Pic of the Month: August ’09
Railroad Sunrise
It must have been a long day for the young man on whom all eyes were now intently fixed. Yet, though fatigued in appearance, his words were strong, clear, and decidedly chosen. There was no doubt that what he spoke was nothing short of definite truth: “I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”
Jesus walked his talk. He is the perfect example of keeping a guard over His mouth. He knew that His words would be exposed and warned us that ours would be also.
This fact is beautifully illustrated in the relatively new and increasingly popular form of art known as HDR imagery. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, which simply describes a photo in which all areas are exposed. It allows one to see detail in areas which, under normal conditions, would be too bright or too dark to see much detail.
Having seen more and more of this kind of art over the past month, I decided to try doing it a bit myself. I found that if I was willing to spend a little extra time to make it look just right, it really wasn’t that hard, and the outcome was quite rewarding!
Though it can be done without special software, I used Photoshop’s HDR capability to create the above image of the little train station by the tracks. More sophisticated and artistic things can be done with programs such as Photomatix, but personally, I prefer the more natural look created here.
Some compositions just don’t look very good using the HDR method. All the detail in the highlights and shadows look distracting, unnecessary, and often out of place. Is this how my words will look when they are fully exposed to the light of Christ on judgement day? Or will they create a beautiful gold-and-silver composition of “words fitly spoken?” The challenge begins now; the future is simply a compilation of tomorrow’s todays!
The images look almost surreal. I really like the effect!
I would have taken the under- and over-exposed pictures and then come home and done an acrylic painting using both together 🙂 That is amazing how you can now merge the two on the computer now! Not only do the details and colors come out well, but it’s also a great composition with the tracks pointing to the sunrise, the structure on the 3rds, etc. But best of all is your challenge to follow our Example: John 3:11/32, 8:28, 12:49, 14:10, 17:8.
Wow! Those last two remind me of a Thomas Kinkade painting. Well done, James!
You didn’t have to go too far to find this awesome picture. It is awesome because of your creativity. God wants us to be always paying attention to the beauty around us. Seeing our surroundings according to His perspective.
You’re right Mom. It amazes me that I never got any pictues of this place for the past year and a half, even though I was only a hop, skip, and a jump away.
The best pictures are the ones you, well, actually take; dreaming of going places to take beautiful pictures doesn’t produce anything. 🙂
The pictures are great, and that’s a fabulous analogy! We were just discussing that verse in our family devotions a couple evenings ago: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” What will my words look like??
It’s amazing the things one can accomplish with digital photography. I remember my mom telling how to do it the “old fashioned” way to try and accomplish the right lighting.
Great analogy.