Photography Solutions July/August 2019

Vol 4 July / August 2019

Nature and Outdoor • Travel • Architecture • Photo Illustrations

P h o t o g r a p h y

solutions e-zine

Skies Make a Difference

Three techniques for replacing a sky

A William Manning Photography Publication

Are You Taking Advantage of these Great Photo Opportunities?

A Few Fun Filters For Those Times in Need

Editor’s Comments All photography and text: William Manning ©

It’s hard to believe we are into July. The summer is my favorite time of year, long days, sunshine, and time to get out and enjoy family and friends, not to mention a little creativity behind the camera.

This issue of Photography Solutions focuses on replacing skies in your photos. I think this is a perfect time to talk about this subject as summer skies can be cloudless blue, or depending on where you live, you may get a lot of hazy white skies. Both these situations cause me to pause and think about replacing a sky.

Summer is also an awesome time for festivals and countless special events. Most photographers I know pass these activities up because they don’t want to deal with crowds. Understandable, but are they passing up photo opportunties. I would argue they are missing out on something. At the very least, its an opportunity to get the camera out and practice. I have written an article on this subject and provide some ideas to get you thinking.

Photography Solutions is about helping photographers think creatively. The third article featured in this issue provides some creative ideas for using one or more of the multitude of creative filters on the market. I will be the first to admit, most of these have limited use, but are always nice to have in your toolbox. Take a look and if you have one you want to suggest, send me an email.

I can’t even begin to say how much I enjoy traveling and helping other photographers achieve their creative goals and help them become more confident behind their cameras. This is why I conduct photography tours over a variety of great locations. Many of these tours are posted in the following pages of Photography Solutions.

I understand there are many people who don’t have the time to travel away from home and family. This is why I am introducing “Creative Camera Weekend Workshops”. I have two scheduled for the fall of 2019 and will annouce a full schedule of locations and dates later in the fall for 2020. Take a look and hopefully you can join me in the near future.

Feedback I want to know what you think of Photography Solutions. If you have questions or simply want to share ideas or comments, I would love to hear from you. Please click this link to email me.

Email me by clicking here.

If you like Photography Solutions, please tell your friends and share with your camera club.

Skies Make a Difference Three techniques for replacing a sky

Text and Photography by William Manning Š

Original Photo

Blend If Method

How often have you come across a beautiful scene, perfect light for the situation, but the sky lacks in any interest, white smeary clouds, bald blue sky, or a hazy sky. I can say with certainity this happens to me a lot. This is the reason I built a library of over 800 different sky and cloud patterns and learned how to replace an ugly sky for something much more interesting.

and cloud patterns. See example below.

I highly recommend every photographer start a collection, you never know when a better sky might be needed in your work. When you begin this project keep a couple things in mind. First, photograph every kind of sky you come across, white puffy clouds, plain blue skies, morning, mid-day, late afternoon and dusk, overcast, stormy skies, every situation is important to have in a You’re probably thinking, OK, this guy replaces good library. Second, photograph each situation all his skies so we don’t know what’s real. This isn’t with multple focal lengths, shoot everything from the case at all. First, keep in mind it takes valuable the horizon up (where land meets sky), straight time to replace a sky. Second, although I have an up, with the sun, right and left of the sun and extensive library to draw from I don’t have the shoot super wide to tight. One last idea to considright sky for every imaginable situation. Matter-of- er, shoot from your airplane window when you fact, I, like so many other professionals, wait hours get a window seat with a nice clean window. All of and return multiple times if time permits for that these situations will come in handy at some point. perfect situation, which is rarely when traveling.

I’m much more concerned with shooting in great Selecting the Right Sky light, which can still happen when the sky lacks any personality.

Now lets get started. The first and most important part of this project is pairing up the right sky Build a Cloud and Sky Library with the landscape or situation you’re trying to improve on. I always open the photo I’m going to Before I talk about how to replace a sky, lets first replace the sky, this allows me to study the light consider what we need to make it all happen. I situation as I browse my library. It is important started years ago building a library of different sky to make sure the sky you choose is plausible. If it

is a early morning scene you need to match it up with a early morning sky. You want the photo to be believable when it all said and done. If your audience isn’t convinced than you have chosen the wrong sky. You want your sky to compliment the landscape or subject.

