Nine years have flown by, filled with joy, long walks, hikes and great friends.
Hoping for many, many more!
Happy Birthday, buddy!
The Place where the Sidewalk ends
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.
2014 Retro
November by the lake
Before & After – some more post-processing examples
Autumn…
… the year’s last, loveliest smile.
7 Days in Paris
Play with me?
The last two weeks have been tough on Cookie. The poor boy was very sick when an infected tick bit him – he got Babesiosis. After getting better, last Saturday he got a fever and refused to eat. After a short trip to the vet he was diagnosed – again – with Babesiosis.
The next morning, he was already feeling better. He ate his breakfast, then he came into my room looking like this:
Doesn’t this translate into: “Play with me? Please? Pretty please?”
Post-processing photographs
Long time, no see!
I just realised I haven’t updated this blog for a while. It’s not that life has been hectic, I am still taking loads of pictures! (check my Flickr site for some newest additions).
I came to a point in my “photographic career” where I acknowledged that my pictures look similar – subjects being photographed under the sunny weather (since summertime has just ended), in the same or very similar setting (outdoors, forests, fields…), all of which don’t add much to variety and excitement.
While browsing some photography groups on Flickr, I kept wondering how some pictures look ordinary and exciting at the same time. The subjects, the light, the colours – all contributed to captivating and dynamic photographs. How do people do it? How do you fix overexposed and underexposed parts of the image? How do you add colour to parts of the image? How to sharpen selectively parts of the image?
The answer to the question is a very simple technique – start using masks. After I spent an entire afternoon watching and listening to some great tutorial videos (check YouTube), it struck me – hey, I can do this! It does require some basic knowledge of Photoshop (or whichever photograph editing program you prefer), but in reality, it’s very simple. If you understand the basics of layers, you will understand the basics of masking. Masking is exactly what the word depicts – hiding parts of the image, while showing other parts of the image.
I won’t go in detail here, all the information you will need can be found in these videos, and besides, it would be difficult to explain in words, without showing the act itself.
What I will do instead, is post an example of how to enhance the effects in a photograph. Check the three pictures below.
The first picture is the original, raw picture straight out of the camera. The exposure looks fine, it seems like it doesn’t need any fixes. Personally, I don’t know if anyone can get a perfect picture straight out of the camera. This picture seems to be shot correctly, but in my mind it is still missing a couple of things. It’s pretty flat and boring. The church in the distance appears vague. It lacks in colour and dynamic.
The second picture is edited in camera raw. I wrote about editing photographs in raw before and the advantages of shooting in raw (and not in jpeg). This way you will have more options to easily fix some things the original photo is lacking of. As you can see, I have added some contrast here – the picture looks better already. Camera raw will also be of great help when you try to fix an overexposed or underexposed picture, fix shadows, add whites, and so on. Play around – it’s fun!
The third picture is what this is all about – masking. Adding dynamic, selectively changing colours and exposure. I wanted my black clouds to look darker and more frightening, and the white clouds lighter – this way it adds to the contrast and dynamic of the picture. I have added more colour to the tree foliage. This picture was shot in October, and I love the fall colours of tree canopies, before they lose all their leaves. But what I needed to be the main focus here is the church – it’s the building that stands out from this cityscape. I did add some brightness and sharpening here – it made the church stand out.
Don’t be afraid to try this out! Not only will it make your pictures look more professional and technically correct, it will catch the viewers’ eye with its colours, light and dynamic. Here’s the best part – you don’t need expensive gear to shoot good pictures. I am still using my good old Canon 350D (Rebel XT).
Watch some videos first, then go out and start taking pictures – and of course, have fun editing them!
Into each life some rain must fall…
… Some days must be dark and dreary.
Berna Photography 