ISO 200 f/11 1/250sec 50mm
August 16, 2016.
Cheers!
Category Archives: travel
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.
Cheers!
April Squares: Top Shots, Take to the Skies
ISO 25 f/2.2 1/100sec 4.2mm
Day 19, find other responses here.
Date and Location of Photo: December 24, 2018. Prepping for a flight from Germany to England. A summary of my years living here in England requires a mention of Easy Jet, the budget airline I used most and referred to as “Squeezy Jet” by certain teenagers of my acquaintance. This particular shot was taken in Berlin on a cold Christmas Eve morning.
Thoughts on the Edit: Keeping with the transportation theme, I’ve added the Luminar Look, Subway, to this edit.
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!
Wordless Wednesday: The View from St. Peter’s Basilica
ISO 250 f/0 1/400sec 16mm
Cheers!
What I Am Working On: Using a Mask
There are times when I am editing that I would like to apply an edit to only a certain part of a photograph. This is a file I was working on where that happened:
ISO 400 f/8 1/20sec 55mm
I did a few standard edits first and then applied a Luminar look called Blue and White. While I mostly liked the look, I wanted to remove it from the sky. Using a mask I erased the look out of the sky. When you are doing something like this, most editing software has a mask button that will show where you are working. While I was editing mine looked like this:
Shows the mask in progress
Toggling that button on and off helped me get a sense of where I was working and it can also pretty easily show if I have missed a spot. While it is not a tool I always use, I do find that it is a handy one to have. The final edit is this:
ISO 400 f/8 1/20sec 55mm
Feel free to leave a comment below about this edit. This photo is also a response to Lens-Artists Challenge, Treasure Hunt. The photo includes the following items on the “treasure hunt” list: a sunset, a boat, and two churches, Matthias and St. Mary Magdalene.
Cheers!
What I Am Working On: Minor Edits
I took a tour last week of the Hungarian State Opera House. I had heard the interior of the building was beautiful and well worth seeing. That is correct:
ISO 1000 f/8 0.1 sec 18mm
My edits to the photo are a work in progress. At this point they include a crop, the removal or toning down of a few light reflections, and the use of a vignette placed on the column in the foreground:
ISO 1000 f/8 0.1 sec 18mm
The edit is a bit dark, and I haven’t fully decided if I am going to change that. The Opera House at that moment was very still on its upper levels, there were only people milling around where I was standing. I wanted the edit to reflect that quiet. Feel free to leave your thoughts on the edit in the comment section below.
The Opera House had its Opening Night on September 27, 1884. It is currently undergoing renovations but is still open for tours. I’ve added this post to A Photo a Week, Over 100 Years Old.
Cheers!
Wordless Wednesday: Brugge
ISO 320 F/11 28nn 1/2000sec
Cheers!
January Squares: Goldenlight
You have to look up to see her, but she is quite dazzling:
ISO 320 f/11 21mm 1/1250 sec
This is Gëlle Fra, the golden lady, a memorial on Constitution Square in Luxembourg City, to commemorate the dead of WWI. Originally erected in 1923, it was pulled down by the Nazis in 1940 and then restored to its original appearance in 1984.
This file was taken with my Canon 80D and then edited in Luminar:
ISO 320 f/11 21mm 1/1250 sec
In addition to the crop, I corrected for lens distortion. I boosted the luminance of the orange and yellow. I slid the sky enhancer up and highlights and blacks down. I have also added a vignette.
The Instagram version is here:
Added to Day 30 of January Squares.
Cheers!
January Squares: Plague Dragon
The Middle Ages, wow what fun! In Munich a dragon appeared bringing the plague:
ISO 320 f/7 29mm 1/100 sec
The more enlightened folks in town just washed their hands more frequently, but a dragon does make for a fun story and it’s remembered on the side of City Hall.
It’s an excellent work of art and I thought a square edit would be fun:
ISO 320 f/7 29mm 1/100 sec
In Luminar I dropped the highlights slider and then adjusted the whites, blacks, and luminance sliders. The filter “daydream” was added and dropped to 56%. I picked that filter mostly due to the irony of applying a daydream to the nightmare that was the plague.
The Instagram version is here:
Added to Day 28 of January Squares. It’s at this point that I confess photos for this challenge are supposed to end in “light” and enlightenment is really breaking pushing that rule.
Cheers!
Photography Journal Blog 