Lightroom 4 Tutorial: Dark Vintage Effect

For this month's photo challenge, I decided to test my skills at creating a vintage inspired shoot with my daughter.

CLICK HERE for a video tutorial on how to achieve this look with Adobe Lightroom 4.

This adorable turquoise romper was purchased from Dolled Up Kidz.  You can see more of their items at www.dolledupkidz.com or check them out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dolledupkidz

If you would like to see more photos from this session, please visit www.fullfeatherphotography.com

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How to add HDR effect to a photo with Lightroom 4

Please click here to watch my: VIDEO TUTORIAL

Below is a quick & easy editing method I tested in Lightroom 4, which renders somewhat of an HDR effect.  This sample image was taken with my Canon Rebel T2i & fixed "nifty 50" lens:

ISO 100 ~ 50mm ~ f/4.0 ~ 1/160 sec

As you can see, it's over exposed and dull looking.

With a few quick tweaks in Lightroom 4, 

 

we end up here:

I wanted to bring out the red of the barn, so I then increased the Red saturation to +15 with a luminosity of +20.  I reduced the Green to -15 saturation & -60 luminosity & also adjusted the tone of the green to +20 to take away some of the "yellowish" tone.

I made some further adjustments to the sharpness & noise reduction:

Finally, I added a slight vignette around the entire photo, & a graduated filter to darken the sky.  I did just a few last minute brushes increasing the clarity on the barn wood.

For someone working only with Lightroom 4, I was pleased with the end result.  I look forward to testing this out on some more photos soon, particularly on some of Oklahoma's incredible sunsets. 

TRADITIONS

Over the river and through the woods, to Old Baker School we go!

For a little over 10 years, my family has traveled from far & wide to celebrate Christmas in a very unique way...at a historic schoolhouse tucked away in the hills of Jefferson County, Missouri. My grandfather, “Papa Bill,” purchased some acreage in the early 1960s, which happened to also be home to this old abandoned schoolhouse:

We're not certain when it was built, but we know it was in existence in 1896 & was used until the 1930s when all of the rural county schools consolidated into a new public school system.  In the late 1990s, some of my relatives decided to renovate the schoolhouse so we could still gather together at the farm in memory of Papa Bill.

Christmas at the schoolhouse is definitely a one-of-a-kind experience. There is no cable TV, no internet, no telephone. We have electricity for lights & a refrigerator.  Uncle Pat is usually in charge of arriving early to fire up the wood stove.  By the time we all arrive, he has the place nice & toasty.

We bring dinner, desserts & of course lots of silly gifts. It basically turns into a whole evening of “white elephant” gift exchanging, game playing & story telling. Many of the strange gifts get put to immediate use...

Why all the Halloween related gifts?  Well, the farm was also where we had many haunted hayrides each Fall when I was a little girl. The spooky gifts remind us of those good times & allow for great photo opportunities.

Onward we will go to the old schoolhouse to celebrate Christmas a fews days later than most of you will, but what a way to ring in the new year!  I'm looking forward to taking our baby girl for her first schoolhouse visit. I hope we can continue this family tradition for years to come.  

What's your most treasured family tradition? 

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REFLECTIONS

Ok, here goes...my first blog.

This afternoon, as I reflected on the year quickly coming to an end, I thought about how my photography business has evolved since I formed Full Feather Photography last Spring.  I decided to review some of my work & try to dig up my favorite portrait from 2012.  Without further ado:

Meet beautiful Brylee. She & her brother, Cohen, were such a joy to capture. They live several hours away, but I really hope I get to see them again someday.

I took this photo last July with my Canon Rebel T2i & EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens. I knew the moment I snapped the shutter that this would be one to treasure.  Today, I was practicing some new editing techniques, when this photo took me by surprise. I converted it to black & white, zoomed in close on Brylee's eyes & was working on adding some contrast. I then attempted to remove a stray hair that is shown over her left eye, when I noticed...myself.

Yep, that's me, crouched down camera in hand at the other end of our fishing dock, peering thru my lens at this beautiful little girl. Those big gorgeous eyes reflecting all that surrounds her. Sitting on the dock on a hot summer day & inviting me into her world. "Wait! Don't remove a thing!" I said to myself. I love the way those little stray hairs float across her face. They only show more of the natural lively moments we had together.  Running around in the hot sun, fishing, dressing up, chasing imaginary dragons in the woods & playing on our tractor. 

timeless. precious. childhood.  

This day will forever be one of my favorite photo sessions. Thank you, Brylee, for reminding me of where to "focus" my work & to always stay in the moment.

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