ISO 160 f/6.3 1/400sec 50mm
Added to Cee’s Flower of the Day.
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Category Archives: 50mm Lens
Made With Luminar: Dolbadarn Castle
This shot of Dolbadarn Castle was taken on August 18, 2016.
ISO 500 f/11 1/100sec 50mm
Usually, with photos included in this series, I show the original file. I opted not to with this post because one of my children was in the original file. Other first adjustments included white balance and an increase in the luminance of the greens and yellows in the image. I did also crop this image. The Luminar Look, Past Days, was added at 100% with adjustments to the split toning and texture amount filters.
Added to Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge, Decayed or Rusty.
The Made with Luminar Series
This image is part of a project I am calling Made with Luminar. What the images in this series have in common is the software used to edit them, Luminar 3. As with my usual blog posts particulars of the camera settings can be found in the caption below the image. I’ll then explain what other filters and edits have been applied, often mentioning what layer and therefore order that they were applied. The text of these posts includes any Luminar “Looks” that have been applied to the photo. Each look is a series of presets that are applied to the photo. Where applicable I will mention what changes I have made to any of the looks. A full explanation of looks is available here on their website, https://skylum.com/luminar/user-guides/chapter-14-working-with-luminar-looks
You can assume basic edits have been applied. My most common edits are cropping, detail enhancement, and vignette. Specific questions or thoughts on the image are welcome in the comment section below.
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Wordless Wednesday: The View Near Beddgelert, Wales
ISO 200 f/11 1/250sec 50mm
August 16, 2016.
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What I Am Working On: Subtle Edits
This photo was taken on July 24, 2016. A lovely summer day at the White Cliffs of Dover:
ISO 160 f/6.3 1/600sec 50mm
I pulled it out to edit it this morning. I love this landscape, I find it timeless and calming. I wanted to hang on to those feelings when it came to the edit. What I find interesting is that sometimes subtle edits can be pretty complex behind the scenes. My final edit below has six layers. Separating out edits onto different layers is something that I do frequently particularly with photos like this. The logic behind that being that if there is a particular piece of editing, say the clarity, that was working but now isn’t in combination with other edits applied, it is easier to go back and make that single adjustment if it’s on its own layer. I’ve added the Luminar Look, Touch of Gold Faded, onto this file. I liked the idea of that particular look, but it was too strong for this particular image so I altered the sliders within that look to something more subtle. That is the beauty of presets, they can be a really helpful starting point.
The edited version:
ISO 160 f/6.3 1/600sec 50mm
Your thoughts or questions are welcome below.
Added to Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, All Wet.
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April Squares: Top Shots, English Countryside
ISO 800 f/22 1/320sec 50mm
Day 5, find other responses here.
Date and Location of Photo: April 12, 2017. A field near Buckland Abbey. This photo is one typical of the landscape during lambing season. Walking through the countryside is something I never got tired of doing.
Thoughts on the Edit: I wanted to keep the idea of motion in the photo, so I did not do a lot of sharpening. This photo has the Luminar Look, Metro Tokyo L4 Film added. A bit ironic considering that Tokyo is halfway around the world.
April Squares, an Explanation:
When Becky announced that the April Squares theme was going to be “top”, I thought it over and then sent her a message, then pitched my idea. She was open to my theme within the theme and the result is my response to the April Squares challenge.
I move a lot and I have a move pending. I’ve lived here in England for about four years and will be heading to the United States. Exact dates to be determined, given the current world situation, details have yet to be worked out. My April Squares is a “top shots” reflection on the last four years. Each square represents some moment or place that was meaningful to me. They are in chronological order moving forward in time. I’m attempting to post every day. All photos will be edited in Luminar 3. I hope you enjoy following along, I’ve enjoyed the process of creating. Your comments and thoughts are welcome below.
Cheers!
April Squares: Top Shots, Conwy
ISO 500 f/11 1/1000sec 50mm
Day 1, find other responses here.
Date and Location of Photo: August 19, 2016
Thoughts on the Edit: It was hard to choose how to set the square edit within this photo which was shot on my Canon 50D. I’ve added the Luminar Look, That Glow Faded at 68%. Conwy is in Wales. This photo was from our first of three trips to Wales.
April Squares, an Explanation:
When Becky announced that the April Squares theme was going to be “top”, I thought it over and then sent her a message, then pitched my idea. She was open to my theme within the theme and the result is my response to the April Squares challenge.
I move a lot and I have a move pending. I’ve lived here in England for about four years and will be heading to the United States. Exact dates to be determined, given the current world situation, details have yet to be worked out. My April Squares is a “top shots” reflection on the last four years. Each square represents some moment or place that was meaningful to me. They are in chronological order moving forward in time. I’m attempting to post every day. All photos will be edited in Luminar 3. I hope you enjoy following along, I’ve enjoyed the process of creating. Your comments and thoughts are welcome below.
Cheers!
