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Writer's pictureEmily Flodstrom

May: Highlight Reel, 1

Layers is one of my favorite techniques to explore, because I love how much depth, perspective, and storytelling it adds to an image. I loved how everyone used them in their images to really pull me in as a viewer, and give an interesting peek into your daily lives. Here's a handful of my favorites from the first half of this month!


Layered like an onion,



Gear: Canon 6D Mark ii, Sigma 35mm

Settings: ISO 800, f/4.0, 1/250

The Shot: I noticed my daughter playing in some pretty light that was coming in from the window. I grabbed my camera and got down low to frame her in the centre of the photo where the lines from the cabinets and refrigerator intersected.

Post Processing: I edited this in LR using a Baby Rose preset, lifted shadows and brought down highlights.



Gear: Canon EOS M, Sigma 16mm contemporary lens.

Settings: f/4.0, 1/1250, IOS 100

The Shot: I positioned myself on the sand, laying flat, to capture the layers of abandoned sand castles, then took this shot as a father and child stood close to the water and another person walked through the scene, much closer to me.

Post Processing: Minimal Lightroom editing, including warming color balance slightly and adjusting highlights, shadows, and contrast.



Gear: Nikon D850

Settings: 1/8000, f1.4, ISO640

The Shot: My dog is OBSESSED with bubbles. The kids were blowing their bubbles in the back yard and I attempted to catch our dog's enthusiasm for popping them. I put my shutter speed up high and shot on continuous. 99% of the photos, the her face looked absolutely crazy, and not at all photo worthy, but I managed to get this happy accident of her face through the bubble.

Post Processing: I edited this in LR first and added the Mastin Labs Portra 160 preset plus my own tweaks on it. I brought it into photoshop and removed an awkward looking kid that was in the background as well as an umbrella. There was only a couple other small bubbles besides the one framing her face, so I took bubbles from some of the other frames and composited them in.



Gear: Canon eos r 35mm 1.8

Settings: iso6400 1/160 4.5

The Shot: I had this idea to get her looking at the fish though the fish tank but she ran away after my second test shot before the fish swam into place so I added these fish in photoshop.

Post Processing: Edited in Lightroom and photoshop to bring down the highlights in the background and add that ocean blue to everything.


Gear: Canon Rebel T6, 24mm prime

Settings: ISO 100, f3.5, 1/250

The Shot: It was early evening and the shade finally hit the house. I stood in front of them and waited for something to happen, and destiny came in the form of layers!

Post Processing: Edited in LightRoom using black and white preset. Lowered highlights slightly, painted slight exposure on the girls, brought down the whites, and added a vignette



Gear: Nikon D610 50mm

Settings: ISO 800, f1.8, 1/4000sec

The Shot: Went to the Nashville Botanical gardens

Post Processing: Edited in photoshop just some basic adjustments and straightening of the photo



Gear: Fujifilm x100v

Settings: F/2 1/320 23mm

The Shot: I was sitting on the other end of the couch and just happened to notice they layers with my husbands legs and the my daughter as the main subject. I move my camera around to give each subject their own space so that they didn’t overlap.

Post Processing: I just made some small tweaks on my phone. I brought exposure up little and straightened the photo. I did go into photoshop to get rid of a cord that was hanging in the photo.




Gear: Always my Nikon D750 and Tamron 35mm 1.4

Settings: ISO 5000, f/4.0, SS 1/100

The Shot: : I don't know if you can even see it this small, this is an image that does better on a larger screen BUT I was sitting outside with my mom on the balcony at the beach, so I wanted to try to combine the two scenes. You can see her reflection in the doorway, and you can also see my son playing his tablet inside. I had to raise my ISO pretty high because it was dusk, and I was trying to get a proper exposure to help eliminate noise. I wanted to make sure everyone had their own space in the image so each subject was clear.

Post Processing: I generally keep my editing pretty minimal but I increased exposure a bit, lifted the shadows, adjusted my white balance, and increased luminance to reduce some noise




Gear: Fuji XT3 with Viltrox 23mm

Settings: Iso 2500, f8, 1/125

The Shot: Along with other photographers I am challenging myself with a self portrait P52. This week I decided to take multiple versions of me baking.

Post Processing: I took lots images at different stages of baking and chose 3 that worked the best. I edited them initially in Lightroom using Elena Blair indoor preset adjusting the white balance, exposure and adding texture. I then used PS I placing the images together and using layers and masking they were edited into 1 image. This took me absolutely ages and is far from perfect but I am trying to slowly learn different skills in PS.



Gear: Canon 5DIV Canon 24-70 f/2.8

Settings: 1/320 sec, f/4.5, ISO 500

The Shot: My daughter loves serving me ice cream daily and I wanted to capture this with me in the frame so I included my hand and the ice cream as a layer.

Post Processing: In Lightroom I adjusted the temperature, contrast and exposure slightly and I straightened and cropped it and used the HSL panel to alter colours. In Photoshop I removed some distracting elements.



Gear: 1. Nikon D750, 85mm

Settings: ISO 100, F 2.2, 1/640 sec

The Shot: We went to the Tulip Festival and it was pretty crowded there. The easy way to avoid people in my pictures was taking details shot. Here I was laying down on the floor while my daughter was admiring the flowers

Post Processing: I edited in Lightroom using Smal01 preset. I removed grain and opacity, adjusted exposure and white balance, and reduced highlights. In Photoshop I removed a few distractions and applied Jessica Drossin’s overlay




Gear: Canon 6D Mark 2 with Canon 35mm 1.4

Settings: f/2.8 1/125 ISO 1250

The Shot: I stepped back to get a wider shot of my sons looking at the penguins. I exposed for the water/background so that the people in the foreground would be silhouette and the penguin and my sons would be exposed correctly but still slightly in shadow.

Post Processing: Edited in Lightroom. Decreased exposure and blacks, brought highlights all the way down, increased whites and vibrance. Tone curve adjustment and added vignette.

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