Tuesday, March 29, 2016

destiny


As long as we are persistent in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, 
we will continue to grow. 
We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. 
It happens in its own time. 
~ Denis Waitley


I had a vision when I saw this tulip.
I wanted to isolate the bloom and the leaf on the left from the
remainder of the image. I didn't have a macro lens with me and figured
I would have to do some creative cropping.

In post, I played around with NIK Silver Efex Pro2 (now available for free).
I was able to process this color image to the tight image of just the leaf and flower
that I originally envisioned.
I think the preset underexposes the image a great deal so only the very light areas show.
By altering some of the color filters (blue) I was able to isolate the bloom and leaf
even more. Strong vignetting may also be a part of the preset in order to bring attention
to the center of the image.
I did not expect that a preset for black and white processing
could so radically change this image.
I can still be surprised!
Love that.

This plug-in collection is powerful and empowering.
You don't have to settle for just clicking on a preset,
and letting the software determine your image's destiny.
You can further adjust your image globally, or selectively.
You can tease apart what elements changed the image the most (exposure, vignette, filter),
and apply these concepts manually to your images in photoshop or lightroom.
Play.
Make it your own.
Make it your vision.
Give your image the destiny it deserves.

Fuji XT1 ISO 200 f/5.6 1/500 sec XF18-55mm (69mm EFL)