Old Galveston Part 2

This is my second take on "Old Galveston" for consideration in the upcoming Bay Area Photo Club assignment of the same name. Taken on a photography outing with my daughter down in Galveston this past Saturday. This smokestack stands just off of the historic Strand.

Title: "The Smokestack"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Lens 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Psychedelic" preset > Levels Adjustment Layer to set Black point > Merge Visible to New Layer > Free Transform to rotate image to level the horizon > Distort Lens Correction Transform Verticle Perspective > Curves Adjustment Layer to improve overall contast > Brightness / Contrast Adjustment Layer to brighten the overall image > Merge Visible to New Layer > Cloning to remove some clutter on the ground and part of a building protruding into the scene > Merge Visible to New Layer > Virtual Photographer plugin "Brownie" preset > Distort Lens Correction Vignette

Old Galveston

My daughter and I went down to Galveston this past Saturday to take photographs to enter in the upcoming Bay Area Photo Club assignment "Old Galveston." This shot was taken on The Strand in Galveston. I was first attracted to the scene by the street lamp and the rich color of the old store front.

Title: "Old Galveston - The Strand"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Lens 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Spicify" preset > Distort Lens Correction adjust perspective to remove lens distortion > Merge Visible to New Layer > Cloning to remove minor high contrast distractors from the shot > Select a portion of the foreground and copy to a new layer, moved it over and used it to hide a automobile that was parked on the curb > Merge Visible to New Layer > performed more cloning work to smooth out the preivous work done to remove the automobile > Merge Visible to New Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Spicify" preset to add additional pop to the photo > Levels Adjustment Layer to set a Black and White point at 49% opacity > Merge Visible to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction adjust perspective to remove a little left behind lens distortion > Save File > Flatten Layers to reduce file size and save as a new file > Duplicate Background Layer > Copy Lamppost to new layer and move from from in front of middle window into in front of the second window from the right > Merge Visible to New Layer and do final cloning to clean everything up > Whew!

Old Glory Ranch

While in Wimberley, Texas a couple of weekends ago we drove out to Old Glory Ranch and I took this photo of the Chapel there. It really is a beautiful structure in a beautiful setting! They even have a tepee and a life sized painted fiberglass cow! What else could one ask for? :-)

Title: "Old Glory Ranch"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Lens 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Dramatic" preset > Merge Visible to New Layer > High Pass Sharpening > Merge Visible to New Layer > Nik Viveza plugin to increase brightness and saturation of the grass in the foreground > Levels Adjustment Layer to set Black point

Happy Birthday Kirby!

Last week while we were celebrating Christmas at my in-laws house we also celebrated my niece's birthday.

Title: "Happy Birthday Kirby"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Lens 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Portrait Drama" preset > Curves Adjustment Layer to improve overall contrast > Levels Adjustment Layer to set Black and White points > Merge Visible to New Layer > Red Paw Media Beautifier plugin with default settings > Merge Visible to New Layer > Blur Motion Blur Radial with mask using a circular gradient mask to remove the blur from the main subject

Interior of St. Mary Church

Here is an interior shot of St. Mary Roman Catholic Church in High Hill, Texas.

Title: "From the Pews"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro HDR from three handheld exposures (-2,0,+2) > Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background Layer > High Pass Sharpening > Merge Visible to New Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin using "Simplify" preset > Curves Adjustment Layer to improve overall contrast > Levels Adjustment Layer to set Black and White points > Merge Visible to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette > Black and White Adjustment Layer using Auto settings @ 18% opacity to tone down overall saturation

St. Mary Church of High Hill

This is another shot I took last weekend of St. Mary Roman Catholic Church in High Hill, Texas. This is one of the "Painted Churches of Texas" scattered around the Schulenburg, Texas area. The Painted Churches of Texas (five or six churches in all I think, depending on which churches you include) make a good day trip from Houston if your interested in photographing them for yourself.

