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Re: [OM] Pretty Pictures

Subject: Re: [OM] Pretty Pictures
From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2019 15:06:39 -0800
On 2/23/2019 1:11 AM, Philippe wrote:
I like the way you underexposed them, a lot!

I'm not sure how that sentence parses:

"I like that you underexposed them a lot!"
"I like a lot that you underexposed them!"
Both.
However it goes, I much appreciate it!!
Getting rich tones as a result.

Howsomever, I didn't accomplish what you like through underexposure, except perhaps as a starting point. Although "Shoot to the Right" seems to have died as a phrase, and some folks have said it's wrong, I mostly shoot to retain highlights, let the shadows go where they may, and deal with them in post. That's more a direction than a rule.

I'm still learning the GX9s My general starting point in sunlight has for many years, and many cameras, has been -2/3 EV. I was surprised to find on this day that I was using mostly -1, and as much as -2 2/3 EV to hold highlights. That last was unusual, though, with a small portion of brightly lit white flowers against a lot of dark background. I suppose I could use spot metering, but I'm very experienced with a display histogram, rough though it may be, and the EV adjust wheel.

The notion that there's one "correct" exposure is not very solid, either. Take a look at these two articles by Ctein, and you may not take manufacturers' ISO ratings as gospel.

https://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2012/10/raw-is-not-raw.html
https://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2012/09/why-iso-isnt-iso.html

Soooo, I'm interested in exposures that capture all the tonal values I want to keep m ore than whether it can capture them in the relationships to each other that I'll want in the finished image. Then again, some subjects have dynamic ranges far beyond what the camera can capture and Raw conversion software can recover. Then, I may just "fix" them. :-) <cid:part1.4F9304B2.E795E5D7@gmail.com>

And all very graphic.

Rich tones and graphic qualities are largely a result of post exposure processing. One of our group in Ireland  made and hung this grass circle on a tree on the Hill of Tara where other offerings to Brigit were hung. I knew the light and background were awful when I took it, but also knew I could get at how it looked/felt to us at the time. <http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/MPhotos/Misc/GrassOffering/GrassOffering.htm> It involved separate treatment of three different parts of the photo, as separate masked layers.

This one from this group is complex in two ways. It's a focus stack, to get the great DoF of the bud. Then I lowered brightness and contrast of the background and blurred it, to get greater subject separation and lovely bokeh. <http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/MPhotos/Misc/HookedBud/HookedBud.htm>

Another from this series. Darkening the background immediately moves focus to the plant, and makes the right edges look brighter. Nice image already, but I felt dramatic, and that drama further plays down the background. <http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/MPhotos/Misc/SucculentRose/SucculentRose.htm>

This one is a four layer cake. 
<http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/MPhotos/Misc/SpringFlowers/SpringFlowers.htm>

Gives me ideas, thanks.

That's Good! Have fun with them.
Masked Moose

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What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
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