OnePhoto Focus (and More)

Posted on by

This is the first Friday of the month and that means it’s time for Stacy Fischer’s OnePhoto Focus, where photographers from all over take their turn on the same image.  The range of interpretations is truly impressive, and you can find the links to the other submissions at Visual Venturing.

But first, a quick trip to the front yard where some butterflies seem to be evaluating the worthiness of some flowers growing there.  Hard not to pick up the camera and walk 30 feet to the subject.

Butterfly 01

Cabbage White

Butterfly 02

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Butterfly 03

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Female Dark Form)?

I am not certain about the identities of the above three butterflies, especially the one immediately above.  If there are any experts out there, I would be most interested in any corrections they might have.  At any rate, all three photos were taken with a Nikon D880E, handheld, using a 28-300mm  f/3.5-5.6  lens.  Various focal lengths and shutter speeds, all shot at f/9.0, ISO 1600.

Now back to our regularly scheduled post, OnePhoto Focus.

This month, the challenge image was submitted by Katie Prior.  Many thanks to her for allowing us the use of her photograph, shown below.

Robin Kent 1PF August Before

Original Image by Katie Prior

As usual, I opened the image in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) and made a series of fairly standard adjustments (setting black and white points, claity, and vibrance).  The result of this first stage is shown below.

Robin Kent 1PF August Before 02

Katie Prior’s Image after ACR Processing

This is a case where I got caught up in the process and failed to keep notes.  After opening the image in Photoshop, it seemed that Black and White would be the most promising approach, so my first step was to create a Black and White adjustment layer.  I then added a few Curves Adjustment layers and a gradient layer, but while the image was becoming more dramatic as a pure B&W, it seemed to missing something.  So I used another Curves Adjustment layer but instead chose (I think) the Cross Process preset. That made it a little more interesting.  I then switched tactics and began to simplify by turning off the Black and White Adjustment layer and then all but two Curves Adjustment layers (removing 6 in all).  At the end, the image had only 3 layers, the background layer (as it came from the ACR), a standard Curve Adjustment layer, and the Cross Process layer.

R Kent 1PF August After

Final Image

Please chack out the many other interpretations of Katie’s image by visiting VisualVenturing.com.  I haven’t seen any of the other posts yet , but based on previous episodes, there is no telling what kind of amazing creativity you will find–mystical scenery, romantic lighting, prehistoric creatures, perhaps even an appearance by the Loch Ness Monster.  But it will be entertaining.

Keep Shooting…….

30 thoughts on “OnePhoto Focus (and More)”

    • Thanks, Laura. I’m glad you liked the butterfly images. It’s not often a photo op almost literally knocks on your door. But the native plants we put in last year seem to have been noticed by the local pollinaters.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

      • Yes, it’s a problem here too. The front yard plants in the images were put in 3 years ago and really came out for the first time this year. This year, the grass in the back yard was completely removed and a whole batch of natives replaced it. Hopefully, they will bring similar results in the next couple three years.

        Like

    • Thanks very much. Yes, the cross-process can sometimes yield interesting results, but the outcomes seem hard to predict, at least for me. By the way, I’ve been enjoying the posts of your current sailing adventure.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

  8. Robin, the butterfly images are just stunning! How wonderful to have this right outside your door. As for Katie’s image, so true that post-processing is often two steps forward/one step back 🙂 Yours is a fun, interesting end result! Someday I may just have to try out this cross-proessing thing!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • Thanks, Stacy. Sorry for the delay in responding, been crashing for the Antarctica thingy tonight. Anyway, glad you liked the interpretation. With the cross-process, don’t give up if you get trash the first couple of times, it depends completely on the image and many come out badly. I did find that it makes a big difference if you do the B&W layer prior to imposing the Cross-Process layer.

      Like

      Reply ↓

  10. Well, I think you should have photoshopped the butterflies into Katie’s image. That would have been perfect. Otherwise, not bad. Not bad at all! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  11. I have to agree with Loré, the 1PF image it does have an icy feel to it, very cool! An interesting, fun interpretation. I love the butterflies, beautiful images. It looks like you get a nice variety of species visiting too, they do love those native plants. Loving the wildlife photographs!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

Leave a reply to Robin S. Kent Cancel reply