What I Am Working On: Editing the Landscape
I do a lot of photo editing and it is easy to get into the habit of using the same filters every time. In order to encourage myself to try different things, I watch a lot of tutorial videos on Youtube. I feel free to adopt some suggestions and leave others, but I think it is important to understand that most photo editing software has lots of options and so knowing what is even available is important. One of the files I was working on the week was this photo, taken at Mt. Snowdon in Wales in 2016:
ISO 800 f/13 1/800sec 50mm
It was a fabulous view, even if this particular file doesn’t really seem to suggest that. I was also watching this tutorial on Youtube. It’s specific to editing a landscape in Luminar which is the software I am using, but I would say that the suggestions made can be applied in other editing software as well. One of the first suggestions was to use the dehaze slider. Now that happens to be a slider I almost never use but for this file, it seemed like a really good starting place. For this edit below, I then went on to use the sky filter, the foliage enhancer, the HSL panel for luminance, and the small details slider for sharpening. The final edit was this one:
ISO 800 f/13 1/800sec 50mm
I think this edit is a pretty close representation of what I saw that day. From there I decided to do a more creative edit. This particular edit has two additional layers, the first was the Luminar look, Overlook, added with modifications and the second layer is an AI filter and vignette. Here is that version:
ISO 800 f/13 1/800sec 50mm
I like it also but will readily admit it is not what I saw. The Picfair version of it is here.
So which version is better? which do you prefer? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
Cheers!
Added to Tuesday Photo Challenge, Back Catalog.
What I Am Working On: LUT’s
Before I get into the steps and explanations I’ll say that I wanted to experiment a bit with this file:
ISO 800 f/13 1/2000 sec 50mm
It’s shot from Mt. Snowdon in Wales, a hike that is popular but needs to be treated with respect, so if you are thinking of doing it some planning and also checking the current weather conditions are necessary.
The final edit is this one:
ISO 800 f/13 1/2000 sec 50mm
I was thinking about two things in this edit. The first was that in person, the haze that shows in the photo file seemed less. The second was that the contrast between light and dark seemed more pronounced. I’ve reflected this in both the sky and the shadows on the mountain. The final edit is more like the hike that resides in my memory.
I started with editing the sky on its own layer. In this past post, I talk a bit more about that and include a link with video instructions. What I would point out here is that I think it is important to do sky specific edits on its own layer because this makes it possible to revisit the edit and make changes without having to effect other edits done on other layers.
The next phase of the editing process was more experimental. In this case, I am using LUTs to create a new look for the photo. LUT stands for lookup table and when you apply one it will change the color and tone of the image based on the instructions that are in the LUT. This explanation of LUTs and how they work I have chosen to link in because I think it provides a good explanation of what a LUT is and then directions of how to access them within Luminar which is the software I am using. The further step that I have taken is to use two LUTs on the photo. I have each of them on a separate layer. Having set the two layers in place, I could then use the sliders available on each to control the amount of LUT applied. When working with this type of preset, it is important to remember that once applied, you can make edits to the preset, you are not obligated to keep it as is.
Editing software comes with all sorts of presets and as you are learning to use it, I would advise experimenting. Making even small changes from a preset can help the photo you are working on look more like the vision you have for it rather than a set idea the software has added. Feel free to comment or ask a question below.
Cheers!
Added to Tuesday Photo Challenge, Tourism.
Wordless Wednesday, One photo, Three interpretations
ISO 500 f/4.5 1/125sec 50mm
Picfair version here.
ISO 500 f/4.5 1/125sec 50mm
Picfair version here.
Added to Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Filling the Frame and Cee’s Flower of the Day.
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What I Am Working On: Mixing it Up
Sometimes it is fun to try a different approach to your photo editing. It can be a way to create a unique image of a familiar place. This was one of my photos of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Athens:
ISO 800 10mm f/22 1/200 sec
It’s a very imposing structure and a popular photo spot. For frequent readers of this blog, you may notice the little church tucked away on the right-hand side? That’s the church you saw in my recent post about creating a vintage photo look.
When I took this particular photo I was interested in two things. First, the story that I see of the man walking past and looking up at the cathedral. Second, what I think he is looking at, the mosaic in the facade. These are the things I want to emphasise in my final photo.
This is the outcome of my edit:
ISO 800 10mm f/22 1/200 sec
My first edits were done while the file was still in full color. I cropped the image and got rid of the security camera on the left. I boosted the details and also the luminosity of the image. Then on a second layer, I converted the image to black and white. I added a mask and used the brush tool to reveal the color of the mosaic. Luminar 3 has a filter called “top/bottom lighting” and that is what I used next instead of a vignette. The filter allows you to pick a focus point. I put that point on the man who is looking up. You can also change the axis of the filter, I tilted it on an angle; then pulled the top portion up towards the mosaic. From there I made the top darker and the bottom lighter using the sliders provided. I think this helps the image tell the story I was after, but what do you think? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Cheers!
Added to Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Unique.
Photography Journal Blog 