Friday, March 30, 2007

Rainy Days.

Today it rained steadily all day. When I was little I always thought of rain as a special gift from Heaven, one sent by God to clean up the world. If it only it were so. If only rain could wash away all injustices, all evils and all wrongs. It can't. But you know what it can do? Rain makes the good stronger. It makes the beauty glow brighter. That's why I like rain. Once the clouds have passed and the pavements dried, everything seems a little fresher, crisper...smiles seem wider, the sun shines brighter and the grass looks greener. Here's to rain. ;) You gotta love it.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
I might not be able to post tomorrow. I might but in case I don't, here's the warning. Probably joined by shouts of delight from readers everywhere! LOL, just kidding. I loooove that people enjoy visiting here and like what I write and photograph. Without you I wouldn't be able to keep going! I swear. Special thanks to Ellen, Amy 3 Peas, Robyn, Mindy, Amy C and Stacey who respond to every post I make. Thanks for not letting me go commentless! Anyway, tonight we're going to my grandfather's in the countryside and we're going to the beach tomorrow *yay!* and seeing my 1-year-old cousin and stuff. Should be fun. School's over now for 2 weeks, happy but sad but sad but happy.....I have a lot of schoolwork to do for my GCSEs (exams) but it should be a nice break too. I'll miss English lessons and German most.
**Press the little red cross at the top of the page just about NOW (!) if you're a insanely great photographer who gets amazing SOOC shots (straight out of the camera), if you're not interested in post-processing or if you are a Photoshop whiz who has her method all figured out.**
I've been asked about my post-processing. So...
...every shot varies but I do have basic method I follow with most shots.
1) I shoot in RAW. Not RAW+ jpeg or anything, just RAW. To be truthful, I've never even tried JPEG and have no desire to. I love RAW - they shouldn't put JPEG on cameras in my opinion!
2) I process my RAW shots using RawShooter Essentials. It's free and you'll find it available for download via Google.
3) I generally put the saturation at +50 or above and do the same with Shadow Contrast and Detail Extraction.
4) I then open up the 8-bit Tiffs in Elements, it works in Photoshop too though, and use Levels and Filter>Sharpen to finish off.
That's it! Easy, simple and quick but it produces pretty good results. I hope that helps! See you soon, looooove Lulu. =)
PS : All the photos here were taken in the rain, at 1.8, shutters from 1/160-1/1250 and ISO 200-400. :)

13 Comments:

Blogger Amy (3 Peas) said...

Darn you Lulu- now I might have to make the leap to RAW- which I have to admit SCARES ME!! :) lol
Okay- one more question....what do you chose for your color space and parameters? I flip back and forth between sRBG and Adobe RGB and and can't figure out WHAT to do with the parameters! Thanks Lulu- I appreciate all your insight :)

7:23 pm, March 30, 2007  
Blogger mindy~ree said...

AAAHHHHH LULU!!! Those last 2 are BREATHTAKING!!!!! awesome work as always!! I can't go a day without checking in on your new view of the world...

love,
mindy
(your biggest fan....although I'm sure some would argue with me on that!)
:)

9:00 pm, March 30, 2007  
Blogger AmyC said...

As usual, Lulu, I love your outlook on life as much as I love your pictures! And, I SO agree that the rain does make the grass a little greener! I'm ALWAYS tempted to take out my camera right after a good rainfall!

All of these photos are fantastic! The DOF is awesome!

1:21 am, March 31, 2007  
Blogger A Thousand Words Photography said...

You always take such wonderfully bright photos! I heart raw too. You are really such a wonderful fresh personality, there should be more of you around! :)

1:54 am, March 31, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just found your blog and wow!! Such wonderful inspiration! Thank you!

2:24 am, March 31, 2007  
Blogger Ellen said...

Great post, Lulu.

You're totally right about the rain. I always hate it when it's happening, but then everything is so beautiful when it's over.

Beautiful pictures. I especially love the trampoline! So cool. (That's what it is, right? haha)

I'm glad you love that I visit you, because I'm not going anywhere. Tonight as I was standing cooking I realized I hadn't checked your blog today. And I wondered how your day went :)

Have an amazing time at the beach!!! I hope the weather stays nice for you. I can't wait to see the photos you end up with.

Enjoy your school break, look at it as a 2-week long self-taught photography class! With a couple of breaks in the middle to study of course.

We'll miss you tomorrow. But have fun. And make sure to come back.

3:35 am, March 31, 2007  
Blogger Ellen said...

Oh yeah, and thanks for the PP info! It's nice to know what you do. I waffle between jpeg and raw, I don't like the photoshop raw converter thingy. I'll give yours a go.

3:37 am, March 31, 2007  
Blogger Robyn said...

Right back at you Lulu with the thanks. I love it that you comment on my blog too. Wonderful as usual...

9:34 am, March 31, 2007  
Blogger Christie said...

Lulu, you are right about the rain. I LOVE rainstorms anyway but they do make for great photos. Your images look so *clean* and *crisp* and bright yet real at the same time. I don't think I could breathe that much life into people-less pictures the wya you do.

Hopefully, you will get to photograph your 1 year old nephew tomorrow!

I just shot RAW for the first time yesterday and I have to agree that it makes a big difference. :)

7:54 pm, March 31, 2007  
Blogger Jennifer said...

Oh, I like these thanks for showing the other things in life! Beautiful captures!

9:53 pm, March 31, 2007  
Blogger Quinn said...

This is beautiful. I love the third one. You are an incredible photographer.

1:55 am, April 01, 2007  
Blogger Carley Zarzeka said...

I love your writing, it is a piece of art, and your pictures are the same! Please come and visit me and my brother, at sayingsworthseeing.blogspot.com!
-Carley

1:27 pm, April 01, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

lulu ... I love this post about the rain! It's so true!!
and these photos are stunning!!
I love visiting your Blog .. off to add you to one of my favorites!

11:48 am, April 04, 2007  

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