Dead Horse Ranch State Park, Arizona
Sometimes I wish I could be one of those people who make images, process them, and share them all within a few days. Or even the same day!
I’ve never been able to do that and I guess I’ve given up trying. My photos seem to need a period of time to rest on my hard drive before they are ready to evolve and flourish with post processing. Call it beauty sleep.
These photos I made over two years ago and just got around to processing them recently.
Ray and I went to Cottonwood, Arizona, and stayed in a beautiful state park called Dead Horse Ranch. It was supposed to be our base station for day trips to Sedona. But when we drove into Sedona we found out it was spring break and the place was like a mad house! There was not a single parking spot anywhere. We did one drive through the city and went right back to our park.
Fortunately Dead Horse Ranch State Park is absolutely glorious, we had some incredible weather conditions, and there were plenty of photo opportunities.
These dramatic lighting conditions were perfect for some split toning in Lightroom to make the most of the high contrast situation. Using split toning (or “color grading” as it is called in the newest version of Lightroom) you can tone the highlights and shadows to make completely different versions of your photos.
I like the original versions of these photos as well, but sometimes it’s nice to make alternate versions with different colour effects for even more drama.
While processing these photos, I ended up saving 15 different presets using the split toning adjustments in Lightroom – and I’ve decided share those presets with you for free! It’s just something fun to play with and when you use the presets you will be able to see the exact settings I used and try them on your own photos.
If you are interested in trying it out, you can get the presets for free here.
There is also a video demonstration showing how to use them and how to make your own presets.
I hope you enjoy them!
Thank you, Anne, for the presets! I don’t have Lightroom, so after some research, I figured out how to get them into Camera Raw for Photoshop CS6, and am having fun trying them on photos.
.I also enjoyed viewing the gorgeous split-toned photos you made during your stay at Dead Horse Ranch State Park. (Was there really a dead horse?)
I agree, some photos do indeed need a period of beauty sleep before they’re ready for processing. (We humans often need that too!)
Here’s hoping you’re feeling better as time goes by. All the best to you and Ray.
Thanks again!
You are most welcome Suzy!Yes, apparently there was a dead horse. When it was purchased privately in the 50’s, the family looked at a number of ranches and at one of them they came across a dead horse. That was the ranch they bought and called it dead horse ranch. Then it was sold to the parks board in the 70’s. There’s a beautiful campground there, lots of trails, and the two lagoons are gorgeous.
Thanks, Anne. Oh, the poor dead horse. But even though it died, it lives forever in the name of the park. Looks like an appealing place in which to spend some time. Makes me wish I were still able to travel, hike, and roam. Viewing your photos takes me there vicariously though, and that’s a blessing.
I’am a straight out of the camera editor just use DPP4..but this has thinking maybe I should do a bit of editing . Beautiful work…….ps… I just process an egret in breeding plumage from 2013
Editing is fun! You don’t have to go over the top or anything, but it is fun to be able to give your photos a different look than what you can get out of the camera. I guess the trick is finding an editing program that is easy for you. I like Lightroom best myself. It gives you all the tools you need for organizing your photos, importing and exporting, and editing all in the same place. Thanks for your comments John.
There’s a lovely campground there, with plenty of walks and two pretty lagoons.