This view is from behind Tanah Lot while looking out into the ocean as the sun began its decent. We were sitting at a restaurant eating a quick dinner / snack and having some drinks while I took this photo. I was literally at our dinner table when I took this. Pretty cool view hu?

To process this photo I cheated. It wasn't really sunset. Probably still and hour or two before sunset. But I used textures, color and lighting to make it feel more like sunset. Thus the name, Sunset at Tanah Lot. I find textures really help those midday shots when the sky and clouds aren't doing anything interesting. It's a great way to add drama and give the scene a whole new life.

I also lied. I wasn't literally at our dinner table when I took this. I was one table over becuase we wanted to eat in the shade. The sun was bright. But close enough. :) 

Today's Photo - Sunset at Tanah Lot

The Goju-no-to is a five story Pagoda located in Miyajima Japan. These buildings often function as places of worship, most commonly Buddhist. The Goju-no-to is located near the Itsukushima Shrine on a small island near Hiroshima. I've been to Miyajima twice now and the location still amazes me. It's one of my favorite places in all of Japan to take pictures. I think because of the mix of old Japanese architecture from the Edo-Era, and the tame deer that roam the roads. 

Today's Photo - Fiery Goju-no-to Pagoda

This is Meghnath the son of the evil king Ravana. I think. It's almost impossible to find information on the Kecak dance of Bali Indonesia when searching the Internet. Impossible. 

I'm working on a series of the various characters of the Kecak dance. They'll all look similar to this and it's already looking pretty cool. It's such an amazing dance and Bali has such an amazing culture, it will be nice when I'm done.

To create this look I've been using various textures all colored and touched up specifically for each character. It's almost all done in Photoshop with final color done in Lightroom.

Today's Photo - Meghnath, The Son Of Ravana. . . I Think.

It was a Rainy Day at the Kintai-Kyo Bridge in Japan. In this original photo you could actually scale in and see the individual rain drops. I thought that was pretty cool. But the original was also very grey and flat from the rain and grey skies. I liked the feel of the photo and really wanted to create a vibe that just wasn't there. 

If you've noticed I've been using textures a little bit more. I've found they really help in bringing to life old photos that where never 'good enough' as simple landscapes or fine art photos. With texture you get to use the photo as a base layer and really turn it into a unique work of art. Well, textures and a ton of color work. :)

This photo was actually two different textures combined. First time I've done that in a photo before. Be sure to check out Sirius-sdz on Deviant Art. Great resource for textures. And check out the Retro Collection Lightroom Presets to help give you quick and unique looks to start with. I use them on almost every photo. 

Today's Photo - Rainy Day At The Kintai Kyo Bridge

This is a photo of my wife on one of our adventures. This photo was taken on our hike to Vernal Falls in the Yosemite Valley.

I did a ton of processing on this one. Adding fake light leaks and lens flares by painting on warm or cool tones on a new layer in Photoshop then setting the blending mode to Hard Light. Seems to work pretty well as long as there is a strong light source already in the image. I then did the final color in Lightroom using my Retro Collection Presets. 

Here is the raw photo

Here is another look I liked a lot

I have a lot of fun processing my images like this. It's fun exploring various looks and seeing what I can come up with. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to my photoshop. Getting the colors right is tricky. 

Like mentioned, I've been using my Lightroom 4 Retro Collection Preset Pack. I really really like what I've done with them and use them as a starting look on almost every photo I do. Plus I spent forever building them. Months.

I decided to start selling them and right I'm offering them for $2.00, since I am still testing them and working out any bugs that might be in paypal. If you want to see what a lot of the looks are, you can check out my Foods of Japan Flickr set. I used only my retro presets for all those photos. Be sure to let me know if there are any problems installing them or buying them. You can email me directly at info@alikgriffin.com

Today's Photo - The Adventurer