I should be doing something else on this hot summer day. Something indoors. But even with the oppressive heat, I leave my desk with camera in hand to stroll the garden. It is hot in the shade and unbearable in the sun. Most of the garden is dry, bunch grasses look like straw, monkey flowers and sages have small withered leaves, and even the California lilacs have dropped many of their larger leaves. I snap a few pictures and return to the artificial coolness of my office. It is good that our old air conditioner is working now. It struggles to keep the house at 80 but that is a lot better than a couple of weeks ago.
The pictures have a lot of black in them. Using Lightroom I decide to increase the black even further. The darkness somehow reflects my mood. Sometimes really hot weather leads me to overexpose pictures, but not today. I also sharpen the pictures a bit. Heat is always sharp.
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| Tendril from grapevine squeezes between planks in fence and wraps around iron bars. |
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| Grapevine draps over side gate. The grapes are small but delicious. |
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| Alkali dropseed inflorescence shimmers in the heat. |
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| Quartz Creek rush shines in the sunlight with dark shadows surrounding it. |
beautiful!
nice! When I bother, sharpen is my go-to digital improvement.
Thanks, Brent and Lizzie. I'm always afraid of going too far with digital photo editing.