Tag:creative photography
Back in 2020, I did a post on photographing flowers frozen in ice. Fast forward to 2023, and with autumn coming on, I decided to try the same thing with autumn leaves. Not having frozen-over lakes here in Australia, I again commandeered the freezer. The turning leaves tell a story of the approaching winter chill and colder nights. Encased in ice, that story added a new level.
The frozen leaves also create interesting patterns and textures in the ice. And a bonus is that leaves in ice can be done in the comfort of your own home without having to brave the cold!
Supplies
Apart from your camera (and you could use a phone camera), you will need the following;
- a plastic container to fit your leaves
- water (tap, distilled or demineralised – all will give different effects)
- an assortment of leaves
- ice cubes.
Look for different shapes and colours of autumn leaves; you can even add some gum nuts or acorns. Both tap, distilled and demineralised water will work. However, demineralised water will be less cloudy than tap or distilled water. However, I have found that tap water also becomes clearer as the ice starts to melt.
Method
Freeze around 5cm (1 inch) of water in your container. When frozen, take the container from the freezer and arrange your leaves on top of the ice.
Next, place a couple of ice cubes on top of each leaf. This will keep them in place and stop them from floating when you add more water. Once you complete step 5, the ice cubes become almost invisible, but they add more detail to the ice block.
Note: With the flowers in 2020, I just added a couple of mm of water to anchor them, but the leaves are much lighter and float, hence the ice cubes hack.
Add a small amount of water to the container, just a cm or so, to ‘glue’ the leaves into ice when it freezes. Return the container to the freezer
Final step – Take the frozen container from the freezer and top it up with water to cover the leaves by a cm or so. Return to freezer.
Photographing the ice block
Once your block of leaves in ice is frozen solid, it’s time to have some fun. If using a camera, you can use a standard lens or macro. The back (or bottom) of the block is the best side to photograph as the air bubbles start there; it’s also perfectly flat and smooth, and it’s closest to the leaves.
Olympus 12-100 mm lens F11, ISO 200, 1/25 sec at 41mm
Flash really won’t work with the ice, though you can use soft boxes, paying careful attention to reflections or hot spots. However, I prefer natural light. You can set it up in front of a window with well-diffused light (or outside if you have a good, flat surface). If doing it inside against a window, you need one where the sun isn’t shining directly on the block. Take your block from the freezer, and leave it on the bench for 5-10 mins, allowing it to melt just enough to pop out cleanly or run some cool water over the back of the container, and it will pop straight out.
Olympus 12-100 mm lens F11, ISO 200, 1/25 sec at 41mm
Setting up the shoot
If photographing inside, place a small table in front of the window, and if using a glass-top table, place a folded paper towel under the block. It will stop it from it sliding. Putting a bath towel or paper towel under the table to absorb the melting water is also a good idea. Stand the block upright on the paper towel so the block is backlit. You can also photograph the leaves in ice straight down with the block on a towel, but the colour of the towel will show through, so give some thought to that. I prefer it upright, so the light brings out all the bubbles and cracks in the ice. It also nicely highlights the leaf veins when backlit.
Olympus 60mm Macro 1/15 sec, F11, ISO 200.
The weather was a balmy 30C the day I took my shots, so I stood the block on the veranda railing outside. It gave me good filtered light and no mess with the water dripping onto the garden bed below. I ran off some shots and left it for half an hour, shot some more and left it again.
Olympus 60mm macro, 1/4 sec, F11, ISO 200
Settings
F11 to F16 will give you the best depth of field
ISO 100-400
Shutter speed – watch the highlights, but if backlighting, overexpose by about 0.7 so your leaves aren’t in shadow.
You will need a longer shutter speed depending on the light in the room, so place your camera on a tripod. However, it’s more important to have a good depth of field than a faster shutter. So stay between F11 and F16 and adjust the shutter speed accordingly. For all images above, I used aperture priority.
Once you have taken enough shots with the solid ice, allow it to melt naturally or speed things up with a hairdryer. You will get different images as it melts and partially exposes the leaves. The detail also comes out in the leaves more as it melts and becomes thinner.
