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Doug Cruden | all galleries >> Forum Challenges >> January 10 - Monochrome > 12th - "Norwegian Wood"
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04-JAN-2010 (c) Doug Cruden

12th - "Norwegian Wood"

Cleeve Hill Common, Glos. view map

(A poignant novel from Haruki Murakami about love, death, sex and everything...)

A few years ago, a good friend lent me Murakami's "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World", a wonderfully surreal novel which had me completely transfixed. Since then, Murakami has become one of my favourtist modern novelists - his simple and clean prose is at the same time both riveting and relaxing to read, his plot-lines sometimes bizarre and twisting but hugely satisfying

I had no chance to shoot anything new yesterday, but this photo from last week amply illustrates the book title! I took this a few minutes after Thursday's pic last week - the mist was still flowing up the escarpment edge and over into the bushes as I walked past this little copse of young trees, but what really caught my eye here was the exquisitely subdued lighting from the low winter's sun as it shone through the trees and illuminated some of the hoar frost which clung to the branches and to the grass on the ground. Invitingly perhaps, although they were quite thin and lacked thick branches or leaves, there was a quite obvious path of light meandering through the trees towards the pale sun

I did very little to this - the RAW file was opened into Camera RAW, the Clarity was reduced to approx -50%, and I played around with Exposure, Brightness and Recovery until I got the effect I wanted. The adjustments here weren't large, just tweaks really to emphasise the tonal range. I opened the pic into CS3 and duplicated the layer, converting it to B&W via the 'Default' preset. I added a Curve Adjustment layer, and altered the 'Lighter' preset slightly to bring out some of the shadows. Then a bit of Dodge and Burn to highlight the umm...highlights and darken some of the more delicate shadow areas, then Smart Sharpen before finally flattening the image, and resizing for your viewing pleasure! This didn't take long at all - as much time as it takes a few spuds and a salmon fillet to cook :o)...and I think it's come out quite well!

Tuesday 12th's can't-see-the-Norwegian-wood-for-the-Norwegian-trees entry to the Challenge; click here for other monochromed Pbasers in January

Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Micro
1/640s f/11.0 at 60.0mm iso400 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time04-Jan-2010 11:58:09
MakeNikon
ModelNIKON D300
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length60 mm
Exposure Time1/640 sec
Aperturef/11
ISO Equivalent400
Exposure Bias
White Balance
Metering Modematrix (5)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programaperture priority (3)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium large original auto
malcolm haslam22-Jan-2010 11:15
Murakimi sounds excellent...methinks I shall try this.
Guest 20-Jan-2010 15:56
Beautiful scene, love the combination of crisp frost and soft mist which makes it warm and cold at the same time. Great use of B/W too. On the subject of Murakami, I recently read the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle which was truly fascinating, so Norwegian Wood is next on my reading list...
Carl and Racine Erland14-Jan-2010 13:19
The mist, lighting and great composition draw you into this scene...you've created a very compelling image. Racine - V
borisalex13-Jan-2010 07:37
Gorgeous in tones and composition!
Mieke WA Minkjan13-Jan-2010 06:27
a nice country side winterscene capture
Walter Otto Koenig13-Jan-2010 03:26
A very beautiful and effective image for this novel with the frost, the lighting and the vanishing trees. You've conjured up a wonderful mood with this.
Guest 13-Jan-2010 02:52
Wonderful and mysterious image... the lighting gives it that surreal feel I think you were going for!
Gary Blanchette13-Jan-2010 02:29
Man-o-man! This is simply amazing work.
carol j. phipps13-Jan-2010 00:42
I once knew a Norwegian Student who talked often about cross-country skiing between the trees. Makes me think of this scene.
Phillip Normanton12-Jan-2010 22:38
A soft mysterious light... perfect for a winter walk :o)
Guest 12-Jan-2010 22:19
I don't know how long this wood goes on for, out of interesting, did you look at going lower, to increase the feel of depth in the photo? None the less, its a stunning image (other then the left slightly oof bit) V
Greg Christie12-Jan-2010 22:19
An atmospheric image. From front to back it goes from darker to lighter. This gives it the feeling that something is coming down towards us.
Ronald Bijtenhoorn12-Jan-2010 21:12
Like this scene because of the repetition of the trees
larose forest photos12-Jan-2010 21:11
Forgot to mention that Norwegian Wood is just about my favourite Beatles song, and now it will be in my head for the rest of the day!
larose forest photos12-Jan-2010 21:10
I love images like this. They are stark, clean, simple but riveting. V
Stewart Mitchell12-Jan-2010 19:37
This image has a lot of delicate quality about it Doug, the amount of mid range tones you have retained is impressive!
McGarva12-Jan-2010 19:36
Cracking image Doug! ... nice treatment and a wonderful gentle lighting ... V
J. Scott Coile12-Jan-2010 18:57
Death (likely if you're naked enough for the) sex with a loved one in these frosty woods ;-)
Pete Hemington12-Jan-2010 17:31
Nice shot and complete photoshop lesson, good of you to share both - v
Michal Leszczynski12-Jan-2010 17:03
Wonderful light, beautiful photo. V.
Cindi Smith12-Jan-2010 15:44
I love this. You did an excellent job here.
Guest 12-Jan-2010 14:26
Beautiful well captured winter scene Doug!
Guest 12-Jan-2010 14:19
hmmmm not mush place to hide for the "sex" part! :)
Sheila12-Jan-2010 13:17
Very, very nice with the light coming through like that.
Bartosz Kotulski12-Jan-2010 12:56
simply beautiful. nice idea to convert that to b&w. well done
LynnH12-Jan-2010 12:55
Fog, snow and bare trees are perfect subjects for monochrome!
Barbara Heide12-Jan-2010 12:55
lol at the title! it gives a "nordic" feel with this low light.... bravo!
Heidi Jonker12-Jan-2010 12:14
Pretty winterscene and lovely light.
Stephanie12-Jan-2010 09:57
Such a pretty winter scene with the bare trees.
Bernard Davis12-Jan-2010 09:43
The lighting makes this something special, I've spent longer looking at this one than any today. Love it. Voted
Ann...12-Jan-2010 09:21
Like Kathryn the first thing into my head was the Beatles song! I do like this shot, it seems to have a sense of confusion about it somehow - at least the trees do!! The novel is unknown to me....you are greatly increasing my reading list!!
Guest 12-Jan-2010 09:13
Well, it is a super shot!
laine12-Jan-2010 09:12
A super capture, Doug...love the bare bones of trees.
Available Light Images12-Jan-2010 08:08
:-) Better..
Doug Cruden12-Jan-2010 07:25
As suggested by Alister, a slight crop to take out an errant branch :o)
Available Light Images12-Jan-2010 07:20
A fine commentary on this image and its inspiration. I agree, it is a very pleasing scene, the light is delicate and you have worked it well to get the best of the available light (quick plug :) One nit.. I think the natural end to this image on the left is before the larger dark tree begins to climb up to the left (the one that hugs the left edge of the frame). At half height on the left, there is a very delicate tree leaning gently right, cropping just left of there avoiding the vertical branch of the dark tree already mentioned will continue your delicate theme... The right side is super...
Kathryn12-Jan-2010 07:18
Interesting looking place, it brought The Beatles song into my head, I'll be singing it all day now.
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