I will be the first to admit I criticise and doubt my ability as a photographer but when going through an old box of photographs I found this shot of a tree bathed in sunlight.
I distinctly remember taking this photograph during one of my many trips across the Tamar to Mount Edgecumbe in Cornwall.
I don’t recall taking a camera all the time but I obviously had the camera on this trip.
If memory serves me correctly I was thinking of purchasing a camera for a trip to St Lucia and was trying out a friends camera.
This tree intrigued me as I loved the way it’s lemony yellow leaves were caught in the sunlight and I loved the way it stood out on the path amongst the gardens.
I may not have known much about aperture, shutter speed or composition but I did have an eye for light and shade.
I thought I would see if I could enhance this photograph in Lightroom as I remember I wanted the tree to really stand out but there are a few distracting elements in the original.
The edits are not so striking here but I think I achieved what I was after.
- I cropped the shot to ensure the tree was in the centre of the frame
- I sharpened the leaves in the tree to make them stand out
- I have used the dodge and burn tools to darken the background to the right of the tree as well as to darken the pathway
It’s not a dramatic difference but I am happy with the results.
There are still elements which make this a scanned film photograph but I like that charm it gives to the image.
It’s not the most striking image but to me, it proves I already started to look for such shots even realising I had an eye or a passion for photography.
I am sure the final shot could be achieved in camera with a modern digital camera. I do feel I did a pretty good job with the original considering my level of experience and equipment!
