Learning New Techniques

I’ve been studying some new techniques to sharpen my skills at developing images. I’m following a program that focuses on Photoshop, now celebrating its 30th anniversary. Photoshop has evolved considerably over that period and progressed in step with digital camera technology. Photoshop has become a very large and complex program and despite using it for many years, I still have much to learn. I’ve now completed tutorial #13 of 30, and hope to be much wiser by the time I get to the end.

In addition to completing the exercises included with the tutorials, I’ve been re-working some of my own images, applying several new techniques. So far, I’ve emphasized the areas of colour grading and blending adjustment layers with the images.

Following are a few examples. I won’t go into what I did to each image, but rather simply describe what each photograph portrays.

This first image was taken at Natural Bridge in Yoho NP. Here, the Kicking Horse River plunges through a small opening in the rock bridge. The photo captures the turbulence at the mouth of the opening as the water flow narrows to get through.

This is an autumn scene taken at the Boyce Thomson Arboretum, located in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, about 1 hour east of Phoenix, AZ. It is the largest and oldest botanical garden in the state of Arizona and it features desert flora from all over the world.

This is Skógafoss (“forest waterfall”) on the south coast of Iceland. You can visualize the wind generated by the displacement of air by the falling water. The wind carries a lot of moisture with it, so this was as close as I could approach without coating my lens with water.

The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Cecilia, also known as Albi Cathedral, is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Albi, France. First built as a fortress, begun in 1282 and under construction for 200 years, it is claimed to be the largest brick building in the world. In 2010 the cathedral was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

This cathedral is very large and difficult to capture in a single image. This picture by no means intends to do so, but it does offer an interesting glimpse from the rear of the building.

Here’s a scene from Bryce Canyon NP in southern Utah. It features an old Piñon Pine tree on the side of the path leading out of the canyon.

I realize that you, the viewer is unable to make a comparison with the original photographs. I hope you may see some subtle differences from previous posted photos and most importantly, find them pleasing to the eye.