Title: "St. Mary of High Hill"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix HDR > Combined three handheld exposures (-2,0,+2) into one High Dynamic Range photo > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust Plugin "Spicify" preset > Curves Adjustment Layer for added contrast > Merge Visable to New Layer > Cloning to remove background power lines > Hue Saturation Adjustment Layer to decrease overall color saturation > Selective Color Adjustment Layer to darken the green in the foreground grass

Below is a re-post of yesterday's image cropped slightly differently (as suggested by Larry Patrick in his posting yesterday):



Thanks for the suggestion Patrick!

Merry Christmas!

Last week I stopped in at St. Marys Roman Catholic Church in High Hill, Texas. This is one of the five or six 100 year old "Painted Churches of Texas." I thought this statue from St. Marys would be an appropriate photo to post on His birthday!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Title: "He Died For Us"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro HDR from three handheld exposures (-2,0,+2) > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin using "Simplify" preset + "Topaz DeNoise" > Curves Adjustment Layer to improve overall contrast > Levels Adjustment Layer to set Black and White points > Merge Visible to New Layer > Nik Viveza plugin to increas brightness on the statues faces > Crop (aprox. 50%) into square format > High Pass sharpening > Merge Visible to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette

Creativity Exercise

Last night I was talking to friend and fellow Bay Area Photo Club member Larry Patrick and he talked about his post regarding Making Art vs Taking Pictures. Larry's post is about, among other things, "forcing" yourself to take artistic photos in whatever situation you find yourself (sorry for the paraphrasing Larry - go see Larry's post for a more accurate description of what he is talking about). Larry's post inspired me to give myself the challenge of taking five photos without moving away from my desk (literally I didn't even get out of my chair since I happened to have had my camera with me) at work (which is where I was sitting when I read his post). I really only ended up with the following three photos but honestly, given the constraints I put on myself and the fact that I couldn't get completely into it because I was really supposed to be working, I was very satisfied with the results of the assignment. Anyway...talking to Larry last night reminded me that I never posted the results of my efforts (until now).

Title: "Hole Punch"


Title: "Push Pin"


Title: "Ruler"


Look around where you are currently reading this and think about how you would approach this assignment (or more accurately the assignment posted by Larry). The results can be surprisingly satisfying.

My camera (Canon 40D) had my Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime lens attached and given the assignment that is what I used. :-)

Sophia and Adrian

Here is my favorite photo (out of dozens) I took of my niece and nephew this past weekend as we celebrated Christmas in Wimberley. Expression is everything in a portrait and I really like the kids' expressions in this photo!

Title: "Sophia and Adrian"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background > High Pass Sharpening > Curves Adjustment Layer with Layer Mask to reduce brightness in the background only > Merge Visible to New Layer > Nik Viveza to increase local brightness on the subjects' faces > Brightness / Contrast Adjustment Layer to increase overall brightness > Merge Visible to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette

Square Crop of Yesterday's Post

Same shot as yesterday cropped to a (almost) square format! Thanks for the suggestion for the different crop that has definitely improved the photo!

Title: "San Marcos River Bridge Re-do"

Another San Marcos River Bridge

After I shot the pedestrian bridge featured in yesterday's posting I was able to turn around and shoot this bridge!

Title: "San Marcos Bridge 2"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background Layer > High Pass Sharpening > Merge Visable to New Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Spicify" preset @ 80% Opacity > Curves Adjustment Layer to improve overall contrast > Black & White Adjustment Layer at 17% Opacity to tone down colors > Merge Visable to New Layer > Cloning to remove a distracting background element > Black & White Adjustment Layer at 17% Opacity to tone down colors > Curves Adjustment Layer to improve overall contrast > Levels Adjustment Layer to set black, white, and grey point > Selective Color adjustment to remove green color cast > Nik Viveza plugin to darkin portions of the foreground and highlight portions of the bridge > Distort Lens Correction Vignette

San Marcos River Bridge

Been out of town for a couple of days in Wimberley to celebrate Christmas! On the way there Friday I stopped in San Marcos and photographed this pedestrian bridge over the San Marcos river near downtown.

