A "Window of Nature" with Chamira Young

Text and Photos by Chamira Young

The overall feature I love about the Platypod is its compact versatility. Where a traditional tripod can be bulky and downright inconvenient in certain situations, my Playtpod lends itself to a wide variety of locations without detracting from the experience.

In particular, it comes in handy when I go out for walks. Recently I traveled all of fifteen minutes from my house to a local park that's known for its great views and active wildlife. Before leaving the house, I made sure to grab my camera and Platypod Max.

There was a particular spot that was covered in trees and brush, and opened up to the lake. It was like peeking into a "window of nature" as I like to musingly think of it. On past walks, I'd crouch down and peek into the window of branches, noticing how picturesque it was and making a mental note to make an art piece out of it one day.

Today was that day. It was simply a matter of setting my Platypod and camera down on the ground. Here's the behind-the-scenes shot:

Behind-the-Scenes

And here's the resulting shot from that spot.

The Original Image:

When I arrived home, I decided to add some style to the image in Photoshop. There was a particular artistic watercolor action I loved to use. Here's what the image looked like after running the action:

Then, just for kicks, I ran the Photoshop action again, just to add a bit more of the watercolor effect around the edges of the image. Then, I masked out some of those areas, while letting some of the watercolor areas shine through.

Finally, I digitally hand-painted some golden hues into the image with a soft brush, to give it a more dream-like glow. Overall, I was quite happy with the final result!

The Final Result: