April Squares: Top Shots: Montecassino Abbey

ISO 400 f/2.2 1/17sec 4.2mm

Day 10, find other responses here.

Date and Location of Photo: October 26, 2017. I visited the Montecassino Abbey both because it was founded by St. Benedict and its WWII historical connection. We visited for the day while on a trip to Rome. It was well worth the research and effort to get to the area. The fact that this post featuring my favorite saint is on Good Friday was not planned in advance by me, but is for me a meaningful coincidence.

Thoughts on the Edit: This edit has two different Luminar Looks applied, Enigma, set at 100%  and Mono, set at 28%. The combination, while toning down the photo, still retains the glow that this Altar has.

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!

What I Am Working On: A Continuation

The file I chose to work on this past week was a continuation of and a revisit of work I have done in the past. The file under construction is this one:

ISO 250 F/9 22mm 1/500 sec

An older edit can be found here. Recently, I posted about using sliders that I don’t often use and this edit is a continuation of me working on using them. The resulting edit is this one:

ISO 250 F/9 22mm 1/500 sec

Prior to conversion to black and white, I used the custom white balance, luminance, dehaze, and polarize filters. It’s then converted to black and white with a red filter. The matte look and Orton effect filters have been applied and it has two vignettes applied to it.

A lot of filters but I am pleased with this edit, for now. The photo was taken a few years ago from the grounds of the Monte Cassino Polish war cemetery and is a shot of the nearby Monte Cassino Abbey  It was a day trip from Rome, and a memorable day from a fabulous holiday.

Your comments or questions are most welcome below. This post was inspired by the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge which has the theme Special Spots Shots for this week.

Cheers!

Wordless Wednesday, Montecassino Abbey

ISO 400 f/9 1/5000sec 12mm

Made with Luminar: Fountain on a Hill

The Fontana dell’Acqua Paolo is sometimes just called “the big fountain” with good reason. It’s pretty big. That creates a photography challenge.  It’s also built on a hill which can make it a challenge to get a photo that looks straight. My original file looks like this:

ISO 640 f/9 1/1250sec 13mm

I’ve used the straighten function within the crop tool and the lens distortion feature in Luminar 3 to deal with that issue:

ISO 640 f/9 1/1250sec 13mm

From there I went to some more creative edits. The Luminar Look applied here is Analog Film. That made for a nice starting point, but it was a dramatic filter, too dramatic for this photo so I’ve made several changes most of which involved moving sliders down. I then added a layer with the filters golden hour, accent ai, and vignette. I’ve used all the filters sparingly. I was looking to boost the natural drama of the fountain in the late afternoon light. Feel free to let me know what you think of the outcome in the comment section below.

The Made with Luminar Series

This image is part of a project I am calling Made with Luminar. What the images in this series have in common is the software used to edit them, Luminar 3. As with my usual blog posts particulars of the camera settings can be found in the caption below the image. The text of these posts include the Luminar “Looks” that have been applied to the photo. Each look is a series of presets that are applied to the photo. Where applicable I will mention what changes I have made to any of the looks. A full explanation of looks is available here on their website, https://skylum.com/luminar/user-guides/chapter-14-working-with-luminar-looks

You can assume other edits have been applied. My most common edits are cropping, detail enhancement, and vignette. Specific questions or thoughts on the image are welcome in the comment section below.

Cheers!

Added to Tuesday Photo Challenge, Slope.

 

 

Made With Luminar: Lurking in the Background

One of the real pleasures of photo-editing is working on older files. It’s like revisiting a moment. Pompeii was a place I had been interested in since childhood, so it was a big deal for me to visit. This photo is one of the ruins with Mt. Vesuvius in the background:

ISO 640 f/10 1/1600 sec 22mm

I wanted this particular edit to be a bit dreamy. Like a memory. The dreamy like feel almost but not entirely taking the edge off the reality that what created the ruins in the foreground is peacefully sitting in the background:

ISO 640 f/10 1/1600 sec 22mm

Does this work as a subtle horror image? My guess is only if you know the history of the area does it work in that way. Otherwise, it looks like a lovely sunny day. Your thoughts on this are welcome below.

