What I Am Working On: Interpretation

While a good majority of my photography is about recording a scene and then editing to show what I saw, it is fun also to interpret a scene. That was the case when I shot this photo at the Rembrandtplein in Amsterdam in the Fall of 2016:

ISO 200 f/2.7 1/200sec 4.3mm

This photo gives you an idea of what the bronze statues around Rembrandt’s statue look like. They are an interpretation and tribute to his painting The Night Watch. I took the first photo as a way of remembering the overall scene. Then I took this photo:

ISO 200 f/2.7 1/250sec 4.3mm

It was a more detailed shot of the statues, as I found their texture to be very interesting. I knew I wanted a few things out of my interpretation. The first was to keep that detail of the bronze as an important element. The second was to use the terribly blown out sky in a creative way:

ISO 200 f/2.7 1/250sec 4.3mm

An adjustment to the detail slider helped bring the clarity I wanted. I used the “small details” only. The Luminar Look, Enigma, gave me the glowing sky I wanted.

Now a word about cropping. The first crop was done in-camera. That was the conscious step of photographing the whole scene and then asking myself what I found most interesting about what was in front of me and then taking a photo of that. That is how the second photo came to be. I often approach photography this way. Particularly when I travel, I find this a nice exercise in being in the moment. It makes for nice memories too, when I looked at these original files this morning, I could remember this moment. The second crop was done during the editing process, that Booking.com building is pretty distracting. When the crop didn’t remove it entirely, I used the clone and stamp tool to take the rest of it out.

The last edit was to set a vignette with the center on the statue. It’s a pretty subtle vignette, particularly compared to some of the other, more drastic, edits.  A bit of a final nudge.

Your thoughts, comments, or questions about my method or the edits are welcome below.

Cheers!

Added to Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Cropping the Shot.

April Squares: Top Shots, Longstowe

ISO 320 f/5.6 1/100sec 19.6mm

Day 27, find other responses here.

Date and Location of Photo: September 29, 2019. Longstowe, in the Cambridge area. Another of the many English countryside type photos I have in my files from the last four years. These cows seemed very interested in us so I was glad there was some water between us.

Thoughts on the Edit: This photo was taken with my point and shoot camera, so the original file is in jpeg format. So, the blown-out sky could not be salvaged unless I was willing to attempt a full sky replacement. I know that’s a commonly used technique these days, but I’m not a fan of it generally speaking. Also, for this image, the lack of an intriguing sky doesn’t really bother me. The file has the Luminar Look, Dramatic Landscape, added to it.

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, Amsterdam Canal

ISO 200 f/3.5 1/500sec 6mm

Day 3, find other responses here.

Date and Location of Photo: October 27, 2016. The canals of Amsterdam, I recommend both walking along them and taking the boat ride. Two different perspectives that are worth your time and effort.

Thoughts on the Edit: I’ve added the Luminar Look, Autumn Colors and on a separate layer, my own vintage edit preset.

 

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, Bletchley Park

ISO 160 f/8 1/200sec 4.3mm

Day 2, find other responses here.

Date and Location of Photo: October 2, 2016. Bletchley Park, a must for history nerds, it is the home of the WWII code breakers. I’m such a nerd that I’ve visited three times in my four years here.

Thoughts on the Edit: The square format was easy on this edit, it pretty much dropped right into place without too much fuss. The Luminar Look, Soft & Dreamy has been applied at 72%.

 

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: Lots of Layers

I have a small Canon Powershot that is a bit older and doesn’t work as well as it once did. One of the situations where I still find myself using it is outings on rainy days. So, it is the camera I had with me on a visit to Blenheim Palace:

ISO 200 f/2.7 1/125sec 4.3mm

I liked the rain on the window and the table and chairs just waiting to be used. When I shot this photo though, I thought that I would really like to see it in black and white. So, that is what I have created:

ISO 200 f/2.7 1/125sec 4.3mm

Now while I was sure I wanted to make a black and white version, what I wasn’t settled on in advance was what type and style, would it be stark or dreamy? tint or not? Because I was very aware of my indecision, I made my various edits on different layers. This image has five layers: 1. Basic edits including luminance and sharpening. 2. The crop. 3. A black and white filter. 4. My custom vintage look filter. 5. Vignette.

I think a fair question, particularly if you are new to using layers, would be why bother putting things on separate layers? Two reasons, first it makes single effects easier to control. I could tweak the vignette confident I wasn’t disturbing the other edits for example. The second reason is that when you are working with layers, each layer has it’s own eyeball icon, making it easy to hide the effect of the layer. That makes it easy to compare your edit with different combinations of edits applied. For example, once I had applied layer 4, I could turn off layer 3 and see how I liked the edit that way. So, the short answer is flexibility, that is what working with multiple layers get you.

An additional tip? Name your layers. In Luminar 3 you do that by double-clicking the text and typing in what you would like. In this case, layer 3 was called “B&W” and layer 4 “Custom vintage”. Doing this helps you keep straight what edits are on what layer.

Your questions and comments are welcome below.

Cheers!

