Hello to all #Hive visual friends!.... From time to time photography presents itself to us as "An inner search performed on things close to us"...

I guess it's easy for some people here to identify with the phrase I wrote in the previous paragraph. Because photographers' inner life, their perception of themselves and what they do, are usually very solid and manifest and are also linked to the images they capture and in some way "create".

So, what I want to say is that these photographs of today are that "expression"... My expression... Either at the moment of capture or during processing and editing.

⬇️ THE EDITED VERSIONS ⬇️

PHOTO 1 - Light adjustments, selective colour correction, vignetting, partial distortion, change of horizon balance.

PHOTO 2 - Horizon rotation, contrast and depth adjustment, sharpening, increased clarity, depth.

PHOTO 3 - Light and contrast adjustments, partial rotation, cropping, slight vignetting.

PHOTO 4 - Saturation, intensity and contrast adjustments. Sharpening, rotation and cropping.

PHOTO 5 - Soft vignettes, spot lighting, partial rotation, colour temperature and intensity adjustment.

PHOTO 6 - Sharpening, increasing clarity, adjusting contrasts, spot lighting, selective color dimming, adjusted depth, and partial horizon rotation.

Apart from the portentous therapeutic effect of capturing these photos (yes, I'm quite "stuffed" as far as mental deficiencies go, you know) the editing into something really liberating, a time and activity that lends itself to unleashing the visual instinct and letting it run across the screen like a hysterical hound chasing a drugged hare (I love saying these things, I hope you don't mind). So I couldn't fail to do this in monochrome!.

⬇️ THE MONOCHROME VARIATIONS ⬇️

PHOTO 1

PHOTO 2

PHOTO 3

PHOTO 4

PHOTO 5

PHOTO 6

Because I'm a damned obsessive when it comes to editing, that "make a few clicks desaturating the photo and then adjusting the levels" doesn't work for me... That's boring! So I usually take the photos (in this case the edited versions) and start doing strange things like inverting them horizontally, cropping them, adjusting the lights, desaturating by color... I don't rule out (sometimes) distorting the photo differently from the previous version and -of course- add complete vignettes and specific darkening and/or lightening. Also, I sometimes go for a toned-down monochrome with some semi-transparent layer of warm color, usually 3% yellow... Every photo is a different thing when it fades so damn the presets, that's why I don't usually use them!.

I also share here the standard versions of these photographs, as it is something that allows us to understand the evolution of each one shown in the photos.

⬇️ THE STANDARD PICTURES ⬇️

PHOTO 1 - 📷 NIKON D7000 | 35mm | 1/500s | F/5.0 | ISO 250

PHOTO 2 - 📷 NIKON D7000 | 35mm | 1/1000s | F/5.0 | ISO 250

PHOTO 3 - 📷 NIKON D7000 | 35mm | 1/160s | F/5.0 | ISO 250

PHOTO 4 - 📷 NIKON D7000 | 55mm | 1/500s | F/5.6 | ISO 800

PHOTO 5 - 📷 NIKON D7000 | 55mm | 1/640s | F/5.6 | ISO 800

PHOTO 6 - 📷 NIKON D7000 | 35mm | 1/1000s | F/5.6 | ISO 800

Wow, this publication has been something of a "self analysis" for me... I am looking at those standard versions of the photographs and they seem charming, uncomplicated, eloquent and profoundly "silent" as if I had not yet "spoken in them"... That's a nice thing, I really recommend you try to increase the amount of time you spend editing your photos. Surely you will discover many interesting facets of yourselves... (I'm already speaking again as an old rural school teacher, so forget it, just do what you like).

TECHNICAL NOTE: All photographs were taken with my Nikon D7000 camera and always in RAW format. The processing of each image was done with Adobe Camera Raw where the images were practically ready in terms of brightness, definition, contrasts, depth and color temperatures. Then were exported to JPG format for minor adjustments of cropping, straightening and adding watermarks in PhotoScape 3.6.1. The monochrome versions were made from the exported JPGs and were fully processed with PhotoScape 3.6.1 as well.

Thank you all very much for stopping by and appreciating... We will meet again soon with more photographs and some other deliverances regarding this enchanting passion for photography.... ¡Sending hugs!.