I’m showing lighter and darker nature pictures to go with the lens-artists photo challenge of “exposure” this week. Sometimes I frame a shot with lighter and darker settings; other times I make changes during the photo editing process.
The first two pictures are of maidenhair fern growing along the trail in Silver Falls State Park. In this case I like both versions. Maybe it’s because I like all shades of green. 🙂
The next two pictures show a mountain peak near Mitchell, Oregon. The first shows the structure of the rimrock at the peak and the second brings out the clouds. I prefer the darker, more evil-looking, version.
The next two show fallen leaves in Bend, Oregon. In this case, I think I prefer the softness of the lighter version. I added a light and a dark vignette effect to these two pictures.
The next two show a closer view of painted hills at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. The first one is in soft pastel tones. The second one brings out many hidden colors. I like both because they show the varying “moods” of the mountains. It’s a great place to visit during different kinds of weather because the colors can recede or pop, depending on the conditions.
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These are wonderful examples of how exposure changes the mood of a shot, especially the mountain peak one. That would be my favourite and it does work better in the darker version, very dramatic!
Thanks, Sofia! Yeah, that one was my favorite too. After I processed it that way, I was like, "Wow!" :)
Great post. I like the first John Day image especially.
Thanks! It's kind of a magical place with all those colors. :D
Excellent. I like the darker photos in all cases, though the dark butte is downright foreboding!
Thank you, John! Yeah, that butte was the stuff of nightmares in the darker version.
You've cleverly shown us that there is no 'right' exposure, as most of your pairs of images look good in both versions. The exception is the butte, where the dark is easily the more effective of the two!
Thanks, Sarah! Yes, the butte "shines" in the darker version.
Great examples of the different "moods" if you will you can achieve through camera settings or post processing. I tend to gravitate to the darker/contrasted images the most, but there are times when I go lighter - one image, so many choices ha!
Thanks! Yes, it's fun to wave a magical digital wand to change how a pictures looks. :D
Great moods - love the darker ones a bit more. The leaves with the dark vignette is wonderful!
Thanks, Ann-Christine! Yes, the darker ones are more dramatic.