Twins

A few weeks ago, I wrote that I don’t have to travel far to find photographic locations and opportunities.  I just didn’t realize just how close to home I could stay.

One recent evening, my wife called me outside to look at something in the back yard.  I don’t remember what I was supposed to be looking at because I became distracted by these two trees.

The contrasts of the scene were what really caught my attention:  the contrast between the tree trunks and the fresh spring foliage and the contrast between the brighter, sunlit foreground and the darker, shaded background.

I ran inside, grabbed my camera and tripod, and ran back out.  What I was looking for was a scene that provided separation:  separation between the two foreground trees and separation between foreground and background.  It took me just a few minutes to find this composition.  I set up my tripod, pressed the shutter button, and captured the shot.

When I opened the file in Lightroom, I was happy with the separation between the two trees.  But, I was as pleased about the foreground/background separation.  To correct this, I spent time making adjustments to the photo’s overall exposure and contrast, but I wasn’t getting exactly what I wanted.  So, I turned to Lightroom’s adjustment brush to achieve the look I wanted.

First, I used the adjustment brush to slightly lighten the two trees.  This would make them seem closer to the camera position providing the separation I wanted.  Next, I used another adjustment brush to reduce the overall exposure of the background foliage.  This made the foliage appear to be in deep shade and further behind the trees.

Finally, I cropped the image to to eliminate some distracting branches along the top and left edges of the frame to get this final image.

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