Mood and Emotion. (The two sides of One Image.)
Photography is a way to convey feelings or emotions. What you choose to include in an image and where it is placed can be influenced by how you feel at the moment of capture. The same can be said after the fact while editing your photographs. That is certainly true for this particular image. And I must admit that this image was created while feeling two very different ways at two different periods of creation. That is to say, I felt one while I was capturing the photo and a different way while editing it.
When I was out on the day I found this scene, everything was great! It was a beautiful fall day, the slightest chill in the air, and it seemed like I had the entire park to myself. I was free to wander and to explore. It was on the edge of a large pond that I found this scene. What grabbed my attention while I had my camera in my hand was the bright orange leaf floating on the surface. That leaf seemed as bright and as happy as I felt. The leaves brilliant color and refusal to sink into the depths, despite the water on top, seemed to defy the cold, foreboding water beneath it. For this image, I under-exposed the water below the leaf to let it fall into the darkness. I wanted to emphasize the brightly colored leaf rising above the darkness.
Weeks later, when I finally had the chance to edit this image, my mood had shifted. I was no longer outside in a beautiful park, for starters. I was in a less-than-chipper mood for reasons we do not need to discuss here. I was sad. I missed my home and felt a little stir-crazy in my hotel room. This was my mindset as I began considering my choices for shaping my final image. Because of my mood, I chose to counter my exposure to the water I did while exposing this image. In shaping the final image, I decided that the old withered leaves below the surface of the cold water were every bit as important to the story. I lifted the shadows and brightened the exposure to showcase the decaying foliage below the surface. I also decided to cool down the water to emphasize its cold grip on the leaves.
Two different emotions. Two different approaches. One image. This image works better with the two different approaches. It reflects how I felt through the entire process of creating this image. It also leaves room for you, the viewer, to develop your opinion. Is it happy? Is it sad? Is it neither? It could be a moment of transition from one place to another, and maybe that's what it is.