Editing your shots
I edit in Photoshop, but Lightroom’s slider settings are the same. Bring the highlights down to -100, Shadows +25, Texture +30, Clarity +25, Dehaze +16 and Vibrance +50. In Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), you can synchronise the settings across all the images to save having to edit one by one.
Syncing in Lightroom
- Make the changes to your first image either using your favourite preset or the slider suggestions above.
- While the first image is highlighted, click and highlight the other images you want to edit by holding down the SHIFT key (CMD on a Mac) and then clicking on the last image you want to edit.
- Click the Sync button, which is found on the lower right-hand side of the screen at the bottom of the Develop Panels.
- A synchronise settings menu will pop up. Just click Synchronise
- The same settings will be applied to all images.
Syncing in Photoshop ACR
- Adjust the sliders using the settings above or your preferred preset/settings
- Right-click on the image in the filmstrip and click ‘copy edit settings.’
- with the first image still highlighted right, click on the last image in the filmstrip and select “paste edit settings”
- Next, click Open (or open as Object if you prefer to work with smart objects)
- from here, you can edit with your regular workflow
Frozen leaves are a beautiful and fascinating natural phenomenon that occurs naturally during the winter months in colder climates. However, they can still be photographed in warmer climates using the above method. While they may seem simple at first glance, frozen leaves are complex structures with intricate patterns and colours. Whether you’re a nature enthusiast, a photographer, or just someone who enjoys the beauty of winter, frozen leaves are definitely worth exploring and admiring.
Luminar Neo is arguably the best sky replacement out there. With a host of new tools, including layer masking, it’s hard to go past.
A brief history
Initially released by Macphun, Luminar has been around for over ten years now. The company was started in 2008 by two Ukrainian gaming software developers. As the company grew, its focus moved to creative photography. In 2015, Macphun partnered with Trey Ratcliff and developed an HDR program named Aurora. Luminar, intended as an all-in-one alternative to Photoshop, was released in 2015.
Initially, Luminar was only available for the macOS. However, in 2018 Luminar also included a Windows PC version in its release, and it was at this time, Macphun changed its name to Skylum. Luminar Ai was released in 2021, and Luminar Neo followed in 2022. All Luminar products have featured sky replacement, with each new release improving the technology. Over the years, Luminar has won many prestigious industry awards for photo editing innovation, including four gold awards at the Digital Camera Grand Prix.
Luminar Ai
Luminar Ai was a brand new product – not an upgrade to Luminar 3 or 4. Instead, it offered an entirely new approach to photo editing powered by artificial intelligence. Luminar Ai also introduced various tools for portraits and enhanced the landscape tools. The sky replacement in Luminar Ai also received a significant upgrade.
Luminar Neo
Like Luminar Ai – Luminar Neo was a new product built from the ground up – not an upgrade. The portrait bokeh is excellent, with Neo automatically masking out your subject to isolate the background. You then adjust the sliders to your liking to create a creamy bokeh behind your subject. How much bokeh remains entirely within your control. The Relight feature is another excellent addition. Neo calculates the depth of the image and creates a 3D map. You can then adjust the light naturally from front to back.
However, the sky replacement is why I use Luminar in all its iterations. Too often, I have taken a shot that I was happy with, except for the bland sky. Returning time and time again to get the shot in perfect conditions isn’t always feasible. So sky replacement saves the day. I remember when sky replacement was in its infancy, and trying to do it in a heavily treed image almost drove me to drink! In Neo, adding your own custom skies is much easier, and the replacement sky will now also reflect onto the water, ensuring your sky replacement looks more natural.
Do You Need Both?
So, the big question is, I guess, do you need Luminar Neo if you already have Luminar 4 or Ai? Well, it depends on which one you have. Luminar 4 was notoriously (painfully) slow to load and process images, so if you didn’t upgrade from Luminar 4 to Luminar Ai, I would definitely recommend you take the plunge for Luminar Neo. If, however, you do have Luminar Ai, I would still consider Luminar Neo a good investment. This is because the loading and processing of Neo are markedly faster again. In addition, the interface is more intuitive and straightforward. Plus, there are all those lovely new features.
