In this Lightroom tutorial I share how to create a pastel feel for a beach hut image taken on the fly. I show how to correct a horizon, use the colour mixer to make adjustments to the light of individual colours in the image, and use the basic contrast, highlights and shadows controls to give a pastel feel to the image.
I have recently (March 2020) started a YouTube channel. In coming months I will be adding short instructional videos about:
As I get used to my new light-weight Fuji camera, I took it out to a small wooded area of a local park near my in-laws to try and use it in a landscape environment. I had only brought a mini-tripod (about a 30cm tall). The shot uses a 1 second exposure to get the milky effect on the water running over the rapid.
Fujifilm X-T3, 10-24mm at 16mm, f8, 1 second
I have just upgraded my mirrorless camera to one that is better suited to landscape photography and a new wide angled lens. I haven’t really been out an about for taking landscapes, but I snatched these when I was walking around my home town (St Neots) the other day.
One of the great places along the south west tip of the Cornish penninsular is Porthleven. It gets brutally pummelled by high seas in wintertime as it faces straight at the Atlantic and there is nothing to stop the full forces of the winter storms hitting the village and storm watchers have recorded pictures of waves dwarfing and engulfing the church at the foot of the pier seen here in right of the image. I was here in early Nov last year and spent a day walking along the coast to Mullion before taking a couple of busses back to Porthleven where my car was parked. I arrived in the golden hour and had a chance to shoot some lovely warm images of the harbour, the coast and surfers just beyond the harbour wall. I hope you like them.
I was pleased to have a quick walk around Dovestone Reservoir on Saddleworth Moor near Manchester a couple of weekends ago. It was one of those early spring days when the wind is low, the sun is out and the clouds are moving slowly. The long exposure worked well here to emphasise the reflections in the water, and the slow moving clouds made dream-like.
I took this shot in November. There was lots of wind and I was shooting around 4pm into the setting (weak winter) sun from the beach at Cape Cornwall. I struggled across some slippery rocks to this pool. A long exposure meant the water’s movement became impressionistic. I like the ethereal effect the shot became.
The Christmas period has not been easy as my mother has been in hospital but she is home now and I am looking forward to more outdoorsy adventures, coastal walks, and perhaps some new places to visit in 2019. My jaunt along the SWCP has brought me as far as Mousehole and I want to get along towards Kynance during 2019.
So last night I updated my computer to the latest operating system “Mojave” and therefore another desert image seemed appropriate.
Sunset at Wahiba Sands desert in Oman. Half an hour before sunset there was no wind and bright sunshine. At sunset, the wind picked up and the sands on the desert floor swirled around our feet. It was not the sunset I was hoping for, but I am happy with this shot that sort of reminds me of a picture my parents have on their wall of elephants in Africa. The colours are similarly muted. It may be the shape of the trees. Anyway, here it is. I hope you like it. Pictures of camels and sand dunes may follow.
This weekend we spent a day on the Gower in South Wales. This is Worm’s Head in Rhossili. It can be reached when the tide is out along a quite “awkward to walk over” causeway.
