoyed exploring High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography over the past several months. HDR is a collection of techniques that make it possible to produce images that  have a greater dynamic range – the difference between the darkest and the brightest tones in the image – than can be captured with an ordinary exposure. This is typically done by making several different exposures of a subject that cover the full range of tones and then merging those exposures in a tool such as Photomatix. HDR excites me because I can now capture what I see rather than trying to fit my vision into what the camera’s sensor (or traditional film) can record. I also enjoy the ability to try different treatments of my subjects from photorealistic to painterly or hyper-realistic. This image of the interior of the First Baptist Church in Boulder, CO is from an HDR workshop taught by Mark Johnson that I attended in July. It was produced from 9 separate exposures separated by 1 ev, processed in Photomatix and finished in Photoshop. While HDR isn’t necessary – or even appropriate – for every image, it’s a very nice tool to have available.