Good to Wow [Green Edits]

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time to link-up my “green” edits at Ashley's Ramblings and Photos. I opted to just share three of the five shots from my original post on Monday since I tend to go through the same basic editing steps on all of my photos. Since I’m still relatively new to the photography world I’m admittedly still trying to find my groove. After much trial and error with my editing, I’ve learned to adopt the less is more philosophy. When I first started editing pictures I know there were many times when I way over did it, so my goal now is to just try to enhance. And of course there are those times when it’s fun to get really creative with actions and other editing techniques. For the following, however, I tried to keep it pretty simple.

I shoot in Manual Mode and RAW probably 99% of the time. I love the flexibility and extra control it gives me when I go to edit. And if I make a mistake with White Balance or exposure, I can usually correct the problem later.

I started in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) with all of the shots below. Although I did write down my specific changes, I think I’ll just say that the settings I typically like to tweak are: Exposure (to lighten or darken), Recovery (to recover some lost detail), Blacks (to give a little richness and depth), Contrast (to intensify the difference in lights and darks) and Clarity (to add crispness). I usually don’t adjust by much – just enough to add a little pizzazz! I think the amount by which you adjust the settings depend on the picture itself.

Once I’m done playing in ACR, I edit in Photoshop Elements 9. Someday maybe I’ll take the plunge into the world of the more powerful “real” Photoshop, but for now I’m perfectly content with what I can do in Elements.

In PSE 9, I almost always run a few adjustment layers first: Levels (move the outside sliders in towards the middle or towards the outer edges of the histogram mountain) and Brightness/Contrast in Soft Blending Mode (to give a little color pop) at a low-medium opacity. Occasionally I’ll also do a cooling/warming filter layer or a hue/saturation layer if need be. I tend to take the “try it and see” approach. If I don’t like the result, I can always undo it.

My final step, before trying anything creative like textures or actions, is to run a High Pass Filter for sharpening then do a “save as” and rename the file “clean.” From there I can decide whether I want to do anything else to it like add texture and play with the various actions that I have. The shots below were all left as “clean” edits. Since I love playing with textures on my photos, I may go back and try some at a later time. But for now, here are my before and afters:

Before (SOOC):

After: (Note: I did add a brown gradient map layer in soft light blending mode at 38% opacity as well)

Before on the left and after on the right:

Before on the left and after on the right: (I actually did very little to this one. I just liked it so much SOOC)

So that’s it! I’m certainly not an expert, but it’s been fun to share what I know and how I edit. Thanks for stopping by!

Water!

Thought I’d share something a little different today.  I took these shots of a waterfall recently and then decided to turn them into black and whites (with the exception of two).  I like how they take on an abstract feel and how they depict the power of the water.

When I looked up the word “water” in my Bible’s dictionary/concordance it said, “Water – precious resource for drink and irrigation, usually associated with blessing.”  I love that last part … water = blessing.  How true!  Without water we cannot survive.  To have it as freely as we do here in America is a blessing.

And then I think about the horrible tsunami that recently ravaged Japan and I don’t think of blessing.  I think of power and destruction.  It’s interesting how the same thing can bring both destruction and death and life giving blessings.

All shots were taken with my Canon Rebel xti and the 24-70mm 2.8L lens in shutter priority mode.  To see more sweet shots, be sure to visit Life With My 3 Boybarians.

Good to Wow link-up [Theme: Green]

Today I’m linking up to the Good to Wow challenge at Jill Samter Photography. Each Monday her readers are encouraged to post SOOC (straight out of camera … no editing) shots. And then on Thursday I will post before and after editing shots at Ashley’s Ramblings and Photos site. I’ve been peeping in at both of these sites for a few months but have never participated in their link ups … until now! Since I’ve taken lots of “green” shots recently, I thought this was the perfect week to join the fun.

All of the following shots are SOOC: And all, with the exception of one, were taken with my 100mm 2.8L macro lens.

Come back by on Thursday to see my before and after edited shots!

Sweet Shot Tuesday

This will probably be the last of the pictures from my birthday trip to the conservatory.  I’d have to say that it was a very worthwhile trip because I ended up with so many usable shots.  I really do have a love affair with flowers and am so anxious for the day when they are blooming all around me.  It won’t be long now … I’ve got lots of little green shoots popping up through the dirt in my front yard!