Blend If Method The first method is called the “Blend If ” method, (you’ll understand the name in a minute). This method was used for the Delicate Arch shot on the previous spread. “Blend If “works best if you have a fairly well defined edge seperating the sky and the landscape as seen on this photo. If you have trees with sky showing in-between branches or other complex horizons this method can become difficult to work.

the name. I typically rename my landscape layer as “Landscape” and my sky layer as “Sky1”. The reason I use “Sky1” is because if I decide to experment with several skies then I’ll name the next sky I import as “Sky2” and so on.

3.) After renaming you can change the order of the two layers. Move the landscape on top of the sky.

4.) Put your curser on the photo icon under the layers pallet and double click. This will bring up the Layer Style Panel.

5. In the Layer Style Panel go down to the Blend If box. Here you have 4 tonal range choices, Gray, Red, Green, or Blue. In our case, since we are wanting to select our sky it is likely going to be either Blue or Gray. As per my original photo of Delicate Arch, I selected Blue. Now you have two bars showing Blue from shadows to highlights in Step by Step the Blue Color Range. One bar is titled “This Lay1.) Open both photos into Adobe Photoshop. Drag er” and the bottom is “Underlying Layer”. You will work with the top bar called This Layer. the background layer of the sky onto the background layer of the landscape.

6.) Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (PC) and move the triangle on the right of the “This Layer” 2.) Rename each of these layers. Double click on Bar. As you will see by holding the option key the the name to bring up the dialog box to change triangle splits into two. Move the first until you gradually see the new sky appear. You can go back and move the second half of the triangle and move to better define the sky as you wish. If you don’t hold the option key in the beginning then you will have a hard edged change and not the nice smooth gradual transition. You’ll need to play with the sliders to get a clean edge.

7.) Make sure you don’t have a black or gray edge where the landscape meets the sky. If so, go back and play with sliders to get a clean edge. This typically means playing with the far right half triangle.

8.) You should now have a new sky. You do have the option of moving the sky as needed. To move the sky create a duplicate layer by dragging the sky layer onto the new layer icon as shown below.

When you do this a new duplicate layer is created called copy. Activate this duplicate layer and now select the move tool or use the arrows and move sky to desired position.

9.) Now you have the freedom to process your photo as needed. I suggest making any contrast or exposure changes to each layer before you flatten the photo. This will allow you to make adjustments that create a blend that is believable and a beautiful photo. Flatten after making adjustments. You have now completed the “Blend If ” method.

Color Range Method I use the Color Range Method when I have a complicated edge where subject meets sky. The example on the right is an excellent illustration of what I deem a complex edge. As you can see, I have grasses or very then lines that creep into the sky. The “Blend If ” method doesn’t come close to allowing me to blend a new sky into the composition.

To begin the Color Range Method use steps 1, 2 and 3 from previous method. This will set you up to begin changing your sky.

1.) Open both photos in Adobe Photoshop. Drag the background layer of the sky onto the back-

Color Range Method

Original Photo

ground layer of the landscape.

2.) Rename each of these layers. Double click on the name to bring up the dialog box to change the name. I typically rename my landscape layer as “Landscape” and my sky layer as “Sky1”. The reason I use “Sky1” is because if I decide to experment with several skies then I’ll name the next sky I import as “Sky2” and so on.

3.) After renaming you can change the order of the two layers. Move the landscape on top of the sky.

4.) From the Select pull down menu at the top of the Photoshop window, (File, Edit, Image, Layer, Type, Select,...) go to the drop down menu and select Color Range. In your Color Range window you will see a Select drop down menu, giving you

the option of selecting Sampled Colors, a variety of colors, Highlights, Midtones, Shadows or Skin Tones. You want to choose Sampled Colors.

Sampled Colors is best because most skies have a variety of hues and tones. This will give you the opportunity to select all the colors and tones throughout the sky. Simply select the eyedropper on the right side of the Color Range window and

take a sample of the sky. Then go and select the eyedropper with the + symbol this will allow you to pick other tones throughout the sky until the entire sky is selected.

8.) Sometimes a selection may pick up unwanted areas in the landscape. When this happens pick the Lasso Tool from Photoshop’s tool bar menu. Hold the Option Key (Mac) or Alt Key (PC) and draw a circle around those unwanted selections.

It is important to hold the Option key, otherwise you will create a new selection and delete the one you just created.

