Sakura photos edited on Periscope

Today’s post will showcase some of the photos that I edited throughout my Periscope session that I did last night. Most of these were quick edits, as you can see in my broadcast. If you haven’t already, go to the App Store, download Periscope, and follow me @smaku. You can also see my broadcast from this link, available only until around 8pm EST today!

Nikon D800, 1/100 sec., f/6.8, ISO 100, 105mm Micro
Nikon D800, 1/100 sec., f/6.8, ISO 100, 105mm Micro

All editing was done within Adobe Lightroom, with the help of VSCO Film filters. As noted in my broadcast, the basics of what I do for editing are as follows:

  • Change white balance accordingly (ie. if taken during the day, change it to Daylight)
  • Apply Enable Profile Correction to correct for any lens distortions and vignetting
  • Then change the exposure settings to your liking, in addition to using filters for a starting point to your editing process

Remember that once you are happy with your editing on one photo, you can always copy and paste all settings from one photo and paste those settings onto another photo. This drastically speeds up editing time.

Nikon D800, 1/80sec., f/4.0, ISO 100, 105mm Micro
Nikon D800, 1/80sec., f/4.0, ISO 100, 105mm Micro

These cherry blossoms only bloom once a year, and are in peak for a very short period of time: about a week at most. I try my best to capture these cherry blossoms whenever they bloom.

My goal in taking photos of cherry blossoms (sakura in Japanese), were two-fold. I used my macro 105mm lens to try and get close to the flowers, so you can see the subtle beauty of their colours and detail. Macro lenses are great for this purpose.

Nikon D800, 1/200 sec., f/4.0, ISO 800, 200mm
Nikon D800, 1/200 sec., f/4.0, ISO 800, 200mm

The second goal was to showcase the abundance of these flowers in one spot. When you see one area filled with nothing but these flowers, it’s really a spectacular sight. Even with this photo above, you can see the branches of the trees, which can be somewhat distracting. It would have been ideal had there been more flowers to cover these branches. In the photo above, my focus was on the building with its evening glow from the sun setting to the right. I framed this building with the white cherry blossoms as I saw this perfect opening.

Nikon D800, 1/200 sec., f/4.0, ISO 800, 190mm
Nikon D800, 1/200 sec., f/4.0, ISO 800, 190mm

As soon as I saw this person wearing purple, I knew I had to capture her with the green and orange in the background. The colours matched too well to pass up. She was standing in front of the tree, trying her best to take a picture of the cherry blossoms, so it was great that she didn’t move too much. Using a telephoto lens, I made sure to move to a spot where I can get the green in the back, the orange glow from the sunset, and the white and pink from the cherry blossoms.

Nikon D800, 1/400 sec., f/2.8, ISO 400, 180mm
Nikon D800, 1/400 sec., f/2.8, ISO 400, 180mm

And finally, I leave you with these two photos, where I tried to focus on the flowers with the sunset as the backdrop. The bokeh created by my telephoto lens creates a nice, soft blur that complements the delicateness of the flowers themselves.

Nikon D800, 1/320 sec., f/2.8, ISO 400, 200mm
Nikon D800, 1/320 sec., f/2.8, ISO 400, 200mm

I intentionally included some blurred foreground branches at the top, so that it contrasts and gives focus to the actual cherry blossoms at the bottom of the frame. I do like that orange glow from the sun, it makes these photos that much warmer don’t you think?

Have you taken any cherry blossom photos this year? Comment below and show me what you captured, as I love to see how others interpret this time of year.

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