Go Big, Or Go Home

I’ve made a big decision this week. Well, photographically speaking anyway. I’ve bought a new editing software, Luminar 2018. For its first real trial run I pulled out a photo of the Alhambra:

ISO 1000 19mm f/13 1/1250sec

The Alhambra is a huge complex. I had walked it the day before and was interested in getting a shot that would show how it fits into the local landscape.  The file below is my edited version:

ISO 1000 19mm f/13 1/1250sec

As with anything new, it is obvious to me that I will be watching a lot of tutorials on how to use Luminar more effectively.  As far as advanced tools go, one that I really want to work well in my editing software is the eraser tool. In the original file, mid-ground, on the right side, there is a crane. I removed it for the bottom file. The edit was pretty easy to make, once I’d watched a video explaining the steps. I was happy with the result as well.

If you like to read about editing, I’ll talk a bit here about why I made this purchase. I have been using Lightroom and Photoshop as my main editing tools. My two most serious complaints about them are the subscription model and the need for an internet connection to use them. Buying a stand-alone piece of software requires a one-time purchase, I’m never obligated to buy an upgrade. To be honest, because I do a lot of editing, I probably will buy an upgrade at some point. With this software, no internet is needed to make my edits. In the coming years, I do see myself as potentially being in places with less internet.

Why did I buy now? A couple of factors. Luminar 2018 is coming out with a library feature that will potentially boost the cost of this software. I purchased it now and will have access to that update at no additional cost. Another important factor is that in March my Adobe subscription will be due for renewal. Buying now gives me time to learn this software and see if it will actually work for my needs. If it doesn’t, Luminar does actually work as a plug-in with Photoshop and Lightroom. That’s what my research indicated anyway. At this point, I have not installed it as such, because I would like to use Luminar as much as possible on its own, in order to make a better decision for myself come March.

What can you expect as a reader of this blog? Me, experimenting. Because I already write a lot about my editing process my posts will be very similar I expect. Making this switch has already been several months of research in the making. As a reader, you will see the results unfold. Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question below.

Cheers!

Added to Tuesday Photo Challenge, Go Big!

Tinkering with my blog

If you are a blogger, how often do you find yourself tinkering with the layout of your blog?  I’d have to say that it something that I think about but rarely do.  Last  week was an exception though, I did change something.  Actually, I added something.  It’s a visual widget and it is sitting on the right hand column of my blog.  It looks like this:

Me as a widget.

Now if you read this blog, you recognize the photo.  What it is doing over there is functioning as a random post generator.  Click on it and it will take you to a post from the past.  I was thinking about creating one of these after reading about a WordPress blog post about generating traffic for your older posts.  Within that post they mentioned PicMonkey which is the on-line photo editing site I used to create my image.  It was super easy to use.  So with my new photo on my desktop, I headed to a post from this summer by Rarasaur where she explains, using screen shots to help, exactly how to put a  random post generator in place.

With that in place I am free to obsess over the theme of my blog.  This one that I have now is OK, but my biggest complaint about it is that the pictures aren’t all that big, even when you click on them.   Problem is, I haven’t found a theme I like better.  And let me clarify that I would be using a free theme.  Wordpress does offer several for photographers that are beautiful but have a price tag attached.  My blog is a low budget operation, meaning I have no budget for it. I had a conversation with a blogger about the size of my images on this blog this week, she writes 16 blogs and here are the two themes she suggested along with a link to examples from her blog.  The first is Able and the other is Nishita.  Also, just in time for this post, WordPress had a post about choosing a theme that I’ll be looking at again for ideas. So perhaps I’ll be changing my theme in the coming weeks.

Is there a theme out there for photography that you really love? Let me know about it in the comment section.  Feel free to give my random post fetcher a try, let me know what you think if you have a moment.

Cheers!

Go Ahead, Label Me, Use the Type Tool to do it

Because there is a day for everything, today is International Label Day.  There is a little celebration in honor of this day going on over at Rarasaur.  When Rara contacted me a few weeks ago asking me if I’d like to participate, I made this labeled version of myself:

Basically I’m an introvert.

This is the same photo I use for my gravatar, I just added some text to it in Photoshop.  The original photo was taken by my Mom, and I scanned it into my computer a few years ago.

As for the text, I will tell you now that the text tool is probably my least favorite tool in Photoshop.  I think it is because I expect it to really sing and instead it has a frog in its throat.  I use this tool also in InDesign and Illustrator.  Because this tool was made to be used by designers I find the difficulties I have with it annoying.  That’s not to say that it doesn’t work, you can get what you want out of it, I just think it is pretty easy to mess up and have to re-do your work.

