how do i make the shadow darker: This is a photo i was going to enter in the WPC "shadows", but decided it didn't fit the criteria of telling a story. I'd like help in figuring out...

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

This is a photo i was going to enter in the WPC "shadows", but decided it didn't fit the criteria of telling a story. I'd like help in figuring out what I could have done to make the shadow darker. picture was taken on a white foam board with sunlight streaming in through a window. Taken at 5.6 1/100 ISO 100 handheld Manual focus 28mm focal length. I am totally unschooled in PP, but I do have Digital Photo Professional that I can somewhat use after watching several hours of tutorials. I have downloaded Gimp and plan to learn how to use it but at this time it's all greek to me. Is there anything I could have done in camera to get a better(darker) shadow, or is it my set-up that was somehow reflecting back into the shadow causing it to lose darkness?

Apple and shadow

saxkiwi Loc: New Zealand

Whuff wrote:

This is a photo i was going to enter in the WPC &q... (show quote)

Just burn it in. Gimp should have a burn tool and if it has detect edges tick that box so it doesnt burn the white area in as well. Should be a slide bar somewhere as well to show the amount of burning. If you have direct sunlight coming in through a window its hard to make that shadow dark as there is plenty of bright light on the foam board which will overexpose it. You can fiddle around with black boards or anything really that will only direct the sunlight on the subject, Then there will be less light on the surrounding which usually reflects light where you dont want it.

saxkiwi Loc: New Zealand

Whuff wrote:

This is a photo i was going to enter in the WPC &q... (show quote)

If you want I can download the photo and do it for you?

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Whuff wrote:

This is a photo i was going to enter in the WPC "shadows", but decided it didn't fit the criteria of telling a story. ...

I would have entitled it; The Small Apple That Thought He Was Tall

lowkick Loc: Connecticut

First, it looks like your white balance was set to tungsten, giving you the blue cast to the shadow. If you are not shooting in RAW, you have to pay closer attention to your white balance. If this was lighted with natural sunlight, you should have set your white balance to sunlight. Try keeping you white balance set to AWB in your camera in case you forget to set it for a specific shot. At least that way you have a chance of the camera getting the white balance right.
In PP, I would just add a layer, fill the blue shadow with black and set the opacity low enough to allow the light areas to show through, giving you a range of black to gray without losing the highlights.

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

saxkiwi wrote:

Just burn it in. Gimp should have a burn tool and ... (show quote)

As stated previously all that is Greek to me. I have some free time in the next few weeks and hope to learn, but right now just need to know if I could have done more in camera. Thanks for the info though. As far as taking it in direct sunlight, the purpose was to have a strong shadow.

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

St3v3M wrote:

I would have entitled it; The Small Apple That Thought He Was Tall

Good thinking. Apparently I wasn't thinking that creatively on a title. Thanks for your comment

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

lowkick wrote:

First, it looks like your white balance was set to... (show quote)

Thanks for your comments. I will play around with the WB in DPP, that's something I do know how to adjust. I'm still learning and WB is something I don't always think about. As far as layers go, I know gimp will do that but I haven't even learned the basics of it yet, it's on my agenda though.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I haven't tried Gimp, but free Picasa (by Google) is another option to get your feet wet in pp. Extremely easy to use!

It has a "shadow" adjustment, and though it will darken the shadow on the apple also, you might like the result.

btw, I love your composition!

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

Linda From Maine wrote:

I haven't tried Gimp, but free Picasa (by Google) is another option to get your feet wet in pp. Extremely easy to use!

It has a "shadow" adjustment, and though it will darken the shadow on the apple also, you might like the result.

btw, I love your composition!

Thanks, I appreciate your comments. From what I've read, gimp should do almost anything a person needs to do, and it's my intention to learn it, but not having any experience with any of the adobe products I have to say that it is not at all intuitive. There are online tutorials to guide me. I have all winter to figure it out. That's my goal.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Quote:

Is there anything I could have done in camera to get a better(darker) shadow, or is it my set-up that was somehow reflecting back into the shadow causing it to lose darkness?

The shadow and light areas are what they are, as far as I know, the light source (big window) was "wrapping around" the apple and softening the shadow area.

If you have a smaller light source (think flashlight) farther away then you get harsher shadows.

Though fixing it would be a breeze in lightroom...would you like to see the enhanced version?

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

I just shot a few images of an apple using a bare flash with a snoot, a kitchen light and an umbrella...I'll post them to show the effect of light source size VS subject size and the wrap around effect.

Here are the results

#1: Kitchen light...filling the dining room with light, but coming from one source. To the small apple, the light source is huge by comparison. See the fairly gentle shadow transitions and the wrap around?

2.) Flash 10 feet away with a snoot...very small light source far away. This creates sharp shadow transitions and dark shadows.

2.5) Set up shot for flash.

3.) This is an umbrella with flash, somewhere between the previous two for transitions and shadow darkness.

3.5.) Set up shot for umbrella.

So...now you know HOW to create certain shadow effects by manipulating your light source size and distance right?

Kitchen light bouncing all over = lots of wrap

flash, very directional = harsh and no wrap

Set up shot for flash

umbrella...somewhere between previous two

umbrella set up shot

Shakey Loc: Traveling again to Norway and other places.

Whuff wrote:

Thanks for your comments. I will play around with the WB in DPP, that's something I do know how to adjust. I'm still learning and WB is something I don't always think about. As far as layers go, I know gimp will do that but I haven't even learned the basics of it yet, it's on my agenda though.

Here's the start of the many GIMP tutorials on this forum. You'll have no problem correcting your image. Start here: http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-69708-1.html#top

Have fun.

erniehatt Loc: Queensland Australia

lowkick wrote:

First, it looks like your white balance was set to... (show quote)

I would have thought that one should pay attention whether they shoot jpg or Raw. Shooting in raw is not an excuse to get lazy.

spit Loc: Ackworth West Yorkshire uk

Linda From Maine wrote:

I haven't tried Gimp, but free Picasa (by Google) is another option to get your feet wet in pp. Extremely easy to use!

It has a "shadow" adjustment, and though it will darken the shadow on the apple also, you might like the result.

btw, I love your composition!

i find that picasa takes over your computer so i took it of