Tag: inspirational

Photography – Creating a Mood

Venice-wp

Venice Before

Before and After – This photo was taken in Venice, Italy on the Grand Canal. Challenged once again in this week’s class assignment – to create a dark, moody image. My tendency has always been to use my go to standard workflow adjustments; highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, clarity…..I was quite surprised by how motivating and challenging it was to go for a different look. My big learning in this assignment was the discovery of the power and different effects you can achieve by using the Curves tool.

Photography – Still Life

Brushes-wp
 “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”             F/4.5; 1/25 sec; ISO 3200; 24mm

This week’s class assignment was still life photography. This is my first attempt of 5 photos we need to compose. It is new and a real challenge for me. I put a black cloth under a piece of glass on a small round table and set the brushes up. The wall behind the table was a blueish green. Then I side lit the setting which created the reflection and all types of shadows. The image was processed in raw: shadows, highlights, whites, blacks, brightening, sharpening, and a little clarity. In Luminar® I then added a subtle sunlight effect near the brushes and then did a little split toning.

Photography-Flowers and Backgrounds

Two yellow flowers, two different backgrounds.

Botanic Gardens-1.jpg

Botanic Gardens-2

With the summer days quickly flying by, I decided to visit the Chicago Botanic Gardens to photograph flowers. My focus was to isolate a flower and pay attention to background. At the time of capture I honestly had nothing in mind in choosing a background. But, after reviewing, discovered color can really impact the mood of an image especially when photographing flowers…two yellow flowers, two different backgrounds evoke two different moods.

Photography – Sunsets

It always amazes me how differently each sunset can look depending upon where you are in the world!

Chicago Skyline   Chicago Skyline – f/5.6; ISO 800; 1/15 sec.

Danube River   Danube River – f/7.1; ISO 200; 1/125 sec.

Sorrento    Sorrento, Italy – f/10; ISO 200; 1/250 sec.