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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Sixty Nine: How to make expressive photographs in “bad” light > Wind sculpture, Downtown Civic Space Park, Phoenix, Arizona, 2009
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29-APR-2009

Wind sculpture, Downtown Civic Space Park, Phoenix, Arizona, 2009

A series of netted hoops and funnels, representing Arizona’s distinctive monsoon clouds, forms a vortex-like cone that moves with the wind. It dominates this new park near Arizona State University’s downtown Phoenix campus. The sculpture, created by Janet Echelman, cost the city $2.5 million, and like other controversial works of public art, it has as many detractors as advocates. I photographed it in mid-morning, and my images initially seemed unexpressive because of the flat light. When I studied this image on my monitor, I noticed that the angle of the sun brought subtle highlights to this funnel shaped segment of netting linking several of the huge metal hoops. During post-processing, the more I darkened the sky behind the netting, the greater the glow of those highlights. I was able to create an entirely different mood, as well as express an essence of Echelman’s art, by simply under-exposing the scene. With just one small move of a slider in Photoshop, I was able to overcome the flattening effect of mid morning light.

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Phil Douglis01-May-2009 19:29
Very true, Carol. I created about half of this image in the camera and half in the computer. I did not change the facts before me -- everything in this image was actually there to begin with. However, I did not see how things related to each other because of the flat light. As I processed this image later in Photoshop, I changed the contrast and intensity of that light, bringing out the highlights, enriching their color, and darkening the sky, thus discovering what for me was the essence of the Echelman's art.
Carol E Sandgren01-May-2009 04:49
Intriguing! Isn't it amazing what greatness lies in the depths of your image, just waiting to be discovered in our ol' friend Photoshop!
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