Images by John 'K'

98% proof Moon, originally uploaded by Images by John ‘K’.

If you’ve taken a look at my photographic work you’ll know that I’m not a massive fan of heavy post-processing or digital manipulation. Every now and again though a subject cries out to me for a little ‘enhancement’.

Usually it’s adding an ‘old’ feel to a shot of something that looks like it would have belonged in a photograph from bygone days. Occasionally it’s a conversion to black and white (I always shoot in color), but every now and again I want to add a little artistic touch to a shot.

I have a bit of a fixation with trying to get nice clear and detailed photographs of the moon using nothing more than the lens on my camera (since Christmas that’s usually a 28-300mm Nikon zoom – fantastic lens!) and while I usually get shots I’m happy with, sometimes things don’t go quite according to plan. I had such a shot a few days ago, so rather than waste it I was looking for a way I could add a little something to it and come up with something that’d be interesting to look at. I flipped through some of the filter options in Photoshop Elements, and finally came across the Lens Flare filter. I had a little play and liked what I saw, so used it.

Since then I’ve added a little lens flare to a version of each moon shot I’ve taken, and the more I do it the more I like the effect – it looks really cool on a shot of a full or nearly full moon.

The moral of all of this – don’t be afraid to try out new things with your shots – you might like what you end up with!