Casualty – by Luke Austin

Casualty
1st Place
Intimate Landscapes
Darwin Wiggett’s Summer Photo Contest

This scene caught my attention because I knew I could compose the shot in such a way that it would hopefully hold the viewer's attention for more than a moment.

The shot was taken this June 2009 at Marble Canyon, Kootenay National Park. B.C. The tree was burnt in a fire which was ignited by lightning in the summer of 2003. After 6 years still standing, blackened from the fire, the small tree was uprooted and washed into Tokkum Creek. I watched as it floated down stream, suddenly catching for a few moments on a shallow section of creek bed. Those few moments were just enough for me to visualize what I could make of the scene and take the shot.

Technical Details

First, the image was rotated 180 degrees as it was not taken from directly above, but slightly closer to the tree top. I then applied a levels and curves adjustment to bring out contrast and details. As far as colour saturation of the image goes, it is completely natural. The creek, glacially fed, gives that incredible, almost unbelievable blue/teal colour. Finally the image was resized and an Unsharp Mask (USM) was added to bring out mid tone contrast.

Editor’s Comments

Luke’s image initially created a reverie. At first, I did not grasp it. Then, after thinking about it and reading further, I began to see elements which originally attracted Guy Tal. Just as in Bisti Mosaic and Three Worlds, Casualty provides another completely different digital tone poem…

Scenes within scenes; ground – both dry and underwater; burned tree – lodged precisely on ground, yet suspended lightly on water; water – rushing in blue splendor or supporting a fleeting tree!

I salute Casualty, Bisti Mosaic, and Three Worlds; through Guy’s choices, I began to re-think the original request for Intimate Landscapes. When I began to think of each of these award winning images as tone poems, each element added much more than my initial glance might have supposed.

The art lies in seeing such images, capturing them with great skill, then placing them in subtle, intertwined contexts.

Congratulations, guys, it’s an honor to be included in such fine company and art!