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!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Cherry On Top

Sometimes it is just a very simple thing that can trip me up.  I have a new iPhone that takes panoramic photos if you know how to use it.  Feel free to roll your eyes in my general direction, but I had to look for instructions on how to get that feature to work.  I was glad I did though, because it meant that I was able to get this photo of the Port of Dover:

ISO 25 4.15mm f/22 1/3000

Pleased as I was with getting this feature to work, I did edit it a bit in Lightroom. Final touches like sharpening and getting the color to pop was the cherry on top for this photo.  It is possible that just this simple thing made me one of the happiest people in Dover this past weekend, it certainly wasn’t anyone who was waiting to take the ferry to France.  If you happen to hear anyone talking about how bad their experience was, know that they probably aren’t exaggerating.  I saw the lines, it was horrible.

How do you like my photo of the port?  For me it was learning to take a panorama on my phone that was a small thing that made my life happier, how about for you? Is there some small photography skill that you learned that made a huge difference?  Feel free to leave a comment below.

Cheers!