Seed

Winter in Rural Manitoba

I was a little more aggressive with the processing for this image. In photoshop, I added not one but two texture layers and played with their opacity until they were both just right. I wanted to play up the beautiful sunshine on this cold winter day. The heavier texture was manageable because this image has some strong design elements, the hydro poles. Without the poles, the textures would have overwhelmed the composition.

Studio Flowers

I have a bouquet of flowers sitting in my studio. When the morning light comes, it sure makes me smile and I cannot resist grabbing my camera to take pictures. It is interesting that each morning, or afternoon or evening, something new catches my eye. It is never the same.

Once on my computer I brought this image into photoshop to add a texture layer. After sharpening the focal points and brightening the image up a bit, I was done.

My shutter speed was 1/13 (used a tripod), aperture f/2.8 and ISO 100. I used my 60 mm macro lens.

St. Ignatius Parish

Using texture overlays can enhance your images. With both of these images, I did the original processing from RAW in Lightroom and then brought them into Photoshop to add the layers. I chose one texture layer for both but removed the colour from the layer that went over the black and white image. Once satisfied I brought the images back into Lightroom, did a few more tweaks and outputted.

Layers

Someone once asked me if I wouldn't mind posting a before and also after picture of one of my images. Before the texture layers and additional top-secret-can't-tell-anyone-post-layer-processing - and after. And so I have.

Once imported onto my computer I do a bit of work on the picture in Lightroom and then export it to photoshop to apply any texture I might like.  Applying the texture layer is not just an apply-and-save process. Tweaking the contrast, saturation and lightness is necessary to achieve the look that each individual image might call for.

When satisfied I flatten the layers and save the image, bring it back into Lightroom for any final touches and then output the image as complete.

Fireworks

This image originally had a black sky background but I wanted something a little different, a little unusual. The fireworks were white so I didn't touch those but I added a texture layer in Photoshop and lightened the background. Then, back in Lightroom, it still wasn't exactly right so I changed up the colour a bit, moving it into the blues. After sharpening the light bursts, I was done.

And one more interesting fireworks image taken at The Forks in Winnipeg...

Prairie Palms

Listening

It sure is fun to imagine what these trees might think and do and say to one another. Seeing this towering tree bend down to listen to the smaller, younger ones is heart warming.

Personification can be used as a creative tool to get out of a photography rut. Look around with new eyes and see what human traits or actions you see in non-human form. You'll be surprised at how often you see this in the landscape around you.

To further play with the image in Photoshop also reaches beyond what one sees to something more. Adding texture and tonal layers can enhance and enrich the image, your story.

I used my 24-70 mm lens to shoot this scene. My focal length was 24 mm, shutter speed 1/400 and aperture f/7.1. ISO was firmly fixed at 100.

Fading Memories

Beauty from Brokenness

This morning I chose to wander with my camera instead of going for a power-walk. As it turns out, it was just as good for my heart...maybe even better.

On my hikes and walks, I much prefer to bring a lighter lens. I used my 60 mm macro lens for this shot. I chose an aperture of f/4.5 with a shutter speed of 1/100. Once on my computer I brought this into Photoshop and applied a texture layer, one in a Driftwood series I particularly like. After application, I erased some texture from the petals using an opacity of 50%.

Homestead in History

Aged, tired and beautifully rich with stories and life, I am sure, but quiet enough for us to remember our own.

I love to add textures and layers over-top of images of old structures, like homes and barns. Playing with the colour and feel of each image is so rewarding once the right mix appears before my eyes. I know it is right when what I see marries with what I feel and it becomes one.

I shot this at a speed of 1/500 and an aperture of f/10. The speed was necessary as I was in a moving vehicle when shooting. The depth of field afforded with f/10 was adequate to the image.

Off-Kilter

Sometimes when I feel off-kilter my images will show it. Though there is a strong structure in this shot, the ground feels like it is shifting, moving.