Title: "San Marcos River Pedestrian Bridge"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > HDR of three exposures (-2, 0, +2) on a tripod > Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background Layer > High Pass Sharpening > Merge Visable to New Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Simplify" preset + Color Saturation > Curves Adjustment Layer to improve overall contrast > Merge Visable to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette

The View from Reliant Stadium

This is one view from one of the upper pedestrian ramps at Reliant Stadium. The Houston skyline can be seen in the far distance with the Houston Medical Center between downtown and the Reliant complex building in the foreground.

Title: "View From Reliant"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Backgroung Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Psychedelic" preset + DeNoise > Merge Visable to New Layer at 60% opacity and Linear Light Blending mode with a mask to limit the linear light to the midground > Merge Visable to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette

Reliant Stadium

The view of Reliant Stadium as we approach about one and a half hours before kickoff at last Sundays game between the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans.

Title: "Reliant Stadium"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Backgroung Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Psychedelic" preset + DeNoise > Curves Adjustment Layer for improved overall contrast > Levels Adjustment Layer to set black, grey and white points > Merge Visable to New Layer > High Pass Sharpening > Merge Visable to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette

Snap

OK. Here is one action shot from Sundays pro football game at Reliant Stadium between the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans.

Title: "Snap"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background Layer > Topaz Adjust Plugin "Color Blast" preset plus some increased Details > Merge Visable to New Layer > High Pass sharpening > Merge Visable to New Layer > Curves Adjustment Layer for increased overall contast > Merge Visable to New Layer > Virtual Photographer Plugin "Sepia" preset @ 88% opacity > Merge Visable to New Layer > Texturizer Burlap > Merge Visable to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette > Curves Adjustment Layer for increased overall contrast

The Football Sideline Judges

Another photo from my trip to Reliant Stadium this past Sunday.

Title: "The Sideline Guys"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background Layer > Topaz Adjust Noise Reduction and Detail Reduction to simplify the photo > Curves Adjustment Layer to improve overall contrast > Merge Visable to New Layer > Cloning to remove some distracting background elements > Merge Visable to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette

Football Fan

Today I went to Reliant Stadium and watched the Houston Texans beat the Titans! It was my first time to Reliant Stadium and my first time to a football game since before the Oilers moved to Tennessee and became the Titans. It was fun but really too crowded to be enjoyable on a regular basis. I took some photos and today's post is one I liked immediately!

Title: "Football Fan"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photoshope CS3 > Duplicate Background Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Psychedelic" preset > Curves Adjustment Layer to increase overall contrast > Levels Adjustment Layer to set black point > Merge Visable to New Layer > Topaz Adjust Noise Reduction > Imported a second image with a better exposure on the band of advertising banner lights around the middle part of the stadum and masked off everything except for that strip of lights > Merge Visible to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette

Bad Hair Day

I noticed in yesterday's post that I needed a hair cut. Unfortunately my barber and I miscommunicated and I ended up with almost no hair at all! Being a good sport, I continued my series of self portrait's anyway! :-)

Title: "Bad Hair Day"


Same set up as yesterday except that I moved the lights a tad and changed the gel on the background flash from orange to blue for something a little different.

New and Improved Me?

Same basic setup as yesterday's shot except I turned around the umbrella on my left and shot through it. I also lowered it and moved into a position closer to 65 degrees than 45 degrees. I also chimped the settings on both forward strobes until I found a balance I liked. All this was intended to yield a better self portrait than yesterday, after giving consideration to as many of yesterday's suggestions as possible. Hopefully this one is better!

Title: "Me Again!"

Who me?