Neo’s rebuilt engine has much better speed and performance than Ai, and with Neo, you gain the ability to add layers, much like Photoshop. Luminar Neo also has the Remove Powerlines and Remove Dust Spots. Both work with a single click without time-consuming manual masking. There is, however, a brush option to manually remove more complicated power lines and dust spots. However, at the time of writing this, only Luminar Ai has Dodge and Burn and Clone. However, neither of those tools is a deal-breaker to me, as I have them in Photoshop.
Sale Starts today!
Skylum’s summer sale starts today with a massive 60% saving on Luminar Neo. Luminar Neo is usually priced at $123 Au – less the loyalty discount if you already have a Skylum product. Both programs offer a free trial and give a 30 money-back guarantee on your purchase. Lifetime licences with standard updates are included.
- The summer sale price of Luminar Neo, a one-time purchase, is $67 for one licence or $84 for two licences(around $50 off). They are also including Aurora HDR and Nature templates for free
Click HERE for the special sale price – Sale ends June 10, 2022
Verdict
I have been with Luminar since Luminar 4. I then bought Luminar Ai as soon as it was released. The following year I purchased Luminar Neo with the early bird special – and I can say unreservedly, I love it. It’s packed with more advanced features than Luminar Ai and is faster and simpler to use. I still have Ai on the computer for when I want to access the few things Neo doesn’t have, and Skylum is still putting out updates to Luminar Ai. I do expect, however, that Luminar Neo will eventually catch up, and when that happens, I will uninstall Luminar Ai. If you own Luminar Ai, upgrading to Neo will give you a better experience, and with your loyalty discount, it’s excellent value. For me, Luminar Neo, with its superior sky replacement and faster processing, is a clear winner.
disclosure:
The links given here are affiliate links. While they won’t cost you any extra, I may receive a commission if you purchase using the links in this post. However, these are programs I bought myself and are highly recommended.
Should landscape photographers manipulate images? (take vs make an image) Manipulating an image, is it acceptable? I would have to say, straight off the bat, that I am firmly in the camp of making the image. While I hope for a great sky or light when I shoot, I am not against swapping in a new sky or adding light to create a better image. When the circumstances or conditions have given me lemons, I make lemonade.
Straight from the camera?
I also realise that some of you are throwing up your hands in horror and reminding me that this is totally unacceptable when entering competitions. However, I don’t enter competitions, and should I enter one, I wouldn’t use an image that has been heavily manipulated. Apart from that, I love manipulating an Image. Painters don’t necessarily paint what they see. They take artistic license – and people accept that as normal. With photographers, though, there is a large school of thought that the image should be as it was photographed, without adding or removing elements. So I tend to regard myself as someone who paints with a camera. I guess I could call myself a creative or ‘fine art photographer’ as it seems that you can change elements in fine art.
This school of thought seems to apply almost exclusively to landscape photography, and to a lesser degree, portraits. For an image that is obviously a composite or more in the digital manipulation section, adding or removing elements is not only acceptable but part of the process.
Changing a sky
Back in January, back when the world was still chugging along, oblivious to the oncoming pandemic and associated lockdowns, I enjoyed a quick overnight trip down to Portland where we stayed at the Cape Nelson Lighthouse. Coming back, we stopped off at a lavender farm. The sky was a bland white; the lavender wasn’t a lovely purple without sunshine. Had we been there in perfect conditions – I could have gotten the shot I wanted. However, at home, with Photoshop and Luminar, I edited and created the image that I could have gotten had the conditions been right… as a painter could without criticism.
Making the image doesn’t mean every image I take is manipulated, but I am not against having it in my bag of tricks. I also believe that if an image does have a swapped in the sky, it’s a bit dishonest to pretend it’s not. But, at the end of the day, my images are for me. I don’t sell them (no one wants them, LOL). I don’t enter competitions. They are just for my enjoyment, so I am not cheating or fooling anyone.
With the new Luminar Ai due out before the end of the year, this topic will not go away. Full disclosure, I have already pre-ordered my copy. What are your thoughts? Do you take or make an image?
Toms amazing adventures continued as he cycled along a backroad towards St George. A patrol car emerged out of the dust plume behind him, pulled alongside, and asked for his destination. “I’m going to St George, brother,” said Tom. “Do you have any ID on you?” officer Peter Pickle asked, “no suh”, Tom said, “I identify as aboriginal, my dad passed back in March, and we don’t use the name of someone who has died. I am waiting on my new name change documents, but I don’t have them yet” Officer Pickle then asked, “what’s your address and date of birth? “Well, brother”, Tom replied, “I was born in 1979, but I don’t know what day or month. I live at the Cherbourg settlement, but I’ve been walkabout since my dad died, and now I am heading back to Cherbourg.”
