What I Am Working On: Cropping and Layers

The file I was working with this morning illustrates how edits can really change a photo, and one of the most powerful tools is the cropping tool:

ISO 25 f/2.2 1/377sec 4.2mm

This first edit was created in the app Hipstamatic using the randomize feature which means that the filters were chosen for me. The second edit was also created in Hipstamatic, but I chose the various filters and it was the version that I added to my Instagram feed:

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Busy. #bee #flowers #thingsiseeonmywalks

A post shared by Amy Maranto (@marantophotography) on Jun 17, 2020 at 7:27am PDT

I go back and forth between these two and I think there are elements to both that I like but that neither is exactly right. This morning’s edit which I created using the original file in Luminar 3 is this one:

ISO 25 f/2.2 1/377sec 4.2mm

This edit keeps the original ratio of the photograph and is more top-heavy than the square version. When I was working on this edit, the crop was the second edit in my workflow. I started with basic edits like luminosity and adjusting the blacks and whites. Then on a separate layer, I did the crop. Then on an additional layer, I added then tweaked a custom Luminar look that I have saved as a preset. It turned out that when I got to that point, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the crop. Because the crop was on its own layer, it was easy to click on and edit just that layer.

So, there are two important points here I think, first is that the crop set to different ratios can really change the photo’s story and second that putting the crop on its own layer can make your editing process much easier.

Your thoughts on cropping in general or in this specific case are welcome below. This post was inspired by the Lens Artist Challenge, One Single Flower.

Cheers!

January Squares: Mother Nature has it all

Light tones, dark tones. When it comes to color tones Mother Nature has it all covered, sometimes all in just a few flowers:

ISO 250 f/11 42mm 1/60sec

Shot on the grounds of Sandringham Estate with my Canon 80D, it was the range of light and dark pink that caught my eye.  A square edit seemed like a good way to distil the image as the vines of the flower made it quite a busy image:

ISO 250 f/11 42mm 1/60sec

Other edits in Luminar included the use of the Orton effect and Matte look filters. The photo also has a vignette.

The Instagram version is here:

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A floral heart for the coming weekend. #friyay #januarylight #flowers

A post shared by Amy Maranto (@marantophotography) on Jan 9, 2020 at 10:23pm PST

Added to Day 10 of January Squares and Cee’s Flower of the Day.

Cheers!

Wordless Wednesday, One photo, Three interpretations

ISO 500 f/4.5 1/125sec 50mm

Picfair version here.

ISO 500 f/4.5 1/125sec 50mm

Picfair version here.

 

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Monday morning here I am. #orchid #flowers #mondaymotivation #madewithluminar

A post shared by Amy Maranto (@marantophotography) on Oct 7, 2019 at 12:23am PDT

Added to Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Filling the Frame and Cee’s Flower of the Day.

Cheers!

Oh Boy! A New Photography Toy!

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A trio for your #tuesdaymotivation #flowers #roses #hipstamatic

A post shared by Amy Maranto (@marantophotography) on Jan 29, 2019 at 2:00am PST

No, I didn’t need another one,

but gee, Hipstamatic sure is fun!

Cheers!

Added to Tuesday Photo Challenge, Rose and Six Word Saturday.

Summer’s Here with a Purple Pop

ISO 800 50mm f/13 1/25sec

Added to Six Word Saturday and Cee’s Flower of the Day.

Cheers!

A Floral Surprise

It wasn’t just that these flowers were so pretty:

ISO 25 4.15mm f/2.2 1/400sec

It was that they were on the grounds of St. Paul’s Catacombs in Malta that made them a bit of a surprise. This photo was shot with my iPhone and has had very little editing.

Here is the Instagram version:

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#Flowers at the #catacombs #Malta

A post shared by Amy Maranto (@marantophotography) on Sep 27, 2018 at 1:26am PDT

Do you have simple but lovely photos like that existing in your archives? Your thoughts are welcome below.

Cheers!

Added to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Pastel Colors, and Flower of the Day.

 

Silent Sunday: A Natural Arch

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Natural beauty #thingsiseeonmyrun #flowers #naturephotography

A post shared by Amy Maranto (@marantophotography) on Jun 8, 2018 at 1:48am PDT

Part of Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Graceful

There are a lot of flowers in the house right now.  I enjoy all of them and love photographing them, but there is something about the rose that seems to embody grace:

ISO 800 50mm f/5.6 1/20

There is also something inherently graceful about a black and white photograph. I find that limiting the color palette is a form of simplicity even if it is not simple to do.  In this case, I started with this original photo:

The original

Before converting it to black and white, I edited it to this version using Lightroom:

ISO 800 50mm f/5.6 1/20

I have increased the saturation, vibrance, and clarity.  I like the original version better than this edited version, but it has been my experience that a crisp and vibrant color photo often transforms into a more interesting black and white version than a softer color photo does.

