This evening’s post is two-part (I’ll explain the second part after my edits). First of all, you didn’t think I’d miss a week of Branson’s Edit Me Challenge, did you? This week’s SOOC shot is provided by Amber at Amber’s Articles. So far, I’ve seen some gorgeous edits, but I love a good challenge. Here’s her SOOC shot (left):
After seeing a few of the other edits for this week’s photo, I decided to take different turn (alright, so I’m completely aware that I take a different turn on every photo – it just seems to easy to run a clean edit). Actually, I wanted to do a circular edit…it just didn’t work out exactly as it did in my mind. For my first edit, I went through the following steps:
After seeing a few of the other edits for this week’s photo, I decided to take different turn (alright, so I’m completely aware that I take a different turn on every photo – it just seems to easy to run a clean edit). Actually, I wanted to do a circular edit…it just didn’t work out exactly as it did in my mind. For my first edit, I went through the following steps:
- Straightened the image
- Invert Layer, Hard Light Blending Mode, 100% Opacity
- Threshold Layer (255 threshold), Soft Light Blending Mode, 28% Opacity
- High Pass Filter, Soft Light Blending Mode, 80% Opacity
- Gradient Map Layer (red/green), Soft Light Blending Mode, 48% Opacity
- Blue Photo Filter (30% density), 56% Opacity
- Brightness/Contrast Adjustment
- Hue/Saturation Adjustment
- Levels Adjustment
What typically happens with my edits is that I save them as a .psd file and walk away. This allows me time to think and regroup. In some cases, I walk back and I like what I’ve done…save, complete. In other cases, such as today…I wasn’t completely satisfied. Here’s what I did for my second edit (submitted for judging): - Used straighten image from first edit
- High Pass Filter, Soft Light Blending Mode, 100% Opacity
- Duplicate High Pass Filter, Hard Light Blending Mode, 100% Opacity (just on the boats)
- Background Duplicate, Difference Blending Mode 100%
- Brightness/Contrast Adjustment
- Invert Layer, Normal, 100% Opacity
- Deep Red Photo Filter (25% density), 100% Opacity
- 3 Layers of Texture (I failed to document the names)
With both edits, I used blog-it frames by The Album Cafe. So, what do you think? Do you like either…or neither? 
At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that there were two parts. Here’s the second part…
Yesterday, I received my first assignment for Kat’s Find Your Eye: Journey of Recognition class. You may remember that I recently took the first class in her Find Your Eye series a few weeks ago. One of the tools she uses in each class is a photojournal. This week’s prompt is to consider some of the rules or limitations we face as an artist.
I initially made a note to myself to discuss this prompt later in the week. However, as I worked through the Edit Me Challenge this evening, I found myself thinking about many of the rules that I often feel so restricted by as an artist. For example, I love a nice and clean processed image…I love natural processing that enhances the reality we see through our camera’s viewfinder. I equally love taking an image and digitally creating a work of art. I am inspired by photographer artists like Anika Toro and Katie Lloyd (amongst many others) who see the world as a giant canvas. Just as I swoon over a technically correct photograph, my heart leaps when I see a digital creation that stretches…even leaps out of the box.
Why do I even bring this up? I guess part of me gets a bit self-conscious when I put myself out there creatively. [By the way, I’m not necessarily talking about portrait work – I do think it’s a good idea to have some consistency if you’re working with clients…and you have to pay special attention to skin color, the red channel, etc. This is more about creative work.] Will they like my creation or will they just tell me to stick with my SOOC shot? I know all the rules: exposure, aperture, shutter speed, rule of thirds, focus, etc…but sometimes the rules are meant to be broken.
With all that said, I hope you are inspired and encouraged to bend…break…un-follow the rules. I can teach you all day long how to edit in Lightroom or Photoshop, but in the end, you should be proud of what YOU’VE done. That’s all.
At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that there were two parts. Here’s the second part…Yesterday, I received my first assignment for Kat’s Find Your Eye: Journey of Recognition class. You may remember that I recently took the first class in her Find Your Eye series a few weeks ago. One of the tools she uses in each class is a photojournal. This week’s prompt is to consider some of the rules or limitations we face as an artist.
I initially made a note to myself to discuss this prompt later in the week. However, as I worked through the Edit Me Challenge this evening, I found myself thinking about many of the rules that I often feel so restricted by as an artist. For example, I love a nice and clean processed image…I love natural processing that enhances the reality we see through our camera’s viewfinder. I equally love taking an image and digitally creating a work of art. I am inspired by photographer artists like Anika Toro and Katie Lloyd (amongst many others) who see the world as a giant canvas. Just as I swoon over a technically correct photograph, my heart leaps when I see a digital creation that stretches…even leaps out of the box.
Why do I even bring this up? I guess part of me gets a bit self-conscious when I put myself out there creatively. [By the way, I’m not necessarily talking about portrait work – I do think it’s a good idea to have some consistency if you’re working with clients…and you have to pay special attention to skin color, the red channel, etc. This is more about creative work.] Will they like my creation or will they just tell me to stick with my SOOC shot? I know all the rules: exposure, aperture, shutter speed, rule of thirds, focus, etc…but sometimes the rules are meant to be broken.
With all that said, I hope you are inspired and encouraged to bend…break…un-follow the rules. I can teach you all day long how to edit in Lightroom or Photoshop, but in the end, you should be proud of what YOU’VE done. That’s all.
