Creating an Image

Let’s explore a little more of this concept of “Creating an Image” and what that means for me. Photography, as many of you know, is all about the light. What type of light, the quality of the light, and the direction the light is coming from.

It is up to the photographer to be able to recognize and understand the light that is available to them when being out in nature. And once that light is determined, how to best capture something that will be pleasing to the eye.

However, there are times when the light just doesn’t work in our favor. Those that know me, have heard me many times say “The light isn’t right!” when they’re framing their shot. Back lit images in particular don’t usually work, unless its used creatively.

Back lighting is best used for creating a silhouette of the subject, or perhaps some ring light. Wedding photographers now use low lying sun which is seen after sunrise and just before sunset to create an ethereal look to their clients.

Practice will help you understand how to use back lighting to best capture your subject. This was the case of the Violet Sabre wing hummingbird I photographed recently in Costa Rica. The lighting was horrible. Overcast, no good light direction and just no light on the subject. I began with taking a picture of the hummingbird before trying to think out of the box.

Once I had a documentation shot of this beautiful hummingbird, it was time to come up with something different. I noticed that he was repeatedly returning to a feeder, and I noticed how the light seemed to silhouette him. Recognizing the opportunity, I began to underexpose the image so that I could really capture the bird’s form. But based on the scene, I knew I had a lot more work to do in post-processing. Here is the original image to consider.

I knew the first thing I would need to do is bring this image into Photoshop to use the Clone Stamp tool to remove the feeder. I then adjusted for contrast and tones before converting the image to Black and White. It was then prepared for the final editing done in the Nik Collection Silver EFEX Pro.

It wasn’t overly complicated to create, just knowing how to recognize situations when they present themselves to you, and what camera settings to dial in to achieve the look you’re going for. Finally, knowing how to work with the image in the Digital Darkroom with a variety of software programs will result in you “Creating an Image.”