Happy Sunday! John from Journeys with Johnbo is hosting Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #313 with the theme of Cool Colors. I hope you enjoy my interpretation of this interesting theme.

I have begun experimenting with color grading (also known as split-toning) in Lightroom last year, playing with the palette to creatively enhance the colors of my photos. I rarely use cool colors on my images. In fact, this is one of the few images I used a bluish-green tint for the shadow to make the green stand out.

Personally, I think choosing warm or cool colors for our images isn’t necessarily a creative choice as more of a personality trait. When I edit my images, my default is to go for a warmer tone, whether to increase the temperature of the picture or adjust the color in color grading. I think this might have something to do with my optimistic personality but who knows?

I don’t remember the edits I’ve done on this photo but there was definitely no split-toning applied. This image is cold enough and I doubt my attempt to add some warmth to this photo will look natural.

This is from my first and last visit to Ice Castle – a winter attraction in Midway, Utah. I promised myself to return earlier this year but never got the chance. I think it opened for only short time this past winter because of the mild temperatures threatening the ice to melt. I feel like climate change is sucking the fun out of winter.

I once again leaned toward the green and blue in this photo. As much as I like this photo to be warmer, I felt it looked better like this – cloudy and moody. This was taken in a park near Buckingham Palace when I visited London in 2023. You can see the London Eye in the distance.

Weather can be a tempermental thing and I have researched the weather in London before my trip. Thankfully, we never had to use our umbrellas during the portion of the trip when we were in London.

Lastly, here’s a photo of the California Bluebells in my personal meadow. Since this photo has taken earlier this year, the meadow had gone through several iterations – from a field of these bluebells to a field of poppies to right now, a field of alyssums. Of the three iterations, I like this and the alyssums better than the poppies. The poppies were much too tall and I don’t feel comfortable stepping on tall plants.