kenievans Loc: Dallas

One of the things I had to capture on my photo scavenger hunt was a spiral. This is a wooden spiral staircase that winds around a tree trunk to a platform overhead. I am standing on the platform looking down on the spiral. Since the subject is the spiral I want that to be a strong visual but I also really liked the wood texture and the way the wire fence created the geometric pattern on the steps. I've done a lot of dodging and burning along with localized contrast adjustments to emphasize the spiral depth and bring out the texture. Typically the further away something is the darker it is when you are trying to create depth and dimension. In this case the light and shadows have reversed that with the closest steps being the darkest. Does that alter the perception of depth in the photo? Does the texture distract from the spiral? I would like to hear your comments and suggestions please.

Thanks,
Keni

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R.G. Loc: Scotland

This seemed like an interesting challenge so I gave it a go. You're right about the lighting. Reversing the lighting of the original did help with the illusion of depth - in particular lightening the closest steps. I think the problem is they were too dark to give any distance cues.

Other distance cues include contrast and sharpness and I used both of those to enhance depth perception. I also gave the distant stuff a colder tint and the closer stuff a warmer tint. Geometry and scale also play their part and I used the Transform tool to make the right hand side bigger and the left hand side smaller (and to a lesser extent the top smaller and the bottom bigger).

The left hand side has gone a bit grey because of the darkening (mainly darkening the highlights). If that wasn't to your liking I get the impression that lightening those steps would only partially undo the enhancements to depth perception. It was the lack of depth cues in the darker steps that was the real problem (lifting the shadows and adding lots of contrast/clarity and sharpening seemed to do the trick). I was curious to see what the other adjustments would do so I didn't push brightening the top of the stairs. They could probably take some more.
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kenievans Loc: Dallas

R.G. you are a genius! I didn't thing about skewing the steps. Great idea! I went back to the original raw file and started over. I added a gradient layer to darken the left side and lighten the right along with some dodge and burn adjustments. A little cropping here and there as well. I think it helped but I I have also been staring at it for awhile. I am going to take a break working on it and then come back to it with fresh eyes. I agree it will be interesting to see how others handle the issue. Thank you!

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R.G. Loc: Scotland

Part of the reason for using the Transform tool is to make the near stuff larger and the distant stuff smaller. I don't know if it was the Transform tool or your cropping but you seem to have lost some of the right hand side. A large part of the effect is lost if you reduce that part of the image because that's the bit that you want to look bigger. If you want to lose anything, lose some of the left side because you want that to look smaller (more diminutive).

Remembering what you said about liking the grain and the shadows, I decided to reverse the reduction in contrast for the distant stuff. It means the depth cues are more dependent on the scale, geometry, sharpness and brightness (or lack of), but you'd be keeping more of what you want. The final balance and compromise is up to you. But I'd say you definitely want to lose the brightest highlights in the distant stuff and the darkest shadows of the closer stuff because they are doing the most to reverse the depth cues.
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Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

A fascinating and somewhat mind-blowing thread you have here, Keni! I think R.G.'s newest edit is very strong for showing a downward spiral. I like your own second posting for the abstract feel - meaning it's difficult for me to tell which way is which

R.G., excellent information you've shared; many thanks!

fergmark Loc: norwalk connecticut

This is a really cool image. !!! I have really enjoyed the response from R. G. Its an irresistible image to work on. I saved this before getting into a really lengthy bit of dodging and burning when photoshop unexpectedly quit. That hasn't happened in a coons age. Anyway, I wanted to crop some and did stretch the upper left and lower right corners in order to get the crop I wanted.

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kenievans Loc: Dallas

R.G. I understand what you are saying and after a good nights sleep I started over again. I think this is closer to what I want. I skewed the right side and recropped it on the left, darkened the left a lot more and brought down the highlights as well as reduced the texture and clarity. I also lightened the right and added increased contrast, clarity, and texture. Trimming the left side really helped. The steps were worn lighter on the ends from use and trimming some of that allowed me to darken the left without going too grey. I also went for a cool temp on the left. Its a lot of work but it has been fun. I very much appreciate your assistance.

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R.G. Loc: Scotland

I can feel an attack of vertigo coming on . Thanks for posting such an interesting subject.

kenievans Loc: Dallas

I very much like the crop you did. With it being more of a square instead of a rectangle it emphasized the smaller spiral in the middle. I am glad you enjoyed working on this. I have uploaded a full view of the tree and stairs. If the fencing had not been in the middle of the platform I would have laid down to get the shot but it is there for safety reasons.

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kenievans Loc: Dallas

Linda I am taking a class called Envisioning Your Final Photo and I thought this would be a good submission for the before and after shots. I really needed the after to work though.

fergmark Loc: norwalk connecticut

I got deja vu when I saw your image. Last summer, I stopped in a neighboring town, at a modern church with a separate bell tower (probably 150 feet to the bells) to take some shots. I discovered the pad lock to the door in the caging around the tower was broken and helped my self to the opportunity. The wooden treads in yours makes it vastly more interesting but I still got some interesting shots. I recently returned only to discover repairs had been made.

kenievans Loc: Dallas

The things we will do to get a photo!!

As I was getting ready to submit the final photo for my class I realized there was one other thing I should have done to the photo and that was flip it so the spiral ran left to right so here it is.

A big big thanks for to everyone for all the help with this!

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