ee·rie or ee·ry
adj. ee·ri·er, ee·ri·est
How does an image denote “eerie.”
Is it subject? Composition? Light? Focus? Colour palatte? Or – as is likely – some combination of all of the above.
It was with with some pessimism that I went through my photo archive looking for an image for this week’s Daily Post photo challenge. The shot illustrating the post was awesome – Merilee Mitchell‘s “Ghost Child” – for me this photograph absolutely exemplifies the word “eerie.”
In the archive I found shots of graveyards and old churches and of isolated places taken at the beginning and end of the day; many, I thought could be called moody. I also found quite a few of myself reflected in objects I was photographing – a poster in an art gallery, a bus shelter and a jar of pickled onions. They had an ethereal quality, but were they eeerie? In the case of the pickled onion shot I think the word is “creepy.”
I find isolated places a bit sinister anyway, so those were the shots I gravitated towards. An abandoned church with the door partially ajar ticked quite a few of my “eerie” boxes for subject and composition, but my original photo wasn’t particularly eerie.
Rendering it in black and white helped, but I think this shot, filtered and with the focus changed, does “eerie” much better.
Photo editing is quite new to me; apart from a few brightness and colour adjustments, it’s something I’ve only really begun exploring as a “fun” thing on my iPad. But it seemed to me that if composition and subject matter weren’t enough to make my photographs eerie, then perhaps I could use some basic editing tools to create the mood I wanted. In particular I found a filter in Aviary Ultimate Photo Editor that gives a violet-y colour which seems to denote eerie quite nicely. The other thing I’ve done is play with the focus to blur the edges of the photos.
Here are the results. I’m interested in what you think.
After using the same filter on a whole series of photos, I decided to go back and re-edit without it; playing instead only with saturation and focus. The shot above benefited most from this.
What do you think makes an image eerie? Join the challenge by clicking the link here, or enjoy some of the posts I found captured the theme well:
http://jaspasjourney.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/travel-theme-eerily-delicate/
http://lynneayersbeyondthebrush.wordpress.com/2013/11/02/who-believes-in-ufos/
http://sixdegreesphotography.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/weekly-photo-challenge-eerie/
http://autopict.wordpress.com/2013/11/02/weekly-photo-challenge-eerie/
http://picolourme.wordpress.com/2013/11/02/weekly-photo-challenge-eerie/
http://nando67.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/weekly-photo-challenge-eerie/
I really, really love these and how you chose to edit them! Very nice…
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Thank you so much; I really appreciate your comment. I am enjoying your blog very much and it’s lovely that you stopped by mine and took the time to comment. Cheers 🙂
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Thank you!
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Really well taken photos! I like the dreamy surreal effect! Awesome! 🙂
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Thank you so much 🙂
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Love these and what you’ve done to them… it’s amazing how a black and white image is more eerie than a colour one straight away, as in your first shots of the partially open church door. The blurring around the edges definitely enhances the eerie quality of all the photos! 🙂
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Thank you; I guess it shows how much of our perception of emotion is guided by visual clues that can be manipulated – and have been by film and photos in the past, so we have visual language to work with.
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The editing certainly makes the photo much more eerie. I find that B&W does the same. Nice shots!
janet
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Hi Janet. Thanks, b&w does certainly change the atmosphere of an image. Cheers, Su.
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Great photos….definitely a creepy and ominous atmosphere
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Thank you 🙂
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definitely eerie ^ ^ love the visual effects… of the tombstones, statue and the bridge!
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Thanks so much. I think the churchyard shot with a bit of colour is my favourite. 🙂
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I like your editing, the angel is my favorite though!
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Thanks. Angels abound in NZ cemeteries, but seem quite rare in Scotland. I didn’t see any in my travels, which is probably just as well as I was wandering around some gloomy places and Dr Who’s Stone Angels are never far from my thoughts!
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🙂 I love walking through cemeteries. It is interesting how they vary by place.
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Lovely editing!
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Thank you 🙂
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