Vegas Baby!

November 29, 2014 • Architecture Photography, Image Processing, Software Techniques

As I pass through Las Vegas on my way to Arizona for the warm winter months, I cant help but stop in Vegas and do a little shooting. This image is from the Fremont Street area, which has been totally revitalized since my first visit to Las Vegas in 1985.

One of the cool things they have been doing here is preserving the old neon signs from hotels and motels that are no longer standing. So right outside the Fremont Experience areas are these awesome old signs and symbols.

So I shot the old sign, hand held by the way, and opened in ACR where I added a little contrast, lightened shadows, tiny bit of Clarity, Vibrance, and Saturation. Then I opened in Photoshop and added several luminosity masks for shadows and highlights.

This allowed me to darken a few areas, lighten specific areas, and then selectively saturate more specifics. Then I straightened the angles and removed a light pole that was in the shots and Voila!

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All the best!

My new online course: How to Be a Professional Outdoor & Nature Photographer

November 17, 2014 • Nature Photography, Online Courses

I am so excited! After months and months my new course is ready: How to Be a Professional Outdoor & Nature Photographer.

This course covers what to shoot, where to shoot, how to market, how to organize your business, how to price and negotiate sales of your images, stock photo agents, photography assignments, and much, much more.

Check it our here.

And it is on sale right now at $79, that’s $100 OFF. Use coupon code GO79

HDR and Exposure Blending Glacier National Park

November 16, 2014 • Nature Photography

A month ago on the return trip from Canada’s NW Territories, I was zipping down the east side of Glacier NP in Montana when this event happened. The sun peeked out and I stopped, grabbed the camera and ran up a hill to get above the trees. It’s a hand-held and I started with HDR processing and applied that lightly and then did more exposure blending from the original RAW file.

The goal was to not have a sky that was over saturated and darker than the foreground or it would look unreal. I think I pushed right up to the fence so to speak as this has the look of a graduated ND filter.

See the Photoshop layers below

HDR Coca Cola Sign in Randsburg, CA

November 9, 2014 • Nature Photography, travels

I spent about 2 hours in Randsburg, CA two night ago photographing interesting ghost town type subjects. There is a lot of history here but much is ‘modernized’ since it is more of a living ghost town and unlike Bodie to the north, which is uninhabited for the most part.

This old sign really caught my eye with the warm setting sun light and I shot it with a 70D and 16-35mm lens. There was a long shadow from the left side to the right side, cast on the wall from the chain railing that was there and I retouched that out to make this image all about that cool old sign.

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Romos ‘Rainbow’ Diner

August 26, 2014 • Image Processing, Software Techniques, travels

This is Romos Mexican Restaurant in Holbrook AZ on a chilly rainy night. I titled it Rainbow due to the obvious rainbow of color but that is not an official name. The rain ‘makes’ this image so colorful with the color reflections. I processed this with HDR software first and lightly to avoid the Grunge look and then blended back some parts with the original file. Shot with a 70D and 24-70 lens.

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Canyon Country Alpenglow

August 6, 2014 • Nature Photography

Alpenglow? I have always wondered if alpenglow only happened in the mountains but according to Wikipedia the answer is NO. This was 20 minutes after sunset, the perfect time for alpenglow, and it added a warm ‘purply’ reddish tint to the files which were shot at daylight WB. Processing becomes a challenge in trying to replicate the true color as experienced but then does it matter? Probably more important than processing it perfectly, is avoiding processing it imperfectly where it looks overly processed. Canon 5D, 28-70mm @ 50mm.

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Selective Blending B&W and Color

July 25, 2014 • Image Processing

I was teaching at the Black Hills Photo Shootout a few years ago and had half a day to kill so I went on a marathon shooting visit to Badlands NP. I have been there many times and like many places you visit over the years, returning can be like you have never been there before with fresh eyes and new perspectives.

The light was not that great when I got there but I shot anyway and it was fall, so there was a tiny bit of color. I like the idea of B&W with some color remaining because it really emphasizes the color when you do this and directs the eye where you want it to go.

Here’s the Photoshop screen showing the B&W and a mask to brush back the color area which keeps the bush in its original color. I also added contrast with a Curves adjustment and also used High Pass Filter.

Doors of New Mexico

July 16, 2014 • travels

Nothing better than the SW and New Mexico in particular for amazingly cool and colorful doors and windows. Okay I now France and Europe and Mexico has them as well but I aint been there. This is near Albuquerque and while the wall is newer the door is very old and it just popped out as I was driving by and of course, I had to stop. I had no camera with me except my iPhone which still amazes me as to what I can capture with it especially when I gotta get the shot and dont have my Canon’s.

The Oregon Coast

July 14, 2014 • Nature Photography

This is from the Oregon Coast and while I had been here a long time ago I had not seen this huge rocks that was split in half. Perfect subject for a near/far approach filling the foreground with the rock using my 16- 35 mm lens. The only processing was darkening the sky a little and a bit of saturation and sharpening.

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Post Processing Adventures

June 9, 2014 • Nature Photography, Software Techniques, Special Effects

I photographed this image at Red Rock Conservation Area, North of Las Vegas, about 6 weeks ago. I was zipping down the road from Mt. Charleston when I spotted the cactus starting to bloom. I guessed that I was about 1 week to early for full bloom, but I was not going to be here in a week, so I shot anyway.

I used a flash to fill in the shadows on the cactus and that worked great. But since it was 4 pm the light was not that great yet, so when I opened the image in Photoshop it looked like a basic snap. That’s where the fun begins. You get started and you never know where you are going in creating. Are these images ever DONE? No, they are abandoned when you are happy with the results.

I always bracket exposures so the first thing I did was HDR process it with the only intention to add drama to the clouds. Then I opened Topaz B&W Effects and used the Cerulean set to colorize the image. Once I got here I decided I had what I wanted and subsequently ‘abandoned’ this image to go start the process all over another. If you want to know about Topaz, here’s the link: http://www.topazlabs.com/aff/idevaffiliate.php?id=196

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