I confess that when I downloaded this image, a wailing guitar solo a la Hendrix wasn’t the first thing that came to mind. Still, “Purple Haze” seems a good title for this picture.
I most often shoot landscapes using the Velvia film simulation just to see if there is deep colour that the camera picks up that my eye doesn’t. In this case, I was blown away by the intensity of blue/purple and blue/green that appeared along with touches of red/orange here and there. I loved the palette, but it was so saturated that I felt I had to tone it way down. But even toned down, these colours aren’t “natural”. How we perceive colour is pretty subjective anyway, but in any case I didn’t want to desaturate or shift the hue and risk losing that “purple haze” altogether because of the storybook illustrator quality it gives to the photograph. It is a busy picture, but I feel as though the “arrowhead” rock outcropping, centre, the light area of lichen and moss, upper right, and the tree and shadow, left, ground the picture, and hold the reader’s eye in the frame. Needless to say, I absolutely love the purple haze – the reflections – which I nonetheless ended up not only desaturating but also darkening and softening (clarity slider to the left). I considered brightening the mid-tones even more overall but in the end, I like the darker, “magical” moodiness that feels more reminiscent of the dawn when I made this picture.
So, the feedback I would most like has to do with composition – does the picture feel balanced and contained – and colour – does this colour palette feel balanced and does it serve to evoke some kind of visceral, felt response for you? Other comments and critique is always most welcome as well.
Technical Details
EXIF: ISO 640, f/11, 165mm (250mm full frame equiv), 0.5 sec
Hey Kerry, I really like this. And yes, the arrow does point my eye where you want it to go. Nice. I downloaded the image and flipped it horizontally so that the arrow was pointing to the right and felt it works even better. I personally prefer the right to left movement, but most right handers prefer the left to the right. You might try that and see what you think.
I can’t comment on the specifics of the colors, but will say that it looks awesome to me.
Kerry, I love the purple. For me, the composition works. The pine tree on the left has the same colour cast as the water, so it ties it all together, with the rock pointing at it. I pulled it into PS and dropped the exposure a bit, which I preferred, but that could just be differences in monitors.
I love the scene and the composition is just excellent; great balance of elements throughout and I love all the stuff floating in the still water breaking up what would have been too stark a mirrored reflection. The hint of mist on the water is a great asset too. This is a beautiful scene and image.
I know I don’t have to preface my comments here, but acknowledge that we all see, feel and experience things differently. Of course I wasn’t there, wasn’t immersed in a secluded environment for an extended period of time… I just don’t have the attachment to that personal experience you were priviledged to witness. I’m faced with simply reacting to a small 2-dimentional box on a browser window.
With that, I’ll be a detractor and say the purple isn’t working for me. I can’t recall seeing this color in nature (at least in what appears to be soft, diffused light). And certainly Jimi Hendrix would never come to mind. I’m thinking Yanni… really, I mean this is more just a quiet, peaceful scene that would like to surround myself in while contemplating life. (In all honesty, it took me a long time before I started seeing blue in the early morning shadows before the sun appeared…)
Actually for me, the greens and colors up top are quite natural - all be it on the punchy side, but within the realm of personal choice and still believable. It’s actually the purple that you enjoy the most, that is the least natural to me. To be more specific, the grayish rock at the waters edge is clearly on the blue/purple side, shadows raised a little (less contrast) and is considerably different than the vegetation and larger pale rock above. Yes, the lower rock is viewed thru slight haze/mist, but for some reason those two rocks next to each just seem like they should be closer in tone, color and contrast? Not sure if that makes sense.
But the beauty here is that - it’s all about our own personal choices, reactions and interpretations.
Ah geez, Lon, how come I never get to do nothin I want. I mean, how am I supposed to I call it Purple Haze if there ain’t no purple?
Sorry, my inner Child has been acting out lately. As you can see above I have posted another version aptly titled “Not So Purple Haze”. I shifted the hue slider towards blue and then desaturated both blue and purple. I also burned the darker mid tones of the reflections to add a bit more mystery (I hope). I don’t know which I prefer, probably the rework. The problem might be that if I’m going to radicalize the colour, I would need to do that throughout the picture and not just from the water line down.
Well, I like the purple version, but both work. The composition feels balanced and contained. It’s probably just me, but the area of dark shadow in the upper left quadrant feels heavy. I would bring up the shadows/blacks in that area, but I know that you have a different concept of magical than I do. Your magical is more moody than mine.
