Fresh Veggies Farm Stand

The greater Monterey, CA area is called the Salad Bowl of America. As you head east from Monterey to Salinas, you pass from a temperate coastal zone to a hot climate with fertile soil. The produce around that area is amazing.

Fresh from the dirt.

Fresh veggies sit in individual baskets at a Salinas, CA farm stand. Not So SAHM
Fresh Veggies Farm Stand – ProjectEdit365 – 17 Oct

The original photo had a dark and somewhat yellow cast. I cooled the temp and decreased the clarity and contrast. I also added a preset that gives it an overall less contrasty look (not sure what to call it). And I added a small vignette. Here’s the original:

17oct

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She chose a golden leaf

Everything is magical for the young (and the young at heart).

A girl holds a golden leaf and stands in front of a forest of changing leaves. Not So SAHM
She chose a yellow leaf – ProjectEdit365 – 16 Oct

When I looked at the original of this picture, I realized I needed to brighten her face and maybe sharpen her eyes. So I did that using an adjustment brush and a radial filter. I didn’t even mess with the background. It was a quick edit. Here’s the original:

16oct

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Gaggle of Wagons

They tend to congregate around little kids. I remember having one as a kid and we had to get one for our little girls. These were gathered together at a pumpkin patch, to carry both kids and pumpkins.

A bunch of red radio flyer wagons are gathered together at a pumpkin patch. Not So SAHM
Gaggle of Wagons – ProjectEdit365 – 15 Oct

The original was just plain. When I took the picture I knew I would want to edit it to look vintage. I increased the clarity and contrast, but then I used gradient filters to lower the contrast. It seems to dim the effect a little. That’s probably not the “technical” way to get the look I was going for, but I’m learning. I used the color sliders to decrease the yellow saturation. I added some grain and a vignette. Here’s the original:

15oct

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Fall Dam

We came upon a dam in the twilight.

A dam sits nestled in the fall trees in Virginia. Not So SAHM
Fall Dam – ProjectEdit365 – 14 Oct

It was actually pretty dark at this point in our shooting. I used several adjustment filters to adjust the different parts of the picture. I also adjusted some of the colors individually. I had to decrease the noise quite a bit since the original was so dark. I also cropped to get rid of the branch in the upper right. Here’s the original (I can’t believe they’re the same shot!):

14oct

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Fall colors like Fruity Pebbles

We took a self-guided tour through New England one fall. It was the most amazing explosion of colorful leaves. The only thing I could liken it to was a bowl of Fruity Pebbles. .  . minus the blue (unless you want to count the sky). The picture I took below wasn’t in New England, and it wasn’t at the peak of the color change. But I found it as I searched through my October pics looking for ones I could edit. The original was quite dull, but I was able to edit it and bring out the colors that I saw.

Fall leaves are colorful along the banks of a lake. Not So SAHM
Fall like fruity pebbles – ProjectEdit365 – 13 Oct

cereal_fruity_pebbles_1920x1200 Fruity Pebbles

As I mentioned, the original was dull. The edit was quick. I increased the saturation of the whole picture. I used a graduated filter on the trees and increased the sharpness, clarity, and warmed the temperature. I used another graduated filter on the water to increase the sharpness, clarity, and contrast. I then used the individual color sliders to increase the saturation of the reds and oranges, since there wasn’t that much in the mix of leaves. I finished with a small vignette. Here’s the original:

13oct

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Ugly gourds

Don’t judge a book by its cover or a gourd by its bumps?

Various gourds, some with bumps, fill a wooden orchard container. Not So SAHM
Ugly gourds – ProjectEdit365 – 12 Oct

The original photo was dark. I cropped in to focus more on the gourds and not on the surroundings. I made various adjustments and just wasn’t happy with what I was getting, so I ran a preset and liked the results! Here is the original:

12oct

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