What I am Working On: A New Project

Just a reminder that I’ve moved! Click on over to visit me there.
Cheers, Amy

Photography Journal Blog: Volume 2

I have a new project in the works:

ISO 160 3.9mm f/1.8 1/60sec

What you see in the photo is the start, part of my thought process. I’m going to give image transfers to wood a try. I took a short class and have ordered the materials I need. My first tries will be small, 4×6 size. They will be in color. The images above were a test run on my home printer in black and white. The next step is to make color copies on a laser printer.

The photo above originally was an IG post:

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Beginning. A new photography project underway. #photography #art #hipstamatic

A post shared by Amy Maranto (@marantophotography) on

I’ll be posting some more about the project as it comes along. I’m hoping to like the technique enough to make some larger versions to put on a wall in our…

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Unusual

Static, I think that is one word that comes to mind when describing a war monument. The Battle of Britain Monument is unusual in that it is dynamic.  Not only do the elements of the monument protrude in interesting ways, they do so at eye level.  It is a very interesting work to walk around.  It was my first visit, so I took a lot of shots as I walked around getting my first impressions.  When I got home, I created this photo:

ISO 32 4.15mm 1/50 f/2.2

The photos I took, I took on my iPhone.  Mostly, I was capturing details of the monument and not the monument in its entirety.  I find my iPhone is a good tool for this kind of photography.  I will show you the original shot at the bottom of this post, but as you can see there is a lot going on here, so one of my first thoughts was, what would I like to highlight in my final photo?  The answer was the bright sky you can see in the binoculars of the soldier in the foreground.  I used Lightroom to create my version.  I first cropped the photo then sharpened it a bit.  I then used a radial filter just over the binoculars, the effect evenly muted the rest of the photo, but kept the vibrance of the sky.  I then lightened the corners of the photo which I think helps encourage your eye to stay more in the center of the photo.  For comparison, here is the original photo:

ISO 32 4.15mm 1/50 f/2.2

What do you think of my edits?  Is there another approach you would have taken in editing this? Your comments are welcome below.

Cheers!

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The winner of this month’s Book at the Door and two prints of mine has been announced, pop over to take a look!

Behind the Willows

And the winner is…

Rosie Amber!

Rosie is none other than the wonderful Rosie of Rosie’s Book Review Team, of which I’m proud to be a member. Her blog (rosieamber.wordpress.com) is full of book reviews from all genres and you should certainly stop by if you are looking for your next book to read.

Rosie will need to be on the lookout for a package in the mail with a copy of The White Queen by Philippa Gregory as well as these beautiful prints by Amy Maranto!

Now that you have seen these photos again I’m sure you would like to go visit Amy on her blog Photography Journal Blog  (https://marantophotography.wordpress.com/) where she shares her thoughts on her photography and photo editing journey!

Rosie she says she hasn’t read any Philippa Gregory books yet, which is a terrible problem to have and I am so happy to…

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And now, a line from the Little Mermaid

I’d like to share this post featuring the writing of Theresa Barker and a photo of mine.
Cheers! Amy

Weekly Photo Challenge: Shine

After a downpour it’s hard to miss the shine of the sun. I got this photo after a fairly heavy rain.  The few raindrops left on the petals stand in contrast to the bright sun:

ISO 800 4.3mm f/8.0 1/1250

I left the editing of this photo to a minimum.  Here is the original:

ISO 800 4.3mm f/8.0 1/1250

The change here was done using split toning in Lightroom.  Split toning allowed me to give the autumn colors a bit of a warm glow by using the highlights to bring out a bit of an orange tone.  I added a bit of the deeper blue in the sky by darkening the blues in the shadows.  Split toning also has a balance slider that allows you to change the balance of the edit you are applying making it either more in the highlights or more in the shadows.  In this case it is adding more to the highlights.  I got the idea to give the balance slider a try after watching this short tutorial.

How do you like the edit?  I like the original, but I really like the orange tones in the edit.  I think they appeal to me right now because it is fall here and orange is a color that I have always associated with fall.  Feel free to leave a comment below.

Cheers!

New Year, New Look

If you stop by this blog regularly you will have noticed that I changed my theme a few days ago.  I am using the theme Able, and so far I like it and I think I will be sticking with it for a little while at least.   I would like to thank those folks who responded to my post, Tinkering with my blog.  Several bloggers offered their thoughts on what would make a good theme for this blog.  For fun I thought I would share a link to a recent post from all of them: catbirdinamerica, Lignum Draco, Cardinal Guzman, Northwest Frame of Mind, Unique So Chic, Behind the Willows.

If you are wondering about my new header image, I wrote a post about it this past summer and it can be found here. The lesson learned there is that sometimes a snoozing lion isn’t really asleep, so pay attention.  I switched themes in part to be able to display bigger photographs, and I am still working on the exact size that I think fits the theme, is big enough for the viewer, but not too obnoxiously large.  If you have an opinion on sizing, or other aspect of this new layout, please feel free to leave a comment below.

I will leave you with one of my favorite photographs from my blog this year.  It was originally posted in an entry chronicling the nest. I hope that you have a wonderful New Year!

Cheers!

ISO 800 14mm 0ev f/5 1/60

SortaMadLib E-Card Creations

I don’t usually reblog, but I thought I would share this post from Queen Creative. The third e-card created is “mine” in that I filled out the form and hit submit. This blog, and the individual blogs of their contributors are great and geeky, so consider checking them out!

Cheers!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Geometry

Geometry, that was my favorite math in high school, and it is also the topic of this week’s photo challenge at WordPress.  I don’t do a lot of architecture photography but this shot is a picture of a stairwell in the St. Louis Art Museum that caught my eye.  I think it fits for this week’s challenge as well:

ISO 1600 4mm 0ev f/2.7 1/40

I took this photo with my point and shoot.  I tried the shot on a few different settings, but my favorite was this one using the blue tone in the black and white setting.

Cheers!

Fall is here

It is getting cooler and the leaves are turning.  It was raining and I got this shot in front of my house:

ISO 320 70mm f/5 1/13

I love the color of fall!

Cheers!

9/11

I’m just thinking as I write this that I may never be able to see this date without feeling a bit sick to my stomach.

So, I am not posting a photo today, just this link to my friend who has a spot on the South Memorial Pool of the 9/11 Memorial.