Pointe du Hoc was part of the Allied invasion of the Normandy Coast on June 6, 1944. Today there is a memorial monument on the site that overlooks Omaha Beach. It is maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission and if you are planning a visit, I would highly recommend downloading the tour they have available on their website.
While I was visiting, I took this photograph:
ISO 640 14mm f/16 1/160sec
When I went to edit, I wanted to accentuate the barbed wire in the foreground and give the photo a bit more of a punch. Here is what I came up with:
ISO 640 14mm f/16 1/160sec
The barbed wire was a stark reminder of the German positions that were waiting for the American Rangers that scaled these cliffs.
I edited this photo in Lightroom. I had received an e-mail notification earlier in the week that there were new presets I could download that had been created by Max Muench, who has a pretty cool Instagram feed. So, I figured out how to import the presets and got to work experimenting. I like presets, I think they can be an interesting starting point for editing. After having applied the preset, I manipulated the settings until I came up with what I thought would work for this photo.
What do you think of my edit? Does it pack more of a punch than the original? Do you use presets in your photo editing? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Cheers!
Added to Travel With Intent: Stark.
Picfair version available here.
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Amy – I love the edit so much and rather than pack a punch I felt it delivered awe.
which could be the same thing…
but the water in the edited one is what seemed transformed to me – and felt like south florida(only a bit0 and nice history capture with the war connection – how cool to see these things in your travels
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Interesting that you should comment on the water. I noticed that all up and down the coast it varied in color. At one point we were near a lighthouse and the water there very much reminded me of the water in Naples Florida.
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wow – how fun to hear about how varied the water was. And I know the camera can add hues – and then your light room artistry does –
but how fun to be brought back to Naples….
I have not been to Naples – even though I have been to almost every other part of that enormous state
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Ok, wow, I’m a bit surprised to hear you haven’t been. I guess I just assumed since I knew you had been to so many other parts of the State. I spent quite a bit of time there as a child.
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oh you were in a nice area (I have seen pics) and I have been VERY close to Naples – but never all the way.
and sometimes while visiting family near Tampa we almost went there – and my MIL has spent the last two summers there but it is hard to travel all the time – I think so at least
—
and what a cool place to grow up in
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🙂
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To my monitor, the sky after the preset has a bit of a blue tinge to it.
Lightening the grass does allow the barbed wire to show up better.
Perhaps a graduated filter to re-adjust the cloudy sky, maybe add some contrast?
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Yes, it’s true the sky is not really true to life in this edit. I think what you are suggesting with a graduated filter would probably be the best way to go about fixing that.
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I use presets a lot. I always edit them a bit. I rarely post anything straight out of the camera. My favorite plugin/app is on1 (https://www.on1.com/). They dispense free effects every month and now I have a huge collection. Their software is awesome, but I mostly use just the effects. The on1 effects can be accessed from inside LR or PS.
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Thanks for including this link. I have been looking around for an alternative to LR and PS, as I dislike the online subscription model.
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To get good deals I find it best to subscribe. Subscribing to Adobe or on1 provides free tech support, discounts on updates, and other perks. I like that. You can buy on1 as a one off – minus perks. I also subscribe to on1 plus for the tutorials and extra perks. The trial is free.
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Thank you for including this thought, I always find it helpful to talk to people who actually own the product, to find out how they use it and if they find a subscription worthwhile.
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p.s. The effect you used livened up the image. Love it.
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Thanks very much 🙂
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First I like the composition.
I think the edited version has more detail and is therefore better. But for my taste it has a bit too much yellows, therefore it looks a bit unreal. But mainly I find it better.
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Thank you very much. Thank you as well for your honest feedback on this edit, it seems like a lot of people aren’t a fan of it, all for different reasons. I find that fascinating, and helps me think through my process.
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I believe it is in the eye of the photographer to produce and discover your own niche in photography. Presets are a nice addition and easy to do on your own. After getting used to using Lightroom I found it was easy to make my own presets and save them. Nice work. I like the focus on the barbed wire to tell the tale. Turned out nice.
