Photography and Homeschooling (Roadschooling as often as we can)
Sutter’s Mill was located right here along this river. Gold!
We found no gold and so started our cross-country trip to the east coast with empty pockets.
I think I took the original picture because of the bridge and the reflection in the water. It definitely needed some sprucing up though. Did I strike gold?
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
We were impressed with Twin Falls, Idaho.
This view, with Perrine Bridge, had a lot to do with it.
Snaking river. Snaking road. The only straight line is the bridge and the horizon. (and those pesky power lines)
The original photo below:
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Craters of the Moon is an other-worldly place. Even with all the lava, the landscape is not quite barren. This tree tends to tell a different story.
I knew when I took the picture that I wanted it to end up black and white.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
In Washington DC, a small stone cottage stands as a relic to when DC was swampy and the canals were busy. The Lockkeeper’s House stood beside a canal that made its way to the Potomac. The growing importance of the railroad signaled the death of this specific canal, but the keeper’s house stands as a testament.
We used it as a backdrop.
I’m so excited about this edit. I straightened the pic just a little. I worked a lot on her hair (increased contrast, clarity, and sharpness) to give it shine and more depth. I also sharpened her eyes. There was a lock on the lock keeper’s house, so I cloned it out. I then ran a Lightroom preset over all that to get the final look.
Here’s the original:
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Our trek east across America took us through the Wyoming/Montana borders (several times) and to Custer’s Last Stand.
These are just a few gravestones of the 268 US soldiers who perished during the fighting. All of those soldiers were reburied into a mass grave.
I wanted to change the original (below) to look like an old photograph. I used a sepia tone and added grain.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
On May 9th, President Obama signed a law making the bison America’s first national mammal.
We saw literally tons of them last year in Yellowstone. It was baby season and we saw this cute pair. . .
SO CUTE!! I took this picture in the car as we were driving down the road so the original wasn’t impressive.
I cropped the picture and then played around with the individual settings but I wasn’t making it look great. That’s when you go to your tried and true Lightroom presets. One of my favorites is Coffeeshop Princess and the Pea. So, I used that on my final pic, lowered the exposure just a tad, and added a little more vignette.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Not So SAHM 