@Mike Thompson First I had to remove color, that brought out the subject. But now with a busy background of leaves and stems I had to study for hours, maybe days and clarify my intent which was to focus on just the subject and its details. Each step I took made me rethink and stick with my intent vision. In the end , I came to the conclusion all the background had to go to keep my intent pure and simple with no distractions.

@Almerinda Alves van der Giezen Outstanding!

I submit two photos where light and color changes the mood. I had the rare opportunity in my neighborhood to have two different color street lights. It was also a rare chance to have the heaviest fog at night. I was glad that happened and didn’t have to drive down to the sea coast for that experience at night. I think the orangey tones gives a nostalgic or even a Autumn , Halloween feeling? And the more whiter or toward the blue spectrum gives a similar but less spooky feel to it. The orange light is probably 2700K or less and the whiter is toward the 4000K? The shift in feelings was the intention.

@Almerinda Alves van der Giezen Yes it was.

Here is a photo of light as a meaning. The yellow light gives a feeling of a late night or predawn feel. It’s the feel one gets when there is just enough light to barely see the objects on the sill. It’s like waking up at dark in a room when it’s like past midnight . Maybe one may remember such a time and that was my intent with the light. I wanted to evoke those memories for the viewer.

I wanted to show that adjusting the exposure of light in these two photos changes the mood and deepens it. The one on the left I intended to have lighter mood than the one on the right. There is more detail in the left one and less in the right one. The one on the left feels like a sunny afternoon with the curtains giving a soft feel. The right one has less details more shadow but also restricted in tones , more hardness. Now if the subject which is the light disappears would the light in the photos still have the same meaning? I guess so. The left one would still convey softness, and right side one still convey harshness and hardness.

I had to look up either through Google’s AI or Chatgpt on what is tonal compression vs expansion, and what is color harmony vs tension. Basically, what do these words mean . I know this takes some time for me to understand these words and how to apply them. I like this because now I am going to really learn about photography as art as opposed to just being used as a documentary. This leads to a deeper understanding behind the techniques that are used in-camera and editing. Whooo! Heavy stuff so I will take the time to figure it out or someone else can step in to break it down.

Researching tonal compression and tonal expansion in photography, I find that tonal compression is reducing the contrast, and tonal expansion is heightening the contrast? A lot seems to apply to photoshop. Is that oversimplification of the definitions?

just trying this out, i decided on bw since my hall might more distracting.i was more interested in the shape and shiny essence of the chair plus its shadows on the rug.i think i need more room or space for the chair. btw, i chose an ordinary chair so i could concentrate on the essence of a chair.

Here is a chair in its honesty, perhaps a working person chair, or a sloppy person, a chair that doesn’t convey comfort but more of convenience. Like a clothes rack a place to dump things onto. I notice there’s no hiding whats on the chair, hastily thrown clothes , even underwear. This image talks truth, honesty and no shame, just what would be private now fully exposed. The lighting is bright, exposure to the max, no attempt to add more exposure of the room in the image. Instead just concentration on the chair and its contents. Certainly a stark contrast to “ House Beautiful” settings. This image talks truth in seeing. Thats what matters most in the frame, the chair as convenience, as a non chair at its best.