Lightroom Presets
Direct Positive Preset in Lightroom
Lightroom presets are interesting. Most of the time I prefer to edit my own images. If I do decide to choose a preset, I end up making additional adjustments, so I figure I should start from scratch anyway.
I saw the frosty fog rising off of the river on Sunday morning and noticed how the trees became frost covered. I know the time frame to capture this is short and it was already 10:00 a.m. I knew I had to get moving!
I used a 0.6 ND filter, because the sun was so bright and it really separated the blue sky while maintaining the white snow. I photographed these images with my Tamron 24 – 75mm f/2.8 on my Nikon D800E at ISO 50. Shutter speeds and aperture varied depending on the light. Most of the time it was at f/8 – 11 and 1/100 – 1/200.
In post I decided to try the IR preset. Some of the images were very impressive using this preset. I do like a little more contrast, so I adjusted the blacks and contrast slightly to give me the look I wanted.
I hovered over some of the other presets and the Direct Positive really made the images pop with color! The contrast between the blues and whites was beautiful! Direct positive is a process dating back to the 1800’s. Typically, the image was captured directly onto the paper and it was a black and white image. In Lightroom, the direct positive setting increases the saturation, blacks, and highlights and produces a very high color image. The image can be easily converted to black and white after using the Direct Positive preset.
The images below demonstrate the use of 2 different presets in light room; Direct Positive on the left and infrared (IR) on the right.
While I do like my images to have a little more contrast (more pleasing to my eye), there is something about the subtleness of the image below that I like. Left is the original and right is IR. I did remove the boat from the image.
The vignette in the corners is from my ND filter on the camera. I do attempt to remove that with cropping or adding a reverse vignette.
I suggest you try some of the presets in Lightroom; what is nice, Lightroom gives you a preview of what it will look like. I use this as a starting point then make my own adjustments. I have also set up my own presets in the past if I’m editing a batch and making the same changes throughout.
Have fun experimenting in Lightroom!
Paddle Wheel
Today I was pleasantly surprised by seeing this magnificent paddle wheel boat traveling along the Ohio River. I was on my way home from Flatwoods Kentucky traveling west along route 23 toward the Greenup Dam. I had already passed through Greenup when I spotted this beauty. I turned my car around (safely!) and went back to Greenup to find a spot that I could get a clear view of the boat. I circled the courthouse as they were bringing inmates out, thinking, do I really want to be in this area? I tried to find a place to park only to find the parking spaces were reserved for the dignitaries of the courthouse. I finally found a public parking space and parked between two sheriff cruisers! I ran to an opening in the trees overlooking the river just in time to capture a few shots with my iPhone…while standing in the rain! The riverboat did not have a name on the side I saw and I did not see a name on the back. This was a special treat today! I found out today that this is the Queen of the Mississippi. This is her maiden voyage and it is a new paddle wheel boat and she is 4 months old!
Pam DeCamp Photography 