civilized ku # 1128 ~ visual effects

Aperol umbrellas ~ Market Square - Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggenIMO, a couple recent comments are addressing the same thing. 1 from Sven W (no link provided), re: civilized ku # 1118 ~ lunch time, stated/asked:

There's almost a hyper-realism to this image ... have you been playing with the contrast or something?

The other from John Linn, re: civilized ku # 1119 ~ DO NOT ENTER, stated/asked:

Those are pretty vivid colors. Or my imagination?

The "same thing", which I believe is shared by both comments, is not whether or not I monkeyed around with contrast, saturation, or "something" in the mentioned pictures. But, to lay that idea to rest, I can state that each picture received my normal monkeying around, processing wise. Although, I did do a double hit of de-saturation - global + yellow - on the picture John thought to be "vivid" (which it is and not a product of his imagination).

IMO, what Sven and John were unknowingly referencing was, quite simply, a by-product of the light with which the pictures were made.

That light was intensely bright which resulted in very bright clean/pure colors, aka: "vivid". Additionally, the harsh contrast which most often results from such intensity was tempered somewhat by a light haze and the occasional high soft white cloud over various parts of the landscape. The result of those conditions resulted in soft but distinctly etched shadows which were further softened (tonally) by the reflective qualities of the surrounding buildings and, in the case of civilized ku # 1118, by the plaza surface itself.

It is my opinion that the intense yet weirdly soft light + the clean/pure colors + the "open" shadows which, working concert with one another, create the visual effect of "hyper-realism" and "vivid" color. BTW, I also believe you can see the same effect / visual quality in the above image and in civilized ku # 1120 ~ the City of Oz as well. Perhaps not as pronounced, but there, nevertheless.

It should go without stating (but I'll do so nevertheless), the visual impression evident in these pictures is exactly what I saw at the time of making the pictures. The quality of the light, color, and shadows hit me in the eye like a big pizza pie (Vincent's, of course).

For the technical minded in the crowd, it is worth noting that I made the civilized ku # 1118 picture with my Pentax K20D. The others were made with my Olympus E-P1. IMO, their respective sensors had little or nothing at all to do with the resulting visual effect.

Comments

[John Linn]

>>It is my opinion that the intense yet weirdly soft light + the clean/pure colors + the "open" shadows which, working concert with one another, create the visual effect of "hyper-realism" and "vivid" color.

How about the clean and perfect looking sidewalk and street in this shot? There is no litter or pavement patches in Oz? Do they bleach the sidewalks?

[Jimmi Nuffin]

John,
I'm from the Pittsburgh area. I actually know the owners of Bella Sera. This portion of Pittsburgh has very recently had a make over. The sidewalks are new and they are making a point of keeping it clean.