Photo Story: Chicago Independence Grove Sunrise

While visiting friends and family in Chicago, I decided to take an early morning walk at Independence Grove Nature Preserve.

Independence Grove is located in Libertyville, Illinois which is north of Chicago.  Independence Grove is 1,151 acres with miles of hiking trails and a large lake.

I selected the 2.3 mile long Lakeside Trail Loop which turned out to be a mistake.  Late April can be cold and windy in Chicago.  Despite the cold and 15 mph wind, I did manage to collect a few photos on my shortened hike.

Topaz Impression – Turner Storm Preset

Although the forecast called for mostly cloudy skies, the sun peaked out of the clouds right after sunrise that gave the sky and water the golden color.

The first and second photos were processed with Topaz Impression while the last photo was the original processed photo prior to applying the painting techniques.

Original Processed Photo

Details

Camera:  Olympus OM-D E-M1
Lens:   Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 Pro Lens
Focal Length: 40mm
ISO:  250
Aperture:   f/10.0
Shutter Speed: 1/500 of a second
Exposure Compensation: -1
Lighting: Mostly Cloudy Sunrise

Processing (1st Photo)

• Cropped the photo, lightened the shadows, and increased saturation in Lightroom 5.
• Applied the Film Efex: Vintage  and Vignette: Lens Filters in Color Efex Pro 4.

• Used Viveza 2 to selectively lighten and darken areas of the photo.
• Selectively removed noise from the photo using Topaz DeNoise.
• Applied the Degas Dancer Filter from Topaz Impression.

Written by Martin Belan

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