The Object of My Affection
You might think the caption under this photo of Isaak Pasha Palace is odd, but this 17th century palace/fort was a place that I used to dream about, but thought I would never see. About 25 years ago, I had a calendar in my kitchen featuring travel photos and it was the photo of Isaak Pasha that captured my imagination.
The photo had a brownish/magenta hue, a natural hue, not manufactured “post-processing”; it was a result of choosing the perfect time of day to get the shot and, of course, using a magenta filter over the lens. It must have been after sundown, in the glow of the last rays of light. The photographer had climbed the steep hill on the opposite side from where my shot is taken. His viewpoint avoided the village of Dogubayazit that lies on the plain below and he had only the barren steppes as a background. The palace had not been renovated and it’s crumbling walls added to its sense of isolation.
When I finally stood before Isaak Pasha Palace, I hadn’t seen the calendar photo for years and years, so I didn’t realize that I was on the wrong side of the palace for my shot. I could have walked over to the ‘good’ side if I’d known…or maybe I should have known enough to go to the other side just to get another viewpoint…It is sort of basic, isn’t it? But I didn’t. I took shot after shot on this side, and from above. There was a little cafe up there and I tried to get some shots, but by then the sun had risen far above the horizon. And those popular trees so beautiful from below, obstructed my view.
I was thinking I’d got the shot and that when I got home, I’d just use a magenta filter on it and I’d have my own rendition of Isaak Pasha.
Reality time came when I realized that no matter how many types of magenta filters I layered on my photo, I couldn’t get what mother nature gave that photographer years ago. The village of Dogubayazit featured rather prominently in my photo and since I couldn’t remember seeing it in ‘his’ photo. I decided to search through my photo books for my old calendar. Maybe if I looked at it, I could give my photo some of the magic of the calendar photo.
I scanned the calendar photo so I could compare it side by side with my shot on the computer. Then I realized with dismay that my viewpoint made it impossible to duplicate the object of my dreams. I didn’t give up though. I had Photoshop, I had Nik Filters, I had Alien Skin software and I tried and tried.
But I have never been happy with my iterations. (learned that word from my daughter with the MBA) And to be truthful, even the calendar photo, as wonderful as it is, isn’t as wonderful as the picture I have held in my mind for all these years. I remember hearing Nevada Weir say that “sometimes the best photo is the one in your head” or something to that effect. And she is right. Remember that when you think about the “one that got away”.
I made the photo above look like an illustration in an old book. I love that look. I could do it to all my photos and be happy. It is simple to achieve with Photoshop. Fix your photo until you are satisfied with contrast, brightness, composition, saturation, etc. and then go to Filters>artistic>poster edges and adjust the sliders until you are happy. Since it will render a lot of blacks and you may not like that, you can either reduce the opacity of the layer or add a layer mask and paint out the parts you don’t like, for instance if you have a portrait, you will most likely want to clear the poster edges from the face and any exposed skin.
I use poster edges a lot. I try not to because if I do all my photos will look alike. Sometimes I try it and then slap my hand and click delete even though I loved what it did.