How I Did It

Name: Susan O'Connor (Pretty Petal Studio)

Location: New Market, Maryland - field on the side of the road

How I took the shot: I was driving along and saw these huge dandelions growing along the road...but they looked bigger than your normal dandelion. So I pulled over to take a closer look and they were these gorgeous robust weeds scattered everywhere. I always have my camera with me wherever I go, so I took a few macro shots using my 100mm, 2.8 lens (Canon). When I got home, I was pleased with the photo but wanted to give it a little more interest and dreamy feel. I used Photoshop (CS2) to adjust levels and added one of my favorite vintage actions to it. That's what cast the bluish hue. Then I chose a photo of one of my textures and placed it on top of the "dandelion" photo. I changed the texture layer to multiply and dropped the opacity to get the subtle look of the texture around the edge. And voila..."Two Minutes to Twilight" was finished. I named it that because I took it right before the sun went down.

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How I Did It is compiled by Susannah Tucker. Susannah is a self-taught photographer based in Melbourne, Australia. She has been fascinated with photography since she was a young girl, and enjoys experimenting with techniques, layers and textures. View the collection in her shop here.

Please contact Susannah if you would like to participate in a future How I Did It feature.