Long Arm Of The Law
Officer Peter Pickle and Officer Randal Relish looked at each other in confusion. Officer Relish then asked, “do you have anything on you to show you are a Queensland resident?” Tom said, “would a letter from an elder in my mob do?” reaching into the back of his pants, Tom produced a warm, crumpled, beer, and wine-soaked letter with ketchup stains splashed over it that Beryl had knocked up in her kitchen for him. He leaned over and made to hand it through to the window towards them. Both officers looked horrified at what Tom was handing them. He brusquely said, “on your way,” as they quickly zapped the windows up and drove off in a cloud of dust.
Grinning broadly, Tom waited till they vanished in the distance and then rode into St George. While there, he sold his bike at Cash Converters before heading to the backpacker hostel on foot. Once at the hotel, he put his name on the board for a lift to Roma before joining a group of Swedish tourists in the garden.
Charters Towers
Tom picked up a lift with two french girls heading to Charters Towers and rode with them as far as Roma. In Roma, he started to make his way to the self-storage unit that held the last items he had bought. He passed a vintage car display and stopped to look, several times getting in the way of the photographers. He knew this because they kept asking him to move out of their shot.
Walking around looking at the cars, he noticed a blue police phone box in the distance and had a chuckle to himself, thinking Queenslanders really are backward if the police still use those old blue phone boxes.
Travels with the Doctor
Tom wandered around the car festival and walked past the blue phone box – just as an odd-looking chap with bushy eyebrows popped out the door. Introducing himself as John Smith, he began chatting to Tom and invited him inside. After a brief explanation, and once Tom got over it was bigger on the inside, John, who called himself The Doctor, offered him a chance to travel with him. Always up for an adventure, Tom jumped at the chance. They left Roma on Sept 28th, 2020, at 4 pm. Tom and John travelled together for two years, with Tom having many more amazing adventures before dropping him back in Roma at 4.04 pm on Sept 28th, 2025. By now, COVID had all but disappeared save for the odd outbreak among the conspiracy theorists who refused to be vaccinated.
Tom picked up his car and caravan from the self-storage (Bill, who had access to Toms bank, had kept the account up the date while he was travelling with John) and headed off up the road towards Airlie Beach, whereby now, Bill and Beryl had retired. At Airlie Beach, Tom and Bill bought a bar and backpacker hostel. Tom became a popular figure around town, entertaining all with his ‘tall tales of his amazing adventures. Sitting on his porch one day, he mused, “maybe I should write a book. I’ll call it Toms Amazing Adventures”.
The End
Tom was glad to be taking a break from his amazing adventures. He woke the following day with sunlight streaming in Bill’s spare room window. It was a luxury to sleep in a bed with sheets again after his weeks on the road. He dozed off back to sleep and was woken again when Bill’s dog Ruffnut poked a wet nose onto his face. He could smell breakfast cooking, and his stomach rumbled at the thought of Beryl’s egg and bacon sandwiches.
Trying for Queensland
Tom was not happy. He had placed one extra order. One that he had forgotten to mention to Bill after he had set off from Victoria. The problem was, however, that and it hadn’t arrived. It was absolutely essential to his border crossing into Qld. This meant the crossing would be delayed until it came. Damn Australia Post! Tom had ordered in plenty of time. He estimated it had been sitting at the Sydney sorting centre for the last nine days without moving. Beryl had put in an inquiry about it three days ago -but there had been no response to that either.
While it was lovely staying with Beryl and Bill, he was getting nervous about being in the one spot for so long. Additionally, each day increased the risk to Bill and Beryl. To take his mind off it, Bill suggested they train and go for a bike ride. Saturday morning Bill and Tom were up early. Bill had the family over later that day for a BBQ, and Beryl insisted the lawn be mowed first. Tom tried to help, but he was still sulking about his Australia Post delivery not arriving yet.
