I was so excited when perspectives was the chosen theme for this month. I feel with everything going on in the world, we have this exciting opportunity to really take a look at our lives, our normals and reevaluate them and really look at things from a different perspective. For me, the quarantine has been a complete struggle. It has been so incredibly rough, you guys. But in life just like in photography, we have the chance to step back and take a look at things from a different perspective and really find the beauty before us. Seriously, this theme couldn't have come at a better time than this.
In photography, when I am feeling stuck, or blah I try to change my perspective and often times that's when I find true inspiration. I am always trying to get just a little bit lower or just a tad higher to get my shot. It is not uncommon to find me crawling around on the ground or flat on my stomach reaching out trying to get just the right perspective. I also climb on anything and everything around because shooting from above is my absolute favorite. I find it is easier to get rid of clutter and distracting backgrounds from above. Plus it just tells a story so well. Sometimes I know exactly what perspective I want before I even pick up my camera, and other times I have to try on a few until I find the magic shot. This month is jam packed with some great lessons both new and old, and I really encourage you to jump in and explore all the knowledge and inspiration inside those lessons!
Below I have highlighted some of the work that has spoken to me. You guys are rocking this month and this theme and I am loving it! It is always a chore to narrow down the highlight reel and I wish I could feature you all! Keep clicking, I can't wait to see what else you all do!
xoxo, Lindsay Craig
Gear: Nikon D750 -Tamron 35mm 1.4
Settings: 1/60 f 2.5 ISO 3200
The Shot: On my tip toes, live view, flipped the screen so I could see!
Post Processing: Used a preset to convert to BW, painted her face to bring up shadows, brought up whites on her legs and face, brought up highlights, straightened the crop.
Gear: Nikon D850, sigma 35mm 1.4
Settings: f/2.2, 1/320, ISO 125
The Shot: It was my girl's 3rd birthday, so they were dressed up a bit - they climbed their playing house and I just catched the framed moment
Post Processing: Used my preset in Lightroom, altered the contrast, used a radial filter to brighten them up
Gear: Nikon D750, 35mm 1.8 Settings: ISO 2500, f1.8, 1/125 The Shot: Took this image during an intense game of chess. I liked how the plane of focus fell on the pieces. Post Processing: Edited in LR using SMAL01. Adjusted exposure and white balance.
Gear: Canon 6d/35 Sigma Art.
Settings: 1/300, F2, ISO/100.
The Shot: I just love how these 2 can play in the most glorious spots and I always go with it. I have had my camera with me every afternoon since this Pandemic, I love capturing their childhood.
Post Processing: I started the editing process in ACR and moved it into PS. I used a GTG(action)edit first and converted to black and white. I added some grain and contrast to bring out the details.
Gear: Shot with my DJI Spark drone.
Settings: 1/500, f 2.6, ISO 800
The Shot: Found this little spot at a local park. Got the drone in flight where I wanted it, then set it to take a picture every 5 seconds and hid the phone away while I played Ring Around the Rosies with my kids.
Post Processing: No raw image, so basic edits. Brought down highlights, added texture, clarity. Increased saturation on the pink tree and toned down the greens.
Gear: Canon 6d sigma 35mm
Settings: 1/1250 1.8 iso 125
The Shot: They were hanging out in the slide and I wanted to capture the days muddy feet and knees . All natural light on this gloomy day .
Post Processing: Smal o1- plus tweaks . Took down black and highlights, upped shadows and color saturation.
Gear: Canon 6D, 35mm 1.4
Settings: ISO 320, f/2.2, 1/250
The Shot: I had my husband stand here so I could adjust the settings, then I swapped with him and had him push the shutter when I said go.
Post Processing: LR with SMAL 04 as the base and more tweaks than I care to admit 😆 Always remove grain, up blacks and I had to heal a bunch of food flakes off her face and lighten the dark shadows beneath her eyes 😬
Gear: Google Pixel 3a
Settings: f1.8, 1/480, iso 168
The Shot: Dogs eye view from my daughter's floor post nap. She is potty training but still wears a diaper for naps and we've gotten lazy in quarantine and don't make her wear pants to sleep. I love spring.
Post Processing: Saturated the light behind her, two radial filters, one on her for sharpness and clarity and one for the room with lower exposure and texture to beat down the noise and grain.
Gear: Nikon D850 with 50.0 mm f/1.4
Settings: F 2,8 ISO 400 exp 1/320
The Shot: Another day the rain started and my twins redressed with their rain coats and went out to explore the yard. One moment they climbed on trampoline and started jumping. I grabbed my camera, left dinner to cook itself and got out to shoot in the rain. I shot in the level of trampoline through the entrance.
Post Processing: I edited it in Lightroom (lifted shadows, whites, blacks and highlights as it turned a little too dark. Then I took it to Photoshop and corrected colors and contrast as well.
Gear: Fuji XT20 with 35mm f2
Settings: f4, 1/320, iso 800
The Shot: Taking yet another homeschooling photo is getting boring so I went overhead to utilise a different angle.
