My most common use of backlighting is for flowers and leaves. This scene caught my eye the other day:
ISO 25 f/2.2 4.15mm 1/506sec
The square crop is this:
ISO 25 f/2.2 4.15mm 1/506sec
I used Hipstamatic to create the square, but other than the crop, I let the photo stand as is. What is and is not in focus I found visually interesting, so I didn’t attempt to “fix” it.
The Instagram version is here:
Added to January Squares Day 23.
Cheers!
I love taking nature photos. This one was a bit of an unexpected find:
ISO 800 50mm f/16 1/250sec
Unexpected for two reasons. The first is that it was taken in a cemetery, though you’d never know it from this photo. The second is that it was taken with my 50mm lens. I was able to get that close without the butterfly flying away.
The original file is this one:
ISO 800 50mm f/16 1/250sec
I chose this file to work with because I thought the exposure was pretty much perfect. I liked the amount of detail in both the butterfly and the flower it is sitting on. I also loved the summery colors in this image, what can I say, this winter just seemed to drag its feet on the way out this year. I cropped the photo and then the biggest edit was to remove the blade of grass that was just to the left of the flower, I found it pretty distracting. I used the healing tool in Lightroom for the removal. I have also boosted the luminance and clarity and added a vignette.
What do you think of the edit? Have you ever come across a nature image in an unexpected place? Feel free to comment below.
Cheers!
Added to Wandering Wednesday and Tuesday Photo Challenge.
Picfair version is here.
I do enjoy being on my own, but at this point in my life I’m not alone a lot. It’s the nature of my work and of parenting that I be with others. I have found over the years though, that is is possible to experience a sense of solitude when when others are around:
ISO 25 4.15mm f/2.2 1/4800 sec
This is an image I created from the shot below that I took while out on a run yesterday:
ISO 25 4.15mm f/2.2 1/4800 sec
It was a cold morning, the sun was out briefly and in a very intense way. It made for a beautiful and hazy moment. I have edited the first version to saturate the image with color and then added a lot of grain to give the photo an intense and somewhat surreal look. It was a simple edit using the sliders in Lightroom.
My Instagram version turned out this way:
I stuck with the softer hues for that version.
From my photographs, you might have the impression that I run in wide open desolate places. You would be wrong. This spot, while beautiful, is just steps from a lot of houses and is on a very busy path. To me though, running is a moment of solitude. It really is just me and the path, just as the photo suggests. Do you find that to be an interesting contradiction? to be alone yet not alone? What do you think of my various edited versions? To me that first version looks like it could have been taken almost anywhere, I like that about it, but does it seem that way to you? Feel free to comment below. Check out my other moments of solitude on Instagram @marantophotography feel free to follow me, I like the company!
Cheers!
It’s possible you walked right past it. It’s always amazing to me what I run past almost daily. It’s scenes like this:
ISO 25 4.15mm f2.2 1/2200 sec
Or this:
These two photos represent to me the greatest art in the world, art that occurs in nature. Don’t get me wrong, I love going to art galleries or churches and looking at beautiful works of art, but you can’t beat what you walk past every day.
These photos were taken within minutes of each other yet have a very different feel to them. The first, which has been edited, is moodier despite the warm tone of the sky. Here is what the original photo looked like:
ISO 25 4.15mm f2.2 1/2200 sec
A cooler tone, but more distracting elements in the lower left and right of the photo. I used Photoshop, the healing brush tool, to remove them. I then used the Analog pro plug in in Lightroom and applied a filter that warmed the photo up and also introduced the grain that you can see in the final image. There is a vignette in the corners that I think is most obvious in the lower corners. This version I posted to my Picfair portfolio.
The Instagram photo, well it’s an Instagram photo. What I mean by that is that photos I post there tend to be more casual and everyday. I like the light in the photo. I think it works well in Instagram’s square format too. It isn’t a photo that I would put in a more formal setting though because part of the plant, the part that is closest to the viewer, is out of focus. I could get all high and mighty and tell you haughtily that “It’s art!” but the reality is that it is distracting. I like it, but I’m not going to edit it.
Do you have a favorite among the images? Are you on Instagram, I am @marantophotography if you’d like to stop by there. Do you have a favorite work of art? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Cheers!
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!
Some of the most interesting and ornate patterns can be found in nature. Every year, we have an interesting combination of man made structure and natural elements that comes together in our driveway. As the leaves pile up on damp days, they leave an impression on the driveway. It only lasts a few days, but I love the patterns the leaves impress upon the asphalt:
ISO 800 50mm 0ev f/7.1 1/200
This was the image that I created from this year’s offering. I started here:
ISO 800 50mm 0ev f/7.1 1/200
This is one of the original photos. I shot a bracketed exposure and this was the darkest version. I used Photomatix to create my HDR version. The original HDR version looked like this:
ISO 800 50mm 0ev f/7.1 1/200
The final version, which is the first photo in this post has been cropped in Photoshop and then had a warming photo filter applied to it. I also sharpened the photo to bring out the texture of the driveway. In a few days it will rain and these impressions will be gone.
What do you think of these fleeting natural impressions? Do you have a version that you prefer over the others? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Cheers!
There is no doubt about it, I love to be outside. I don’t always take my camera with me because I find that having my camera changes everything. I tend to be more analytical with my camera in hand. Sometimes, I find myself looking for photos instead of just enjoying the moment. Then there are the days when I plan to take my camera. A few weeks ago it was sunny and warm after a few days of cooler weather. I went looking for bees, they didn’t disappoint:
ISO 125 200mm 0ev f/8 1/400
Now there are some who would point out that the light is too harsh in this photo, that I went at the wrong time of day and the light is all wrong. Technically, they are right. My argument against that line of thinking goes something like this, to me this harsh light creates huge contrast between the light and dark parts of the image and that says Fall to me. Fall is what I was trying to capture here. Also, being outside just makes me happy, the time of day doesn’t matter so much to me.
When I got this photo home, I was pleased with its clarity. So, in Photoshop I cropped it, messed with the levels a bit to bring down the harshest of the highlights, and then sharpened it a bit. Here is the original:
ISO 125 200mm 0ev f/8 1/400
I think the crop helps this photo a lot. I’ll also say that I used my 200mm lens to be able to get in close to the bee, but not be so close that I would bother it.
How about you, do you have a favorite place to shoot? would you consider yourself more of an indoor or outdoor person? Anything you’d like to say about the edits I have done? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Cheers!
Fall is officially here in this part of the world. The leaves are starting to change here and the day is noticeably shorter. To me, the light during this time of year seems more intense, and I have been thinking about ways to grab that photographically. This week, I found myself thinking about creating backlit images, here is a link to some photos I was looking at this morning. Earlier this week, I was taking some photos at a local park, and the sun was causing some harsh shadows, so I decided to change up the way I was shooting and shoot into the sun instead of with my back to it. Here is the result:
ISO 125 70mm 0ev f/8 1/1250
This photo has been edited. It is actually an HDR image that I created using Photomatix. Changing a photo using editing can be fun, but there is another way to change and image and that is just to move. Here is what that scene looks like standing at street level:
ISO 125 70mm 0ev f/8 1/160
But this particular morning, I wasn’t looking to just take a picture in the park, I was daydreaming about light and wide open spaces, so the top photo was my result. All it took was a few steps down the hill and a little editing and I was where I wanted to be.
How do you feel about changing an image to suit an idea rather than being an exact descriptor? Personally, I like trying to combine both things, so this image is a bit of stretch for me. Feel free to comment below about the changes I made in this case or to comment on how you feel about this type of change in your own work.
Cheers!
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