While Bill and his family were outside for the BBQ, Tom stayed in his room to not be seen and rang ahead to Roma to make sure that everything was for his arrival there. Thankfully Bert assured him everything was fine – and the delay was not a problem.
A weekend waiting
Bill and Beryl were late up on Sunday, and both were a bit under the weather. “Too much sun yesterday”, Bill insisted. Tom had his doubts as he had noticed Bill put up shade umbrella’s in the afternoon. The three of them had a long discussion over lunch that day. Tom was sure there was no hope of the parcel arriving tomorrow, as the tracking hadn’t moved in ten days. In fact, he was now sure Australia Post had lost his package but felt it was best to push on and head for the border. Bill and Beryl suggested he wait one more day and cross on Tuesday night. The parcel may come Monday or Tuesday – but Tuesday would probably be quieter at the border than Monday. Tom thought about it and agreed.
Lightning Ridge
The next was Monday, and Bill and Beryl both had to work. Bill went off to the apple orchard, and Beryl was caddying for Tiny Woods, who was in town for an exhibition match.
That afternoon, they all went to the Lightning Ridge water park. It was quiet, and they had the place almost to themselves as a Monday.
Paranoia sets in
During the day, the internet was down while the NBN crew worked on the pit. Bill was concerned it could be an undercover border patrol crew and kept an eye on them, but a few hours later, the crew packed up and left, and the internet came on. False alarm.
The Night Crossing
That night – Bill woke Tom at 2 am and said it was time to go. So they drove up the backroads towards the border, and Bill pulled over the side of the road when they turn came up on the right. They sat there in the dark for a few minutes, allowing their eyes to adjust to the total darkness and ensure no other cars were passing to see them.
Positive they were alone, Tom reached into the back seat and pulled out two sets of night vision goggles. The Wolfcub Explorer 3M Thermal Monocular would work in total darkness and allow Bill to drive with no headlights up the narrow dirt road towards the border. They both put them on, pulled out, and turned up Angledool Road and took another dirt road to the end.
Alone
From here on, Tom was on his own. The darkness was absolute. With the fuse removed from the interior lights, not even that glowed weakly as Tom got out of the car into the scrub and removed the mountain bike from the bike rack. As Tom road off, using the night vision goggles to see, Bill turned the car around and drove back the way they had come.
It was just after 3 am and Tom had about three hours of darkness to get across the border.
Tom rode through the night without stopping. He drank from the water bladder in his backpack as he rode when thirsty. The night vision goggles revealed nothing apart from the odd startled kangaroo in the dense bush as he rode past them. Staying off the road in the scrub, he was almost to Dirranbandi by dawn. He had bypassed Hebel as he thought police might be patrolling there, being as it was the first from the border once in Qld.
Next Morning
Skirting around the outskirts of Dirranbandi, he joined up with a remote dirt road that would take him to St George. By now, the sun was coming up, so he rode down to the dried-up river bed, where he sat under a red gum and ate the sandwiches from his backpack that Beryl had made him the night before. Finished with his breakfast, he hopped back on his bike and started cycling towards St George. In the bike’s rearview mirror, he saw a cloud of dust approaching, and from the dust emerged a police patrol car.
Due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, eBooks are proving popular. Photographers across the world have had their income severely curtailed. Tours are cancelled, portrait shoots put on hold. Wedding photographers have no weddings to shoot, even newborn photography has taken a hit with no one allowed into your home. Consequently, this has led to many photographers putting out eBooks to help boost their income. And sitting at home in front of your computer – looking to learn while you are stuck in isolation, it’s tempting to buy them. But are they worth your money? With a couple of reservations. Yes.
Over the course of this pandemic and isolation, I have bought a few eBooks, looking to upskill myself, ready for when I can venture out again. I found, overall, most were good to great. Informative, lots of tips and secrets divulged. Easy to checkout and download, tick, tick. And conversely, one, quite disappointing with basic content that I could pick up with just as easily with an internet search.
Price
Overall, the price of eBooks is something that really bugs me. Yes, the author has a lot of time putting it together. But after it’s ready, that’s it. Upload it, advertise it, sit back and wait for sales. No more work is required, and it keeps (hopefully) bringing in money month after month for years, with no more work required. Money for jam. So why are they priced equal to or dearer than print books when they don’t have the overheads? There are no printing or distribution costs. No commission or markup to retailers. Yet the price doesn’t reflect this.
