Forest Shadows

Shooting on the switchbacks of Devil's Den has been one of my particularly favorite places to shoot for the previous two seasons. It doesn't come without its challenges though... the sun filtering through the forest creates mottled shadows, and quite often these shadows fall across the faces or entirety of the subject. That's when my good friend Photoshop comes into the picture. In the untouched photo you can see the how the subject is nearly lost to the shadows. Some adjustments were made with curves, shadow/light 10%, a duplicate layer created and the top layer was enhanced with a Topaz filter (shadow/highlights) and then an 80% opacity was applied to the top layer allowing a touch more of reality to peek through, and voila! A wonderful, classy, ever so slightly Norman Rockwell appearing photo appears before you. Oh wait, I also did a mild blur to the trees and a touch of a vignette for drama. Go ahead, smile. I did :)

Update: upon request the second bike behind the subject has been removed. Just another sample of editing possibilities.

See more photos from Bikes, Blues and BBQ at www.aponi.zenfolio.com