Venturing into the vast wonderland known as the Hoh Rainforest, one encounters all sorts of unusual sights. Moss drips down arching trees branches, fungi grows on fallen trees, while ferns cover the forest floor. There are not definitive "spots" to photograph in the Hoh, which is located on the western edge of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. The main trail meanders into wilderness territory far from any roads or human establishment. Along this 17 mile trail (with trail branches that lead further in) there are no clear nor obvious destinations where one should take pictures, instead opportunities are all around, the challenge is to listen to the forest and be drawn in. If one is open to it a composition like this can reveal itself.
Go ahead and click on it to view it large; the smaller details just cannot be appreciated in this small frame.
A friend had told me about Visual Supply Company's (VSCO) film presets for Lightroom that make images look like they were processed in the film days using various procedures that are completely mysterious to me. In browsing the list of film presets I came across one that made the image above. This prehistoric look and feel is not something I would have been able to achieve using the color correction methods that I know of. The presets are finely tuned to recreate the analog experience of film and in doing so open a whole new world of opportunities when it comes to look and feel. This is why I think every photographer, even the "pros" who do advanced photoshop color correction, should be playing around with VSCO filters - you just never know what you're going to discover!
VSCO also has a great free mobile app which is quickly becoming a huge force in the Instagram, "add a filter and it makes it cool," world.
I wanted to show you the full affect of the the VSCO filter so I'm showing you the pre-filter version below, which was processed using my standard method; highly saturated and bright green the details of the moss and fall colored leaves come out nicely. I was actually pretty happy with it because so much detail was popping out, but something looked off.
Technical details: 3-stop HDR image produced in Phototmatix then digitally blended in Photoshop with the original three images. ISO 100, 16mm, f/11, centered at 2.5 seconds.
I would love to hear from you in the comments below about which version you like better! Also, if you have any personal experience with using VSCO filters please share!
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