Buyer beware
I read voraciously on my iPad. Mostly fiction, with some photography related ebooks. The fiction books are always $10 to $20 cheaper than ‘textbooks’, so not a big investment. However, textbooks are usually a lot dearer. So I try to be selective with them. A boring or badly written fiction book at $15 or less is easier to stomach than a photography ebook where I learned nothing but paid $35 – $40. And I really wished for a money-back guarantee with the last one I bought. Some do give it – some don’t.
Reviews
Be aware; these are my opinions only. You may feel completely different about the books. I also purchased all these books – none are paid reviews.
Landscape Photography: On Location
by Thomas Heaton
$6.58 on Amazon
One of my favourite eBooks. I have been following Thomas via his YouTube channel for ages, so I jumped at the book when I found it.
It contains loads of useful, well explained technical information for all skill levels. While it’s not a ‘how-to’ manual, it contains many tips, pointers, and inspiration. And for the price, you can’t go wrong.
Photographing Fabulous Flowers
By Leanne Cleaveley
$19 from Photzy
This book is well written, filled to the brim with loads of helpful tips and hints on getting the perfect shot. Leanne covers everything from settings to composition to editing and printing. The book also comes with a bonus checklist plus a flower waterdrop tutorial. If you’re not satisfied, it’s also backed by a 365-day money-back guarantee. No money-back is needed on this one. If you are into flower photography, this one is definitely for you.
For the Love of Food
By Julie Powell
$25 from Julie Powell Photography
This is a great little eBook.
Seventeen pages covering composition, lighting, hints, and tips on backgrounds and props.
If you are getting into food photography and looking for where to start, you will be on the right path.
No money-back guarantee (not that I want one), but for the price, definitely value for money.
Captiviting Color
by Mitchell Kanashkevich
$19 from Digital Photography School
This was one of the first eBooks I purchased on photography, and it made a huge difference to how I “see” images. It aims to teach you how to understand and use colour. This, in turn, influences your viewer’s attention to the image and use colour and subjects for maximum impact.
Includes six practical exercises to help you implement what you have learned. Comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
The Creative Photography Cookbook
by Dina Belenko
$39 Available from Expert Photography
In a word. Awesome. This book has to be the bee’s knees for creative food photography. Dina Belenko is the queen of ‘conceptual still like photography’ with 44k followers on Instagram.
Her book covers composition, props, setups, techniques. 31 projects with loads of pictures, giving you step-by-step directions from props to setup to editing on creating your own amazing images.
Includes bonus ‘recipe’ sheets. One of the more expensive books, but it’s 374 pages big! It also comes with a 90-day money-back guarantee.
Miniature Worlds
by David Gilliver
£20 from Davids website
I had to hit one turkey sooner or later on the law of averages.
David is a fabulous photographer from Glasgow, Scotland, renowned for light painting and miniatures. He has been featured in many newspapers for his small world figures and has over 2.5k followers on Instagram. The book is roughly the same price as Dina Belenko’s but 1/6th size.
However, his book of ’52 pages’ sounded great. He said his book “is packed full of advice and detailed information on camera gear & settings. Additionally it included information on where to source the figurines and props. He claimed to have “not held anything back and have shared everything that I have learned over the past 20+ years”.
I agonised over this book for a week or more. I really wanted it. But there was no money-back guarantee. In the end, because I had never asked for my money back before, I bit the bullet and bought it. And so wished I had saved myself the $37 Au. We didn’t get information on how to do these figures till page 13. The first 12 pages are fluff. The next seven pages contain images and descriptions. Nothing you couldn’t work out yourself by looking at them on his Instagram page.
The following pages cover camera settings and props, then more images and tip gems such as “check battery is charged, and sd card is in camera”. He may have held nothing back, but what he gave was nothing I hadn’t already learned by google searching others. In fact, I learned more from a free tutorial on the Adobe Create page.
Moral to the story
Above all, don’t buy if they don’t offer a money-back guarantee. Of all the books I have bought, those with the guarantee were worth it, and I was a satisfied customer. I guess I know why David’s book didn’t come with one.