A few weeks ago I went to Snowdonia on a cold and grey day hoping to find some snow and some great landscape shots. Unfortunately it was a very grey day and the light didn't lend itself to the task I had set myself so when I got home I found most of the images I had taken were a bit dull and didn't really reflect the beauty that I had hoped to capture.
Up until now I have only ever done the most basic editing of my images in Lightroom, in part I have been afraid to try new settings/adjustments and in part I have told myself that if I didn't get it right in camera then it is cheating to mess with the image too much.
When we look at any image that is printed or online there has been some degree of editing or post production and as long as we are honest about that it doesn't matter what we do if the final result is a decent picture.
If the original composition is off then no amount of post production is going to make it a brilliant image so having a good eye is a key skill and an important starting point. With this picture I would say the composition is spot on. However even though the composition is good the colours and the contrast in the original image was affected by the poor light and for weeks I have overlooked this image having decided it wasn't worth sharing.
Today however I wanted to explore the possibilities in this image and I have experimented with different settings in Lightroom to bring the image to life. I have practised on a few other shots too and I will be sharing them over the next few days.
You can only see the finished product but when I have shown people the before and after images their responses have been really positive, surprised that such a vibrant image could come from the original picture.
This is the last picture from my walk in Betws y Coed that I will be sharing. It is a shot of the Afon Llugwy as it flows into the village just before the falls at Pont-y-Pair Bridge.
I think this is a great winter scene that captures how cold it was. It is a lovely spot and in the summer it would be heaving with visitors many paddling and splashing in the shallows but on this particular day it was almost deserted and it was great to be there and undisturbed..
Here are three shots of the second stack I built on the banks of the River Llugwy from slightly different angles. This was quite a tricky balance to be honest because the stones were slippery and I was shivering because it was so cold. But I managed to do it without it collapsing and that was important to me because I didn't want to spoil the snow around it.
I really like the effect of the out of focus background and the way the wet stones glisten.
As with the first stack that I showed you yesterday I dismantled it afterwards to leave no trace...
For today I have chosen three views of a waterfall. This was near to the Miners Bridge across the River Llugwy at Betws y Coed in North Wales. It is the same waterfall I posted a slo-mo video of on my facebook page recently. It is a beautiful sight and it sounds fantastic too.
Two different shots from a wintry day in Betws y Coed and two different effects tweaking blacka nd white images in Lightroom. I had some assistance from my son so that I didn't overdo the saturation in either shot and I think they look pretty good.
The first shot is a very simple image of the apex of the snow covered roof of a timber building in the village. Framed by the trees and with a slight blue hue it has a cold wintry feel.
The second shot is looking up the valley along the course of the river Llugwy. I love the mist rising above the trees mixed with the wood smoke from the houses on the hill. I have given the picture a lift by adding a slightly yellow hue which has brought out some definition in the clouds which otherwise appeared flat and grey.
So the culmination of our stacking efforts last weekend was this stone arch. It took a couple of attempts to get it right and the construction was a real team effort but it was the first time we had tried to build an arch so I was very pleased with the result.
I have taken pictures from slightly different angles and from both sides to try and get the best image. In the final picture you can see the tree from yesterdays shots reaching across the river with the two small stacks balanced on it. I have deliberately used the depth of field to keep the background just out of focus so that the eye is drawn to the arch in the foreground.
I really like all of today's pictures; I would be hard pressed to pick a favourite. All of them are good reminders of a great day out with my kids, moments to treasure.
