Photography and Homeschooling (Roadschooling as often as we can)
There’s a small church at Burg Lichtenberg. Reach it by the cobblestone pathway.
The original was dark and flat. I warmed the whole picture, then I used a radial filter and adjustment filter to sharpen the cobblestones but soften the church and light around it. I used a graduated filter to darken the sky just a bit. Here’s the original:
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The largest castle ruins in Germany, with one of the best restaurants as well.
I’m pretty sure I knew when I took the picture that I would want it to be in black and white. It just lends itself to that. So, I turned it black and white, and increased the contrast, clarity, and exposure. That really brought out the texture of the bricks! Then I lightened the shadows and blacks just a little and used a radial filter to adjust the focus more to the central fireplace. Here’s the original:
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When you think of German countryside, this is what comes to mind.
Fairy tale Traben-Trarbach along the Moselle River
The original photo was beautiful, but a tad dim. I used a graduated filter to add some warmth and brightness to the sky and hill top, and another one to keep the river and houses cooler. I used an adjusted filter to sharpen the river and the field in the distance. I also cloned out a cell tower and some type of small tower next to it. The original:
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Thingvellir National Park in Iceland is one of the coolest places on earth. It’s where the North American and European tectonic plates meet and it’s also where the first parliament ever in the world met. . . sometime around 930 AD. Today, the cutest little church sits along the river.
The original was a little dull. I cropped in to frame the church better. I also increased the vibrancy, clarity, and contrast a little bit. I used adjustment brushes to give more contrast to the mountains in the background, and to sharpen the rocks in the foreground. The original:
And, now that I’m comparing the two here, I see that I should have either cropped out the car or cloned it out. Oops! 🙂
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It *was* a bright day at the beach.
Then this woman came out and set up her umbrella and it got even brighter.
I want one.
This was an edit full of cloning out things: people, trash cans, a water tower, random stuff on the sand. I cloned no less than seven things out. I cropped in to focus more on the ladies relaxing and used a radial brush to make them a little brighter. I also used an adjustment brush on the umbrella to increase its saturation. The original with all the items needing to be cloned:
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The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi
in black and white
I took this picture fourteen years ago and for some reason composed the picture with half of the towers chopped off. I love it in black and white though. I turned it black and white and increased the contrast, clarity, and exposure to show off the texture of the brick. I lightened the shadows just a little. I decreased the noise (it’s grainy because it’s such a small file), but couldn’t decrease too much or it would look fake. I decreased the highlights so the clouds would show up. Here’s the original:
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Not So SAHM 