Garden of the Gods

For one of my most recent trips I went to the Garden of the Gods. The rocks were so dramatic and looked great under the clouded lighting from the sky. The first photo is taken on the back side of the rocks with a hint of sunset showing in the background. My second photo is of a bird I caught resting inside a bunch of branches to the side of one of the trails. The third photo shows three layers of the rocks from the side. My last photo is simple with one of the a jagged rock with a single tree growing in front of it.

From the Train

A few weeks ago I went on a trip to Durango. While I was there I rode the Durango-Silverton train. This train is one of the few left of working steam engines. To get this photo I went to the open car. Then while the train was going over the bridge and blowing out steam I got this shot. The settings I used were: ISO at 100, aperture at f/9, and a shutter speed of 1/125s.

When I edited this I took away some of the highlights and whites because it was very bright out that day. I also took away some shadows because the harsh sun was creating them on the trees. I added clarity, vibrance, and saturation to the whole photo. Then I used the adjustment brush to add back some of the whites and highlights into the steam and the some blacks into the train engine.

Summer Beauty

While I was out recently, these bright flowers caught my eye. I like how there is a pink one and a yellow one growing right next to each other.

When I edited this one I added contrast, whites, highlights, blacks, and shadows, clarity, and a very small amount of saturation. Then I used the adjustment brush with more clarity, contrast, and sharpness added over the flowers. I also used the adjustment brush to bring extra blur to the background with the clarity and sharpness set at -100 in Lightroom. Then I cropped the photos, paying attention to the rule of thirds. I made sure the middles  of each flower were positioned on the area where two third lines cross.

Before Editing

Some Editing

 

Blue Collared Lizard Photos

While I was out in the middle of nowhere in Utah my cousin spotted this little guy. This is a Blue Collared Lizard. These are three shots that I got of it while it was under this rock. I was surprised by how close I could get to this blue lizard, to snap these photos before it ran and hid from me.

I did the same basic edits for each of these photos. First I cropped the images to fit the lizard into the rule of thirds. I added contrast, highlights, blacks, whites, and some clarity to the whole area of the photos. Then I took away some shadows since its under a rock. Next I used the adjustment brush to target the area covering just the lizard. For those settings I added more clarity, sharpness, and contrast.

Hawaiian Landscape

This photo is from the top of a trail of a very big hill in Hawaii. The trail winds from side to side while slowly climbing higher till the top. From there you can see a beautiful view like this and a lighthouse off to the side. When I edited this photo I had to lift off a lot of shadows because the sun was behind the mountain. I also added clarity, highlights and contrast.

A Tulip in the Shadows

Tulips are one of my favorite kind of flowers. I enjoyed seeing this one underneath a blooming tree. The shadow from the tree gives this photo lots of contrast and makes the purple tulip pop. As I edited this photo, I made sure to keep the background dark and the flower light. I added a little more shadows, highlights, blacks, and whites to do this. Then I added a small amount of vibrance and clarity to the flower. If you enjoy looking at this tulip as much as I do check out my Nature page in my gallery.

Wind Chimes in the Mountains

While I was at the ranch, I spotted this photo opportunity. These wind chimes were hanging from the ceiling of the porch, with the mountains in the background. I like how the chimes are in focus, but you can still see the background with trees and mountains.  When I edited this photo I added contrast and took away some shadows. Then I added whites and brought back the yellows in the photo. I also added clarity to the foreground.

In the Winter

When you look at this photo it plays tricks on your mind. It looks like footprints in the snow on the side of a steep hill. If you don’t believe that, your brain might be trying to auto correct the photo, to make this look like a flat landscape. If that is happening to you, you are right. To get this photo I laid on the ground and twisted my camera to keep the footprints in frame. When I was editing this photo I brought up the exposure, highlights, and the whites. I also lowered the shadows and blacks and added contrast and clarity.