The moon's presence reminds me that though things seem chaotic, busy, crazy even, there is Someone much bigger who hasn't lost control, who is not off-kilter no matter what.

When I can see that by training my eye to look for it, then I can begin to see beauty in scenes like this while in the midst of chaos and uncertainty.

I took this image in a moving vehicle, which is why the foreground shows blur and movement. Making sure to focus on the poles and wires while essentially panning my camera by way of movement in my vehicle, I was able to keep the rest of the scene in acceptable focus.

I shot at a faster speed of 1/500 and used a greater depth of field at f/11.

Once on my computer, it is obvious that I played with layers in processing, adding texture and a little chaos to the feeling of this shot. This also deepened the colours and brought out the moon.

Sunfire

Getting Some Air

I shot this image using f/5.6 and a shutter speed of 1/50. That's about the slowest I'd hold my camera with this lens before reaching for my tripod.

For me, this picture needed a bit of processing beyond what I would normally do when converting an image from RAW. I brought it into Lightroom and played until the saturation and contrast were what I wanted. I developed my own preset awhile ago which I used and changed it up a bit with a few tweaks. Then I exported to Photoshop to add a texture layer over top, further aging the image while warming up the colours a touch.

Creativity begins long before the shutter is clicked and long after the image is uploaded to the computer. Don't stop short.

Juxtaposition

The definition of juxtaposition is to place side by side for comparison or contrast. Here, the clouds and the tree are placed near one another for exactly this reason. We immediately compare the two. Are they alike? Or different?

Including just the two subject matters with only negative space to separate them moves our minds to find a way to make them fit. So how do they fit? By shape or contrast? Perhaps the answer is yes.

I decided to take this image into photoshop to add a layer of colour and texture over-top. As a result the contrast in the "colour" of the subject matter (black vs white) is accentuated but so is the comparison of form. Interestingly, the colour of the cloud, or non-colour, is echoed in the lights of the tree, encouraging our mind to again compare and see how they fit alongside each other and together.

I used f/5 and a shutter speed of 1/1250.

We long to make things fit and if they do not, we tend to find a way to exclude. Rather than looking deeper for similarities or including the differences, if it takes too much work, we might just give up.

Images such as this can challenge my default thinking patterns.

Rural Storage

Artist's Calm

I snapped some shots of my sister's workspace while waiting to take some head-shots for her work as an artist. I loved this little area in her studio and couldn't resist shooting.

It invites me into her process of expressing to the world what she sees.

I shot at a speed of 1/60 with f/2.8 using only natural light. I bumped my ISO to 200.

After importing into Lightroom to do some initial processing of the RAW image, I added a layer in Photoshop. I used a canvas look with weathered edges that seemed to enhance what was already there.

Turtle Island

Though happy with the original capture (shot at 1/80 and f/10) I thought I'd bring this island picture into photoshop and see what I could do.  I added a few layers, multiplying the effects and flattening the final result. The textures and golden overlays really seemed to turn this into a springboard for the imagination.

Our minds step onto the island and wander through the trees, perhaps cautiously. What do you see?

There's a Castle in my City

Actually, we probably have more than one building that resembles a castle in Winnipeg. This one (the one on your right) we stayed at when we were first married. There were rumours of rooms being haunted but we didn't encounter any ghosts on our honeymoon!

I used settings f/9 and 1/160 and 100 ISO for this shot. Since I didn't have a tripod, holding the camera steady was important but a little easier with the faster speed.

Once on my computer I used a preset and then also brought it into Photoshop to add a layer to get some great lighting enhancements. I think the end result brings a bit of fantasy and mystery to this shot. Every castle needs a bit of mystery, no?

Veil

When I walked by my front garden today, I stopped short at these two blooms of Lavatera. Their translucent beauty caught my breath. The delicate beauty reminded me of a bridal veil, maybe an heirloom.

I used settings 1/160 and f2.8. My focal length was 60 mm with an ISO of 100. Once on my computer I added a soft layer in photoshop to enhance the delicate vintage feel.