The Light That Saved the Shot
This past spring, my wife and I turned a lifelong dream into reality: a trip to England, Scotland, and Ireland. Some of our ancestors came from Scotland and Ireland, so both had always been at the top of our wish list.
Because this was a personal trip, I took most of my photographs for myself, not with the intention of sharing them beyond family. But a few turned out to be beautiful enough in their own right for me to share with you.
Amanda Spencer
Today’s photograph is one of them: Ballinastoe Woods in the Wicklow Mountains, about 45 minutes south of Dublin. After a wonderful visit to St. James’s Gate, home of the Guinness Brewery, where we learned how to pour a proper pint, a walk in the Irish woods seemed like the natural next stop.
The woods are famous for a boardwalk lined with tall, stately pines whose branches arch overhead, forming a natural tunnel. Between the atmosphere and the dappled light filtering through the dense canopy, the place feels truly magical. It was wonderful just to stand there and take in the heavily forested path as it wound its way up the hill.
My Process and Oh that Light!
It was a cloudy day, and it had been raining on and off all morning. But on the few occasions the sun broke through, I was able to capture dappled light streaming through the branches. Light can be everything, and in this photograph, the light is what makes it work.
The image is a blend of three exposures, bracketed to capture the scene’s full dynamic range: one underexposed by two stops, one properly exposed, and one overexposed by two stops. Since RAW files can be pushed or pulled at least a stop without degrading the image, I had plenty of latitude when blending. It also helped that there was no wind, so the branches stayed still between frames. In the end, I started with the properly exposed image and used the underexposed frame to tame the highlights and bring back detail in the brightest areas.
RAW files tend to look flat and need processing to restore the color and richness of the scene. Here, I added a touch of warmth to the far end of the trail to draw the eye up the path. My goal is always for the photograph to evoke the same feeling and wonder I experienced standing there. People often debate how “true” a processed photograph is. For me, this is how I experienced the scene. I even made notes on the spot about how I wanted to process it.
Taking the photograph is half of the creative process: the framing, lens choice, focal length, and aperture. Post-processing is the other half. How do I guide the eye through the scene? What about the colors? Do I need to crop out distractions? How do I shape the overall mood? These choices define a photographer’s style, and this is where art comes into photography.
Without that breaking light, the scene would have been OK, but nothing to write home about. With it, the photograph moved from just OK to beautiful, at least for me.
Peace,
