Weekly Photo Challenge: Weathered

The Colosseum in Rome is beautiful.  We walked through it, admiring it, amazed at how well it has weathered the years considering how long it has been a part of the landscape.  But it was a bit tough to photograph.  Of the photos I have edited so far, my favorite view is one that I got from the nearby Palatine Hill:

ISO 640 22mm f/10 1/800

This version, actually an HDR version, three exposures of the same photograph blended into one in Photoshop.  I wasn’t crazy about the way it turned out. Particularly the sky.  So, I created a black and white version:

ISO 640 22mm f/10 1/800

It’s ok, but still not crazy about the sky.  One of the reasons I thought to edit it into black and white is that a lot of times a very vivid color photo makes for a nice black and white version. In this case, it falls a bit flat I think. So I created another version:

ISO 640 22mm f/10 1/800

To create this version I opened both the color and black and white version in Photoshop as individual layers.  I put the black and white on top, then I lowered the opacity of that layer so that some of the colors would show through.  It’s this version that I ended up liking best and it went into my Picfair portfolio.

Do you like the combination image that I created, or do you prefer just the color or black and white version?  Feel free to leave a comment below.

Cheers!

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Layered

Layers is what Photoshop calls them. They are a helpful tool that I use to create my images.  I used layers in a few different ways as I was creating this image:

ISO 640 95mm f/11 1/500

This original looked like this:

ISO 640 95mm f/11 1/500

When using layers the first step I take is to duplicate the original layer.  I then begin my edits on the second layer.  What this means is that if my edits go badly, one option I have is just to delete the duplicate layer and go back to the original.  In this case on the second layer, I cropped the photo, did a levels adjustment, sharpened it, and then added a photo filter.  Once I was happy with my edits I saved it. Because I use Lightroom as a catalog for my photos, when I am in Photoshop, I am actually saving a version to Lightroom.  Lightroom also keeps a copy of the original for me.  I like keeping a copy of any original that I have edited, because sometimes I go back to the original and edit the photo into another version.  This particular version I added to my portfolio at Picfair.  The version I posted to Instagram is here:

View this post on Instagram

#Swan in the glow of a #summer evening.

A post shared by Amy Maranto (@marantophotography) on Sep 19, 2017 at 10:31am PDT

What do you think of my layered version? In this case I focused on the warm glow of light.  I was thinking another direction to go with editing was the cooler blue tones.  Do you use layers to edit your photos? Have any related tips you want to share? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Cheers!