Contrast (the enemy of the golden hour)
There is a truism about lighting that says to shoot at sunrise and sunset (or very near that time). There are two reasons usually given: the warm golden color cast the world takes on, and the low-contrast side-light with long shadows that can emphasize texture without being crazy. This image was the exact opposite – a mid-day shot, but out of direct sunlight so we were only seeing the back-scattered light from other buildings and Rayleigh scattering from the atmosphere. There was enough of this light to create some depth and texture (two things that often are missing in flat “overcast” (or life in a softbox) lighting. I hope you enjoy the difference I was able to highlight here using the micro-contrast adjustments in Topaz Adjust.
Contrast
This image was initially adjusted in Lightroom 5, then into Topaz Adjust 5 for my favorite filter “spicify” then some additional pop with the “Detail” filter. Then the original and the now outrageously contrasty filtered version were merged in Photoshop CS6 to a pleasing compromise.
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