Ooh, Shiny Thing! | Teatro Greco | Taormina | Sicily

“Ooh, shiny thing” is a a frequently used phrase in my house (and in my family)! It has come to mean “I should be doing {insert less-than-fun task here} but I’m actually doing {insert more-fun task her}. Is there anyone else out there who suffers from being easily distracted?

When it comes to art shows I’m usually very organized…but that organization is often done at the last minute (often the night before into the wee hours of the morning). As I was preparing for Art Around Adams a couple of weeks ago, as per my usual, I was getting everything ready the day before I was supposed to set up my display.

Part of my to-do list was to inventory my note cards.  Let me tell you, there are A LOT of them! Some of them have been in my stock for quite awhile and as I was going through some of the older ones I was struck by how much my photographic style and processing skills have evolved over the years. Some of these photos are perhaps a bit underexposed or maybe a little crooked…the kinds of things you might not notice when you are starting out.

So, as I was sorting through cards I got the brilliant idea to go back and reprocess some of these old images! Of course, processing photos is more fun than doing inventory so you can probably guess how that went. :)

Here is one I stumbled across:

As you can see – with a few minor tweaks in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 it is already a MUCH better image.  I straightened and cropped it and then adjusted the white balance, exposure, and clarity. While it looks a lot better in the “after” photo, I knew it could still be even better, so I took it in to Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.  The results are absolutely stunning!!

The detail I was able to bring out using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 blew me away – and this is a JPG!!! (I wish I had shot RAW back then, but you live & learn, right?) This photo was captured in March of 2007 with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D – the original rebel, a mere 6 megapixels – and the 18-55mm kit lens. It just goes to show that it doesn’t matter how fancy your camera is, you just have to know how to use it! Having good post-processing software (and knowing how to use it) helps a lot.

So, there you have it – this is what I do when I should be doing the more mundane tasks of running my photography business.  Although inventory was pretty important, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t wasting my time with this one.  Seriously, it blows me away that this gem was hiding on my hard drive and I didn’t even know it!

I guess that means it is time to start digging through some of my other old folders of photos.  I wonder what else I’ll find? :-D

Have a wonder-filled day!

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