Up to Speed

I remember taking this shot near Yuma, because I was attracted to the way the light was hitting the weeds at the lower left. But then when looking at the photo on the computer, it just seemed like another dusty, dry, shot of an unappealing landscape. It took me a couple years to get used to the harsh desert sunlight here, and this is one of those locations where I was fighting it all the way.

I decided this week to finally get up to speed on the major improvements that happened in Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw recently (specifically the addition of creative profiles to the basic panel). I was not a believer, because I have my usual workflow- and I didn’t see the point of changing. However, I watched tutorials by three of my go-to editing gurus, Matt Kloskowski, Blake Rudis, and Julieanne Kost and gave it a try. I was especially interested in what Blake had to say, because he never does much on the creative side with Camera Raw- he saves that for Photoshop and the plug-ins.

So. . . I used one of Matt K’s new Lightroom/ACR profiles (Crisp Warm) on this photo (plus some other Lightroom edits) and am pleased with the results. I like the way you can reduce the opacity of the profile, which I did here- and that the profiles don’t override the slider settings like presets do.  I also really like that you can access the same profiles in Camera Raw, which would allow me to use them in a layer in Photoshop and mask if I wanted. These changes haven’t rocked my world so far, but I can definitely see using this new feature.

 

 

 

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Not Even Close

It is finally Spring here in Prescott. The trees have leaves, our birds are building nests, flowers are in bloom, and cottonwood fluff is floating in the sky like snowflakes- playing havoc with everyone’s allergies. Our irises are blooming, but getting a satisfactory shot has been challenging. I tried several times and finally settled on this composition.  I took the image into Topaz Studio and ended up with a look that is not even close to my original image- but I like it better.


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Two Flags

Looking back at photos from my Vulture Mine excursion in November, I found quite a few that never made the blog- like the one below:

As I understand it, the company that now own the mine is Canadian- hence the maple leaf along with the stars and stripes.

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Whimsical

Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right.

                                                           ~George Harrison

Today our final project is due in my photo group. The topic is whimsical, which has caused a lot of consternation and debate among some of the members. Our teacher included dreamy in his definition of whimsical, but I chose to bring a not particularly dreamy photo which has appeared on this blog previously in a not so whimsical form.

Here is the original photo, taken at sunrise from our driveway.

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Exotic

I can remember a time when orchids were considered exotic- and I only saw them in corsages, which I thought were pretty ugly. Now you can buy them at the grocery store, although I’m sure many species ARE exotic and are only available from specialty nurseries. I like them now, although I still think they look like they have mean faces.

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Les Fleurs

Spring is here- so I’m continuing on with flowers today. Here is a lensbaby daisy photo in black and white. I recently updated Lightroom and decided to use one of the new “artistic profiles” for this image. I’m not thrilled with where they have placed these in the adjustment panel (or even that they are IN the panel. . .), but I do like the improved ability to preview changes- and also adding Dehaze to the basic panel (where it belongs!).

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Winter’s End

I think our February snowstorm was likely the end of our (very mild) winter, although we did have some snow at the beginning of April last year. I have a few more snowy photos I am considering posting here, starting with this one of the rocks and snow at Willow Lake. I began with a straightforward edit, using Photoshop to bring out the detail of the Liesegang rings in the rocks. I have recently just started exploring Topaz Studio, so decided go there to see what I could use on this photo to give it an “extra something”. I played around until I created a softer, more painterly look in the image.

 

 

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Change of Season

Although the flower season is always comparatively late here (“Don’t plant until after Mother’s Day!), blossoms have started to appear on the trees- always a welcome sign of Spring. Our plum tree has just a few- just enough show us that Spring is on its way.

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