Well hello there! It's feels like just yesterday that it was December, and suddenly with a blink, we have just wrapped up our first month of this year's P52 Clicks project! If you're new here, this is what we call our "highlight reel" which is our opportunity to showcase an assortment of our favorite images submitted to the photo dumps over the course of our monthly theme. Each year we like to start this project off with "Low Light," and I have to say, you guys did not disappoint! So many people hang their heads and drag their heels with this technique, and only feel comfortable pulling out their cameras in the beautiful light hours. I have to admit, low light was definitely intimidating to me with my first round of the P52 clicks project, but after taking that initial plunge and jumping in, it has become one of my all time favorite ways to shoot! I am so proud of everyone who put their brave sweaters on and shared their images to our weekly photo dumps, whether you're a new photographer or someone who has been doing this for decades. For those of you who have not yet posted your images to our photo dumps out of fear or feeling like you're not good enough, I promise that our community is really one of the most supportive and kindest places you'll find, and we won't let you down!
Pull up a chair, grab some snacks, and enjoy our mouth watering first Highlight Reel of 2022!
- Em
Gear: Nikon d750 35mm lens
Settings: ISO 1250, f2.5, 1/400sec
The Shot: Turned off the lights in the garage except the overhead light.
Post Processing: Smal 01 preset, vignette, increasing the center exposure
Gear: Nikon Z6ii + Nikkor Z 35mm
Settings: 1/100s at f/1.8, ISO 3200
The Shot: My always starving son was looking in the fridge for a snack when I was cooking dinner and I noticed his cute feet in the patch of fridge light. As I'm always on the hunt for any and all light during winter in Montana and knowing it would be perfect for this low light theme, I turned off all lights, got level on the floor, and took the shot.
Post Processing: In Lightroom I applied my B&W preset and made a few tweaks in the basic panel and tone curve, straightened and cropped.
Gear: Nikon d750, 35mm lens
Settings: ISO 500, f2.5, 1/200
The Shot: This couple wanted a private moment after their ceremony. I put them in the patch of light coming in from one of the side windows at the church and moved back to capture their moment!
Post Processing: Edited in Lightroom. Brought up shadows and exposure, then put a radial filter over just where their faces meet to bring focus there. Warmed the photo up and brought up vibrance slightly to capture the color.
Gear: Canon 6D, 35mm 1.4 Tamron
Settings: ISO 800 F 1.4 1/400
The Shot: Snapped at the entrance of his bedroom at night with using only his lamp as a light.
Post Processing: Edited in LR upping the highlights, blacks, and shadows, raising the exposure slightly on the subject, and reducing some noise.
Gear: Sony a7iii, Tamron 35mm (28mm-75mm f.2.8 )
Settings: 1/2500 f3.5 ISO 100
The Shot: I was exploring different parts in my home. I pulled my recliner out of the corner and excitingly discovered this new pocket of light. All I did was put some toys on the chest and ask her if she wanted to twirl in the light and she surprised me by actually doing it. Toddlers..
I held my camera low, almost on floor and focused on her foot. I also Metered for the highlights on her foot.
Post Processing: Edited in Lightroom. Honestly not much on this one. Pulled exposure up just a tiny, added 15 contrast, took highlights down on foot. Warmed slightly. And straightened it a bit.
Gear: Canon 77d 50mm lens on tripod with remote
Settings: 1/320, f2.8, iso 1600
The Shot: My desk is sitting in front of two windows and I had my tripod set up to the left of the desk with a remote attached. There was some natural light but the windows but no direct sun. Our house is usually dark so the need for higher iso
Post Processing: I converted to black and white in LR then increased exposure slightly, added a little contrast lower the highlights and and blacks, upped the shadows and whites then increased clarity and added small amount of vignette.
Gear: Nikon d750, 34 mm 1.2
Settings: 1/500, f2.2, ISO 500
The Shot: "Remote Learning." Used the window light to our left and exposed for highlights
Post Processing: Edited in Lightroom, darkened shadows
Gear: Canon R6 with Canon RF28-70 at 28mm
Settings: 1/100 f3.5 ISO 3200
The Shot: We are on vacation and the girls were reading before bed. Each of them had their own reading light built into the bed and I liked the little pockets of light they each had so I got my camera and took some pictures before reading time was over
Post Processing: Edited in LR to increase shadows a little and decrease highlights and adjust exposure. Opened in PS to dodge on my daughters themselves so they would show up better
Gear: Nikon Z6, 35mm, 1.8
Settings: 1/200, iso 5600, f5
The Shot: We took the car and my little one had her hands full carrying her dolls. Instead of being annoyed how long it takes for her to fasten her dolls, I went to grab the camera and captured this little gesture. Her dolls fastened with the seatbelt, the little doll with the belt over her face and all these bandaids over their naked bodies. It’s winter
Post Processing: minimal edit, Cropped a little, lights down, whites up, black down, tiny bit of contrast, clarity
Gear: Nikon Z5, 85mm f1.8, FTZ adapter
Settings: ISO 2000, f2.2, 1/200
The Shot: I was keen to try and capture our journey through the tunnel but knew I would have to time it perfectly for when they were under one of the overhead lights. I got lucky that my daughter looked up too!
Post Processing: I added some clarity, raised exposure, took the saturation down. I also adjusted the calibration until I was happy with the tones. I added a slight vignette and some noise reduction (all in LR)
Gear: Nikon D5600; 35 mm
Settings: 1/250, f1.8, ISO 5000
The Shot: On the rare occasion my husband and I are both home, everyone piles in the bed first thing in the morning. My daughter, the dog and I get the snuggles, my husband gets the kids walking on his head.
Post Processing: Edited with LR on my iphone: lowered exposure, highlights and blacks. Raised contrast and whites. Warmed the image up a bit and increased vibrancy and saturation a touch. Also used the masking brush to darken the right side of the image.
Gear: Nikon D750 with 28mm prime f1.8
Settings: f.5 1/200 and ISO 5000
The Shot: This was taken over the weekend at the lead mining museum in The Peak District. Contrary to what the photo shows, we did have a fab day and The Duchess enjoyed trying on all the little outfits and finding the hidden mice all around the museum.
Post Processing: I shot this by exposing for the highlights on my daughter's face. In Lightroom, I added my basic preset and then brought into PS to add numerous levels layers and play with the colour of her clothes. I also cloned out a few distracting elements.