*click image to download large size (1024×680)

focal length: 50 mm
shutter speed: 1/1250
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 200
flash: none

This is an old photo I found while going through thousands of photos while choosing a few (hundred) to print. I’m caught up to mid-June now! Yikes… I know. Anyhow, I thought this was an interesting image with the wispy clouds and was wondering what you all could do with it. Click on the photo to download the high resolution image and play!

Remember to link to your version by leaving a comment below. You are welcome to add any specifics about what you did in your processing (software used, adjusted values, cropping etc) to help us learn. Click here to get the complete details for What’s Your Play. Remember, all readers are invited to submit their own photos for manipulation by emailing a high res photo (preferably SOOC) to play [at] dolcepics [dot] com.

The lovely hands and leaves from WYP 18:

Thanks again Janine for your photo!

focal length: 70 mm
shutter speed: 1/125
aperture: f/6.3
ISO: 200
flash: none

It was pouring buckets on the second day we were in Quebec City, so we decided to go for a drive in the city outskirts. It was so beautiful driving along the older neighbourhoods of St. Anne. While stopped at an information kiosk, I looked at the window and admired the lovely blue hues enhanced by the cloudy skies and took a shot of the water drops. I shot wide open, of course, as is my habit. Due to the close range, the depth of field was too shallow to make out any drops so I stopped down my aperture to f/6.3, which resulted in a more pleasing image.

How about you? Have you “stopped down” recently to see something in a different light?

focal length: 105 mm
shutter speed: 1/320
aperture: f/4.5
ISO: 500
flash: none

I used this photo in the photography class I’m currently teaching to explain what “Hollywood Lights Bokeh” looks like. There aren’t a whole lots of “lights” going on in this shot but it’s pretty clear what it is. This type of bokeh occurs when you have out-of-focus-highlights in your frame.

When you’re shooting in natural surroundings, shooting up into the leaves can ensure you catch those bits of sunlight shining through. To add a bit of glitter to your party photos this holiday season, hang some string lights around for that extra bit of sparkle to your photos. Lastly, you can always make specially shaped bokeh by cutting out your desired shape (eg, heart, star, etc…) on a black piece of paper and creating your own custom aperture. Check out this this article Create Your Own Bokeh at diyphotography.net to help you on your way.

focal length: 35 mm
shutter speed: 1/250
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 1000
flash: none

I’ve been learning to appreciate the heal tool in Lightroom 2.0 these days. It saves me time from having to open up an image in Photoshop to use the heal tool there (the bandaid icon - other photo editing software probably has it as well). It’s essentially the same thing and works wonders for pesky acne, dust spots and bits of chocolate cake on a toddler rockin’ it out at a birthday party.

It’s one of the new features in Lightroom 2.0 found next to the cropping tool and in the same place as the graduated filter and adjustment brush. Make sure “Heal” is selected and not “Clone”. We’ll go over the “Clone” tool another day (its implementation is different in Lightroom than it is in Photoshop).

Simply select the size of the brush and set the opacity. I set it to 100 here so that those cake bits would disappear completely, as if her mother actually spent time to wipe her child’s face before taking a thousand pictures.

For touch ups, I also zoom in by simply clicking on the area I want to work on. Be sure your heal tool is not “active” on the right bar. You can check if you tool is active or not if your mouse point has changed. When it is active your mouse point looks like a target with a circle the size of your tool. When it is inactive, it is the magnifying glass with the plus sign (to zoom in). You can toggle by pressing “k” or simply click on the heal tool until the heal tool’s menu doesn’t show. Try it out and you’ll know what I mean.

Change the size of your brush to cover the exact amount you need by placing the your mouse point over the offending acne/chocolate cake bit and use your mouse’s scroll wheel up or down to change the size. You can also use the square brackets “[" or "]” on your keyboard to change the size. Very handy! Then just one click and “Bye Bye” dirty face!

Well, because she had quite a few bits of cake around her mouth, it took a few clicks altogether.

Now she’s a rockin’ police girl in true kiddie style!

focal length: 105 mm
shutter speed: 1/80
aperture: f/3.5
ISO: 200
flash: none

I wanted to try to produce a very buttery, creamy bokeh in this shot, which worked because there were no rays of lights coming through the leaves in the background. Behind was a dense bush, lower to the ground and because I was using the 105mm micro lens, I was able to get some pleasant bokeh. Using a longer focal length, like 105mm will give you a greater degree of bokeh compared to if I used, say a 50mm lens and had positioned the subject(physically moved closer) so it was the same size in both instances. One day, I will have to post a side-by-side comparison to show you what I mean.

Although this capsule is a dying plant, stripped of it’s petals, you can still see the beauty it once flaunted.