The
guidelines for this assignment were to try to compose an image that would evoke a memory of a smell.
Rick's
Sheep in the Pasture image was definitely one of the most expressive images I've seen of a sheep. I think it must be english royalty, with it's pursed lips and haughty stare. Hmmm, I wonder if the sheep is disdainful because Rick isn't using a tripod?
I'll have to admit, though, that at least for me, the image didn't evoke the memory of a smell. Perhaps it has been too long since I've been around sheep. Great job controlling the exposure and depth of field on this image Rick. It was also very nicely composed.
Sheep in the pasturePhotographed by Rick Pepin (trvlrick)
Sue's
Baby Goat image made me want to reach out and touch the soft fur. The angle of the warm soft light on the goat helped to accentuate its fine coat, and helped me imagine the silky feel of the goats fur. Although it has been too long since I have been around goats to remember what they smell like, this image brought to mind the distinctive smell of a livestock barn. It's a lovely portrait, with the soft light and texture inviting the viewer to imagine what it would feel like to reach out and touch the goat. This image was the well deserved
People's Choice and I've awarded it
Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit.
Baby GoatPeople's Choice and
Editor's Choice for Artistic MeritPhotographed by Sue Pepin
Tanya's
Smell the Roses image was another very nice portrait. I really liked the framing of this image, and the choice of f2.8 for the aperture was very effective, slightly softening the portrait to accentuate the dreamy feeling, while softening the background enough that it didn't distract from the primary subject. I suspect that a smaller aperture would have resulted in the background being too busy, thus detracting from the overall success of the image. I see from the EXIF data that Tanya was using the "Portrait" exposure mode, which will default to larger apertures, and therefore soften the background to produce the pleasing effects that we see in this image. Nicely done Tanya.
Smell the RosesPhotographed by Tanya Mackenzie
Dave's image of
Charlie Brown's Market was the one that evoked the strongest memory of smells for me. Looking at the image immediately brought to mind the earthy smell of potatoes and the scent of onions, with undertones of the musty smell of an old grocery. I think many of us would have been tempted to use flash in this situation but Dave's decision to bump up the ISO and use ambient light was a very good choice. Using the more subdued ambient light (instead of the harsh light of a flash) definitely helped portray the distinctive atmosphere and character of this wonderful old grocery. Great job Dave,
Charlie Brown's MarketPhotographed by Dave Leiker (prairiedust)
The smoke in Cris'
Brats image definitely evoked the smell and ambiance of food cooking on the grill. I might have tried cropping out the hand at that top of the image, since it tends to grab the viewer's attention away from the primary subject. Great job evoking the smells of a barbeque Chris.
BratsPhotographed by Chris Franklin
I thought it was interesting to be able to compare Marilyn's two images of the coffee grinder. Which image do you find more interesting? For me, the second
Sunday morning brew image was the more successful of the two. Not only did Clay's hand add a human element to the image, but the coffee grounds were more sharply focused, showing more detail and texture. Since I too must have my morning cup of coffee before I can function, the images were definitely successful at reminding me of the smell of fresh ground coffee. Excellent job Marilyn, especially on the second image.
There is also one more issue with the first image that is unfortunately caused by the website. I've set up the website to automatically downsize images that are uploaded at sizes greater than 1024 pixels on the longest dimension. Unfortunately, when the website software downsizes the image it also strips out the EXIF (shooting data) and color space tag. Because the color space tag is stripped from the image, color managed browsers such as Safari and Firefox won't be able to display the image colors correctly. On my wide gamut monitor, the first image is displayed with colors that are too saturated. In order to avoid having the EXIF and color space tag removed from the image, you should downsize your image to 1024 pixels on the longest side before uploading the image to the website.
Waiting to be groundPhotographed by Marilyn McKinney
The focus point and aperture for Marilyn's
Sunday morning brew image were perfectly selected to accentuate the detail and texture in the coffee beans. It was this texture that was the primary contributor towards evoking the smell of fresh roasted coffee beans. I've awarded this image
Editor's Choice for Technical Merit.
Sunday morning brewEditor's Choice for Technical MeritPhotographed by Marilyn McKinney
Rebecca's
Smells like Trouble image was a fun shot of two "stinkers."
I thought the white balance was a little off (too green) in the image, so I pulled it into photoshop to correct the color tint. (I've noticed that often images shot under thin clouds or hazy conditions will result in the white balance tint being slightly on the green side. Both Nikon Capture and Adobe Camera Raw have a "tint" slider that will allow you to correct the greenish tint by pulling the slider toward magenta. I could have asked Rebecca for the raw file and corrected it in the raw processing software, but I was too lazy and first tried correcting the JPEG with Photoshop.) Here's the image Rebecca submitted:
Smells like TroublePhotographed by Rebecca
To correct the color tint in Rebecca's image, I simply used the curves adjustment in Photoshop, selected the gray point eyedropper and clicked on a white area in the image that should have a neutral color tint. I could see from the curves display that this slightly decreased the green channel and very slightly increased the red channel. Here's the curves window showing the (center) eyedropper used for setting the gray point:
And here's the adjusted image (It's best to view the changes in a color managed browser like Safari): (Note that correcting white balance in the raw file will usually produce better results than trying to correct the JPEG.)
Smells like Trouble
Photographed by Rebecca, corrected grays to neutral in Curves dialog
My two Lavender and Bee images were taken on an early morning walk, and the flowers were in deep shadow. That explains the use of ISO 3200, and the flat lighting. The lavender was quite a jumble, so I searched for a composition that would help isolate a portion of the flowers from the background in order to minimize the distractions.
Lavender? and Bee
Photographed by Keith
Lavender?
Photographed by Keith
My
Douglas Fir image was taken on the same early morning walk, and I immediately noticed the smell of the fir tree as I walked under it's dense canopy. I was fascinated by the unique light on the branches of the fir, which were lit from beneath by the early morning sun reflecting off the lake.
Douglas Fir
Photographed by Keith
Thank you again to everyone that participated in this assignment. I enjoyed viewing your images and imagining the smells they evoked. Viewers are encouraged to respond to this thread describing why you like a particular image, or think it was particularly successful at meeting the guidelines of the assignment.
Keith
