This is the first story that starts a series of many similar stories about photographs. In this story I want to tell about one of my favorite photographs – “Cast Away”. As any picture we take this one has its own story. And this story will continue a bit after the photograph was taken. The post-processing manipulations will be covered at the end of this story.

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EXIF
Date: Sun, 24 August 2003 17:54:35
Camera model: Canon EOS 10D
ISO: 100
Exposure: 5 sec
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal length: 105 mm
Flash fired: No

The Story
That day my photo trip started in the afternoon, which is somewhat unusual. Most of the time I try to get up early and meet the brand new day in the woods or in that city where I wanted. It should be the laziness of mine, which prevented me to get up early that day. As most of the time I had that itching urge in me, which I had to scratch - I have to go somewhere and do something. And, of course, it coincided with passion for photography. Everything was ready for a trip, photo equipment is packed and batteries are charged. Actually, it's almost a custom for me to have my camera and other suff in the car.
Engine starts and I drive. Where? I am not sure yet. The car makes a turn; and I am on the I-270 north bound. Do you remember that simple pleasure of being in the car and driving, when the pictures of the world around meet your eye and disappear somewhere behind? My road led me to Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland. You just keep driving on I-270 and further when it becomes route 15. A few more miles and left turn on Route 77 at Thurmont.

The park is on your right, but I made a left turn toward Cunningham Falls. There are two trails that lead to the water falls. The lower trail provides an easy access to the falls, the other one goes through rocky hills and steep slopes. In the search for photo opportunities, I stepped of the lower trail and walked along the creek.
The field of scattered rocks among the shady trees and flowing waters of the creek invites you in its own world. If you tune up into the quiet magic of such place you see and feel differently. There are no huge wonders or large vistas. The world around you is quiet and small. And you have to literaly kneel before it to recognize the words tells you. That's exactly what I've done - I got on my knees, set a tripod and made a few shots of still life around me.
The rushing stream of the creek attracted my attention with its constant movement and gentle flexibility of water. Everything seemed usual, as many other creeks and brooks. Though there is always something special, every place has its own sign or magic. And that what we should be looking for, those signs and marks allow us to feel and express our vision of such places.
Among the old rock the nature created a small cave or bay. The place was small and a bit aside from the middle of the creek. And what was good about it - it has a small rock mostly submerged in the center. Even by itself such scene could make a good photograph. But I decided to play God and change the scene, which I rarely do. A short look around and I see an yellow leaf. What a great subject to compliment the scene.
Finally, I placed the leaf on the rock and used a long shutter speed to blur the water (don't forget the tripod for best results). The sun was low and partially hidden behind the trees, which allowed me to extend the shutter speed to several seconds. Five, to be precise. Another benefit of the hidden sun (taking shots in shadows) is the low contrast, which is easily captured by the digital camera. It means that most (if not all) of the details in the scene (highlights and shadows) were available for further manipulations. And here we are. That's it? Not at all, next steps are in post-processing.

Post-Processing
The composition was good, the colors are bright (especially the yellow color of the leaf), the water was smooth and dreamy. However the overal impact of the image was not that strong. My first reaction was to darken the rocks, it would increase the contrast between them and the water with the leaf. I used the Burn tool for that.
What's next? Vignetting. To do that the borders of the image were darkened and somewhat blurred. A more detailed technique you can find here. Still, the impact is better, though the leaf is easily lost with in the scene. One more step - get rid of the color except the leaf. And make blue the main color of the image. By doing so, the image will have a darker mood and the color would compliment the yellow (increase the contrast). The detailed technique is described here.
At last I am satisfied with the image. And it seems that many of other people like that photograph too.

That's how the story ends, but more stories are coming.