San Fernando Mission
One of my photography teachers used to tell us we had to see the light before we could become a photographer. It was hard for me. We used black and white film in those days and I couldn’t “see” in black and white. He told us to squint to see the light, but squinting didn’t help me. It took me ages to finally learn to see the light. Maybe because I’m a ‘can’t see the trees for the forest’ kind of person.
I did see the light here. It was on the top of the wall and it emphasized the stairstep design. It looked great in real life. When I got it on my computer, it looked rather boring. So ordinary. What happens? Does the brain enhance the scene for you because you want to believe it is worth photographing? I think it must. I’ve had lots of photos that I was sure were at least a 4* Photoshop rating, only to be found lacking when I did get it into Photoshop.
Here’s where Photoshop does its work. Increase contrast, increase saturation, crop, highlight the focal point, darken edges, and then what? What if the photo is still boring? Then you go to your plugins and you hit it with all you’ve got. In this case, it was Topaz Simplify. Now I’ve got a graphic that is suitable for a poster, a note card, or a large framed version on my wall.
When that little voice tells you that there is something to the photo, don’t give up on it. It may take two or three tries and you may have to stop and put it aside until your brain catches up, but in the end you’ll have the photo you envisioned.
This was a special day for me. My oldest daughter had gotten interested in photography and when she was visiting for Christmas, we spent several days shooting. She was very enthusiastic and so I kept shooting even though I might have quit if I were alone. Sharing the day with her was a gift because nowadays it doesn’t happen often.