Having created the more dynamic color version, I then edited it using the Silver Efex Pro plug in within Lightroom.  As I usually do, I began with choosing a filter that looked closest to what I wanted to achieve and then edited from there.  It is rare that I apply a filter and then don’t edit it further.  In this case this filter was a bit too dark for my liking, I increased the light by using the sliders for both the highlights and the shadows.  Back in Lightroom, I added a vignette.

This photo was shot using my Canon 50D with a 50mm lens and a magnifier.  This allows me to get more of a macro photo.  The difficulty in using this set up though is getting adequate light.  In this case I went with f/5.6 and 1/20 shutter speed.  That’s a slow shutter speed, I got a lot of blurry images.  Using the tripod would have made this easier.

The beautiful thing about flowers is that they are always changing.  Here’s another photo, this time using my iPhone, taken this morning:

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Roses in the morning light. #photography #goodmorning #flowers

A post shared by Amy Maranto (@marantophotography) on Jan 24, 2017 at 12:45am PST

Lovely, but it is still the black and white version that says graceful to me.  What do you think? Do you have a favorite version? Is there a flower that you think is more graceful than the rose? Do you have a favorite way to convert images to black and white?  Feel free to leave a comment below.

Cheers!

This Is My Home

I had a blog project brewing for the new year.  Then I got a little push to work on the project before the new year started. You are looking at the project, it is the blog itself.  I wanted a new look for it.  This blog is the living room of my online home and I wanted to redecorate.  I had big plans, a whole new WordPress theme I was thinking.  It turned into something much more modest.  None of the themes that I tried on suited my vision of home. I’ll be honest, it was frustrating.  So, what have I done then?  First, I kept the theme I had been using, it’s the Able theme if you are curious.  What’s new is that I got rid of the sidebar.  One of the lovely things about the Able theme, is that you do have the option of displaying photographs in a large format.  This is a photography blog, it makes sense that the images should be large.  All of my social links are now up in the header.  I did keep the header image and kept the type a color that I borrowed from the lion header image.

Another thing that won’t change on the blog is the underlying thread of photography.  I hope you enjoy my photography and reading about how I create images.  That is the main reason I write this blog.  With that in mind, this is an image I was working on creating this week:

ISO 800 50mm f/5.6 1/30sec

When this poinsettia branch fell off the rest of the plant, I was presented with a lovely photography opportunity.  I wanted to create an image that was both warm and dark, one that represents the idea of reflecting on the year that has passed and the one that is to come.  The original photo is here:

ISO 800 50mm f/5.6 1/30sec

I decided to shoot this photo using a bracketed exposure, I wanted to create an HDR image that would bring out the detail in the leaf.  The final image was also cropped in Lightroom.  I used the perspective crop feature to level out the final image just a bit.  I have also used a photo filter.  The filter was adjusted to add warmth to the image and also a bit of texture.  I then darkened the corners using a vignette.  The final image was added to my Picfair portfolio because I do think this would make a good stock image.

So, what do you think of my final image?  I was using only the candle and natural light to light the photo, can you believe it was only 3pm?  In this part of the world these last days of the year are also the darkest.  They do open up a wide variety of photography options though.  This will be my last post of the year, I expect to be back in this space in mid-January.  In the meantime you can find me on Instagram and Twitter.  If you are a blogger, I’ll probably be by to visit.  Feel free to leave a comment below about the photo I have created.  I would also appreciate feedback on the new layout of the site!

All the best to you and yours for the coming year.

Cheers!

Aromatic

I attended a Christmas fair this weekend and my youngest brought this home:

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A little bit of #beauty for your day #photography

A post shared by Amy Maranto (@marantophotography) on Nov 20, 2016 at 4:26am PST

In addition to being beautiful it is incredibly aromatic.

So, my fingers are crossed that this post shows the photo that I posted to my Instagram.  I started posting there last week, so stop by and say hi if you are on that platform.

The smells that are associated with the Christmas season are one of the things that I love about it.  It was nice to go and get a little preview this weekend.  I’ll be honest though, I’m one of those people who doesn’t like to attend a bunch of Christmas activities, I’ll go to a few and that will be good enough for me.  How about you, do attend many holiday events, or are you more likely to lay low? Are you on Instagram, how do you like that platform?  Feel free to leave a comment below.

Cheers!