The featured photo fully reflects my latest photography trip to the Southwest I completed last week. I spent two weeks driving through Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California, completing 5500km and camping in the most beautiful and spectacular locations
I brought in total 4200 brand new photos. After importing them to Lightroom and sorting them I have 500 keepers, the photos I will use in my portfolio and publish on my blog.
It was challenging to select the very first photo for publishing out of 500. But the featured photo I took while hiking at the bottom of the Bryce Canyon was a definite winner. It represents constant changes in weather, colors, and landscapes you experience while traveling through the midlands of Arizona and Utah.
Loc: 37.626542, -112.159870
Shooting
The shooting was easy. Because it was a daylong hike through the Bryce Canyon, I did not bring the tripod with me, and the 400 photos I took that day were handheld.
Related: Visiting Bryce Canyon: The Best Things To Do
Also, the rain started at least 10 times during the hike and I kept the only weather-sealed lens I had (Fujinon 18-135) attached to my camera. It was kind of liberating not thinking what lens to use and if I needed a tripod.
Editing & Processing
It was a single RAW processing workflow.
Lightroom (50%)
I kept the original aspect ratio (3 x 2) and the composition did not require any cropping.
Next, I
The Lightroom Preset Editing Formula: Natural (10, 12, 24, 32, 34)
Photoshop (50%)
In Photoshop, all I had to do was to boost details and reduce digital noise.
Plugins: DeNoise (noise reduction), Topaz Detail (local contrast boost).
Total Time: 10min
