Do You Ever Blow the Highlights on Purpose - for "art's sake"? Inviting discussion, as well as posting of images where you may have done this yourself. This particular image was shot...

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Inviting discussion, as well as posting of images where you may have done this yourself.

This particular image was shot into the sun and also into a clearing storm over Medicine Lake, where it is forbidden now even to stop due to danger of avalanche since the Excelsior fire that raged in the weeks before I got there. The road was opened only the day before, so you can still see the mix of atmospherics. I have shots where I preserved detail but this one was my favorite though I have no idea of its potential appeal to another human soul. It is a color shot, pretty much SOC after raw conversion. A bit is cropped from top and bottom.

(Download)

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Most intriguing. If it were mine I'd be tempted to blow out the sky altogether - the clouds just don't do much for an otherwise fascinating play of "almost" color and shadows.

But no, I've not attempted this before.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

minniev wrote:

Inviting discussion, as well as posting of images where you may have done this yourself.

I like your interpretation of the scene, Minnie!

Pretty much everything for me is for "art's sake" :) Though I've added soft focus in pp, I did expose with this look in mind:

(Download)

Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

Yes, yes I have. 😀

Trinidad Beach

Frank2013 Loc: San Antonio, TX. & Milwaukee, WI.

minniev wrote:

Inviting discussion, as well as posting of images where you may have done this yourself.

So straighten me out here minniev. I took this into LR and found hardly any clipping....... a mere -6 on the highlight slider removed what little was there. Can't say I have intentionally blown highlights in the camera for art's sake but have for detail in the some shadows I wanted.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Bob Yankle wrote:

Most intriguing. If it were mine I'd be tempted to blow out the sky altogether - the clouds just don't do much for an otherwise fascinating play of "almost" color and shadows.

But no, I've not attempted this before.

I did in another one, but got attached rightly or wrongly to the wisp of cloud. It does have just a hint of color and I didn't try to retrieve it.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Linda From Maine wrote:

I like your interpretation of the scene, Minnie!

Pretty much everything for me is for "art's sake" :) Though I've added soft focus in pp, I did expose with this look in mind:

I love your soft painterly horses. You are another endless tinkerer like myself, hopelessly addicted to light.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Photographer Jim wrote:

Yes, yes I have. 😀

That is gorgeous Jim! Though yours is a lot more masterful, I see a similarity in that you only let a small amount go into "whiteout" without detail. Care to share how you made your decisions on this one?

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Frank2013 wrote:

So straighten me out here minniev. I took this into LR and found hardly any clipping....... a mere -6 on the highlight slider removed what little was there. Can't say I have intentionally blown highlights in the camera for art's sake but have for detail in the some shadows I wanted.

I didn't try to retrieve the highlights on this version, I just let it be, but I didn't want to go too far either. My first thought was for a graphic type monochrome. But then I found that little hint of color and decided to leave it alone. And, right or wrong, I kinda wanted to hold on to those wispy clouds on top and not risk losing them.

jim hill Loc: Springfield, IL

minniev wrote:

Inviting discussion, as well as posting of images ... (show quote)

The beauty and grace associated with your work is here evident again.

If I were to do anything else it would be to lower the top even further to exclude the long horizontal clouds on the right. I have tried to visualize the sky without them. You probably have reason to leave them - however, they are a prominent feature.

I also notice , in download, a myriad of color tints in the haze above the tree line on the left side of the photo. Not at all bad.

I love this piece and its near minimalist approach by "blowing" the highlights.

To answer the question, yes! Anything which lends itself to beauty - my substitute for the term "art" - is admirable.

Jim

(Edit: I have never, to my knowledge, blown highlights. Doing so is antithetical to my basis of belief about the medium.)

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

minniev wrote:

Inviting discussion, as well as posting of images where you may have done this yourself. ...

No, I have not deliberately allowed highlights to blow out, but since I shoot more film than digital I seldom face that issue. I might have just passed on the scene you captured or tried to compose it as a silhouette.

One problem I find with with bright highlights are that they are not as appealing as blocked shadows, which add mystery rather than sensory overload. They also tend to generate flare, which can either be appealing or distracting. In larger formats it can become annoying.

On the other hand, a high key image with large expanses of pure white can be appealing and I would not consider high key a case of blown highlights.

The image below was a situation where I knew there was flare but I wanted to retain the color of the sky.

Kodachrome 64, Nikon FE, 24 mm

(Download)

Pixelpixie88 Loc: Northern Minnesota

I think I would clean up all the clouds too...actually, it is an interesting photo to work on. What will it look like in black and white?
I took this photo and the background was siding on a house..very light colored and somewhat overexposed. So, I just started cleaning it up and liked the end results.

(Download)

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

jim hill wrote:

The beauty and grace associated with your work is ... (show quote)

Thank you for your comments, which are always enlightening. I'm very pleased to know you approve of it. I'll look again a the clouds for possible extraction, perhaps I've just got over attached to them, I do that sometimes.

I have typically guarded the highlights with a vengeance, but in my old age have become more experimental. Of course Frank has caught me out in that I didn't blow them so far they were irretrievable, only far enough to get that effect.

Those colors in that atmospheric mix of rain and smoke are why I didn't convert to monochrome, I held on to them. Perhaps there is more work I can do in that area.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

selmslie wrote:

No, I have not deliberately allowed highlights to ... (show quote)

Thanks for sharing your opinions and your image on the other end of the continuum. The differences in perception and what we find appealing is so interesting. I find blocked up shadows off-putting and never spend much time with a scene where I don't feel I can avoid them. As for examining them, I find that I often "pass over" dark images (paintings and photos) because they are too hard for me to look at. Could this be why some folks adore HDR and others find it ghastly? I don't often like HDR in extremes, but it is quite popular with many folks. An interesting question, perhaps for another discussion, how visual perception differs and what that means for visual arts.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Pixelpixie88 wrote:

I think I would clean up all the clouds too...actually, it is an interesting photo to work on. What will it look like in black and white?
I took this photo and the background was siding on a house..very light colored and somewhat overexposed. So, I just started cleaning it up and liked the end results.

This is interesting but entirely different from your "blacks" image. Now that I've spent a week trying to blacken up the cotton blossoms I shot in the delta (all that's blooming here now), you're gonna throw me a curve with the whites.

I did try one of my shot's "siblings" in monochrome but once I found those traces of color in the atmospherics I decided I liked it better. I think I will work on some of those areas a bit more...