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Thank you very much. I know that you can make your own presets in Lightroom, but I have never given it a try. I have a hard time imagining wanting to do something to every or a lot of photos, but I know that a lot of really good photographers make use of their own presets. You know how when you see other people doing something successfully and so know it can be done, yet can’t quite imagine yourself doing it? That’s how I feel about presets.
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I definitely think the edit packs more of a punch . The barbed wire really seems to leap out in a shocking kind of way.
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Thank you, I do think this image is a lot about that barbed wire.
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I like the added sharpness to the barbed wire. But for me the lighter, more summery sky takes away from the reminder of war and loss that the original shot had.
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Thank you for your thoughtful critique on this, I have gotten a lot of feedback on this, so I am thinking about attempting another edit.
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Love this shot Amy – definitely chose the right edits to highlight the barbed wire. I’m not much of a preset person but many of my photography friends use them extensively.
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Thank you Tina; I feel like I am late to the game with presets, as I have just started tinkering seriously with them recently.
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The bottom photo seems ‘happier’!
I use presets in Topaz Studio.
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Are you happy with Topaz? that’s one I’ve heard of but never seriously investigated.
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Topaz Studio is a great program. The free version comes with many tools and a number of adjustments that let you use the program as a stand alone editor. In addition, there are a large variety of effects available to you that have been created by others. They are easy to apply and they let you tap into the imagination and expertise of others.
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Thank you for this, I honestly wasn’t aware that there was a free version. I’ll have to go see what they have on offer.
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Love it. Thank you for the massive hint, Amy. Off to find those presets now 😉
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Best of luck! 🙂
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Nice edit. I like the color shift and I think emphasizing the barbed wire draws my eye there and gives the photo greater depth at the same time. In the edited version, you really get a sense of the distance from the wire (and the wooden post) in the foreground to the end of the coastline in the background. Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you very much. Having read about this part of the invasion in books, it was an interesting experience to be there, I decided that being there and seeing the actual cliffs brought that piece of history truly to life for me.
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I think that the tone in the edited image better portrays the message you are trying to convey than the original. It is a poignant image.
I adore presets. They are a great starting point and have allowed me to deepen my knowledge of the tool. But as my knowledge of Lightroom grows and they continue to improve their ‘Auto Tone’ functionality, I am using presets less. Still, I have a few ‘go-to’ sets of presets that I use when I can’t seem to make the image work on my own. I have also created presets for each item on the Tone panel to quickly work edits that might make an image pop.
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You have definitely given me something to think about here, so thank you very much. I feel like Auto Tone really wasn’t a great option when I first started with Photoshop, and so I tend not to use it. I should probably re-think that. It wasn’t really until recently that the healing brush tool got good enough to make me want to use it, so that was another function that I sort of had to reacquaint myself with.
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Yes, loving that you “popped” the barbed wire. Super-good contrast in the image to remind us of that terrible battle.
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Yes, it just seemed like such a stark part of the environment, a certainly an important element of telling the story of the area.
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That said such a lot. 🙂
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Hi, Amy. I think your concept is great and your edits definitely add to the drama of the shot. I agree that the barbed wire should be the focus here. Have you tried a HDR filter? I’m thinking it can pull out some more depth in the sky which will add to the drama of the scene. The HDR may also give you some options to intensify the effect of the barbed wire–in terms of focusing the light/highlights on that part of the shot. The light could also add a bit more drama. I really like the Nik Collection which is now owned by Google. I believe it’s still free.
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Yes, funny you should mention HDR because I did shoot this bracketed and did attempt an HDR version. To be honest, it fell a bit flat. I do have the Nik Collection, so perhaps that HDR treatment would work better than the Photoshop version in this case.
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What a great post. Simply wow!!! You folks has a great and informative collection of knowledge. Good work.
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