Post processing plays a big part when going from taking a picture to making an image. Along the way, our own personal preferences, skills, mood and opinions shape the way the image will turn out. Because everyone is different and everyone has a unique way of looking at things, I’d like to invite you to Dolce Pics’ new, weekly, just-for-fun, activity we can all take part in. Ok, so here are the details:

• Every Tuesday, I will post a “What’s Your Play?” high-resolution straight-out-of-camera (SOOC) JPG that you can download and “play” with.
• 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.  I’ll choose one at my discretion.
• By submitting your photo, you agree to allow others to manipulate your photo.
• Once you’ve completed “your play”, post a comment under the post of the image you played with and be sure to link to your processed version of the original.
• Including some notes on your processing will be helpful. For example, the software used, main changes or reasons why you processed it that way.

That’s it! Pretty simple isn’t it?

So what’s the point of this?

I’m always so amazed at how different the same picture looks after it’s been in the digital hands of others. I find that it’s a great way to learn about different processing techniques rather than just sticking to the ’style’ we’re used to. Who knows? Maybe you’ll really like someone else’s processing and you can try it out yourself!

I’m really looking forward to seeing all your creativity and skills shine. You can start submitting your own photos as of now! Keep your eye out for the very first “What’s Your Play?” challenge. I hope you’re all game because I sure am!

Oh, and here’s a little button for you if you want to add it to your own blog:

Click here for all the What’s Your Play assignments to date.

Laura is a Vancouver wedding and portrait photographer. Visit laurahana.com.

focal length: 29 mm
shutter speed: 1/160
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 400
flash: none

It’s tough shooting someone in the shadows while they are standing in front of a window. I wish she had been facing the window instead but we can’t win them all can we? Luckily, the light was fairly even and the window wasn’t bringing in direct sunlight so it wasn’t too bad. I shot this in aperture priority mode and used matrix metering (evaluates the entire scene). The exposure was fairly good SOOC but I did increase it in post a bit, in addition to boosting the contrast.  I did have to increase lightness of the yellows and decrease saturation a bit so the nacho chips wouldn’t look so radioactive.  Mmm… radioactive chips!

I like this shot because it seems like she has no idea I was even there!  Blatant disregard for parental authority over which foods she can and can not eat.  Who am I kidding?  I let her eat it.  Bad mommy!

Laura is a Vancouver wedding and portrait photographer. Visit laurahana.com.

focal length: 24 mm
shutter speed: 1/125
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 500
flash: none

Andrea challenged us to send a message to the world… or at least to the internet. Sometimes I like to write up a message on Sophie’s Doodle Pro before I go to bed so my family will get a cheery message in the morning. I shot this straight on at first. Boy, was that ever boring. So I switched gears and went wide and shot from an angle on the side of it. Wow, much more interesting. Then to highlight the words a bit more, I increased the “clarity” in Lightroom and the letters became much more defined and easier to read. Very nice.

Do you have any tips for shooting inanimate objects?

Even though Mr. Sun is hiding behind a sea of clouds today, my little one and her Daddy provide more than enough sunshine for me.

Laura is a Vancouver wedding and portrait photographer. Visit laurahana.com.

focal length: 58 mm
shutter speed: 1/25
aperture: f/5.0
ISO: 800
flash: none

Yum! I like food almost as much as I like photography. Now food photography… that’s opening a whole other can of worms right there! I’m not going to pretend I’m a foodie or a food photographer but I think my food shots are decent enough to share. I plated it haphazardly and threw it on the table in the sun room, where we eat most of our meals. (Our dining room is as dark as Batman’s cave!) I took a few shots, about 6 actually, using different settings in manual mode. First I tried shooting wide open at f/2.8. Not so good for food shots. So I tried f/5.0 and increased the ISO and slowed down the shutter speed so it would still be exposed properly. Not bad. I straightened it a bit in post processing, increased the blacks just a touch and added a bit of contrast to boot. What do you think? Easy enough right? Let’s see some of your mouth-watering food shots! I know you take pictures of your food too!

Oh, this dish was so delicious, if I say so myself! And the best part is that it took less than 15 minutes to make. So easy. In case you’re wondering, I sautéed onions, peas and some garlic in oil (or you can use butter), threw in some shrimp and then some chopped up feta cheese. Added a bit of herbs and seasoning to taste and cooked for another minute. Threw in the spaghetti and tossed it all up in the pan. Got the base recipe here and added my own flair to it, like we all do right?

Laura is a Vancouver wedding and portrait photographer. Visit laurahana.com.

Although I have already talked about Aperture & Shutter Speed as well as Aperture and Depth of Field, I wanted to show you what the aperture actually looks like. I used the 50mm f/1.8 as an example to show the different size of each f-stop. I shot 8 different shots of the lens opened manually with the aperture ring and compiled them into layers with differing opacities so you can easily compare the difference in lens opening at each stop.

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Laura is a Vancouver wedding and portrait photographer. Visit laurahana.com.