This shot comes from a 4th of July picnic in 2009 at the home of church friends. They live on 5 acres, and this car sits just over the property line in their neighbor’s yard. I like to photograph old things, the more rusty and beaten up the better.
This might be a good time to point out that I’m not really interested in capturing reality when I process an image; my version of it suits me just fine. Unless I become a newspaper photographer, I’ll continue to Photoshop with reckless abandon.
The Edits:
- Crop.
- Apply Sepia Chic preset for Lightroom 3 and under (see Day 3 for instructions on using Lightroom 3 presets in Lightroom 4). I don’t convert photos to sepia often (I’m much more likely to go B&W), but I like this look for certain photos.
- Use the Adjustment Brush tool in Lightroom to lighten the exposure on the car’s underside and grill, bringing out detail.
- Apply a vignette (darken the edges).
Find Day 1 and links to the whole series here. Be sure to subscribe for email updates either at the end of this post or over on the right above my picture to receive new posts in your inbox each day.
[Click here to read my other 31 Days series, 31 Days of Encouragement and 31 Days of Real Life.]