Practice

Attempt one at creating dreamy/nostalgic looking images

This morning I went for a walk around the sint Pieter area in Maastricht to see if I was able to capture images that feel dreamlike or nostalgic, inspired by Rinko Kawauchi’s photography. I was trying to focus on interesting lighting and spots that stood out to me.

I came past this tall bush with red berries on it and the way the morning sun was only partially shining on it looked nice. In Lightroom I reduced the contrast and the clarity to make it look more film like and I feel like this helps the image have a more soft look. I tried to capture and edit so it feels close to what I saw and felt when I took the picture.

The following images both look a bit overexposed, but I feel like this is what gives them a feeling of being a fleeting memory. I really like the light flares I got in these images, especially the multi coloured one in the corner of the first image. It’s a shame the light flares aren’t as prominent in the second image because I feel like that one feels closer to what I was trying to capture.

These both have the same self-made preset. I am new to creating these myself so I am aware my editing skills are far from perfect. But for now, I am quite happy with the way these turned out :)

In the image above I tried to capture this spider web, but the sun was not working in my favour. I feel like this image could’ve been wat better if the sun was shining through.

The next image is of a bramble bush I came across, I like the way the foreground and background are blurred but the blurred part in front of the subject kind of bothers me.

Once again I used Lightroom to create a softer look.

I was having a hard time editing the image(s) above but I don’t dislike them, I like the way some leaves blur and it’s only focused on some spots. But I wasn’t able to create a final look that I feel like it deserves.

In the image above I saw two people doing yoga and I tried to frame them in the trees. They don’t stand out as much but I do enjoy the light flare coming from the sun. I used the same preset as image 2 and 3 in this post.

The following two images don’t really stand out in any way but I do really enjoy them and I wanted to include them in this post. I like the way the shadow decides the image with the sheep in it and the way the sun shines on the broken tree.

Reflecting on these images, I definitely have a long learning journey ahead. I had a lot of fun creating these images and challenging myself to only use 20 mm lens as I’m used to being able to switch lenses. I wanted to try and only use the 20 mm pancake lens so I could get to know it better, as it provides a similar aperture (1.7) that Kawauchi uses. The next time I want to focus on where the sun is coming from more and incorporating it to help the main subjects stand out more.

I also want to be able to edit more accurately in Lightroom, I will be watching lots of tutorials on how to get better at using more advanced features like color grading and the curve tool.

For now, enjoy this image of a snail I saw on my walk :)