Wednesday, March 17, 2010

What I do with some of these images

Much of the time when I take pictures, I just like the image and have no plans for it (the leaf at the bottom of yesterday's post). Other times, I think about how to develop the image into embroidery (that textured mossy twig from Monday's post).

The neighbor with the rocks, from yesterday's post, has a plant that's intrigued me all winter. It was lush and green, of course, all summer, with big, striking leaves, but I find it far more interesting now. It's circular form, tangled stems and striped leaves remind me very much of the work of Dale Chihuly. First I find an interesting section and crop it. Here I like the juxtaposition of the smooth, solid colored maple leaf peeping out from under the curling, shaded leaves.The difference here is kind of subtle and easier to see with the two images enlarged and side by side. The striations in the leaves are a little more emphasized here and the color flattened a bit. This one is just an inversion in Photoshop of the previous image. Even if I don't like the colors, I find that inversions help me see the design lines and not just the image. It's easy to get lost in an image and lose the overall composition. Most everything I do in Photoshop is done in the Image>Adjustments menu options. If I don't like a change, control-alt-z will return the image to the previous step.
This, I think, is my favorite. It has all the aspects I like but with a more subtle color palette. I really am intrigued by the stripes on the leaves. I played with Photoshop layers to subdue the remaining bright turquoise at the bottom.

2 comments:

Jenny said...

Lovely photos. I like the circular form of the original - I think that would look interesting photoshopped like you have done the final picture, because the overall shape would complement the details on the leaves.

Rachel said...

I like the textural, "sketchy" feeling of the last image, but they would all make interesting starting points..