Saturday, October 30, 2010

Photogeddon - Day 32

Oh the joys of being a photographer. People naturally assume that you know what you are doing, and for the most part, I do, but I am always experimenting and growing. Although at times my work resembles the shambles that used to shoot five years ago, for the most part I have grown as an artist and a person as a result of my photography. Today is bah humbug day for me in photography and I am not sure why. I think it might be nerves from shooting my first wedding as the primary photography. I didn't think that I would feel the pressure like I am, but I am and I have to deal with this.

So today's photogeddon exercise is to show what I can do, artistically, because it is art that I promised the bride and groom tomorrow... and it is art that I can and will deliver. Never fear Nikki... Tomorrow is going to be a great day for you; I promise.

My Subject

Retro Toolbox

Cobwebs on my mind

A simple study

My Studio

Free Lightroom Preset: Waves Preset


Waves Before

This image is fairly flat and lacks that needed punch to make it something worth looking at. So while on vacation, at the coast of all places, I worked on a preset that generated the look that I was going for to make those waves pop. Take a look at the larger version (click on the image on the left) to see what I mean by this photo not having any pop.

Waves After Preset
The image above is the result after the preset is applied. I accomplished this look by making changes to the following setting in Lightroom; grain frequency 50, grain size 25, Recovery 66, Green Luminance 100, Noise Reduction Detail 50, Luminance Smoothing 18, Tone Curve settings (darks -12, Highlights Split 75, Lights 22, Shadows Split 25) and Vibrance 33. Because of the grain settings of this preset, it is specifically for Lightroom 3. 

Download Here

To install the preset, copy the file in the zip (xxx.lrtemplate) to your Develop Presets folder on your computer. If you don't know where to find this folder, open Lightroom. Click on Edit menu and select Preferences. Click on the Presets tab and click the Show Lightroom Presets Folder... button.