“Photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” — Elliot Erwitt
It’s all about how you see things…
That’s one of my favorite quotes about photography. It reminds me of what I’m supposed to be doing. Because it’s really easy to get caught up in the technology and the gadgets and the sense that everything will be better if we just get this one new gadget (OMG, did I tell you that my new FILM camera will be here on Thursday?!?). But really, it’s all about seeing. Yeah.
So, I thought we’d try something new here on Ye Olde Blog. I thought it might be interesting for you to see what goes on behind the scenes around here as we endeavor to take over the world.
This is a photo you’ve seen recently. It’s from Lori and Raj’s Destination Beach Wedding in Florida last month. This is just after their first look, when they strolled down the beach for a quiet moment. They stopped and kissed, and I grabbed this shot with my 200mm lens. Now, before we go any further, I want to assure you that I’m not about to geek out and get all photography jargony on you. That would be icky. And dull. Really. Dull.
So this is the original file that came straight out of the camera (that’s SOOC for the camera geeks… sorry… I promised no geekery). And it’s a pretty good shot. But it has problems. Nothing irritates me more than a crooked horizon, so that’s gotta be fixed first. And do you see those rude people walking on our beach back there? They are SO gone. And the icky roof on the short building is messing with my colors. Cropping Time (which is what photography nerds do instead of hammering, I suppose).
Aaaahhhh.. so much better. But it could still be a little more romantical, couldn’t it? Yeah, methinks so too. So (keeping in mind that the couple gets this clean image too, because I believe in not crapping everything up), let’s add some texture and a teeny amount of foreground blur… something I would have preferred to have pulled off in real life but couldn’t because it was a bit bright on that incredibly white sand in the middle of the afternoon.
And ta-da! Teh final image… ehrmergerd… so much better. So now that you’ve visited my brain, and hopefully aren’t to scarred from the encounter, what do you think? Is this a bit better than the original? Would you like to see more stuff like this?
PS: I was thinking of making this a regular feature, so I asked the munchkins for ideas on what to call it… and I got suggestions like, ‘Seeking Perfection’, and ‘Perspective’ and ‘Lame-O Lame-iness’… they’re soooo not into helping with this. So, I’m all out of ideas. You got any?
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