Looking back through my new “Favorites” set, I discovered that my most photographed subject was really a location — my foyer. The light is great in the afternoon — nice and bright — and the space is open and uncluttered (unlike the rest of my house). So for our homework I decided to use this location as the setting for my fifty shots. Now fifty shots of an empty foyer could be pretty boring…luckily the sunlight cooperated for me yesterday and began peeking in out of the clouds around the time I started to to shoot. I also have two little dogs that love to get it on the action. So here are my three “picks” of the fifty shots.
This area immediately attracted my attention while the sun was out because of the great reflections on the table from the cut glass window. It was interesting to try and catch the lights and show what was causing them while keeping the highlights from clipping or the shadows from clogging up. Couldn’t do it in camera — the dynamic range was too big. So Lightroom fixed the clipped highlights on the left with a graduated filter set for -1/2 stop exposure and Photoshop fixed the clogged up shadows with a simple curves adjustment. It was interesting to shoot this area knowing what the issues where going to be but also knowing how I could quickly compensate for them in post.
Large families have lots of shoes — and those shoes have to have someplace to spend the night! : ) My goal for this shot was to try and tell a story — to find some focus in the chaos. I decided to focus on the toddler’s shoes while letting everyone else’s go slightly soft in focus. Since color doesn’t really add anything to the story here I probably could have done this just as well in black and white.
Finally, our Cavalier, Pixie. She is convinced that there is something delicious hiding under the table and will spend hours poking her nose in there and sniffing around. Unfortunately she also scratches. You can see what she’s done to the bottom of the table. Oh the maddening dog!! But she is cute, isn’t she?
This is another shot that required a bit of help in post. Because of the angle I had to get down to include her eyes, I had the sun full force in my lens. I really had to do some levels and curves adjustments to fix the highlights and bring the blacks up to add more color. By which point her eye was back in shadow and so I had to do some dodging around there to bring it back. A lens hood may have saved me the work, but this was the best shot of the mulitple that I took of her with her nose under the table — it had the expression on her face that I wanted.
Okay, now that I’ve caught up with Sunday’s homework it’s time to do Wednesday’s. : )
wow you really did your homework…I hope to one day have the vocabulary that you do of curves and hoods and such. thank you for sharing.. I do love the shadows/sunlight dancing.
I love the light through the glass in your door…
First of all, I want your foyer! My family room is about that big. I love the leaded glass sidelights and I love reflections too. It’s amazing what we let our beloved pets get away with! How sweet. Hopefully there won’t be something under there to nip at his nose.
These are all wonderful pictures – oh! and the shoes. We’re an empty next here which can be a bit depressing, missing all that life.
I love your subject! Your foyer, just perfect. What a great place, with lovely light! It looks like you had no end of inspiration for your 50 shots. I love what you have shared here. That shot of your dog, and the companion scratches on the table is just priceless. A great capture of the whole story. I really enjoyed this peek into your world. 🙂
I love the light that you get in your foyer. Ahh…your shoes shoot brought back so many memories! Love it! It reminds me that what is “ordinary” for one person is extraordinary for others. For years an entry way of shoes annoyed the socks off of me…four boys=constant shoe messes. Now…no more at kids at home…no more shoes hanging around. Miss those shoes & kids.
I don’t know why the comment icon is that way…
Cheryl @ sealevel320.com
These shots are terrific. I love the play of the light through the leaded glass window. I haven’t done my 50 shots yet. But I will…..
I add my voice to the others..the light in the foyer is beautiful! 🙂 And, I, too would love your foyer! And, what a wonderful space to explore with your camera. Me, I especially love the photograph with the antique chest of drawers. Actually, I really love each one of your photographs..each one tells a story..but it’s the light reflection on those drawers that I find so gorgeous. All the work you did to balance it all together turned it into a truly beautiful image!
Glorious! Your first shot really resonates with me. It puts me right there, in your foyer…watching the sun ripple along the bureau. I like the “peeking” nature of the composition, and the glimpse of the framed photo. Sigh. Really. I love it!