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systemcat — Covering Peace
#covering #peace #pink #plants #spectrum #full
Published: 2015-06-03 15:40:20 +0000 UTC; Views: 500; Favourites: 14; Downloads: 1
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Description
Shot with my FS Olympus with it's custom white balance set to using the gray of a SNES control pad. This got shot in a little area on the side of where I live.Post processing done in Olympus Viewer 3.
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Comments: 6
Hi Erin - I'll comment on this one, but this applies to both. As we've seen before there are some very pleasing subtle colours appearing in these shots - that camera and lens is looking good. You also look to have the white balance idea well in place. What next? There are two major ways to proceed, either one or the other to start with. First, if you look at this shot as an image, the overall feelings I have are of subtlety of colour, and an abstraction of form and textures. What the image lacks is a bit of punch - this is common with FS shots because normal colours are diluted with the IR component. However, that does not mean that we cannot put a bit of spice back into the image. The easiest way to do this is using software, and I reckon all the major editing programs allow what I'm going to suggest. Three parts: tweak the saturation just a little to bring up the colour; tweak the overall contrast, just a little to give the whole image a bit more light and dark; third, and this is the smart bit, find the tool that allows you to do an "unsharp mask". Now, rather than sharpen the image as you might expect, set the "amount" slider or control to be about 10 times the radius or size control. The effect may be quite dramatic, and you can always back off the "amount" control. This last process is called local contrast enhancement, LCE, and once you've got the hang of it, it become second nature to apply. You should now have a more dramatic looking image with retention of the form and subtlety.
Second, you will want at some point, to explore what happens when you put filters over the lens. Ideally, you should get an infrared filter, an R72, that can screw on to the lens. But, if funds do not stretch, you can use the blank end of an old but processed colour print film! That is a reasonable technique for creating red-IR light. With that in pace, you can work on making you first "pure" IR images.
Cheers
David
PS I've requested both these shots.
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I decided that if you wanted to see the raw result of what the camera catches, I shouldn't use Magic Mode 1 for these. Just make the shots plain and simple. "Growth" I did shoot MM1 variations, but decided not to post them. I wasn't sure what to make of the saturation in those ( the sure height of saturation ). Also sometimes when I take a normal photo, and up it's saturation, I'm not pleased with the result. For example, I'm not sure to your tastes, but download this photo, and up that just to see how it's appearance changes. ( Please no re-posting later of the altered image ). I wasn't happy with deep contrast & color for this one. Some shots this works and others it doesn't.
Good to alter: Good to alter: Bad to alter:
Sadly the Olympus won't take extra lenses. I have a Cannon that will, but I'm not going to have my most expensive camera tinkered with to make it an FS type. Now as much as I am a shutterbug, I can't afford to buy another camera to help the hobby (3 owned already). But I will continue once in a while using MM1 in my shots and adjusting photos in software when needed. Sorry, for the disappointment these are. As I said, I just felt like presenting raw images for examples.
Also as I said on the other piece. I'm planning some shooting on a vacation soon. So you'll have more to decide on for quality.
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Good points, Erin re saturation. It is one of the easiest tools to overdo. We probably use different software so I don't know what scale to use, but if the saturation scale ran from 0- 100, say, then I would be using between 5 and 15 as the level that I might use on these types of image. Similarly with contrast. The lizard shot looks to have a good saturation level - and lots of good colour tones. I don't think saturation would help in the other two shots, although a tweak of contrast for the meerkat would help.
Re lenses. I wasn't suggesting new lenses, but filters. If the Olympus does not have a filter thread on the lens that is tough, but you can still use coloured plastic or transparent coloured sweet wrappers! That is all to do with exploration of possibilities.
I'm looking forward to the vacation shots!
David
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Here are a few of the shots for your approval 
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Comments on each image, Erin.
Many Thanks
David
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