Like many photographers, I have way more photos of other people than I do of myself. As a matter of fact, it’s rare to get a photo of myself because I’m most often taking the photos behind the camera at any given event or for any photo opportunity.

On a recent trip to Big Sur with my wife, we stopped at a waterfall and I took some photos of my wife. She offered to capture a portrait of me, and I said “Sure, why not!”

Below are two versions – one is the jpeg, and you can see that due to the bright patch of sunlight I’m in, my face is overexposed. Now, the second is actually the raw file, adjusted to reduce highlights since my face was pretty bright, and to change the film simulation to Nostalgic Negative. One realization I’ve had this week, particularly after looking at photos taken in the shade of the coastal redwoods, is that the Nostalgic Negative – not only has warm (amber) overtones – but it also bumps the shadows when applied to an image.

I like the version with the harsh sunlight, but I look a little pale and the harsh light draws attention to my squinty eyes. I like the adjusted images better since it looks more balance, and there’s more contrast between the subject and background, even though the jpeg has hotter highlights.