{"id":14100,"date":"2016-02-05T06:45:04","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T11:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=14100"},"modified":"2016-02-03T19:54:34","modified_gmt":"2016-02-04T00:54:34","slug":"mbta-pccs-with-a-cotton-candy-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/mbta-pccs-with-a-cotton-candy-sky\/","title":{"rendered":"MBTA PCCs with a Cotton Candy Sky"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mattapan in January.<\/p>\n

The sky can make all the difference in a photograph. However, often the way a modern camera presents exposure tends to push sky detail toward over exposure (that means its too light).<\/p>\n

The result is a washed out sky that loses all the color and detail that made the scene interesting.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, with careful exposure and post processing manipulation of a RAW file, it is easy enough to balance sky detail with the primary subject.<\/p>\n

I made these photos the other day at Mattapan during a visit with Tim and Will Doherty and Pat Yough. All were exposed using my FujiFilm X-T1 with a Zeiss 12mm Touit lens<\/p>\n

I processed the photos using Lightroom (an Adobe program that allows for easy adjustment of the the RAW files).<\/p>\n

My first move was to digitally introduce a graduated neutral density filter across the sky to locally adjust contrast and exposure with an emphasis on retaining highlight detail. Next I lightened shadows and adjusted mid-tone detail with the clarity sliders.<\/p>\n

My intent was to recreate the scene. It would be easy enough to create a total fantasy using these tools. That balance is purely subjective.<\/p>\n

Example 1<\/p>\n

\"Example<\/a>
Example 1; this is the scaled RAW file, unaltered except for necessary sizing. Notice that the sky is blown out, especially at the left while the streetcar and tracks are too dark. I exposed this image to favor the sky, knowing in advance that I could retrieve shadow detail to present a better exposure balance in the final image.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Here<\/a>
An intermediate step for example 1: Here I’ve introduced a digital graduated neutral density filter that is only applied to the sky area. This makes the clouds darker while display greater detail in highlight and mid-tone areas. I haven’t altered the overall balance by adjusting contrast or exposure. As a result the streetcar and ground area are still too dark (because I’ve done nothing to address these areas).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Example<\/a>
Example 1 final image: Now, I’ve made global adjustments by lightening the shadow areas and making nominal changes to the mid-tone contrast using the ‘clarity’ slider. This gives the streetcar and ground a bit of ‘snap’.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tomorrow I’ll present a more dramatic example complete with ‘fantasy’ treatment. Stay tuned!<\/p>\n

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mattapan in January. The sky can make all the difference in a photograph. However, often the way a modern camera presents exposure tends to push sky detail toward over exposure (that means its too light). The result is a washed out sky that loses all the color and detail that made the scene interesting. Thankfully, … Continue reading MBTA PCCs with a Cotton Candy Sky<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[10,48],"tags":[3786,3309,39,7535,3310,3307,3308],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/MBTA_PCC_at_Mattapan_MOD1a_DSCF0700.jpg?fit=2449%2C1633","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2BVuC-3Fq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14100"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14100"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14103,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14100\/revisions\/14103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}