Today being the date that it is, here are two pictures, which I took today, of two of the statues in Parliament Square, which is a walk away from my home. As you can see, I have much to learn about photography, and these images are weak on detail, especially Lincoln. Plus, ever since I had it ‘mended’ about a year ago, my camera has imparted a pinkish hue to any bright light that it sees, of a sort that my knowledge of Photoshop is insufficient completely to remove. The sky over Lincoln started out bright pink, I kid you not, and the blossoms behind Churchill likewise. My camera sees the world through a rose tinted lense. (Helpful Photoshop comments would be welcome.) Nevertheless, I hope that the thought will count for something.
These two personages are both commonly regarded as that grandest variety of politician, known as statesmen, and what is more they were neither of them exactly shrinking violets when it came to expanding and strengthening their respective state apparatuses. So, given how we feel about the state and all its works here, maybe they aren’t perfect for all the nuances of the sentiments being expressed. But they’ll do.
There is also a statue of George Washinton in Trafalgar Square. I don’t know the story as to when it was put there and why, but perhaps somebody else does. (If I remember correctly, the plaque says it was a gift from the Commonwealth of Virginia some time in the 1920s, but this still doesn’t quite explain to me why the British then placed it in a square that otherwise commemorates great British victories).
I don’t know what version of Photoshop you’re using, however if its the 2002 release, all that there is to getting rid of a pink tone should be slightly decreasing the quantity of red in the picture and slightly increasing the green to compensate usually. I think this can be accessed by right clicking on the picture layer in the far righthand and lower column of photoshop, it might take some fiddling but you should be able to get it to the right saturation by adjusting the color sliders there.
You could also select all white areas using the magic lasso tool (adjust tolerance to suit) then hit image==>adjust==>Hue/Saturation and play with the sliders there.
Why not get a new camera, or at least a new lense? Sounds to me like someone effed up your lens so that it is splitting up the white light and focussing all the not-pink colors somewhere other than the film.
Re: Your problem getting the pink sky.
The picture is over exposed. (too much light)
The meter is averaging the light in the frame.
If your camera is adjustable, reshoot it with a -2 (or more) exposure correction.
It’s nice to see two fine statesmen residing in the same area of Britain, regardless of nationality. Just please God, tell me there isn’t a statue of de Gaulle lurking around there somewhere!
You’re right about Lincoln’s heavy-handedness during the Civil War. He suspended habeas corpus, though he had no right to do so, and routinely imprisoned political opponents, i.e. those that supported slavery and actively opposed him in his efforts to end it.
His tactics were heavy-handed and unconstitutional but I do think it served a moral end, even if the means themselves were not. I also have to wonder what I would have done in his shoes and, given the evil of slavery, I would have likely used anything at my disposal to end it.
It’s probably also worth mentioning that both statesmen ruled during a time when the very existance of their nations were in doubt. Although I agree that the State (in general) should stick to its Constitutional limits, I would also hate to imagine a world today without America or Britain.
They did what they needed to do to keep the dream alive.
How are Lincoln’s actions at all compatible with the spirit of the opening sentence of the Declaration of Independance? Remember, the Civil War was originally over tarriff issues, and only became about slavery as a way to rally folks once it was flagging.
Lincoln wasn’t about liberty, which is what the 4th is supposed to be about, he was a statist who employed military despotism and put the first stake in the heart of the Republic. We had to wait for FDR to finish it off.
Henry’s right. To get pink sky, you need to underexpose. But to get shadow detail in Lincoln’s frock coat, you need to overexpose. Can’t do both at the same time, I’m afraid, without an ND grad or something (a filter dark on one half and clear on the other that you’d slant over the lens).
“…and what is more they were neither of them exactly shrinking violets when it came to expanding and strengthening their respective state apparatuses”
They didn’t shrink away from declaring war on civilians either.