Luminar filters applied, Denoise, Image Radiance, Matte Look, Orton Effect. Also added the LUT, 1960’s, set to 32%.

The Made with Luminar Series

This image is part of a project I am calling Made with Luminar. What the images in this series have in common is the software used to edit them, Luminar 3. As with my usual blog posts particulars of the camera settings can be found in the caption below the image. The text of these posts include the Luminar “Looks” that have been applied to the photo. Each look is a series of presets that are applied to the photo. Where applicable I will mention what changes I have made to any of the looks. A full explanation of looks is available here on their website, https://skylum.com/luminar/user-guides/chapter-14-working-with-luminar-looks

You can assume other edits have been applied. My most common edits are cropping, detail enhancement, and vignette. Specific questions or thoughts on the image are welcome in the comment section below.

Cheers!

Added to Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Creepy.

Wordless Wednesday, Triumphant Indeed

Arch of Titus, Rome:

ISO 640 f/10 1/640sec 11mm

Chilling Out in Rome

When you are in Rome, you have to go to the Trevi Fountain. That’s what all the books and the internet says. So, I did what I was told:

ISO 640 17mm f/11 1/80sec

There’s the photo to prove it.  Here’s the thing. Everyone goes to the Trevi Fountain. Even on a day where rain was threatening and it was the middle of the week and it was October. It makes getting a photo without at least fifty people in it difficult.  So, with that shot above, I just went with as much fountain and as few people as possible. One person’s forehead isn’t too bad considering the crowd. A quick crop removed the forehead and the building next to the fountain. As much as I liked the blue of the water of the fountain, standing there, taking the photo, I was thinking black and white.

I’ve sharpened to photo a bit and then worked with the tone curve a bit to make the darks just a touch darker and the whites just a touch whiter.

ISO 640 17mm f/11 1/80sec

I wasn’t feeling like this photo need a whole lot. There is a reason why everyone visits, it’s a beautiful fountain and doesn’t really need a whole lot more embellishment than it already has.

Have you ever stood in front of a scene in full color and thought, “yup, black and white it is”? Have you been to the Trevi Fountain? if not, you should when you go to Rome, the internet says you should, and the internet isn’t wrong 🙂 Feel free to leave a comment below!

Cheers!

Added to Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Cooling and Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge, Fountains.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Serene

A recent trip to Rome gave me the opportunity to visit Montecassino Abbey.

ISO 250 22mm f/9.0 1/800

That’s it up on the hill. The Abbey was founded by St. Benedict and is beautiful with stunning views.  This image was taken at the nearby Polish War Cemetery. The calm, serene image that I have above makes the destruction of WWII and the fighting that took place here almost unimaginable. It was so quiet while I was here, peaceful.

I used a wide angle 11-22mm lens to capture this scene. I like that lens for landscape shots like this one, it helps bring a sense of expansiveness to the image. It was very bright that day, so I took a few exposures.  In Photoshop, I merged two of them into a single HDR image.  I find that HDR is sometimes a good way to create an image that has a good final exposure, meaning that I haven’t lost to much detail in either the dark or light spots in the image.  Other than that, I let the image stand on it’s own.  It was a bit hazy that day, and I haven’t attempted to take that out of the photo.

For me, this was a peaceful, quiet moment. You will have to tell me if that is the kind of feeling it evokes for you? Feel free to comment below.

While we are on the topic of serenity, I’ll tell you my life at the moment is anything but.  It’s a good thing though, just somewhat full to overflowing.  I have the opportunity to do several unique and exciting things over the next few weeks, so I have decided to take a break from blogging. I will be back mid to late January, so I’d like to take this moment to wish all of you a serene and peaceful holiday season and all my best to you for the coming year. Thank you for reading.

Cheers!

It’s Tuesday, time for Design Class

Here is what I am turning in today in Design:

ISO 800 50mm 0ev f/4 1/80

It’s dimensions are 7″x21″ and is black construction paper on a white background.  It was originally supposed to be a story told in three separate frames like a cartoon, then blended to flow together.  Bonus points to you if you recognize the story. Your comments are most welcome below!

Cheers!