9.) Hold down Option Key and click on New Mask icon at botton of Layers Palatte. Your new sky should appear.

10.) Likely there will be a dark or light edge around your landscape. In my case it was the grass that extended into the sky. When this happens go to your Properties Panel and click on the Select and Mask button. A new window appears giving you several adjustments to work. If you don’t see the Properties Panel, go to the Window drop down menu at the top of the Photoshop Menu Bar and select Properties.

11.) The Properties Select and Mask Panel provides several options for making adjustments. You will likely need to play with several sliders to get rid of those edge lines or halos. The numbers to the left are the actual adjustments I needed to get the grass where I needed it.

12.) You can now flatten your new photo or make adjustments to the sky as needed. If you decide you don’t like the sky you have choosen, simply take another one from your library and place it into the photo. Remember to place the sky before you flatten the photo.

Original Photo

Quick Selection Method

Quick Selection Method The Quick Selection Method is exactly as the name applies, quick. There are three options with the Quick Selection Method. First, simply start painting directly on the sky creating a selection or you can choose the Select Subject button or the Select and Mask button. The photo of the Statue of Liberty on the previous page was made using the Select and Mask button using the Quick Selection Tool in Adobe Photoshop. All three of the Quick Selection methods would work for this particular photo.

It would seem the “Blend If ” method should be equally successful to use for this fairly simple sky and overall composition. The problem is in the Tonal Range choices, the blue tonal range is needed to select the sky. The Statue of Liberty is prodomately made of cyan which falls under the blue tonal range. Therefore when making your selection much of the statue would be selected along with the sky. Obviously, this isn’t what we want.

As in the two previous methods, “Blend If ” and “Color Range” follow the first three steps as follows: First Option: Quick Selection with Brush 1.) Open both photos in Adobe Photoshop. Drag the background layer of the sky onto the background layer of the landscape.

2.) Rename each of these layers. Double click on the name to bring up the dialog box to change the name. I typically rename my landscape layer as “Landscape” and my sky layer as “Sky1”. The reason I use “Sky1” is because if I decide to experment with several skies then I’ll name the next sky I import as “Sky2” and so on.

3.) After renaming you can change the order of the two layers. Move the landscape on top of the sky.

4.) Select the Quick Selection Tool from Photoshop’s Tool Menu. A brush icon show up on screen, simply paint over the areas you want removed.

If your selection creeps over into a part of the photo you don’t want selected, simply hold the option button and paint over that area, it will remove the selection.

5.) Hold the Option key and click the Add Layer Mask under the layers palette. Your new sky should appear.

Second Option: Select Subject Button Follow steps 1, 2 and 3 from previous steps.

4.) Select the Quick Selection Tool from Photoshop’s Tool Menu. Click the Select Subject Button.

Your subject will be selected automatically. If an area is selected you don’t want selected simply hold the Option Key and paint over that area.

5.) After you’re happy with the selection click OK. Now go to the Select pull down menu at the top menu bar and click on Inverse. This will inverse the selection and select the sky otherwise you will delete your subject.

6.) Hold the Option key and click the Add Layer Mask under the layers palette. Your new sky should appear.

Third Option: Select and Mask Follow steps 1, 2 and 3 from previous steps.

4.) Click on Select and Mask. When the Properties box comes up you have several options. Transparency is the first. I suggest using this slider and bring the transparency level down so you can see

Marc Mask

both layers. I typically go to about 70%. The other optional adjustments in the Properties Box I use is Smooth, somewhere between 2-6. I use Feather at about 1.5 -2 and the last option I use is Contrast at about 2 or 3. I suggest experimenting with all the sliders and learn how they can help or hurt your selections.

5.) Once you slider adjustments are made start making selections to create your mask. You can adjust brush size as needed by using the bracket keys to enlarge or reduce the brush size. You also have the option of selecting the subject or the sky.

Choose the one you think will be easiest to create the mask. If you choose to mask out the sky then you can skip step six and simply click OK.

6.) If you masked your subject then click OK and go to the Select pull down menu at the top and choose Inverse. This will inverse the selection and select the sky otherwise you will delete your subject.

7.) Hold the Option key and click the Add Layer Mask under the layers palette. Your new sky should appear.

