3 Create distinctive digital solarisations

Produce eye-catching artworks from photos taken on your daily walk, using a 19thcentury darkroom technique that’s easily replicated in software. By Simeon Meinema

Daily lockdown walks close to home can offer a myriad of photographic opportunities, whether you take your subjects from the natural world or the built environment. One way to give your lockdown captures a look that will really stand out is to create digital solarisations of them in post-processing.

The 19th-century pioneers of photography produced prints where the tones of the photographs would be reversed – an effect known as the Sabattier effect or pseudo-solarisation. This darkroom technique is easy realised with image-editing software, for example by using Photoshop’s Invert function and Solarisation filter.

You’ll need to start off with shots that will solarise well – tree foliage is just one example. The objective is to fully expose branches of a tree with flash, which in turn will contrast strongly against the darkness of the sky. For this approach to work best, venture outdoors in the evening ‘golden hour’, when the sun is about to set and the natural light in the sky is at its most dramatic. You could work with the night sky for this project, but you’ll get better results if you start shooting just before the light turns.

Make sure you’re mindful of people around you, though, as bright flash light could surprise people out walking at dusk.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Digital camera with standard lens Ambient light just before sunset On-camera or built-in flash Shooting time: up to 30 minutes Editing time: 30 min-1 hour