The Ones I Like List of 2012 [#8]
Two Birds in a Tree. When I first looked at this photo in Adobe Camera Raw, my most indispensable processing software, I knew I had something, but I had no idea that I had this. There was a strong white/grey to the original photo, and the birds were centered in a standard 2:3 frame. The birds were cute, but there wasn’t any grace to the image. There was no softness, no charm.
I started doing what I do with all of my photos; I played around with the various brightness levels, colors, tones and saturation. Since I have over a hundred presets, all created by me, in Adobe Camera Raw, presets with names like “pinky pinky,” “winter white,” “allegory,” and “fairytale woods,” I found one that would serve as a good launching point, one that gave me the browns I needed, and I tweaked from there.
If I remember correctly about 90% of the work done on this photo was done in Adobe Camera Raw. Once in Photoshop, I realized that the frame could be greatly enhanced by chopping off the right-hand side of the photo. Then a wee bit of vignetting and a little more warmth and presto change-o! A completely different image. One with a subtle Japanese print vibe, something I’ve always been drawn to.
So when people email me and ask me, as they often do, which version of Photoshop I use, I want to scream out “I’m an Adobe Camera Raw girl!” I’m finding out more and more each day that it’s almost all I need in terms of software to make my images happy. It isn’t all I need, but it’s pretty darned close. I’m not saying I don’t love Photoshop. I do. I just love Adobe Camera Raw more. And now you know.
Another photo of two birds came close to making my top 10 list this year, Two Cardinals.
This will be the last post of 2012. Wishing everyone a very safe and happy New Year! Bring on 2013!
