For almost all of my photography practice, I have tried to stay true to what I photographed. Now I find myself wanting to see what will happen if I increase the clarity a little, decrease the saturation. I use LightRoom exclusively. I never did purchase Photoshop, not because I did’t want to try it, but because I never managed to save my pile of money earmarked for Photoshop. I always seemed to find another photography related thing I wanted more. Eventually I want to see what Photoshop does at my own hands, but that will be awhile.
Until then I am exclusively using Adobe Lightroom. Haven’t upgraded to LR 3 yet, because I haven’t quite finished figuring out the basic workings of Lightroom 2.5. I like to putter when I’m working on a photograph. I know there are a multitude of Ligthroom Actions out there — press a button and the software changes your photo in an exactly prescribed way. I haven’t tried those yet — still in basic training, right? — but I imagine I will give the free ones a look eventually. It seems a shame to reject so much progress in a tidy package. Need to at least take a look.
But at this stage in my photography, I’m rather like a tinkerer. “How does it look if I take a bit more red out? What happens if I push that green a little more? And bleed the color from the background and most of the flower?
I experimented with the composition here, too. Let those bulky lily buds play in the front, obscuring the main flower a bit, but I like the feel of seeing the longer branch with multiple lilies as a change. Usually I focus on a single flower.
Any comments about my wanderings in Lightroom? Do you like the different, less textbook look or less macro look? Do you miss the true colors?
And to the photogs out there, if you use Photoshop, do you find it invaluable? And if you do, why? Do you use presets (hear they are the ultimate time saver) or do you prefer to tinker with your photo, bit by bit?
For me, I’m moving slowly on my journey, exploring things as I come to them. Happy with some new attempts, not so happy with others. But, for sure, I never dreamed how far a camera and a dream can take a person.
I have already traveled far, amazingly far, and I’m eager to keep on taking the walk, step by step. So much to see, to consider, to learn, to share.