Your New Sky You now have several options for replacing those ugly skies and turning your landscapes into a masterful photo. Choose your skies carefully, make the situation plausible and have fun creating.

Quick Selection Method - Select and Mask Transparency Setting at 70%

ching Ants Shows the k You Created

BLACK AND WHITE

Replacing skies takes time to perfect. As you read, there are many methods for replacing a sky, once you get a grasp of each of these methods you’ll gain confidence and have a new creative option for your work.

This photo was created with the Quick Selection-Select and Mask method. I converted the landscape and the sky to black and white before I merged the two photos. I like the look of film grain in my black and white work along with a fine vignette to finish it off.

Why a Photography Tour with William Manning Why take a Photography Tour or Workshop with William Manning? Fair question. Let’s begin by saying I judge my success by your success. What exactly do I mean by this? To put it simply, I understand and appreciate the expense and time associated with a tour or workshop. I also understand my participants come to learn, have a rewarding experience and to create photography in a beautiful environment with other like minded people.

This is where I come in as the leader. I come to all my programs with an enthusiastic attitude, with a down to earth personality, with the knowlege and skills to teach my participants how to become awesome image makers. I become the mentor to all my participants with the understanding they all come with different levels of knowlege and skills behind their cameras. I approach my role by personally getting to know each person individually and provide the attention needed so each can reach new levels of understanding and creativity.

Photography Tours and workshops are also more than just photography. It is about people, it is about exploring new places, it is about having a rewarding experience and it is about developing friendships and growing our photography community.

If I can send my participants off at the end of our tour or workshop with new knowlege, having confidence behind their cameras, a body of work they are proud of, new friends and a big smile than I know I was successful. This is why I lead.

I invite you to travel with me. You can learn more about my photography programs through my website at https://williammanning.com.

Throughout Photography Solutions E-Magazine there are many tours posted. I look forward to the opportunity to guide and mentor you.

Tour and Workshop Schedule: Click Here

Creative Camera Weekend Workshop is a fun filled, creative photography adventure. Join William as he inspires and shares creative techniques and tips to help participants see those common situations in a fun and creative way.

Participants will finish the weekend with a new outlook on photographing the ordinary scene and turning them into a gallery of fun, colorful and unique photos. Workshops are a combination of hands on instruction in the streets and classroom instruction.

2019 Locations and Dates:

Cincinnati, Ohio October 5-6 Columbus, Ohio October 12-13 For more information visit website at https://williammanning.com

2020 Locations and Dates will be announced in late Fall.

Photography Tour

Landscapes of Arches and Canyonlands November 9-15, 2019

3 Openings Available

Join William Manning on this Colorful Journey of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks November was chosen for this photo tour because of the changing seasons providing interesting skies, shorter days but longer low light situations setting us up for many unique photo situations.

The iconic landmarks of Arches and Canyonlands National Park are known throughout the world and have been the subject of photographers for many years. This red rock landscape sits in the northern region of the Colorado Plateau in southeastern Utah but offers so much more than those iconic shots.

This photography tour will put photographers on ....

Learn more:

https://williammanning.com/travelprograms/archescanyonlandsphototour/

Are You Taking Advantage of the

Airshows, Car Shows, Re-enactments Festivals All Provide Wonderful Potential for Photography

ese Great Photo Opportunities?

Text and Photography by William Manning Š

The good fortune to travel year round photographing in far away places and exploring beautiful national parks during peak photo seasons belong to a few. But, we all have time to take in a special event in or not far from our hometowns throughout the year. I get plenty of travel opportunities but still find festivals, airshows, car shows, and civil war re-enactments within a few hours of my home to be good sources for photo subjects.

I admit, photographing these type of events are crowded and often times very difficult to isolate the subject from the crowd. Never-the-less, the opportunities are there and with a little creative thinking while on location you can come away with some beautiful images and/or subjects that can be used for some simple composites.

Photograph what Interest You Finding the right events for your interests is quite easy. The summer season is a popular time for air and car shows. Spring through fall bring festivals and re-enactments to life. The best part, most fall on the weekends. Gather information from your local newspapers, web searches, billboard and posters along the main street routes in your hometown. I am terrible at making a calendar reminding me of these events therefore I depend on billboards and posters and hope I have these days available. This of course is the beauty of photographing locally, you can do it at a spare of the moment.

