Day 113 (July 2) - More Cheating

Another image from Myanmar. Evan and I are going to Chiang Mai tomorrow for a long weekend, so I didn't get a chance for a shot. Plus, sometimes I feel lazy and uninspired. But I won't hate myself for it if you won't, so it's okay.

Because we're going away, expect no posts for the next five days, and then a slew of posts when we return, as per the usual formula.

I'm posting this photo because it's a great example of what photo editing can do for you, as well as the power of shooting raw. Take a look at the original:


I mean, raw photos in general look a bit flat, but this is night and day. I'd love some feedback on the processing, if anyone feels so inclined. Just for your information, I was handholding and the light was fleeting, so I underexposed on purpose, to keep the shot in focus.

A short rundown of what I did to the photo: brought the exposure up, added some fill light to make the grass even lighter, used the graduated filter option for the sky, optimized the contrast, brought up the vibrance (colors), straightened the photo, and added some sharpening, plus a few other fixes.

Day 112 (July 1) - Ice Cream

Some ice-cream today, thought I would try my hand at a little food photography, Lensbaby style (since that was the only lens I had with me at the time).

Surprisingly, my favorite photos were the ones I took with someone in the background, and not the carefully arranged 'no clutter' photos.

By the way, for my one Canadian reader (if you are still reading!), Happy Canada Day!

And yeah, I know it's not really a big holiday in Quebec, given your whole 'we're not really Canadian' thing, but still. Thought I would let you know that I remembered.

Day 111 (June 30) - Evan

So, I discovered one thing tonight that I . . . already knew, sort of. But this just reinforced it for me.

The Lensbaby isn't so good for portraits at wide apertures. But I don't want you to just take my word for it. A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Many thanks to Evan for being my underpaid, underappreciated guinea pig.

His face is sort of . . . melting, isn't it?

I swear, I didn't do it on purpose.

Day 109 (June 28) - Back in Time

I didn't take any photos today, spent the day trying to edit and catalogue my Myanmar photos, so I thought I would share one more with you all. I took this in the late afternoon near Mandalay on the way to a lake to shoot sunset photos. I love the sunset photos too, but some of my favorites are ones that I took out of the back of the truck as we were driving there.

(And why were we driving there? Did I accidentally pack my uncharged camera battery instead of the charged one? And then run out of room on my memory card as well? Am I a complete and total failure at keeping the appropriate camera gear with me? Please, please don't answer that.)

Day 108 - El Gato Cafe Claro

A couple pictures of the cat from today, taken with the Lensbaby (hence why only one eye is in focus).

I think cafe claro means light brown in Spanish, someone please correct me if I am wrong.

Day 107 (June 26) - A Bug

I'm still sick, so I'm taking the easy way out today and posting a photo I took over the weekend (when I was feeling better). It's a Lensbaby shot, of some kind of bug. A grasshopper? Cicada? I have no idea. What I don't know about bugs could fill many books. And, has. Check your local library for a selection.

Anyway, this was tough to process. I still am not sure if I should have made it lighter, or increased the overall contrast even more, or brought up the midtones, or . . . you name it. Remember, no Photoshop, so if you want to leave a suggestion, make sure it's something I can do in Lightroom. I shot it raw, so the camera did no processing for me.