Still Waters

A long time ago, I participated in a workshop with one of my favorite photographers, Michael Levin. We had a morning session where we captured photos of cormorants. It was a really bright Californian morning, and as a result, I initially didn’t want to edit the photos from that session. Later, over coffee, we discussed saturation, color, and how to really think about the final interpretation of an image. I took notes – lots of them. This morning, I came across that notebook.

So, I decided to select a photo from that session and apply some of the insights Michael shared with me. Over the past six years, Lightroom and Photoshop have evolved into completely different tools, and my proficiency in using these tools has greatly improved.

What you see is my interpretation of the colors, saturation, and luminosity originally captured by the sensor. (Pro Tip: Play around with the “White Balance” options to get creative ideas for interpreting the image. Even B&W looks can change by altering the white balance.)

November 1, 2023. San Francisco