The most important ingredient when tackling these events is to go with an open and creative mind. I preach to my workshop participants the importance of knowing your tools. If you know and understand what you can do in the processing stage of your photography workflow you will come away from these events with a trove of great subjects to manipulate into artful masterpieces.

As you look over the photos used to illustrate this article, it doesn’t take long to see I do a lot

of cutouts and replace backgrounds for my event photography. The previous article “How to Replace a Sky” can be used in each of the photos in this article. Keep in mind it doesn’t have to be a sky.

Most of these photos are easy to create and don’t take a lot of expertise in Adobe Photoshop. Simple

selections and knowing how to use the Pen Tool provide all the tools you need. After you change your background, simply process your new photo as you normally would any other. The most important element to photographing events and fes-

tivals is to think creatively. Think about how your subject can be used beyond what you capture in the frame. The following pages share many events and shows across the U.S. Maybe one will fit your schedule.

Photography Opportunities Across the United States

Air Shows Florida International Air Show late March Punta Gorda, Florida Sun ‘n Fun International Fly-In & Expo early to mid April Lakeland, Florida MacDill Air Fest mid April Tampa, Central West Florida Lauderdale Air Show early May Fort Lauderdale, Florida May Day Fly-In & Air Show early to mid May Valdez, Alaska Andrews Air Force Base Joint Services Air Show mid May Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland Great Tennessee Air Show mid June Smyrna, Tennessee Vectren Dayton Air Show early July Dayton, Ohio Geneseo Air Show mid July Geneseo, New York Pensacola Beach Air Show mid July Pensacola, Florida

EAA AirVenture late July - early August Oshkosh, Wisconsin Chicago Air & Water Show mid August Chicago waterfront, Illinois Cleveland National Air Show early September Cleveland, Ohio Oceana Air Show mid September Virginia Beach, Virginia

Hot Air Balloon Festivals Freedom Weekend Aloft late May Memorial Day weekend Simpsonsville, South Carolina Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Classic late May Decatur, Alabama Hot Air Balloon Rally early July Lexington City, Virginia Teton Valley Summer Festival early July Driggs, Idaho QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning late July Readington, New Jersey Great Texas Balloon Race late July Longview, Texas National Balloon Classic late July – early August Indianola, Iowa Balloon Classic Invitational late July - late August North Canton, Ohio Colorado Springs Balloon Classic end August – early September Colorado Springs, Colorado The Great Reno Balloon Race early September Reno, Nevada Adirondack Balloon Festival late September Glen Falls, Queensbury, New York

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta early - mid October Albuquerque, New Mexico Poteau Balloon Fest October Poteau, Oklahoma

Classic Car Shows There are simply to many car shows across America to name here. The following list is but a few to get you started.

Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance March Amelia Island, FL Spring Nationals March Scottsdale, Arizona Southwest Street Rod Nationals Plus April Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Charlotte Autofair April and September Concord, North Carolina The Texas Hoedown May Homestead, Texas Iola Car Show July Iola, WI Goodguys PPG Nationals July Columbus, Ohio The Woodward Dream Cruise August Detroit, Michigan Hot August Nights August Reno, Nevada Hershey National Fall Meet Oct Hershey, Pennsylvania

Original Photo

American War Re-Enactments Brooksville Raid Reenactment January Brooksville, Florida The Battle of New Orleans January Chalmette, Louisiana Battle of Round Mountain Reenactment February Yale, Oklahoma Patriots’ Day: Battles of Lexington and Concord April Lexington, Massachusetts Revolutionary War Weekend May Mount Vernon, Virginia Battle of Resaca Civil War Reenactment May Resaca, Georgia The Gettysburg Reenactment July Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Montcalm’s Cross July 20 - 21, 2019 Fort Ticonderoga, New York Redcoats and Rebels August Sturbridge, Massachusetts The Battle Of Blountville September Blountville, Tennessee

Shenandoah Reenactment October Lovettsville, Virginia Battle of Perryville October Perryville, KY Note: There are many others across the U.S. Most take place during the anniversary of the event.

Other Special Events that Provide Unique Photo Opportunities Listed below are three events in each category.

These are simply suggestions to get that creative mind thinking. Research the events that interest you and go for it.

