Lens-Artists Challenge – Bringing Softness

Bren leads this challenge with a theme that defines her photography and why we love it so much. In her post, Bren shows us how she creates the dreamy look of her photos and encourage us to share images where softness is achieved.

I think a certain degree of sharpness to my photos suits them. Lightroom is my editing app and I tend to increase clarity to give extra sharpness and detail to an image, so this challenge proved to be… challenging. Even as I write, in the back of my mind there’s the notion I could have been more drastic and there’s a few photos that have been revised several times.

My first shot is one of those that I love but have never managed to get it right. Maybe this is the closest to what I’ve envisioned when I took the shot, many years ago. I was looking for almost a glow to these birch woods. What do you think?

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Macro shots of naturally soft subjects were my initial approach. I’ve only blurred more the bokeh effect on the background on these 2 photos but tried to maintain the details on those extra fluffy buds.

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The next macro I tried to have a more dramatic feel to the shot. Usually, I wouldn’t go so far into editing, but I enjoyed doing so and even more the end result.

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Nothing screams more for softness and dreamy than wedding photography. I had the honour to photograph a friend’s wedding, and this is one of my favourite portraits of the day. I edited the photo again for this challenge, increasing the glow by reducing clarity, texture and dehaze. I love it so much.

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After all the editing on some of these photos, I then found some where Nature gives a masterclass on the dreamy feel. This photo of a begonia is almost straight from camera, only slightly adjusted. You can’t really beat nature when softness is the goal.

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The light was already there, that dreamy glow. I love the soft colours on this photo taken in Nagoya Castle.

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I didn’t want to finish without trying out a landscape and that proved the hardest for me. I picked a photo I took last week when we went for a walk to the Falls of the Clyde. This photo has had quite a few different versions, but I’ve settled for this one, which I think works really well.

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Many thanks to Bren for hosting with such an interesting, challenging theme. It really got me thinking and I had much fun with the results.  Something to keep in mind when editing my photos. Remember to link to Bren’s original post if you are joining us and to tag Lens-Artists so we can easily find you.

Last week Amy got us meeting East and West, North and South and the replies made me realise it’s a diverse world we live in, where we are all connected. Next week, Ann-Christine is leading so please have a look at her always beautiful site. Until then, take care.

If you want more information on the Lens-Artists Challenge, click here.

Posted for Bren’s Lens-Artists Challenge

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