Photography is like magic. This photo for instance:
ISO 400 4.3mm 1/30 f/2.7
Looks like a nice peaceful and quiet spot right? That’s exactly why I took the shot, because it stood out in stark contrast from the surrounding scene, a bustling Christmas Market at Ely Cathedral. But finding this little gem of a scene was just the beginning. The rest of the magic is in the editing. Here is the original file:
ISO 400 4.3mm 1/30 f/2.7
You can see now that I did some edits that have a pretty big impact on the final file. It wasn’t the first thing I did, but one of the edits that I think helped a lot was to use the healing brush tool in Photoshop to remove the mark on the column and some of the smudges on the pillar candle. I could have removed all the imperfections on the candle but chose not to because the marks do remind the viewer that this is a spot that is used by many people. I also warmed the temperature of the photo in Lightroom and applied a vignette to keep your eye in the frame. A version of the final is in my Picfair portfolio.
After taking my photo, I stayed here for a few minutes before heading back to the crowds and stalls of the market. Do you think photography is magical? What do you think of the moment I have created here? I hope you found it peaceful and relaxing, as that was my intent. Feel free to leave a comment below.
Cheers!
Photography Journal Blog 
I actually think what you did was magical. Much more warmth to the final image, whereas in the before image it looked like a bit of a sad candle on the street. Love how you cropped the image too and positioned the candle a little bit more left of centre. You can certainly sense darkness around that way, but light so much more as well.
Hope you enjoyed the market.
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Thanks Mabel, I did enjoy myself but this quieter moment was a nice break from all the hustle.
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Magic and beautiful. I love the warm color, perfect!
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Thanks Amy 🙂
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I like the edit – the warmth makes the setting feel more welcoming.
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Thanks, it was an edit that brought it closer to how I felt about it at the time rather than what was actually there.
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Beautiful Amy – and the way you wrote I think I paused with you as you wrote about waiting a moment before you returned –
Nice edits !
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Nice, I am glad you shared the moment with me.
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It does cast a magical atmosphere, and i really like the way you ‘warmed’ up the scene with the editing effects.
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Thank you.
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So much magic. Some image require editing to make it look better, but in this case, it’s very well justified. You totally created magic. I also use the “Retouch” function on Windows Photo, but I think Photoshop is a better tool to remove distractions on images.
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Thanks. I’m not familiar with Windows Photo so thanks for leaving this tip for other readers.
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Yes, I think photography is magical. You have created some magical images, there.
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Thank you very much.
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The changes are subtle, but make a big difference. Thanks for sharing the before and after shots!
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Thanks for your kind comment 🙂
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