Simple Effects~ Exploration Thursday

"Pink Canopy"

(1/160 sec.@ F/8, 55mm fl, ISO 160, bright direct sun, processed in PaintShop Prox2)

Had to work on something cheery today. Southern Ontario has decided sunshine is against it's religion... or something like that. We've had grey, more grey, and various shades of drab now for weeks on end. Ugh.

So you can see why I wanted to post a shot like the one above. This was originally for the City Parks contract last spring. It was such a nice bright day, perfect for glowing canopies of soft crab apple and cherry blossoms. This gnarly ancient crab apple has so much character to it. So I took this shot into Corel's PSPx2, and added two great filter fx to an already sunny shot so that everything would glow and all the textures would pop a bit. Here's what I played with today;

I don't know if there's an equivalent in PS but I took the image into Corel's Cross Processing photo filter, found in the Photo Effex drop down menu and into the Time Machine option. It takes the overall color and adds a very retro coloring to them (big in the 70's) and you can adjust just how extreme you want the color to be. Cross Processing adds a green tinge to brighter hues so you need to decide what style your image is going to take before hand.

I'm of the "less is more" mentality so I apply the cross processing fx filter in a whole new layer so I can control the opacity, how much of it shows up in the final image, and where.

Also, because the filter causes tones overall to darken (not the colors but the various shadows and highlights) and causes details in the darker ranges to disappear, I decided I'd play in a second effect called Colored Edges, found in PSPx2's Effects drop down menu. Again, it's different sliders allow you to be subtle and not over whelming so that the effects themselves don't steal the show, instead of the actual image. I despise when that happens. Again, less is more in most instances. So a very subtle bright white is applied and it edges and rims every detail, so that textures and lines pop a bit, like outlining a picture with a soft crayon. The result is a nicely saturated, brightly colored spring image with great textures and clean details.

I remind myself that it won't be long before the trees will be blooming, and the temps rising, and soon we'll be enjoying sun. In the meantime, the electricity bill is going through the roof because every light in my house is on while I soak in some false rays of light. Where'd I put my mammoth bottle of Vitamin D anyways????

Have a fabulous Easter weekend one and all! Spend it with family and friends!

Thanks for the ramble...

Strength ~ Exploration Thursday!

"Rivets and Gears"

(1/40 sec.@ F/8, ISO 300, 18mm fl, late overcast light, Burlington Lift Bridge)

I've been photographing nature and skies lately... and anyone who knows me, knows I love to point my camera upwards. So today's image is a little more industrial, and a little less natural. An intense perspective, an intense structure, and an intense processing. And yet... not overly complicated either.

Anyone who really knows me, also knows I like to keep things simple. Complicated techniques start to suck all the fun out of photography for me actually. Not to say that I won't try new things or try to master new skills. But it's the capturing of an image artistically and knowing already how I want it to express itself to you the viewer, that excites me about photography. Today's shot reflects that for me.

Was out to the Burlington Harbour, and the lift bridge is iconic for that area. Towering, sturdy, strong, practical for all the ships and barges that come into the harbour and the steel mills. I pointed the lens up from underneath it, got this composition, and was careful to emphasize it's perspective over me. In editing, I played with the color levels and added a layer with Corel's Cross Processing filter. Adds that more industrial feel to deep greens and contrasting oranges. But that was it. Too much after that and suddenly I don't feel free with a camera in my hand, and that's the whole point. For me anyway. Too many things to do to it and it suddenly becomes an obligation. That squelches the artist in me. 

Shoot what you love folks, and edit it how you feel compelled to! And the trick is to keep learning from each other in the meantime, expanding your artistic vision. Thanks for the ramble, and have a great day!