Creating

The title to this post is meant to be interpreted simply, namely, describe the ad hoc or even de factor act of creating something. Naturally, it is not creating something from nothing (even in the extend sense of that word), but the act of combining elements to make a new presentation or composition of something.

In photography this is called compositing (creating a compo), and I have stayed away from this type of post-processing, simply because it is an art unto itself, and I wanted to get into the act of capturing what creation presents before my camera and lens. This was difficulty enough of a task for me.

Although recently I have relented and attempts to create a combo. You see, I loved the sky in one photograph and in another photograph I love the main element (the condor) and not the background (the sky). So, I wanted to meld the two to create a blend of the best.

The current compo in this post was created thusly: Both photos were taken with a Canon 30D and 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens. The sky was shot off of Chatham Lighthouse Beach on Cape Cod, f/4, 1/5000, ISO 800. The condor was shot in Key West, Florida, f/14, 1/100, ISO 100. The actual compo was processed with Nik Color Efex Pro.

Luminosity Masks to the Rescue

In an effort to cover my mistakes when learning the skills of photography, either through down and out errors in not attending to my camera settings for particular shots or just due to being “forced” to take the shot just to get the shot, I have been learning options in post processing with Photoshop. One particularly powerful option which attracted me for some time was luminosity masks. I tried using them in the past but it seemed a chore to use them. However, I finally developed my own action to automate the process. This was a better approach, but it still was a more than simple approach.

Then I discovered Lumenzia by Greg Benz, which is a plugin for Photoshop and is ridiculously inexpensive. In a nutshell, Lumenzia (which is actually a suite of several small programs doing more than luminosity masks) allows the user to try different luminosity masks before committing to a particular one best suited for their needs. It does have a learning curve and one has to know what one is doing, but it’s streamlined approach is such that one can grow into the program (aka plugin).

The current photograph was taken in Key West several years ago in early Spring. It was taken with a Canon 30D, 24-105mm lens (f/4) @ 55mm, f/9, 1/250, ISO 100, processed with DxO Optics Pro, Adobe Camera Raw, Lumenzia, and Color Efex Pro.