In this case, what I have done is not too complicated.  I did decide to make each of those lines of text a separate layer.  I did that so that I could move the text around easier, which was important because the texture of the sweater was problematic.  I also changed the color of the text a few times until I came up with a color that contrasted enough with the image.  My original choice of purple blended in with the background too much.  I then put a small stroke on each of the layers so that the text would stand out a bit more.

Do you have a feature of your favorite editing software that drives you nuts?  feel free to vent below.  Do you ever add text to your photos?

Happy International Label Day!

Cheers!

Travel Theme: Height

When I saw that height was the theme this week at Where’s My Backpack?  I went back to my photos from this summer in St. Paul Minnesota.  As part of our tour of the capitol building we went out on the roof.  I got some fun shots, one of which I have already posted.  From another angle, you can also see the Cathedral of St. Paul:

ISO 100 50mm 0ev f/8 1/250

I have included the link to the Cathedral because after we were finished hanging out on the roof of the Capitol, we went and took a very interesting tour of the Cathedral.

Because I am studying for my Photoshop midterm exam this week, you should guess that that photo above has been edited.  I will show you the original exposure in a moment and you will see how hazy the light was that day.  In terms of editing, first I created two additional levels layers for this photo.  One I adjusted for the sky to make it more dynamic.  The second I adjusted for the Cathedral, to lighten it.  Once I was happy with that, I put a film filter on the photo.  I used DXO FilmPack 3 for that.  For this photo I picked Kodak elite extra color 100 setting, because I really liked the color boost.  Then I did some final sharpening in Photoshop.

I wrote about DXO FilmPack 3 last week because it is being offered free until October 31st.  I am including the link again in case you missed it.  I’m really enjoying it and maybe you would too.

Here is my original photo:

ISO 100 50mm 0ev f/8 1/250

What do you think?  Do you like my edited version?  Feel free to leave a comment below.  If you don’t want to talk about my editing, feel free to leave me good luck and encouragement on my exam, I’d appreciate it!

Cheers!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Saturation

This week I am  working on creating a panorama for my Photoshop class.  It is a series of gravestones that includes this image:

ISO 250 50mm 0ev f/1.8 1/400

In the panorama there will be a panning to the left to reveal other gravestones.  But as I was looking at the image and thinking about this week’s photo challenge theme saturated, I was thinking about not only the amount of color but the actual color and the texture.

I also, just a few days ago, downloaded some free software from DXO and Sony.  It is DXO FilmPack 3 which is free to download until October 31, 2013.  I had installed it and have it  running as a plug-in in both Aperture and Photoshop. The software allows you to give your digital image the feel of film.  So, here is that same photo with a Kodak Elite Chrome 400 filter:

ISO 250 50mm 0ev f/1.8 1/400

Completely different isn’t it?  What do you think?  I like it, but I think for my panorama project I will stick with the green version.  I’m also thinking that I am going to be able to find a lot of uses for this software.  I will also say, that I think it is fairly easy to use.  I didn’t really dig into it, but I got it up and running really quickly which is something that I always appreciate.

I’ll also tell you that I found this software thanks to another blogger, Lignum Draco.  I have included a link to a recent post of his that I enjoyed.  He does mostly street photography, which is something I almost never do.  I enjoy looking at the work of photographers whose images are a lot different than mine.  You never know where you will find inspiration or free software, so I’d like to thank him for blogging and sharing his work.

Thoughts about my images? Do you also look to the work of others for inspiration? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Cheers!

I thought this blog was about photography?

It is really.  Photography is the reason that I write.  I started this blog as a way to keep track of my projects.  I thought that by writing out what I was doing, I would be better able to process my work.  I think that it has helped.  A bonus of writing a blog has been all the creative work by others that I have been exposed to.  I have enjoyed looking at blogs about technology, cooking, and writing, in addition to those about photography.

Today’s post is about Illustrator, which I purchased recently as part of CS6.  The link there is for the specific version I purchased. I bought it because in addition to taking a photography class this semester I am taking a class called Computer Art Studio.  We will be covering InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator.  I’ll be honest and say that I am much more a photographer than a tech person, so I am a bit apprehensive about this class.  However, I am taking the class because I think it will benefit my photography.  One of the first things I am learning to use is the pen tool.  The pen tool works the same in all three programs.  If you are looking to learn to use the pen, I would recommend this video.  It runs about 21 minutes, but it is a good place to start.

Here is my first project:

My first completed project.

I was really happy with the way it turned out.  I am hoping to create my logo for my business eventually.

So, thank you to all my readers who have been following my photography journey.  I hope you enjoy my occasional foray into related fields!

Cheers!