This is me trying to be artistic, trying being the operative word.
I was guiding a tour of Bukchon on Saturday when I came across this lovely red tree in front of the old Jongchinbu at Jeongdok Public Library. So lovely it was, in fact, that I went back Sunday afternoon to photograph it and, inspired by one of the photos here, digitally manipulate the crap out of it.
Initially, I was content to simply saturate the red while simultaneously desaturating everything else, producing this. Then I added a bit of Gaussian blur (see tutorial here) and boosted the contrast a touch. I don’t think the result is entirely crappy, but my tastes are admittedly unrefined, hence the reason I post my experiments here.
Mission accomplished. That’s a really nice capture.
It works for you?
This is your best picture in my opinion (although I really like the picture of a back alley you did a while ago as well). Sometimes people have a tendency to over-do Gaussian blur, making it look tacky. It’s used well here. My eyes were drawn instantly to the red leaves and shadows on the ground, and then to the trees. In the picture on flickr I was immediately pulled towards the temple, which obviously isn’t the most exciting part of the picture.
The picture even has a slight feel of a Tim Burton movie, if you know what I mean. The mixture of the reds and the shadows give it an almost sinister feel. I was going to suggest a slight vignette around the edges but I think that would probably be too much.
Anywat, great work.
Now that you mention it, it does have a bit of a Tim Burton feel.
Anyway, thanks for the comment—might try the vignetting next time.
Yeah, I like it. There’s slight barrel distortion, but overall I think it really works.
Now, I know very little about photography. But I think I know an awesome photograph when I see one. And I could care less that you digitally altered it. I think this photo would be great in any fall ad campaign.
Keep experimenting some more like this. I’d be interested to see what more you come up with.
Thanks, sir. Not much into experimenting — still learning the basics, really — but I thought a bit of processing might do this tree some justice.
I just think I’m a few years of classes and a good DSLR from getting pictures like this. It works for me and captures Autumn in light, shadow and colour. Good on ya.
Glad you liked it!
Robert, I think this is really beautiful. It’s an inspiring piece.
It was an inspiring tree
The shadow effect is very slimming.
Actually, I think that might be the wide-angle lens distortion
엄청 매력적인 색감이네요..
마치 피가 바닥에 뿌려진듯하고,
전쟁이 난후의 흉가의 모습처럼 느껴지기도합니다.정말 매력적이네요.