Wednesday, October 5, 2011

I Learned: Clark Lake Sunset 09.30.11

This week I learned that Lightroom Presets are fun and addicting, just like Photoshop Actions. I have been downloading and trying out free presets this week. It has been a fun process and I am in awe of the creativity of those who make presets and actions. At the same time, though, I have struggled to find the balance between presets and developing my editing skills by "manually" editing. Tonight as I was editing the photo for this post I realized that one way to do it is use the presets as a jumping off point or an inspiration. I was looking at the different presets on this photo and found one that did what I wanted to do with the editing...sort of. So I worked with the settings in an attempt to add what the preset did while getting rid of what I didn't like. My goal was to maintain the sky color but lighten up the foreground. I have not gotten the hang of backlighting yet so I had to make it work post processing. I hope to achieve this look SOOC next time :o).

Thank you for stopping by and leaving your thoughts and critiques!

Settings: ISO 200, 28mm, ss1/6, f/10 (full manual on tripod)
"One of the most satisfying experiences I know is fully to appreciate an individual in the same way I appreciate a sunset. When I look at a sunset...I don't find myself saying, 'Soften the orange a little more on the right hand corner, and put a bit more purple along the base, and use a little more pink in the cloud color...' I don't try to control a sunset. I watch it with awe as it unfolds." - Carl R. Rogers 

Linking up with Click it Up a Notch for I Learned and What's Up Wednesday. Be sure to check out what others have learned this week and the other photography blogs!




Click It Up A Notch

4 comments:

  1. Sometimes the presets don't give you the look you're after. I find I am always tweaking them a bit.

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  2. Thank you for visiting my blog! I've been thinking about getting Lightroom - would you recommend it? I've only used my iPhoto edits & picnik, not even familiar with Photoshop..

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  3. I am addicted to photoshop actions too! I try really hard to learn something from them though, by going back thru the layers and seeing how it was done. Nice silhouettes of the trees!

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  4. I'm always tweaking the actions in PSE to get the look I'm after, I use layer masks a lot but I don't know how LR works.
    It's hard to get sunset colours and foreground details, I love the silhouettes of the trees and the grasses, and I love the fence but it disappears a bit, maybe you could have gotten down lower to get a silhouette of the fence.
    I love the clouds and colours. Beautiful Emily!

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Thank you for leaving your thoughts! I love reading your comments and critiques.