Suns out guns out! You guys absolutely killed it this month with your full sun images in the photo dumps and instagram feed. I loved seeing how you all tackled the less popular mid day light, and made it look easy. So much of life happens during full sun hours or the day, and learning how to tackle it and embrace the harsh shadows is always a lot of fun. Here's a handful of images that really stood out to me this month! xoxo, Em
Gear: Canon 5D MkIII, Canon 50mm f1.4
Settings: F1.8, ss 1/5000, ISO 125
The Shot: We just got a pool and my son was so happy to relax in the water. As the sun was too bright for him, he decided eclipse glasses would be the best thing to wear.
Post Processing: Edited with the Untamed preset from the CM Elements with some color adjustments and cloning to remove distractions
Gear: Canon RP 50mm lens
Settings: ISO 100, 1/3200, f/1.8
The Shot: I was taking photos of friends picking blueberries when I saw this contrast of the building surrounded by trees and the blueberry bushes. I, very happily, was able to recreate what I saw. The bush in the bottom right corner was just at my height, so I squatted a bit to catch the pinkish berries.
Post Processing:
Edited in LRC:
-used the healing brush to take out a tree that was in focus (behind the berry bush on the right)
-cropped the image and oriented the building to the center
-contrast down, blacks down, took down the highlights to bring out the details in the clouds and the abandoned building
-vibrance & saturation up
-in hsl, turned up the luminance and saturation for the (out of focus) berry bush to bring out the pinks (I think they made a lovely contrast with the blue)
-overall sharpness up
-color noise reduction, detail, & smoothness up
-turned on lens corrections
-used the brush to sharpen the building to better establish it as the focal point
Gear: d750 Nikon 50 mm
Settings: ISO 100 ss 800
The Shot: Was practicing reverse freelensing… I love the flowers
Post Processing: Lightroom, adjusted basic panel
Gear: Samsung A52s Phone
Settings: ISO 50 f/2.2 1/649
The Shot: Action shot from horseback, the shadow was so dramatic in the bright sun and I loved the buttercups. I didn't have either of my cameras with me but I think my phone did a pretty good job.
Post Processing: Minor cropping and then edited in Snapseed to slightly up the contrast. Needed less editing that most of the photos I take though!
Gear: Nikon Z6, 50 mm
Settings: 1/8000, f1.8, ISO 100
The Shot: Just random shooting my kids playing at a park
Post Processing:cropped, LR SMAL 01, photoshop to play w/ shadows, highlights, and contrast
Gear: Sony A7iii + Sony 35mm 1.8
Settings: 1/3200, F5, ISO 400
The Shot: My kids were running up and down the street with their kites, while I sat on the ground for a low perspective. She ran right up beside me and I just turned my camera up to keep following the kite. I exposed for the sky, but because of her angle, she was fairly well lit SOOC.
Post Processing: Added my basic settings of increased contrast and some clarity. I brought down the highlights along her arm and face as much as possible. In photoshop I removed a light pole that went behind her arm.
Gear: Sony ar7iv Lens: 24-70
Settings: f 2.8, ISO 200, 1/2500 sec
The Shot: This was shot from the sidelines of a kid's bike race (where the course curved a bit)
Post Processing: This was edited with Hello Story Teller Presets: Hello Dolly with some color adjustments.
Gear: Canon Mark iv, 24-70 lens at 35mm
Settings: ISO 400, 1/5000, f2.8
The Shot: At the end of a long day of sightseeing, we were hanging out at the base of the Washington Monument as the sun was going down taking lots of pictures in the amazing light… I loved their strong shadows.
Post Processing: Straightened, cropped, cooled a little, sharpened a little, added a slight s-curve in Lightroom. Then brought into photoshop to clone out some extra shadows from other people passing by.
Gear: Nikon Z6, 35mm
Settings: ISO 160, f7.1, 1/320
The Shot: I took this shot crouched down in a field pointing my camera up so I could see the sky behind the grass.
Post Processing: Edited in LR. I cropped this a lot so I only had the sky and grass. I did some very minor adjustments with the sliders and added a brush to dehaze the sun spot a little
Gear: Leica M10 Monochrom with 35mm lens
Settings: 1/1500, f6.8, ISO 250
The Shot: With my daughter on a play structure, I focused only on the shadows rather than watching her climb to wait for the right opportunity and framing while climbing.
Post Processing: I only touch the basic sliders so increases exposure, contrast, whites and blacks slightly, while reducing highlights. In camera I made sure not to overexposure to ensure the detail and texture in the ground. Boosted texture somewhat to make it even more dramatic.
Gear: Canon 5D Mark III on my 35mm lens
Settings: ISO 100, f2, & 1/3200
The Shot: I’ve had this in my head for quite a while. I finally made it happen today with the sun shining high & overhead. I had my camera sitting on my tripod & used my timer to take the pic (as I ran across the concrete…my poor sensitive feet!!!).
Post Processing: I edited this in LR with a Mastin Labs preset. I increased the texture & dehaze slider to make the shadows just a tad more pronounced. I decreased the blacks as well. Then I took it into PS & added a very subtle rainbow light leak on the top because it looked empty. I also flipped the image in LR 180 degrees.
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