DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register) 
 
Challenge Entries
Portfolio Images
This image is not part of a public portfolio.
Windcatchers
Windcatchers
Azrifel


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Silhouettes II (Advanced Editing IV)
Camera: Nikon D70
Lens: Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED
Location: Molendijk; Schermerhorn, Holland
Date: May 14, 2005
Aperture: f/8
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/1250s
Galleries: Landscape, Rural
Date Uploaded: May 15, 2005

 Windmills along the Molendijk near Schermerhorn.
The background one was in my "The Four Elements" challenge entry. The foreground one is the same as in the "Wind" challenge entry.

Never really do Silhouettes so I didn't have a clue when or how to do it. I assumed that sunrise or down would work with some underexposure.
I was actually still to early when I took this. The as shot version is very underexposed. The underexposure wasn't that apparent on the camera's LCD and I don't know how to judge this kind of underexposure from a histogram yet. The scene measured about 1/200s @ f/8, I shot it at 1/1250s. That's about 2.5 stops underexposed.
So the exposure on the windmills and landscape is real, I just brightened the sky by a stop or 2 and darkened the left flanks of the windmills a bit (a bit = not much). Downsides of doing that is a very noisy sky. I tried to hide that with two passes of gaussian blur on the sky only. Also upped the saturation a lot with a double Velvia action.

I don't expect it to do to well, because it is obviously a somewhat fixed underexposure. Not a true perfect silhouette exposure. But practice makes perfect, won't make the same mistakes next time.

Editing:
Shot as NEF, run trough Nikon Capture 4.2.1
Only adjusted the whitebalance to standard Daylight and sent it to Photoshop as an 8 bit file.

PS 6.0
- cropped to I think 30x17 aspect ratio
- Magic wand selection on the dark parts (easier than the sky, because I also need to select the wing pattern)
- Inverse selection
- Layer overlay mode, 50% grey
- two stage brightening of the whole sky with a white brush
- brightened some of the landcape a bit
- darkened the left sides of both mills
- darkened the clouds a bit
- flatten
- Gaussian blur 2px
- step back
- history brush on the sky
- Fred Miranda Digital Velvia setting 10 (=high)
- Resample to 640x480
- Another small gaussian blur on the sky
- Contrast USM
- USM LAB lightness 75% on 0.3px
- Save for the web

Date: 14.05.2005 at 19:05:13 (20.15 real)
EV +0,33 EV
Program: M - Manual
35mm Focal length: 46 mm
Image Quality: RAW
Focus Mode: AF-S

Statistics
Place: 50 out of 248
Avg (all users): 6.0714
Avg (commenters): 7.2000
Avg (participants): 5.9000
Avg (non-participants): 6.2458
Views since voting: 1155
Views during voting: 308
Votes: 238
Comments: 10
Favorites: 0

Please log in or register to add your comments!

AuthorThread
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Panasonic DMC-FZ30
 05/21/2005 04:32:30 PM
You get points just for the windmills alone. I love them !
Very nice image 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Apple iPhone
 05/19/2005 04:45:27 PM
Very nice. Classic silhouette shapes.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 05/18/2005 10:10:45 PM
I feel there is a bit too much light (and detail) on your subject to count as silhouette, but I love the composition and the mood.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark IV
Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 USM
 05/17/2005 01:13:42 PM
I love this photo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus E-5
Olympus 50mm f/1.8 MF Normal Zuiko
 05/17/2005 12:27:45 PM
too dark? or is iit my monitor? seems very dreary.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-60D
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM
 05/17/2005 01:57:12 AM
Awesome photo, well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony DSLR-A700
Sony 50mm f/1.4
 05/17/2005 12:44:17 AM
Wonderful composition! I really like this shot, though there's too much detail IMHO to call this a silhouette. Lovey shot with some great colors and excellent clarity.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-500D Rebel T1i
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM
 05/16/2005 10:28:50 PM
very nice color and comp 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-7D
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 05/16/2005 10:21:34 AM
Stunningly beautiful! So crisp! (10)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 05/16/2005 03:46:36 AM
A good mix of detail & sillouette......8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Theme: Classic / Light / Dark
Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2026 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 10/16/2026 01:14:58 PM EDT.