Native American Pow-wows Cherokee National Holiday Powwow August Tahlequah, Oklahoma Eastern Shoshone Indian Days June Fort Washakie, Wyoming North American Indian Days July Browning, Montana

Renaissance Festivals Minnesota Renaissance Festival weekends mid August – end September Shakopee, Minnesota Ohio Renaissance Festival beginning September to end October Harveysburg – between Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio Carolina Renaissance Festival weekends - early October to late December Charlotte, North Carolina

Create Your Own List Consider sporting events, like bike races, motor cross, Vintage Baseball Leagues to name a few. If you have some ideas you want to share please send them my way.

Photography Tour

Springtime on the Beautiful

Oregon Coast

April 25-May 1, 2020

All Inclusive Photo

Join William Manning on this Beautiful Journey of the Oregon The Oregon coast stretches 363 miles and runs from the Columbia River to the California border. It is considered by many to be the most scenic seashore in the lower 48 states. This coastline is an inspiring landscape abundant with wild and beautiful subjects from ancient old growth forests, sand dunes, tide pools, lighthouses, roaring wave action and graphic landscapes.

Learn More: https://williammanning.com/travelprograms/photography-tour-oregon-coast/

ography Tour

Photography Tour

Spring in the Great Smoky Mountains

Join William Manning in the Beautiful Smoky Mountains Few locations across the United States draw photographers year after year. One visit to this incredible park isn’t enough to explore and witness the ever changing forest. We have selected the first week of May for the beauty of the new forest canopy and the endless miles of streams are flowing at their best.

The constant change of weather patterns this time of year make for some magical conditions for photography as witnessed in the photos that on this spread. Hope to see you in early May 2020.

Learn More: https://williammanning.com/travelprograms/smokymountainsphotographytour/

May 4-9, 2020

A Few Fun Filters For

Text and Photography by William Manning ©

Those Times in Need

OK, I know these are not your everyday filters.

Matter-of-fact, you’ll likely only use some a few times a year. Over using filters like Flood and Lightening can get old really quick and some might say gimmicky. That being said, don’t over use these filters, have fun with them, use them for those truly creative moments you’re feeling bold and have the filters handy for those photos that really need a special effect.

If you understand my goal with Photography Solutions E-Magazine, it is to share creative ideas, inform photographers of useful tools and to inspire. I take my photography seriously and always try to capture the best possible photograph on location, but sometimes things don’t work out the way I might hope. This is why I make every effort to learn all the tools available to me when circumstances aren’t ideal and share them. So here we go.

Flood Filter Of the filters I share in this article, the Flood Filter is the one I use the least, but one worth having in your arsenal. This is a product developed by Flaming Pear Software. This Adobe Photoshop plug-in has been around for as long as I can remember. I have owned it for a long time and have probably used it a dozen times for some of my artsy illustrations, especially when I’m trying to get away from realism and try creating a fantasy art piece. That being said, I have also used it for a realistic look.

This is an easy filter to use. It doesn’t take much to learn this one. I have included a couple examples of this filter used in my work. The first is a fantasy illustration on the previous spread as the cover photo and the Lost Boat at Sea, a little more realism feel in this photo. The first issue of Photography Solutions has a step by step article of how I created this illustration, (click here to see article).

Lightening Bolt This filter is one I use a little more than the flood Filter but still one I recommend using only when needed. Don’t force yourself to use this filter or for that matter any of these filters (plug-ins), let the photograph dictate what is needed.

The Lightening Bolt is part of the Eye Candy Software developed by Alien Skin. Alien Skin produces several products worth taking a look at. I haven’t found much use for the other effects in Eye Candy but that’s not to say they won’t be useful in

effects. I’ll see if I can learn more and write about this in a future Photography Solutions issue.

I have used the light beams in both my photo illustrations as shown on the left and for realistic effects in both my nature and architectural work.

The Rain Filter is a fun as well, but as the Flood and Lightening Bolt filters, is not one you’ll likely use very often. When you have those gloomy days photographing a cityscape, the rain filter adds an interesting effect. I am hoping this effect has also been added to the new GRFX Studio Pro software.

See samples on following pages.

Sunrays This filter comes in handy. Sunrays is an effect that is included in Luminar 3 developed by Skylum.

When you purchase Luminar 3 you get a complete package of processing and enhancements tools.

