From One Extreme to the Other

I try to capture all the important events in my children's lives in photographs. Usually I take enough to get one or two good pictures, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. Corinne's All-State Honor Band experience in Savannah was one of those times where I just didn't get a single good shot. I have lots of great Savannah/Tybee Island pictures from that weekend, but not a single good one of the reason we were there to begin with. Part of it was the limitations of the facility---the stage was a LONG way from the part of the room where I was and it was dark (and I would never dream of using a flash even for a dress rehearsal without explicit permission.) The other part of the issue was the subject who, at 15, was horrified that her mother was there taking pictures. Hence, no smiling at the camera, instrument in hand. What to do?

Along came the free class from Jessica Sprague where I learned a ton of great Photoshop techniques. Most of the time, I think I'll use the techniques for digital artwork, but today I made it work for taking a bad picture and making it one I can put in the family album.

Before:


I used several techniques, but the one that brought it all together was a layer of "Through the Viewfinder" (TTV.) I wasn't aware that there is a whole artform dedicated to recreating the look of photos taken with old box cameras. There are dozens of downloadable "fake-ttv" images for personal use, so I downloaded a free one and WOW--it gave the picture a dreamy, introspective feel that works well with the blurriness of the image and the Emerson quote.

After:

Now I have something to commemorate Corinne's participation in Georgia All-State Honor Band 2009, AND I learned that I just never know where an art technique may come in handy taking a photograph from one extreme to the other.


(TTV frame from "Nasos3" on Flickr.)