Added to Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge, Table & Chairs.

Wordless Wednesday: Copenhagen

ISO 200 f/2.7 1/500sec 4.3mm

Added to A Photo a Week Challenge, Sun & Water.

Cheers!

What I Am Working On: Old Files

From time to time I go through photographs that I shot several years ago to see if I would like to try a new interpretation of them. That’s how I came to be working on this file:

ISO 250 f/2.7 1/60sec 4.3mm

This photo was taken at St. Michael’s Church in Betws-y-Coed, Wales, in 2016. So, some things haven’t changed since then, like the fact that I enjoy visiting churches and graveyards. This photo was taken with my point and shoot that only has jpeg file capability.  That means there is a limit to how much detail I am going to get out of the sky. To work around that one of the filters that I used was “dark fog”. I paired it with a filter called “Old Timer” that I have in a collection of Halloween “looks”. I felt that a Halloween filter was appropriate with it being October and the photo being an old graveyard. My final edit was something much darker than the original:

ISO 250 f/2.7 1/60sec 4.3mm

Do you like the edit? That tree was really something else! and I feel like it adds a lot of character to the photo. Feel free to leave a comment below.

Cheers!

Added to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Circles, Curves, and Arches.

Change of Seasons

When I was out on a walk this past Sunday, I thought I would look for photos that spoke to the change of season. Autumn is asserting itself in a beautiful way my part of the world right now:

ISO 800 f/2.7 1/20sec 4.3mm

Even just looking on the ground you can see it. But sometimes it helps to look up as well:

View this post on Instagram

Fall, it’s here. #nofilter #autumn #leaves #thingsiseeonmywalks #mondaymotivation

A post shared by Amy Maranto (@marantophotography) on Sep 29, 2019 at 11:42pm PDT

Added to A Photo a Week Challenge, Changing Seasons.

Cheers!

I Went for a Walk

Ah, the stereotypical English countryside, how I love walking through it! What do I love about it? churches and graveyards, livestock, fun signage, postboxes, and bonus points for a pub stop at the end. Ramble with me? The first stop was a church, of which there were three on this walk, but this particular grave marker caught my eye:

ISO 200 f/2.7 1/25sec 4.3mm

Then we kept going and came to a gate. An aside to my fellow Americans, you can walk through private property such as fields here, there are a set of expectations, but it is a completely different system than the US. So, yes we went through the gate and closed it behind us. What is it with cows? I feel like I have the following conversation every time I walk through a pasture:

~Yes, hi, just passing through.

~Because this is where the path is.

~Yes, really, it’s marked.

~No, I do not have any snacks.

ISO 100 f/5.6 1/200sec 17.8mm

And just to reinforce the whole English weather stereotype, I’ll tell you that the weather was threatening rain so I took the photos in this post with a small point and shoot and my iPhone:

ISO 25 f/2.2 1/50sec 4.2mm

ISO 25 f/2.2 1/121sec 4.2mm

ISO 25 f/2.2 1/916sec 4.2mm

ISO 25 f/2.2 1/242sec 4.2mm

And yes, I did finish up at the pub with a pint. Cheers and Sláinte!

Added to Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Countryside and/or Small Towns.

Cheers!

And the Number of the Cameras Shall be Three

Do any looking online about photography and you are going to run into all kinds of information about the kind of gear you have to have. Welcome to my version of that. It goes something like this, what do you have? what are you willing to haul along? good, great, let’s go! Today it’s to the Church of Panaghia Kapnikarea, said to be the oldest Greek Orthodox Church in Athens:

ISO 800 10mm f/22 1/80sec

That’s the photo I took using my Canon 50D.

ISO 200 4.3mm f/2.7 1/125 sec

That’s the photo I took using my Canon PowerShot.

ISO 25 4.2mm f/22 1/337 sec

That’s the photo I took using my iPhone.

That’s right, I was willing to haul three cameras around Athens, and you bet I used all three. The Canon 50D I took with a wide-angle lens. It’s good at getting a full building shot in a city. That particular shot was taken in the RAW format which meant plenty of data for later editing. For that edit, I went with a warm vintage look in homage to the color of the stones and the age of the building.

The second photo was taken with my Canon PowerShot which is a point and shoot camera that does not have RAW capability. What it does do nicely is handle color well, even in low light situations, so I often use it when I am capturing the detail of something. In this case, it’s the radiance of that mosaic.

The third shot was taken using my iPhone. Often when I am in a new place and taking photos, I  get a shot using my iPhone because I keep GPS data on and I use these types of photos later to confirm the exact location of where I was which helps with things like figuring out how to spell the name of this church.

Have you spotted the no photography sign on the church door? While I find that disappointing, I’m ok with that, so I stowed all three cameras and went inside to take a look. Sometimes just having the memory of an experience is sufficient, regardless of how many cameras you are carrying.

How do you decide what gear to haul? do you have a go-to set up for shooting in the city? Feel free to leave a comment about that or the edits I chose in the comment section below.

Cheers!

Added to Tuesday Photo Challenge, Radiant and Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Three.