We seem to have had more than our fair share of rain lately. And when it rains it feels as if someone up there turns the shower head on rather dramatically. Rain comes down in torrents.
A bit of down time provides time to experiment – with an image. I’ve been working my way through the March 2012_London folder on the hard drive, weeding out the rubbish and finding quite a few images that had never been processed before.
Images that on first sight are uninspiring and yet contain strong lines are always canvases on which I enjoy experimenting. The starting point after the usual tidying-up processing tasks is to think: what if I tried this? And in this case it was colour solarization. [In Photoshop go to Filter/Stylize/Solarize, or if you possess Topaz plug-ins use the Adjust Plug-in, select the Stylize Collection and you should find four Solarized pre-sets near the foot of the list].
A colour solarization is always a leap into the unknown – the results are unpredictable and once you have adjusted levels back in Photoshop if the initial result looks unimpressive then try inverting the image (it’s just like going from positive to negative or vice-versa).
In this particular example, I was excited by the result. It reminded me of the work of Piet Mondrian whose work I enjoyed seeing so much at the Turner Contemporary in Margate two years back.
A slightly different (tighter) crop of the resulting image is shown above. Personally I think I prefer the tighter crop – it has a simplicity that the headline image lacks. You may think differently – do post a comment.
And finally, below is a thumbnail of the original image that I worked on. At first glance it doesn’t look very promising, but first impressions are not always reliable.
Remember – click on any image to see a higher quality enlargement.
I agree with you, Andy. In the first image, the elements in perspective (in roughly the bottom third) throw off the composition for me.
Many thanks Linda. Initially I thought I liked the lower third included as it disturbed the symmetry of the upper two thirds, but ultimately I prefer the second cropped version – the simplicity of the elements has more appeal.
I follow your thinking. 🙂
What an interesting exercise! I’ve only applied the solarization filter by accident, but your arresting images (love the second, Mondrian-like one especially) have me thinking I should give it another try. Great creative exploration, Andy!
Glad to read that you liked the result, Heather. Experimentation is so easy and quick and recoverable in Photoshop.
Love that tight crop – very Mondrian! Most effective, a great bit of experimenting!
Thanks Sue. I’m pleased to read that you and others see the Mondrian effect.
Absolutely!
I like both images very much but the I do prefer the simplicity of the second. I was trying to think of the name of the artist that these pictures reminded me of and thankfully found the answer in your other comments.
Thanks Adrian. I think the consensus is that the second image is the better of the two.
And I’ll join in that consensus. I much prefer the second image. What tickles me is that, at sometime in the past I can’t quite pinpoint, I had a silk dress, or skirt, or tunic top that was done in the style of Mondrian, and in almost those colors. That I can’t even remember what piece of clothing it was probably indicates how long ago I purchased it, but there’s just no mistaking that design.
Speaking of photoshop, although i’ve not taken any sort of plunge, I did manage to upload one photo from my last week’s trip to Lightroom. Lo and behold, there were the Nik plugins, just as you said. I wanted to try some haze removal, and it worked well enough. Even better, I managed to figure out how to save the image, and get it where it needed to be. It’s the proverbial one step at a time. 🙂
Well done you! Everything in life starts with that first small step. I’ve never used Lightroom although I know from my contacts with many other photographers that I am in the minority there.
The colours that were generated in this image through the processing are quite dramatic – a little more complex than the essentially primary colours that featured in so much of Mondrian’s work, although he did produce some that that had more subtle colouring.
Both. I love both but if I had to choose I’m afraid I’d go against the general consensus. I like the first image, it reminds me of (don’t laugh) jazz music. It’s unpredictable and just jarring enough to keep me concentrated. Maybe it’s that deco feel that makes me think of jazz. Whatever, they’re both extremely satisfying.
As a lover of Jazz myself I can understand the reasoning behind your choice, Sixpixx. Thanks for commenting.
As a jazz lover myself I can understand your thinking. Many thanks for your comment, Sixpixx.