The Road Less Traveled

It's Thursday so it's time for another before and after with Pixel Perfect. I love this challange because not every photo comes out the way you like, with the magic of editing you can make it right. I grew up photographing with a 35mm camera (film). I remember the days of shooting rolls and roll of film and hoping everything would come out right. Back then these photo would have been filed under "T" for trash, but with the wonders of digital cams now you can shoot and erase until you get what you want. If you don't have time (or a patient model) to get everything just right, you can sort it out in processing. That is what happened with these.

The first on is Sage and me on an evening walk. I love this patch of old road. It leads up to some the wonderful bike and walking trails Columbus metro parks have to offer. This is actually really close to our house, I wish we could walk the whole way but we have to walk along a busy road with a lot of Semis. So with my little crazy gremlin I usually drive over. Saves me a few grays and money on hair dye. 

The road is block so you don't have to worry about any traffic. Perfect for going crazy. The day we went the sun was setting right behind up. my favorite light. The first photo we were having a good time playing with our shadow. The original had nothing really special about it, but to me it was a special moment. So I did what I usually do to photo like this, I made it look like it is from the 70's. Sometime I'll do b/w but I loved the tones of the sun. How it turned out reminds me of those old photos of alien sightings I would see when I was a kid.

I'm still experiment with the use of flash in the day time to balance shadows on the face. Unfortunately this was not a successful day of that all the shots turned out washed out. But there was something about all three of the next photos that I loved. Probably that they capture the energy that Sage possesses. I wish I could bottle it. I'd be rich. Unfortunately I think he has so much energy because he sucks it from me.

The first shot although it is washed out I could still see the possibility of the warmth of the sun in the trees. I wish I could tell you everything I did to it (as well as the others), but I lost track of what all I did. I can tell you that I edit in Picnik. Adjusting the basics like exposure, contrast, sharpness, tint and saturation. Then I played around with Orton-ish, Sepia, vignetting and 60's style.

The next one I was running backwards while he was running toward me. I love how he has the appearance of creeping around like a gremlin. Appropriate, since his nickname is gremlin. That's a story for a later date though. The color on this one was as bad, but it still needed a little umph. I think the after makes it look so much warmer.

This last one was another one of those over-exposed photos. I cropped this one to take out the street lights in the background. While I was editing this one I got to thinking about the old photos of my grandparents as a kids. So of course it had to be black and white. I love this one, because it gives Sage a little man feel instead of just a sweet little soft kid. Although he can be whiny, Sage is all rough and tumble little boy. I think it makes him look so much older than his 3 years.

If you want to see more great before and after photos be sure to check out Pixel Perfects challenge.