Good intentions out the window. Distractions abound. So many things needing to get done, paralysis sets in. My goal of doing at least one post per week is woefully unfulfilled, but does anyone besides me care? I promised myself I would not use the blog to whine or to navel-gaze, though, so no excuses.

One of the things we try to do every summer is go on a photographic scouting road trip. Due to me taking a summer class, though, and fall semester starting way early this year, a road trip just didn’t happen. But the good news is, I have lots of photos from past trips that I need to do something with. So I’ll start posting some of these on a regular basis.

The above was taken on last year’s trip. The location is in eastern Wyoming, on a 2-lane highway, slightly north of a town called Douglas. The clouds were looking quite photogenic that day. The above image is enhanced in my very favorite toy, Photoshop Lightroom. I recently upgraded to version 2.0; still need to figure out all the great new stuff it does. But in the meantime, you can do some very amazing things to your images, all non-destructively and completely reversible.

Below is the original image:

It’s not horrible, but the clouds look rather flat and the whole thing needs some punch. A few quick tweaks in Lightroom, and the added contrast results in the top image — much more interesting. I love Photoshop, but it does have a steep learning curve and simple editing tasks take a lot longer. For quick editing and amazing organizational capabilities, Lightroom is the way to go.

And you can push it a lot further to get some very creative effects. Here’s an experiment with the parameters taken well beyond “normal” limits:

Other fun activities this week included getting my Quilt National entry in just under the wire (due date Sept. 5), and shipping my work for the 12 Voices show, which opens next week at the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City. Also, tomorrow is the opening for Threadlines 2008, an exhibit sponsored by Uncommon Threads at the Missouri State University Art & Design Gallery, September 5-29, 2008, co-organized by Pam RuBert and Emmie Seaman. My piece, Chroma Study #2: Blue and Red, will be a part of the exhibition.

Chroma Study #2: Blue & Red, ©2008 Deidre Adams