 

For more sweet shots, visit Life With My Three Boybarians.  And thanks to all who’ve left me such positive feedback over the last week.  You have no idea how much I enjoy and appreciate the encouragement!  Have a blessed day!

Birthday Flowers [part II]

Here are a few more shots that I got while visiting the Fort Wayne Botanical Gardens last week for my birthday.  I can’t decide which one of these is my favorite because I really like all of them.  What do you think?  Which one do you like the best?

Earth laughs in flowers. –Ralph Waldo Emerson

To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat.  -Beverly Nichols

If you’ve never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.         -Teri Guillemets

The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion their size.   Gertrude S. Wister

Can we conceive what humanity would be if it did not know the flowers?  -Maurice Maeterlinck

Flowers really do intoxicate me.  -Vita Sackville-West

I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.  -Claude Monet

I perhaps owe having become a photographer to flowers.  -Lisa Harstine

The “I Am Beautiful” Project

Okay, for all you ladies out there … raise your hand if you truly believe in your heart of hearts that you are beautiful.  Yep, that’s what I thought!  Me neither!  I’m sure that I’m like many of you in that I am constantly being critical of myself.  In fact I think I’ve always been in a battle with myself to accept my appearance and even appreciate it.  Joel’s forever telling me that I’m beautiful and I’m forever questioning his sanity in this matter.

Anyway, yesterday I was listening to a radio program about women who struggle with eating disorders.  At one point during the program, the expert starting talking about the message that we get about our appearances and how many girls actually get their messages about physical beauty from their mothers.  She talked about the fact that if we, as mothers, are constantly criticizing our own personal appearance our daughters are going to get the message that every imperfection matters and that they need to strive for physical perfection.  That woke me up.  Actually it made me feel very sad.

I have a nine year old daughter who is without a doubt beautiful and I would hate to think that her perception of her own beauty would be somehow marred because I’m discounting my own beauty by putting myself down or complaining about all of my perceived imperfections.

Then this morning I was visiting various blogs that I enjoy and found that one woman from a photography blog that I like was hosting an "I am beautiful" project.  Her challenge to her readers was to take a self-portrait with a sign that reads, “I am beautiful” and then share it.

Before I go on, you should know that I really dislike having my picture taken, especially alone.  I don’t necessarily mind posing with Joel or the kids, but even if I do, I rarely like to share any pictures that have me in them.  So, the thought of taking a self-portrait was extremely scary for me.  And sharing it here is even scarier.  But for the sake of moving forward and experiencing some freedom and hopefully encouraging someone else, here it is…

When I look at this picture, I immediately want to point all of my flaws.  In fact, I’ve learned enough about photo editing that I seriously considered photoshopping out all of my imperfections.  But I didn’t.  That would defeat the purpose after all and would portray an image of someone that is just not me.  The picture above is the real me … imperfections and all.

But you know what?  Even with those imperfections, I am beautiful.  And so are you.

I want to close by sharing some quotes from one of my all-time favorite books, Captivating by John & Stasi Eldredge …

Every woman has a beauty to unveil.  Every woman.  Because she bears the image of God.  She doesn’t have to conjure it, go get it from a salon, have plastic surgery or breast implants.  No, beauty is an essence that is given to every woman at her creation. (p.42)

The only things standing in the way of our beauty are our doubts and fears, and the hiding and striving we fall to as a result. (p.132)

A woman of true beauty offers others the grace to be and the room to become. (p.135)

A woman who is unveiling her beauty is inviting others to life.  She risks being vulnerable:  exposing her true heart and inviting others to share theirs. (p.137)

Birthday Flowers [part I]

For my birthday this week, Joel took the day off of work so we could spend it together.  It was the best present ever!  The one thing I really wanted to do was visit the botanical gardens in Fort Wayne, so that was our first stop.  We arrived just after the gardens opened which was perfect because there was literally no one else there.  We had the whole place to ourselves and it was wonderful.  All of the spring flowers were in bloom and because we were there early, the morning watering had just been done leaving the flowers with lots of photo-friendly water droplets.

I got so many great shots and am loving every minute that I can shoot with my macro lens.  It picks up the most amazing detail.  When you get to photo #4, check out the reflections of the other flowers in the water droplets.  I love processing pictures and seeing details that my eye didn’t even pick up when I took the picture.

With further adieu, here is the first set from our morning at the botanical gardens…