Made With Luminar: Budapest Black and White

From the Danube, I took this photo of the Liberty Statue:

ISO 400 f/8 55mm 0.2sec

I do really like the colors and light in the evening sky but I was curious to try a black and white edit:

ISO 400 f/8 55mm 0.2sec

To achieve this edit I applied the Luminar Look, Dramatic Landscapes B&W, then made additional adjustments to the whites, blacks, and shadows sliders. You can leave a comment below about this particular edit. I do think I will be making a color version eventually as well.

Cheers!

Added to Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge, Clouds.

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 include 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.

Made with Luminar: Geroldsau Waterfall

Located in the Black Forest region of Germany, the Geroldsau Waterfall is charming:

ISO 320 f/11 55mm 1/25 sec

I was interested in creating a black and white version of this image:

ISO 320 f/11 55mm 1/25 sec

It has the Luminar Look, Dreamy Landscape, applied with additional adjustments to the shadows, soft glow, and vignette sliders.

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.

Added to Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge, Moving Water. Its square companion post is here.

Cheers!

 

January Squares: Moonlight on a Bottle

This post is about how much editing can change the story of a photograph. I started with this:

ISO 200 f/2.2 4.2mm 1/17sec

I took this photo while on a tour of De Halve Maan Brewery in Brugge. But for the edit I was working on, I wanted the photo to be about moonlight. The use of a square crop was a quick way to accomplish that:

ISO 200 f/2.2 4.2mm 1/17sec

The potential competition of what the photo is about is removed with the crop. While I liked the color in the original photo, in a cropped variation the black and white was visually more appealing to me. This photo, shot on my iPhone, was edited in Luminar and has the Andes Dream filter and a vignette added to it.

The Instagram post is here:

View this post on Instagram

My kind of #moonlight #dehalvemaan #januarylight #brugge #brewery

A post shared by Amy Maranto (@marantophotography) on Jan 5, 2020 at 10:42pm PST

Added to January Squares, Day 6.

Cheers!

Go Exploring With Me

I struggled a bit with what title to give this post. It touches on a lot of things all springing from one photo:

This post is about:

• Film photography, what I do and don’t know.
• The intersection of film and digital, or at least where I am with that.
• History and how we chose to display it.
• A lovely boat ride in the Lake District.

The photo in question is this one:

Taken with a Canonet 28

I’ll start with the Canonet 28 camera I am using. It was originally owned by my Great-Uncle who, according to my memory, owned all kinds of photography equipment and I suspect would have made the foray into digital as well had he lived to see that era. At his passing, this camera went to my Aunt, who a few years ago was kind enough to ship me a box of camera goodies that had belonged to my Great-Uncle. Of all the things in the box, it was this camera that caught my imagination the most.

But did it still work? That was a question that would require a new battery and some film. Jim Grey writes a blog that I follow that covers film photography and he has a post specifically about my camera. Jim’s blog also had some suggestions about film and batteries and generally was a good starting point for me to get the camera going. Also, I googled the camera and was able to track down the original owner’s manual that came with it. This paragraph should give you an idea of how much I do not know about film photography.

Something that I do know is that regardless of what camera, digital or film, that you are using if you are standing on a vibrating boat, a perfectly still image is going to be really hard. So I just embraced that reality, choosing to shoot the also moving flag and just make the image about motion.

The boat in question is actually a Victorian-era steam yacht gondola, that was rebuilt and restored. Operated seasonally by the National Trust, it makes for a lovely cruise in the Lake District. The little history geek that resides within me loves when a tangible piece of history is displayed in this way.

Having captured this image on film and had it developed, I then scanned it to my computer. I do not have a scanner built with photography in mind. Anyway, I edited my scan in Luminar 3. I did not crop the image. That’s part of my process learning to use the viewfinder and lens setup of the camera, figuring out what does and doesn’t work. There are also a few spots and imperfections visible that are a reflection of the imperfections of the camera. I was pleased with how few there were given the age of the camera.

Overall, this was a nice foray into exploring film photography. Since the camera works and I like the feel of it, I will be loading another roll of film in. Film will never take the place of digital for me, the two are vastly different experiences, but I will continue to tinker with film.

This post is a little bit different than most of my others. I’m happy for you to leave a question or comment below.

Cheers!

Added to Lens-Artist Photo Challenge, On Display.

Made with Luminar: Dublin Black and White

Today I was working with this image shot in Dublin in February:

ISO 800 f/11 1/250sec 28mm

I went with a black and white interpretation:

ISO 800 f/11 1/250sec 28mm

Luminar Look applied:

On one layer, Architecture Smooth, filter left at 100%. On another layer, Aerial Dreamy, with the radiance slider dropped and vignette moved and edited. This filter also left at 100%

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. The text of these posts include the 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 other 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.

Cheers!

St. Joan of Arc

The photo for this post was taken just outside Église Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc in Rouen, France. The church is modern and beautiful:

ISO 320 14mm f/13 1/125sec

For this edit, I wanted to create a simpler version of the original file. I started by cropping the photo. I wanted to crop out the glimpse of the town, but retain an indication of this statue being outside. So, the people were out, but the pigeons were to stay.

ISO 320 14mm f/13 1/125sec

I created this mostly black and white by using the saturation sliders to remove the color. I couldn’t resist leaving just a bit of the purple in though. To me, that hint of color makes the image more interesting. To subtly bring attention to the pigeons the vignette that I applied stops right by them, making that spot one of contrast and hopefully drawing your eye.

What do you think of this mostly monochrome image? do you like the hint of color? did you notice the pigeons? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Cheers!

Added to Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge, Statues and Live Laugh RV, Black and White.

The Swans

I live near several small lakes, one of which has a swan family:

ISO 640 78mm f/16 1/500sec

This image is one of the first I captured of the whole family. I first posted about this family last week and my aim there was to keep the images as true to the original scene as possible. For this post, I am wandering out to a bit more creative territory. First a black and white edit:

ISO 640 78mm f/16 1/500sec

The first thing I did with this edit was to crop it. I wanted to really bring the swan in the foreground to an almost uncomfortable closeness. This swan was acting in a very protective manner and I think the crop helps tell that part of the story. I then brought the highlights in the image down and the shadows up. I wanted this black and white version to be a bit smoother than its original as shot exposure. I then added a vignette, darkening the corners.

I like this image and the crop, so I decided to create another color version:

ISO 640 78mm f/16 1/500sec

For this version, I started with a preset that was suggestive of a film camera. I kept the brightness of the original exposure though. It has a completely different color cast to it than the original. The luminance sliders for yellow, green, aqua and blue have all been boosted, and the color temp of the overall photo was also increased.

I’m sorry to say that one of the swans went missing shortly after these photos were taken. I posted the sad news on my Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

And then there were just two #cygnets #thingsiseewhilewalking #nofilter

A post shared by Amy Maranto (@marantophotography) on Jun 29, 2018 at 7:22am PDT

 

How do you like the edits? Do you have a favorite? Feel free to comment below.

Cheers!

Added to Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge.

Picfair versions: Black & White and Color.

 

Monochrome Monday: Zebra Portrait

ISO 800 200mm f/18 1/400sec

For this particular edit, I thought I would attempt to make a black and white portrait of an animal that was already black and white. The challenge here was that the color version was a pretty bright exposure and the greens in the foliage really competed with the zebra. So, I have chosen a black and white edit that wanders pretty close to a sepia. I’ve done this by bringing down the exposure and vibrance sliders.

Do you like this edit? Do you like animal portraits like this one that don’t include the whole animal or do you prefer images where you can see the whole animal? Feel free to comment below.

Cheers!

Added to Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge.