It’s been a long time since I have been posting regularly and that is largely because all of my gear was stolen and I was waiting for it to be replaced by my insurance company. I’d like to thank Steve Julien who was a big help. He’s a fantastic photographer check him out here. On my first shoot I went out to a local marina and I came across this image underneath one of the piers. The texture and tone of the wooden posts was very compelling against the glassy smooth ripples of the water and I wanted a treatment that would emphasize this. I pulled the image into Nik Silver Efex Pro and pulled up the contrast and the structure while maintaining the silver tones in the wood. Without really intending to this gave the water a glassy smooth texture that contrasted beautifully with rough wood. The pier on left provided enough visual weight to anchor all of the visual activity on the right side of the frame but I didn’t want it to be distracting so I darkened it substantially. I think this gives the eye an entry point in the left side of the frame but allows the eye to move into the more complicated structures on the right side.

-Russell Berg