Keeper of the Plains in Silhouette
Dramatic Lighting
The sun provides dramatic backlighting for the Keeper of the Plains statue in Wichita, Kansas, as seen during our November visit.
As we were starting to leave the Keeper of the Plains after our visit on a cold but sunny morning, I saw two people point at the statue and then take photos with their phones. When I looked to see what they were pointing at, I saw that the morning sun was right behind the statue, creating backlighting and silhouetting the statue. I immediately saw why they were taking photos, and I figured I should do the same. I had already put my camera in my backpack, but it was worth getting it back out for this photo.
And then for good measure, I used a sepia-toned monochrome look for the photo, just to make it look more dramatic. Read more about that in the “About the Photo” section below.
Patience
I had actually planned to share this photo before now. But then we visited the Keeper of the Plains again in January, so I shared a night view instead. And then I waited a little while longer before sharing this photo so that I would not be sharing Keeper of the Plains photos back to back. All of that took some patience because I like this photo.
Patience has not always come easily for me. I don’t like to wait. Waiting in line at the gas station or the grocery store is not my idea of a good time. And waiting to post a photo that I think is cool is not easy, either.
We are accustomed to fast food, streaming video on demand, free two-day shipping, and even instant photos instead of having to wait for film to be developed. Of course, the root of not having patience still lies with the individual (that would be me), but our modern conveniences have not helped that any.
Like everything else, patience takes practice. And as with most everything else, I am not a master of it.
Practice takes patience, and patience takes practice. It’s like a big circle. Keep practicing.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23
About the Photo
As I said above, I converted this one to black and white, and then to a sepia tone. As usually happens for me, I went back and forth with deciding whether to leave this in color or to convert to black and white. The blue sky was really nice and blue, with no clouds at all. But I felt that the monochrome look might be a little more dramatic. So I ultimately went with that.
And the sepia tone here is actually more of a rust color. And that color just happens to match the natural color of the metal statue. So although it was not the original color of the sky, it definitely fits in this photo, I think.
Photo: A single JPEG exposure, processed in Luminar AI. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS Lens
Date: November 26, 2021
Location: Keeper of the Plains, Wichita, Kansas
