Outtakes and Experiments

I thought I'd post some shots today that ordinarily wouldn't see the light of day - the outtakes and experiments.  These are the hundred shots not chosen for each one that is, or shots taken in extreme conditions and then used for editing practice.

This shot was taken in the dune belt between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay as I waited for sunset to take the 'beauty shot'.  I recently recalled it to practice some editing techniques o

n.  I intentionally picked the original because the light was very flat, but still had some shadow in it that could potentially be used.  I wanted to play with a smoothing technique and was pretty happy with the results.  Looking at the shot now I think that if I added a different sky, it could actually make for quite a pleasant image.

But pleasant is not good enough, so this shot will go back into the big folder on the hard drive.

I tookl this photograph between 16h00-17h00 when the light was at its worst on the surface of the sea.  The surfer is backlit and I was/am risking some serious blowout on the highlights.  So, my first call to action was to practice my black and white conversion ability, using the backlit surfer to create a silhoutte on the water rather than going for a detail shot.  But, the photo still seemed flat to me after the conversion from colour, so I tried a technique I never use, which

 is to blur a large section of the shot and leave the focal point (in this case I chose the surfer) sharp.  I had quite a bit of fun doing it and struggled a lot with the nitty gritty of where to blur and where not.  I still don't think the picture is complete, but it turned out to be a fun image.

This photo was an exercise in texture and toning.

Split toning can be a lot of fun - the infinite number of variables you have in your choice of colour is daunting and one could spend hours and hours on this alone.  For this particular image I didn't want a straight black and white look, but rather a tinted look.  I must have been in the right zone, because I was very happy with the results after a short period of time and didn't want to carry on in case I messed the shot up completely.

Strange that - knowing I'll never use this photograph for anything, but still being so precious about it.

Nonetheless, I found that the toning complimented the texture of the daisy bush and the twigs and grass really well, and also complimented the cat in the bush by not hiding him too much, but also not making him very obvious at first glance (at least I hope so).

So, there you have it; three photos that would otherwise never make it near to my portfolio nor be published by me for any reason.  I think it is important to illustrate that photography is a process, just like any of the other arts, and that it takes hours of practice and discipline to get a handle on, and decades to master.