Tag Archives: Islay

Using the Parchment Texture Presets in Luminar

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Attention “serious photographers,” you should probably look away. You’re not going to like this, as it’s little off the rails from what you’re used to doing, but I make no apologies, I’m posting it anyway.

The other day, I decided to dig in and try some of the different presets in Luminar 2018, just to see what I could come up with. You know, to be extra creative. Instead of just tweaking the highlights, vibrance and clarity like we always do with so many shots, I was in the mood to come up with something a little different.

That’s when I came across Nicole S. Young’s Parchment Preset pack, which was included in the initial launch of Luminar 2018. If you purchased and downloaded the program right around launch time, then you should have them too. (If not, or if you never got the download, you can grab Nicole’s Parchment Preset pack right from her webstore.)

I’ve used the Dramatic Presets, before, and they can be pretty fun, but I’d never used any texture presets in Luminar, or in any other software. That’s usually not my style. I tend to go for straight image making with little processing.

However, as artists, we should never be closed off to new ideas and creative experimentation, so I fired up Nicole’s Parchment Presets and started playing around with the different textures. Initially, I thought, “meh, not for me,” but as I dropped those unnecessary inhibitive barriers in my mind, I began to see the potential. I actually liked what I was getting.

This image of the mountain landscape above was the first one I tried it with, and I quickly found a texture I liked. It’s an image I shot recently during my trip to Islay, looking across the bay towards the Isle of Jura. I felt that the muted color scheme and moody feel of the image worked quite well with the texture.

I decided to post the finished version on the Skylum Facebook Group page, just to get it out there. As I suspected it might, the picture garnered quite a collection of interesting comments and critiques. One person wasn’t so keen on the “folded page” line down the middle effect, so I went back in, chose a different preset and posted this one below.

What do you think? Is there one you like better?

Of course, the obvious question that begs to be asked is “why?” This style of processing is all new to me, and as I indicated above, most “serious photographers” would, in all likelihood, not be the slightest bit entertained by this.

That’s actually too bad, because it’s those people who need the most help. Those are the ones who could use a massive dose of fun-ness in their creative process.

My answer is the same as it always is. Because it’s fun. As I’ve said many times before, creativity should be fun, and it should be open to an unlimited variety of ideas that can propel your artistic process in new directions.

Photography is about personal artistic expression, it’s not a contest that revolves around extreme sharpness, vivid colors and the lowest noise possible in our imagery. It’s about what YOU like and what evokes a mood within you or your viewers.

Tools like this, and any of the other presets found in Luminar and other photo software are designed to provide inspiration. They’re like playing new chords or mixing different color paints, or picking up a new instrument or brush that you’ve never tried before, and seeing what comes out.

I love how easy Luminar is to use, it’s been my processing software of choice for over a year now. It’s packed with a huge selection of tools that vary from straightforward image correction/enhancement tools to stylistic creative tools that can help you take your images down totally different roads.

These parchment textures are just one example, and as with any of the other Luminar presets, you can dial them up and down to your liking and combine them with any of the other tools and filters included in the program. Will I use them all the time? Hardly, but they’re there if I need them, when inspiration strikes.

If you haven’t seen my full review of Luminar 2018, you can read it here. And again, if you don’t have Nicole’s Parchment presets included in your version, you can grab them from her website. 

If you haven’t checked out Luminar, learn more about it here. Also, you can use this special coupon code DANBAILEY to save $10 on the program.

Sunset over the Shores of Bowmore on the Isle of Islay

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The highlight of my most recent Scotland trip was a week spent on the Isle of Islay. Pronounced “Eye-la,” with the syllabic emphasis on “eye,” Islay is part of the Southern, Hebrides, a chain of islands off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The southern tip of Islay sits just 25 miles north of Ballycastle, Ireland.

Islay is famous for it’s fine Scotch whisky, specifically, the smoky peaty stuff. There are eight distilleries on Islay, most of which are known for producing the most heavily peated whisky known to man. It’s the home of whiskies such as Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Ardbeg, and Bowmore. If you’ve every had a sip of scotch that takes like a campfire, chances are it was made on Islay.

After my super fun hike up Beinn Sgulaird near the town of Oban, we caught the Sunday afternoon ferry to Islay, landing in Port Askaig, and made our way to the small town of Bowmore.

Situated on the western shores of Loch Indaal, Bowmore, (pronounced with the emphasis on “more”, from the Gaelic Bogh Mor, meaning “big rock,” or “big sea rock”) is home to the one of the oldest single malt distilleries in all of Scotland.

Established in 1779, it’s still one of the only distilleries that spreads malted barley on the floor in their malt barn, turning it by hand every few hours before kiln-drying it right there on site. Most distilleries buy and ship in barley that’s already been malted and dried to their specifications. To meet demand, even those distilleries who do floor maltings still ship in some of their malted barley, as they simply don’t have enough floor space.

I seem to have a fascination for gold-colored, traditionally produced, old world liquids. Exactly fifteen years previous, I did a solo cycling tour in southern Spain that was driven by my love of good olive oil. As I pedaled around Andalucía, I discovered Spanish Sherry. Given that many of the Scottish distilleries mature much of their whisky in old sherry casks, I felt like this trip was a serendipitous throwback to that memorable cycling adventure.

In fact, I had a sip of one particular whisky during my Islay trip that was matured in Manzanilla sherry barrels, and when I brought the glass up and took the first sniff, I was instantly transported to the sunny seaside town of Cádiz, Spain, where I remember sipping glasses of cool, dry fino sherry in tapas bars back in February of 2003. That was a very special year for me. Here’s one of my old Cádiz photos from way back when.

Flashback to the town of Cádiz, Spain. Shot on Velvia film back in Feb, 2003.

 

Anyway, back to Islay. We arrived in Bowmore with enough time to check into our quaint little hotel, the delightful Harbour Inn and then head outside to catch a few sunset photos along the shores of town. The Harbour Inn is actually owned by the Bowmore distillery.

They also have some wonderful cottages, which I was really hoping to get, but unfortunately, those were all booked, as I’m sure they often are, months in advance.

Whereas I usually just wing it when I travel, and find places to stay or camp right there at the end of each day, this was a short trip, so I made reservations before heading to Islay. Plus, it was my 50th birthday trip, so I treated myself to enjoy this one in style.

We had a few cloud afternoons during our week on Islay, but as luck would have it, we were fortunate to have a rich, colorful sunset on our fist evening in Bowmore. All of these were made with my Fujifilm X-T2 and XF50-140mm f/2.8 zoom lens.

I don’t often take the 50-140 with me when I travel, and I never take it on bike trips, so it was a nice addition to have this lens along with me. After all, it’s a fast workhorse zoom with incredibly sharp glass and great image stabilization capabilities. The last photo in black and white shows that off, I shot that one handheld at 1/13 sec.