One scene seen six ways

Manual images are fine, but sometimes need some post-processing to make them just right. Or maybe not.

The original. Underexposed, moody. Or is that ‘muddy’?

Automatic equalization applied in GIMP. Better exposure, odd colours.

Auto white balance correction applied in GIMP. Most people would say this is ‘right’.

Exposure corrected using brightness and contrast controls in GIMP. This is the most accurate to life.

Getting artistic: white balance correction with colours “toned down” by ‘fading’.

When all else fails try turning the colour off. Or even if the colour is good it doesn’t hurt to see what the monochrome version looks like.

Re-fine art

Sometimes you take a picture that just isn’t very good. This is an example of such an image:

It’s hard to track a flying bird at full zoom in a cloudy sky. The focus is off, the exposure is off, and the composition off. This is not a good picture. But can anything be done to save it?

Maybe.

I cranked up the exposure, increased the contrast, desaturated to B&W, inverted the colours, and recropped the framing. Voilà! A “MOMA quality” image that looks like it might have been made in a completely different medium such as paper or even cloth. Dramatic lithographic tones and severely asymmetrical composition turns a dull, blurry image of an unrecognizable bird against and indistinct gray sky into a signature piece. You see less artistic offerings on the market every day.

Limited edition prints available in the gift shop. *LOL*