Each year I look forward to when peonies bloom. This year, I was unable to find any, that is, until this past Saturday. I tried one more florist, and to my surprise they had a variety, bright pink, medium pink and white with a hint of pink. I chose the medium pink variety.
I don’t know what it is about their fluffy, lacy petals that is so appealing, but peonies are so pretty and so much fun to photograph. They are a must if you are a flower photographer!
I wanted to try a few different edits on one photograph, I used Kim Klassen’s Light and Wonder Collection on one photo, to demonstrate the difference in mood and in my two visions. I find, out of all of the presets I own, I favor Kim’s the most. Her Light and Wonder Collection is the collection I use most often.
If you have never used a preset, they are relatively easy to use and can change the entire mood of a photograph with the click of a button. The above image was processed using the DreamLike preset. I love how it removed the bright pink in the flowers, yet left enough of the pink color, and gave the image a very moody feel to it. The photo below is completely different, less moody, more light and airy. The photo below is a more realistic portrayal of the actual flowers. These peonies were a vibrant pink with beautiful lacy petals, I also added one white hydrangea for contrast.
This next edit is using a Preset from Cole’s Classroom. Cole Joseph is someone I just happened upon. He was offering this free webinar and I signed up. I believe when I took the class the presets were part of it. I don’t use these presets very often, but for this particular photo his Classic Clean and Crisp preset was exactly what I envisioned.
Mood portrays how someone is feeling and thinking. Each of the photographs shown today, have a very dark and moody feel to them. Something I don’t typically explore, but it seemed to fit these photographs. The color of the walls in our new home are a tan with a mauve undertone, the color really enhanced that moody feeling when I placed the props against one of the walls. The above photo was processed first with Kim’s Be Still Light Play Collection, I wanted to edit one photo in black and white, for that process I went into my VSCO presets and used Kodak TRI-X film black and white preset then I added +3 grain to the photo, giving it a real film feel to it.
This was an extremely fun project. I hope you enjoyed my vision for all of the edit choices this week.
As always, thank you for following along. I’ll see you all again next week . . .
with gratitude,
Copyright 2021 Debra Nancy photography
A visual storyteller. I use flowers, tea cups, cake plates and various props to tell still life stories. I grew up in the city, but I have lived in the suburbs for over 30 years. Living close to the beach and a local small village has given me the opportunity to tell my story through photographs.
Beautiful! Peonies remind me of two things – my grandmother’s garden where she had rows and rows of them, and ants. In their rows climbing to get to the flowers. So fun to see you figuring out your photo sets in your new home. Your signature touch is shining. Happy Monday!
Thank you Shelley! Yes ants are a part of peonies. It nice that they remind you of your grandmother. I am figuring it out and it sure feels good! Have a great day too. 😊
Beautiful display Debra…nice to see you are finding the time again to enjoy your photography and blog – you have an amazing ability to capture beauty and, as you know, love your writings. Thank you.
You are so sweet! Thank you for following and as always, for your lovely comments 😊
My favorite flowers also!
We wanted to plant them this year, I picked out a perfect spot, but local nursery was sold out.
Love the pictures ❤️
Thank you!!