some sunflare favorites and an edit me

I mentioned in my last post that I'd been behind and in front of the camera a lot over the past week (now two weeks) and I haven't really had much time for processing and posting. Well, here's a start!

I'm obviously loving having a backyard. I snapped a few photos on Tuesday when I got home from work. The sky was so clear and the sun was setting just perfectly to get some sunflare shots (which I LOVE)!

I just had to get Ari's little nose while he was wondering what the heck I was doing playing with those mushrooms OUTSIDE the fence. And, you know, I think it's probably my favorite of the week, because it makes me laugh everytime I look at it! There are many more mushroom shots to come. I just really loved the light in this particular one.

I love getting real sunflare shots! Some quick things I've learned taking sunflare shots.

1. Use a low ISO & and a fairly wide open aperture to get less noise when shooting directly at the sun
2. Get close to your subject for a clearer photo (although I also like a hazy into the sun look)
3. Practice with different angles and positions of your subject infront of the sun - you'll get various effects.
4. Using fill light in post processing can enhance your shots if they are too shaded.

I sometimes get questions via facebook, comments, and email about photography related things. I'd love to start giving more quick tips here if anyone is interested or answer questions about anything!

AND

because I don't like to post more than one post in a day...

I'm finally linking up for this week's edit me!

This photo is by Kathryn a really cool lady who just happens to host this little weekly challenge

 & blogs at Our Tiny BIG Life!

I love the contrast and the colors in the original and it really doesn't need editing (I always say that..but I really MEAN it this time-haha). I tried several things with this photo as I do most weeks, but just didn't feel that there was anything that was improving it! So while playing around in LR I decided to try to make it just look DIFFERENT than the original. So, here's my edit. I went for an almost night shot...maybe JUST before they turn the lights on...

My process this week:

(no screen shots- sorry)

In Lightroom:

• I selected the Blue and decreased the Luminance almost all the way and made it a deeper blue just before making it purple.
• Cropped out the sign...just because...
• export to CS5

In CS5:

• I ran PTM's On Cloud Nine action
• Then I googled and downloaded a free sunset texture
• Added the texture testing different blending modes to see which I liked best
• Adjusted opacity

And that's it! What do you think? I little different than usual, but I think it's pretty cool. Does it look realistic to you? Check out the other amazing edits by clicking below!