Xurxo
Assignment 1_Jorge Alvarado_Solitary Tree
While biking on the Contra Costa Canal Trail on an early Saturday morning, I stumbled upon, what I like to refer to as, the solitary tree. To achieve a better photographic composition, I followed the “rule of thirds” to make the solitary tree a part of the landscape and not the center piece of the photograph. Then, using the aid of photoshop, I proceeded to create a Channel Mixer layer (Black and White), a Levels layer, a Curves layer, an extra Channel Mixer layer (Pop) followed by an extra curves layer (Pop2) and finally a Dodge and Burn layer. All of the new layers slightly clear up the image and highlight the essential piece of the photograph, which is the tree, without making it bright. It was not necessary to brighten the overall photograph too much because what captures one’s eye is the contrast between the black tree and the white clouds. A small portion of the left side had to be cropped in the 8″X10″ print instead of the right side because it stays in line with the “rule of thirds”. In other words, it’s more appealing to the composition and our eyes.
