We Never Stop Learning

What better way to while away the few minutes one has before one needs to go to bed, than to look at pictures taken in the past. I was feeling a little bit irritated today about the winter that doesn't seem to want to go away. So I browsed through the pictures I took last summer, consoling myself of the fact that the winter will be over soon.

I chanced upon this picture of some wild grass I took while walking along the banks of Østensjøvannet (the bird sanctuary). The camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II with the EF 70-200 F4.0 L USM lens. I remember why I took this shot: a field of grass with a wonderful, luscious shade of purple protruding from the tips. While the shot turned out ok, I could never replicate the feeling I had when I shot it. The bokeh was wonderful (200mm from a distance, F4.0). But the colors weren't just the way I remembered them to be. So in the end the picture was discarded.

I remember I was shooting with the EOS 5D Mark II prior to purchasing the photo editing bundle from Nik Software. So out of curiosity I tried to edit this photograph using Color Efex Pro, using the Pro Contrast function.

And voila! The breathtaking shot that I was hoping to get, finally on my computer screen after many months! I always shoot in RAW, and it's only now that I am coming to terms with what I have to do to get the effects that I desire.

We never really stop learning new things. And this is fabulous news! That means I can sift through my entire photo collection where most of the images were just edited in Aperture and not much adjusting was done. Probably I can salvage some pictures which I gave up on, too.

I am now on the waiting phase prior to my new camera purchase so this will be a good activity to embark on, alongside my photography walks. This will definitely keep me inspired. Spring and summer is fast approaching, and lots of photo opportunities will soon arise.

And you can bet this picture is now my new desktop background!