Post Processing: Edited in lightroom mobile using Elena s Blair indoor preset as a base. Added texture increased overall brightness and turned down the highlights on the paper
Gear: Nikon D750 w/ Tamron 24-70mm at 32mm.
Settings: ISO 320, f4, 1/200.
The Shot: I was breaking down cardboard boxes on our front porch and my sweet sick baby was on the sofa inside. She noticed me and had been looking outside at me. It has been on my to-do list for quite a while to attempt a through-the-window shot so ran back inside to grab the camera to take this image.
Post Processing: Converted to BW using preset I have - Summer Vibes Barefoot - which has a little matte. I adjusted the matte and put a radial filter on her face to increase clarity, exposure, sharpness and dehaze to bring out her features.
Gear: 5dmarkiii, 35mm 1.4 Settings: ISO 250 | 1/400 | f/3.5 The Shot: I had her sit on the branch in the tree and then I shot from the ground, pulling a branch of flowers in front of my camera for the foreground. Post Processing: I used SMAL 01 as a base and then adjusted clarity, lifted shadows and changed saturtation. I also took out color casting on her skin. instagram.com/loryn.payne.photography
Gear: Sony a7iii 24-70mm 2.8 lens @24mm.
Settings: f/3.5 SS: 1/800 ISO:250
The Shot: We just bought a bounce house for our boys and my oldest loves jumping as high as he can from the top of the slide to the bottom of the slide. I laid in the grass at the bottom of the slide and shot up at him jumping to get a perspective on how high he was jumping.
Post Processing: Edited in Lightroom using SMAL preset. Then I brought down the highlights a little because it was such a bright day and decreased the shadows on his face a little bit because his face ended up right behind that large pillar so it was a little darker than I wanted.
Gear: Sony a7iii, Canon 50mm
Settings: ISO 100, f/2..2 1/1000
The Shot: I shot this from underneath my deck. I knew I'd have some fun repetitive lines and some framing options, and I really liked how the deck blocked half of her face to add a slight whimsy to the image.
Post Processing: I brought up shadows quite a bit, and added lots of clarity and contrast using the selective tone curve panel.
Gear: Nikon d850, 35mm 1.4 Settings: ISO 80 | 1/3200 | f/2.8 The Shot: I actually climbed a ladder next the water trough and shot down on him. Then I panned over and took a shot of just the ground and put them together. Post Processing: I began editing with a Smal preset base and made a few adjustments with clarity, texture, and hsl sliders. I opened in PS to merge the two photos and make the shadow correct.
Gear: Canon 6D Mark 11
Settings: Iso 350, f/2.8, 1/250
The Shot: Trying to make breakfast I put her on the counter to keep her out of the way. And they Post Processing: I noticed the beautiful morning sun shinning through my kitchen window.
Gear: sony xiii
Settings: 1/30 sec. f/4.5 28mm ISO 1250
The Shot: from the hallway.
Post Processing: added a filter to make the yellow pop a little more.
Gear: Nikon D610, Sigma 50 mm lens,
Settings: ISO-100, 1/320, f/4
The Shot: My smart, patient and calm four legged boy is ever vigilant. By now he has figured out the time when it is most active outside. He sits by the window keeping a watch. Be it people walking by, delivery trucks or even noisy birds, he sends out a warning signal so everyone knows he is watching. Even when he was 4-5 months old, his barks were always loud and booming. While he was looking outside. I stood at the other end of the curtain and took my shot.
Post Processing: Hand edit in Lightroom to add texture, clarity. I used the dehaze slider and then also brought down highlights. I used a brush to brighten his eyes a bit and then added a vignette.
Gear: Fujifilm x100f
Settings: ISO 320 f/3.2 SS 1/1250s
The Shot: My 10 year old and I made a large sidewalk chalk rainbow and then sprayed it down with the hose to watch the colors mix. My 6 year old grabbed his rainboots and got to jumping in the rainbow puddles. I shot from eye level and looking down to show all of the colors and the reflection.
Post Processing: In Lightroom, I applied a preset I created and cropped the image until I liked how my eye flowed through. I used Photoshop to help bring out the colors and to sharpen the image.
Gear: Canon Rebel T6, 35 mm
Settings: ISO 100, f/2.2, 1/500
The Shot: My daughter was twirling in our driveway, so I stood on our balcony and shot straight down on her.
Post Processing: Applied SMAL 01 preset. Decreased exposure and blacks. Added a radial filter around her and increased exposure, shadows, highlights, and whites.
Gear: Nikon D850, Sigma 24 mm Settings: f 4.0, iso2500, 1/200 sec The Shot: Taken at 39 weeks pregnant, gathering all the little baby goodies! Shot with window light from the top of the photo. Handheld over my head, using live-view and tilting my screen, tapped screen to focus and quickly moved my hand to belly. Post Processing: Edited in LR with SMAL Rose preset and tweaked layers in photoshop to brighten and enhance colors/depth. Used a brush to further brighten everything in the crib.