[ Stillnotes ] 17 — Re-edits and Film Edits


17 » Re-edits and Film Edits

The image above is one of my favorites from Big Sur during my PCH road trip last week. But since I was publishing a Rambler every night with photos and writing I had to be quick on my edits, relying on finding some presets I liked and quick tweaks. Sitting with this photo afterwards I can't shake the feeling of over-saturation and coloring, a little too in-the-face. Although, it does pretty accurately show what it was like there. The reds and oranges, the glow of the setting sun, the piercing bright teal water, it was all real. But it still feels a bit much, so this week I did a little re-editing to see if I could get it to a better place.

I did some subtle desaturation, brightened up the image overall while keeping the shadows deep as to avoid the HDR feeling, and changed the color-tone in the highlights from a baby blue to a deep orange to fit the warm sunset feeling. There was a bit too much blue-green in the first one. It still feels... I dunno. Sharp? Saturated? It's a crazy deep image, you can zoom all around the RAW file to the cliffs in the back, and it really did feel insane. But while I love the photo there's something to it that just feels almost too precise. I like this version better, and will keep experimenting. Maybe its just an image I can't tone down.

I also explored editing some film scans from Washington. This scene from Maple Pass in particular.

And the edit:

You can see I fixed the reddish oranges in the ground and shadows to neutralize it. Since the sun had set on this area the overly warm color don't really fit. There may still be too much blue in the background, some desaturation may work well there. I also punched up the yellows to make the larches stand out. I spent a lot of time at this scene working a couple different compositions, and its one of those that's given me fits in the edit afterwards. Editing is so important and so damn finicky.

Open to your thoughts on both!

'til next week. —Al

Alex Eaton

Read more from Alex Eaton

31 » The Dakota Series: A seven month effort to improve my photography Hello hello Stillnotes crew. I’m Alex, and this is still where we share notes, my photo-adjacent newsletter you subscribed to at some point in your doomscrolling misadventures. Thanks for being here. This issue I’m excited to share another series I worked on for about seven months before my move out of Boulder. It was a conscious effort to improve my photographic skillset, to whittle away at clear limitations I’ve noticed...

30 » Introducing: Ultra Hey y’all. Welcome back to Stillnotes, I’m Alex and this is my newsletter where I share notes on stills and sometimes just notes and sometimes just stills. You subscribed on my website. Thanks for being here. It’s been a bit, as will happen. I write to you today from my new home high in the rocky mountains. The wildflowers are firing on the trails next to my place, there are aspen stands all around the neighborhood, and I have been watching the snow melt from the...

29 » 2023-2024 Hey there, I’m Alex Eaton, and you’re reading Stillnotes, notes on a photographic life. Welcome to 2024! I’m excited to give y’all many updates on what’s been happening over here and kick off this year in Stillnotes. Here’s what we’ll walk through today: Looking back on year 1 of Stillnotes - What this project is and how it’s changed. My 10 best photos of 2023 - With some discussion of my year in art. Favorite vs. Best: What is meaningful work? - A quick ponder on the value of...