This two week challenge expands on the last challenge in that shadows are dominant in moody pictures as well. Think of “Film Noir”. With the winter solstice approaching and the leaves pretty well absent from the trees, I thought this might be a good subject to try your creativity on. The object of this exercise is to photograph landscapes or objects in a more sombre mood. It also ties in with Alex Kilbee’s lecture on finding a unique look for your photography. For inspiration have a look at Google’s “dark and moody photography image search” by clicking here.
Found these sad looking trees on the river edge in Silver Springs. Made the scene a bit more dramatic in B&W by moving the basic photo editing sliders around in Lightroom Classic.
Great example to get us started Henri.
I like this image for the consistent and repeating pattern of tangled branches. Maybe not too moody with the bright sunshine. I used Lightroom’s standard sliders in B&W mode to dramatize the image.
some dead flowers in black and white
Looking west at sunset using iPhone HEIC format that was saved as JPEG to be compatible with BoomerArtist requirements. Shot in square composition and cropped and colour adjusted in Preview
feathers in the grass from a killed duck in b/w
ISO 450 80mm 1/125 f7.1
coloured version of the feathers is much less gloomy
Two images from a Sunday evening walk. Shot using a Fuji GFX 50Sii on tripod.
First image is Crowchild Trail looking south at Flanders overpass Setting sun was below a massive chinook arch.
ISO 50/ F 22/ SS@13 seconds
Processed in Luminar NEO: masked the sunset and reduced the exposure and highlights; cropped to reduce the brilliance of the sunset in the top right.
My second image is the old delivery truck at the Burwood Distillery situated in teh renovated Stables Building at Currie Barracks. This building also houses “The Veranda” restaurant.
Fuji GVX on tripod, ISO 100/ F4.5/ SS@6.5 seconds.
Using Neo I worked to reduce the exposure in the bright light from the building in the upper right which in turn reflected through the truck windscreen.
Reflected weeds on Lake Windermere. ISO 200, f/22, 1/400. 75% Dramatic Warm filter applied in Apple Photos.
Lovely shot
Very nice photo!
Inukshuk – Lake Windermere. ISO 200, f/22, 1/160. 100% Dramatic Warm filter applied in Apple Photos.
Also made some “Curves” Adjustments as shown below.
I took a walk through Bowness park this morning. I thought I might get an interesting photo or two due the recent light snow fall. This one shot at 145 mm, f/6.3 and ISO 100. I processed the image with Lightroom. The sun was coming at an angle from the side so I raised the shadow substantially to reveal more of the bark. I also increased the clarity and vibrance by about 25%. I increased the saturation of the red (50%), orange (38%) and yellow (16%). I also raised the sharpness a touch (I almost always do).
I had three sunflowers growing in a small pot this summer. Just some extra seeds hanging around. Squirrels ignored them for some unknown reason. So here is an image of the largest one at 122 mm, 1/80 sec, f.7.1 and ISO 400. LR processing includes increased exposure, contrast and clarity. I intentionally underexposed the shot due there was a lot of white (very white fence) and cloudy but to bring out the details of the green areas in the back of the flower I had to increase the shadows substantially. It is a cropped image
We were traveling down Cowboy Trail just west of Olds on our way to Cochrane on Sunday. The Chinook Arch was starting to collapse so you had these amazing clouds developing along with a spectacular sunset. To me it sets the mood as the harvest is over and the land was prepared for winter. This was taken by my cell phone in raw. F2.2, ISO 40, 1/270. I used Lightroom Classic, to bring out the true color of the clouds and sharpened the field.
I like the fan of rays symmetrically spreading from the golden sun both in the clouds and on the field. Only the clear sky portion is missing them due to exposure.
Raw coming from a smart phone is impressive.
This was shot across the Glenmore reservoir about 15 minutes before sunset.
Very little cropping and some dodge and burn to show the S.S. Moyie in dry dock ( dodge ) with the sedges and grasses in the foreground burned. A little less burning was applied to the left central portion of the water to lower its strong reflectivity.
The overall gloominess makes it qualify for the moody late fall I think.
And to all a good night! Taken with my phone of the clouds covering the recent full moon. I can’t tell you the settings and I didn’t do any post-processing. It just is.
I have been down in Mexico for the past 4 weeks and was unable to access the Boomer Artist site from there. Moonrise over the water captured with my Pixel 2 phone. I converted it to black and white using Photoshop Elements.
f/1.8, 1/3.9 sec, ISO 592, 27 mm
Dark and moody Beaver Moon shot on Nov 27. Taken with my iphone at f/1.5, 1/30 sec, ISO 500
Dark and moody still life. Didn’t get a chance to get out in nature. Taken with my 16mm 1.4 at f/2, 1/30 sec, ISO 250
Decaying flowers
f/3.5, 1/60, iso250
Sunset
f/9, 1/125, iso1250