Downtime: Wandering Through Your Archives of Images

Click on either image to view in the SCU Lightbox

by Skip Cohen

Lately, it seems like every post I write starts out referencing something different in our lives because of the pandemic. Like you, I'm taking a look in the rearview mirror more often than in the past, and it's become part of my daily routine. 

I miss the total freedom all of us took for granted. I miss friends, planning for the next convention, and thinking about where Sheila and I might go for a long weekend. Everything has changed, but here's a good thing I'm learning to appreciate, my photographs.  

I'm spending more time looking at past files and immensely enjoying Skylum's Luminar. They do not pay me, and I'm not an active affiliate, but I appreciate the simplicity of understanding how to adjust an image and make it a little better.

I also enjoy getting to know the various filters as I adjust an image to my taste. And for those of you who want to criticize what I did in the above photo, remember, "Beauty is in the eyes of the checkbook holder," and in this case, I'm my own client, and the checkbook holder.

In May of 2019, Sheila and I spent ten days in New Mexico and fell in love with so many different areas. We started in Albuquerque, then drove to Santa Fe and finished in Taos, making stops all along the way. One of the most interesting and poignant was Taos Pueblo. Acting like total tourists, we took the reservation tour, at that time still inhabited by a half dozen full-time residents.

There's a story behind the graveyard and church above:

From Craig K. Gowens page on Flickr in 2009

The original San Geronimo Church was built in 1619 when the Spanish settled the area and began forcibly converting the Tiwa people of the Taos Pueblo to Christianity. The Church was destroyed in the 1680 revolt that drove the Spanish from New Mexico, but rebuilt after their return a decade later. The second destruction of the church occurred at the hands of the U.S. Army in 1847.

During the American military occupation, the native Americans again made a bid for their own freedom, rejecting the authority of the new American territorial governor of New Mexico, Charles Bent, assassinating him in his home in Taos. The U.S. Army retaliated against the Taos Pueblo as one of the leaders of the revolt was a Tiwa native. Hundreds of Tiwa, mostly women and children, had taken refuge in the church during the attack and were killed when the Army bombarded the church with artillery. The bell tower of the church has been restored and serves as a remainder of lives lost in the attack.

One of the features I enjoy most with Luminar is my ability to see the before and after as I'm working on an image. I grabbed a screenshot of one small section of the picture. That bar down the middle slides left and right, allowing you to see each part of the image and the impact the changes you're making have on the finished product.

In this case, I used the one-touch clarity booster, gave the saturation a slight tweak, and then used the structure filter, which enhances clarity and micro-contrast in surface area between edges detected in an image, improving perceived detail and making photos stand out. 

Besides sharing a small history lesson from New Mexico, and intro to Luminar, if you haven't used it - there's an even better bottom line. 

​The need to hunker down is wearing on all of us. Don't let the pandemic's challenges get in the way of the love you have as an artist and business owner. Business is out there, and it will come back - but in the meantime, keep working on your skill set. 

Wander through your files and appreciate where you were a year ago. Use your photographs to keep your creative juices flowing, and that passion you have for imaging alive. Keep in touch with friends, stay active in social media, and keep your eye out for moments of inspiration from the people you respect most. Most important of all, don't let go of your dreams.

And one more thing to think about - It's that first convention we're all going to attend LIVE. What a celebration that's going to be. I'll meet all of you in the bar of the host hotel that first night in town...wherever that might be!

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