One can already feel the spring coming nearer – it is getting warmer. But you can also see it. The colors of spring are nearly back. You can have a glance at them… I took the pictures at the usual location…
I tried to shoot another macro but wanted to use a different light. A bunch of paper was used – you can see the edges and lines of the paper.
A white LED was the light source from the left and a laser pointer was used from the top and aimed between the paper.
In post processing I used the tonal contrast filter from Nik Color Efex. This enhanced the edges and enhanced the abstract effect of the picture.
I can imagine this quite good on a wall.
I found these guys when taking a walk on the weekend. as there is a lot of details in this picture I tried to shift the focus to front section. So I added brightness to the top left corner to enhance the flare and reduced the reflections of the roofs. The background was muted by the taking the saturation to 50%. I cranked the warmth of the leaves in the left lower corner up 20%, just enough to recreate what I saw that moment.
I always wanted to try the “indian summer” Color filter. Obviously one has to wait for autumn.
Here it is. I played with Nik Color Efex: Indian Summer and then some tonal contrast to emphasize the lines in the leaves.
I wanted to try a different self portrait.
This is another picture made with HDR Efex and Magic Lantern. The shots were older but HDR technique helped her to bring out the different greens.
I have been to a dinner with a pedalo and before we left (because the mosquitos also wanted to dine) I took this shot. A hot day’s end…
I am a big fan of sunrays and then I take my time to work them out of the RAW image. In this HDR this was rather difficult. But still, no Photoshop was needed.
Do you know what I think is most fun in black and white photography? It is one of the things which has great potential to get lost. It is filters.
One of the biggest advantages of shooting in RAW is that the final version of the picture can look very different. In the examples below I did only use different color profiles for Canon Digital Picture Professional. It is not changing much on light and contrast – obviously you do that when you work with curves – it is more on changing colors and mood.
Have a look yourself. From left to right it is a picture in Velvia-style, natural and retro style.
I really enjoy playing with these styles from time to time. Strangely you can see another effect here: With some pictures some curves do not work. What do you think?
