Not a lot of words this week but its worth mentioning that I’ve begun a new genre ― Strobist. I recently decided to go full throttle with the Nikon Creative Light System inspired by Joe McNally and his book ― Hot Shoe Diaries and a very informative video also by Joe titled “Nikon: A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting“, and last, but not least Zack Arias’s “OneLight” dvd. 42 weeks and this is quite a revolutionary step for me . . . more to come.
When it comes to developing certain frames sometimes I’m not sure whether to go BW or Color. So here’s another exercise in processing. Personally, I like both of course, but my heart is usually on the BW. What do you think? To give you guys a perspective on how I did these. First, I went through Lightroom 3 and did some basic adjustments. What adjustments? 1. The first thing I do is adjust White Balance. A funky WB will give you different looks which may not necessarily be wrong but certain looks have certain looks as they say. 2. Adjust the black, I usually bump up a little bit of clarity and vibrance, and then set a tone curve. 3. Usually, I stop at step 2 but for these I hop on over to my Photoshop replacement app called Pixelmator(Mac Only) and did some basic retouching. My goal with retouching is always to have the subject look as natural as possible. Yes, that’s really her. She’s a beauty. So, tough choices sometimes but in the …
Sometimes all we need is a little light to guide us through our path on this earth.
Praying helps me be a better a person. Its a constant struggle between the good, the bad, and the ugly. A few weeks I had spoken to my family members how important it is to celebrate life. Celebrating life is not only important but critical in my humble opinion. My uncle was diagnosed with Leukemia last week. He arrived at Miami for a second opinion, and now is back to the Dominican Republic where he is to begin treatment tomorrow. I can’t help but think how a great man came upon something like this but through prayers and understanding I’ve come to realize its just one of the many crosses us human beings have to bare in order to arrive at our salvation. I believe its important to tell loved ones that you love them. Yes, literally saying the words, letting them know how you feel. Often times we go through life, sometimes pretending or hoping those other people know how you feel. The truth of the matter is people don’t know unless you tell …
Every time I listen to the Stones, my favorite band of all time, I just get the jitters and I get all happy because I remember my UMASS days like they were yesterday (if you ever read this, thanks Pincho, this legacy is all you). Here’s a video and image which absolutely rock and its all Annie of course. Have a great weekend folks. I don’t know exactly when I’ll publish my Week 41 post but it shouldn’t go past Sunday.
Once again life brings forth yet another example of why need to celebrate life at every moment in our path through this earth. A very close relative of mine was just diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. I told him I love him dearly and I’m waiting for him and his family to arrive from Miami so they can begin treatment here. Photographically speaking I needed to make a picture desperately. I just needed to and this little flower on my yard was the best symbol of hope and light that I came upon. Seek your images, your images everywhere folks.
Ledesma Photography 