Spring Impressions in a Poplar Fields by David Frutos Egea
This image has been mainly the result of chance.
I went there with some colleagues to see if that place could suit a promotional video of a company. While they were checking the place I went to see the surroundings with my camera in hand. I then noticed the special way in which the light was on the poplar trunks. To me, the set of hues could fit well into an image.
It was not the first time I was in that place and in the surroundings. But that morning that particular place was the only one that matched what I had in mind without even having tightened the camera trigger. It was then the time to choose the parameters of the camera. I do not remember exactly what the initial settings were, but I do know that I had to put a three-stop neutral density circular filter in the lens to get a shooting speed low enough to run a vertical sweep.
I made several attempts – maybe ten or twelve but was satisfied with only two of them. The goal I was pursuing was very clear. I wanted an image that showed plasticity, and to some extent, to lead the viewer to see an impressionist image, in which there was no clear detail but that our brain could clearly interpret.
The final decision between both images was made before the computer when I saw them in large. The post processing image was very simple. I only applied curves and general levels to gain contrast and slightly modified the white balance.
To this day this image is the most laureate of my personal portfolio. It has won two contests and also has been selected as a featured image in several specialized internet websites.
