F-Stopps by David So

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy doing this blog. However, there is something about realizing the importance of regularly making posts, and the minor amount of stress that comes with trying to create content. Today, after work, I was walking back to my car. Now, in my town, the fires from eastern Oregon gave us the present of smoke, rendering the sky and the sun a nice orange hue. However, today, after a brief downpour, the skies opened up, showing the lovely light blues interrupted by the occasional wispy whites. The sidewalk was the nice wet sidewalks that us western Oregonians are so used to, so, I grabbed my smartphone and took the shot. The composition isn't great. The dynamic range is pretty meh (which is honestly why I converted it to B&W). Yet, I kind of like it. Yes, I do wish that the sidewalk was more geometric (the center seam isn't perpendicular with the cross seams which REALLY annoys me), but the photo captures a unique view, and view that I woul...

Left: Original, Middle: Old Editing, Right: New Editing (and yes, the middle one is a different photo, but burst mode makes it almost all the same) So this is strange post... but hey, it's about photography and I enjoy photography. I've done portraits for a year or so, and I've always done them the same way. Shoot RAW, import to Photoshop, adjust white balance, blacks, whites, shadows, highlights, as needed, boost contrast and vibrance, then export to JPEG. Easy, simple, done. Well, today, I figured that I could really still improve. So I sat down, watched a 23 min long YouTube video, and spent the next few hours tackling old portraits and honing my skills. Above, you see Savanna, one of the people from my prom group. When I did my first edit a couple of months ago, I wasn't SUPER happy with how it turned out. It wasn't bad per say, but the lighting on her face was off (she was under some branches which gave in unfavorable shadowing). Yet, at the time, I...