Monday, January 12, 2009

Flags at Sunset

I was at the George Bush Library in College Station at a business function back in 2003, and as usual was taking pictures of everything in sight. A group of us was about to go into the library when this picture was snapped.

It gathered electronic dust in the archives when one day recently I decided to go back into the folder and play with a function in Photoshop recently discovered...the tool that cures lens distortion. I had taken pictures of some framed art and saw how curved the edges were. That's when I stumbled upon this picture again.

It is the kind of picture that you don't think of until you see it again much later and discover that there might be something to it. First I rotated it so that the flagpoles were perfectly vertical, then used the black dropper tool in Photoshop to silhouette the foreground, which simultaneously increased contrast and darkened the highlights. Now a print is tacked up in my cubicle, and I very much enjoy seeing the fruits of that discovery each day at work.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jim,
You have such deep love for photography, and rightfully so. Your produce such amazing and beautiful shots. I love that picture...the calmness/stillness of the flags, and the colors of the night are soothing to me. You have a real gift; thanks for sharing. Mind if I set it as a desktop wallpaper? Talk to you soon.

Anonymous said...

Jim,
Just wanted to let you know that I already had several compliments on my desktop using the flag picture you allowed me to use...Thank you :)