While exploring the bit of land that makes Black Rocks and Sunset Point on Lake Superior, I came across this little scene and parked the tripod. There was too much of a breeze to make an HDR image work from the bracketed shots, so I processed the best of those. It fits with the rocky theme that dominates my images from this workshop.
I like it for its situation - plants will exploit any bit of earth where they can get a hold, even on the bare rocks of the Great Lakes. The far plant is a cedar sapling, but I have no idea what the flowering shrub is. The light, was dramatic and fleeting and I set up quickly to compose this before the shadows got too deep. Keeping the light on the surface of the rock was also important to making this work and I was super glad I got to it before it was gone.
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Managing the luminosity range here was tricky, but I think I pulled it off. Was going for a dramatic look so didnât want to flatten things too much. How did that work out?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Is this a composite? - No
Tripod and -
Processed in Lr for the initial white and black points, a bit of wb adjustment and a lot of work with adjustment brushes to get the tonalities realistic, but not eye-wateringly contrasty. Texture and sharpening w/some noise reduction. Then into Photoshop to remove some sticks and other bits that werenât adding anything.
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Great light and while not an âoh wowâ image, it is very good and solid. I might burn the brighter areas along the right edge, especially at the top, but otherwise, processing looks good to my eye.
Just out of curiosity, did you try the Linear Profile with this? It looks like it might be a good candidate for trying that approach.
I like the tight framing of the plants, it keeps the image simpler while still showing some the interesting textures in the rocks. It also showcases the nice light on the plants, which to me is the real star here to me (sorry rocks). My only suggestion would be to slightly burn down the two upper corners, but especially the left. I know you donât want the image too flat, but there is plenty of contrast in the rest of the image.
Boy those rocks look amazing. I keep going back and forth on this image. It is undoubtedly a beaitul work in color and tonality. The issue is that the plants donât make their statement concisely in a united way. There are different ones with different light in an unorganized way⊠However, on a larger scale the bright and rich green in that crack of textured rock works marvelously. I wonder if darkening the flowers and the upper sunnier greens would simplify this and give a stronger image. I donât know.
Thanks everyone. It isnât a wow scene, but more of a detail piece to fill out a larger body of work at this location.
I went back and messed with it, but feel itâs just creating more work for me to bring it to a level of contrast that I like.
Ah, nature. It seldom does what we want. But I donât have an issue with both plants in the same rocky niche. To me it speaks a little of the harmony that can exist in nature. And the unrelenting competition. If these two plants survive, the tree will outstrip the shrub in size, but given the location, they might be on par more than if they were in deeper soil.
