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!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Nostalgia

I’ll admit I’m suspicious of nostalgia. When people look back on the past, in my opinion it tends to be with a rosy optimism. I’m ok with that as long as you realize what you are doing. I’m just not really sure the “good old days” were anything more than fine, kind of like now, there is a lot going on that is bad and plenty that is good too.  This past weekend we went to Bletchley Park, which is a museum space dedicated to code breaking during World War II.  It was fascinating; if you are interested in history, science, math, or people, I would recommend going.  Plan to make a day of it, you’ll be both inside and outside, so dress accordingly.  This photo was taken in one of the work areas they had set up:

ISO 320 4.3mm f/2.7 1/30

The sun was shining brightly and so I knew that this would be a light saturated image, perfect for a feeling of nostalgia. Lightroom is kind enough to have a setting called “Aged Photo” so I started there. I took a look at the various sliders and the settings Lightroom had selected and then did some modifications from there.  I added some grain and made the vignette a little stronger.

Th museum itself is a fascinating look at what can be best about human beings, our ability to think and create. But it’s set against the backdrop of World War II.  The death toll from that war is just appalling, really reflecting the worst we are capable of as human beings. To me just that is enough to stop thinking of this time in any sort of nostalgic way.

How about you? Do you tend to look back in a more glass half full sort of way? How do you like the editing I’ve done to the photo? Have you also noticed the nostalgia-related filters in your editing software? I’ll admit, I tend to like the results, even if I do then edit them further.

Cheers!