Most all of the tools are pretty useful. I have a workflow that I developed over a long period of time therefore only use Luminar when I need a special effect thats included in their package, such as Sunrays.

your work. The illustration above used Eye Candies Lightening Bolt. As you can see it was used as a subtle effect to enhance and not take away from the overall illustration.

Lightbeams and Rain Lightbeams is one I actually use a lot. It is a part of Auto FX Software, Mystical Suite Bundle which I understand is to be discontinued. The good news is Auto FX has created the GRFX Studio Pro which includes a new and improved light beam filter along with what looks like some pretty cool

I have used Sunrays on many photos over the years but as with any effects, use carefully. I like to use most effects so they are subtle enhancements.

These effects should compliment your photo and help illustrate your story. I often apply these filters on a dublicate layer just in case I need to pull back on the effects with a adjustment mask in Photoshop.

Luminar is an awesome package as is Auto FX. Both are highly recommended. The Flood Filter is fairly inexpensive and one you’ll likely use only on occasions as is the Eye Candy Software. If you enjoy exploring with new tools and opening up your creative options, give these tools are try. Enjoy and keep creating.

Notice the Light Beams over the curtains on stage. When I was photographing this for the architect, they were having electrical issues with the overhead lights.

Therefore, I needed to improvise and this is where Mystical Suite

by Auto FX came in handy. As I mention quite often, knowing your tools in processing will help you when on location. I was confident in assuring my client not to worry about the light. I knew I could handle the situation in post production. They were pleased with the outcome.

Original Photo

This shot took place in Monument Valley as the sun was beginning to set. I had to race from my car to the spot I wanted to capture the fleeting moment. Unfortunately, I missed the sunrays, but the light situation was perfect and again knowing my tools, I knew I could put the rays in place with Luminar. This is one of many times I have used Sunrays by Luminar. Notice the realistic look and feel of the rays, they gradually fade and play their role without overwhelming the simple but effective desert landscape.

Your

creativity is limited only by your

imagination.

This illustration was made possible by implementing the Alien Skin Eye Candy Plug-In for the Lightening Bolts and Mystical Suite by Auto FX Software for the Rain.

Photography Tour

Palouse: The Photog June 15-20, 2020

Join William on this Creative Journey into Eastern Washington, June 15-20, 2020.

Southeastern Washington better known as “The Palouse�, at least within the photography community, has become a favorite location for photographing patterns, rural scenes and artifacts of old Americana. This is a major agricultural area primarily producing wheat and legumes. Many sleepy little farming communities are hidden amongst the rolling verdant green hills in the region making this a quiet place to explore and enjoy a creative journey.

Learn More: Palouse: The Photographers Palette

graphers Palette

Photography Tour

Land of Fire and Ice

The Extraordinary Beauty of Iceland July 3 - 13, 2020

Only 1 Opening Available

Join William Manning and Adam Jones on this Extraordinary Journey into the Land of Fire and Ice Join William Manning and Adam Jones on an immersive photography adventure in one of the most dramatic landscapes in the world. During this ten day tour, we will explore all that Iceland has to offer beneath the golden glow of the Midnight Sun, from the stunning waterfalls of the south to the geothermal areas of the north and the steaming beauty of the Highlands.

This summer photography workshop will take you to a variety of glorious locations for photography in Iceland. You’ll have incredible opportunities to capture pseudo-craters and lava fields, as well as the enchanting Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon where ...

Learn More:

https://williammanning.com/travelprograms/iceland/

Photography Tour

Autumn Landscapes of Bulgaria

September 27 - October 12th, 2020

Join William Manning and Iordan Hristov (Dancho) on this unforgettable journey Our journey into Bulgaria will take us to some of the most spectacular regions in the country. Bulgaria is a hidden gem with endless miles of natural beauty awaiting the photographer to explore this land of extraordinary opportunities. The diversity of the land, made up of beautiful high alpine mountains, forests, fertile farmland, mineral springs, sand pyramids, waterfalls, and a rugged coastline make Bulgaria unique and a rewarding photo journey. All of this wrapped up into a small country with lots of history and a friendly population between it all.

Learn More: Autumn Landscapes of Bulgaria

P h o t o g r a p h y

solutions Have you missed previous issues of Photography Solutions?

No Worries. The links below will take you to past issues.

January/February 2019 - Vol 1 March/April 2019 - Vol 2 May/June 2019 - Vol 3