Today I'm posting a self portrait because I seriously need to work with the strobist equipment I recently acquired if I'm ever going to figure it out. Since as a general rule I hate photos of myself (probably most folks do?) my goal with this exercise was simply to get an acceptable result using a three light set up. I used one strobe with an orange gel to light the background, one strobe high at 45% to my left into a white shoot through umbrella and one strobe even with my head at 45% to my right into a silver umbrella with a black back (so both forward strobes were reflected not shot through). I took the shot with my Canon 40D and Canon 100-400mm zoom lens using the 10 second timer at 1/250 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100, 150mm. I plan on going into more specifics of the set up on tomorrows post (too late tonight already) but I would really appreciate hearing how you think I did with the placement of the lights.

Title: "Me"

Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Snow in Houston, Texas? Clear Lake City no less! It started about 6:00PM and hasn't stopped yet (as of 10:00PM). Highly unusual for Houston!

Title: "Ice Flower"

Taken with on camera flash.

Title: "Snowy Green"

20 second exposure (on a tripod of course!).

Rudolph?

One of the guest musicians at the Starlight Symphony concert in Blanco, Texas this past weekend was was obviously feeling the Christmas spirit!

Title: "Rudolph?"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime
Post-processing: Photoshop CSC > Duplicate Background Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Portrait Drama" preset plus custom Noise Reduction > Levels Adjustment Layer to set Black, Grey, and White points > Merge Visible to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette

Blanco Courthouse

The old courthouse in Blanco, Texas was the venue for The Starlight Symphony concert we attended this past Saturday night!

Title: "Christmas Courthouse"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background > Topaz Adjust plugin "Psychedelic" preset > Black and White Adjustment Layer to convert to B&W > Levels Adjustment Layer to set black and white points > Curver Adjustment Layer to add overall contrast > Merge Visible to New Layer and blend with original photo at 57% opacity

San Marcos River

Sometimes I feel compelled to go over the top with my post-processing. That was the case today as I worked on this photo of the San Marcos River outside of Martindale, Texas. I took the photo on the way back home from Wimberley, Texas today. The scene didn't look exactly like this straight out of the camera but it would have if it could have! :-)

Title: "San Marcos River in Martindale"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 50mm f/1.4mm prime
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin "Vibrance" preset > Curves Adjustment Layer for added Contrast > Levels Adjustment to set Black Point and White Point > Merge Visable to New Layer > Nik Viveza plugin for spot brightness adjustment on the distant part of the river > Brightness / Contrast Adjustment Layer to Increase overall brightness > Hue / Saturation layer to decrease overall saturation > Merge Visable to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette > Copy Layer > Red Paw Media Beautifier plugin > Brightness / Contrast Adjustment Layer with Mask to increase localized brightness on the tree limb in the foreground

Garden House

This is the Garden House from the Japanese Gardens in Hermann Park. I took the photo while I was there on Wednesday.

Title: "Garden House"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 50mm f/1.4

Ryan + Erica

Another shot from my visit to the Japanese Gardens in Hermann Park on Wednesday.

Title: "Ryan + Erica"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background Layer > High Pass Sharpening > Curves Adjustment Layer to increase overall contrast > Merge Visable to New Layer > Cloning to remove some carving from the tree other that "Ryan and Erica" > Duplicate Layer in Overlay Mode > Nik Viveza plugin to increase brightness slightly over the carving > Merge Viable to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette

Four Turtles

I went to the Japanese Gardens at Hermann Park yesterday at lunch to see if any photos presented themselves; I ended up with a couple I liked and today's photo is one of them.

Title: "Four Turtles"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 50 f/1.4
Post-processing: Photomatix HDR > Combined three handheld exposures (-2,0,+2) into one High Dynamic Range photo > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust Plugin "Simplify" preset > Curves Adjustment Layer for added contrast > Copy a layer from one of the tree original photos (correct exposure) and apply layer mask to allow the original photo to replace some of the areas that were poorly combined by Photomatix > Merge Visable to New Layer > NIK Viveza plugin to add subtle brightness to the four turtles > Merge Visable to New Layer > Topaz Adjust Plugin "Simplify" preset with Layer Mask to preserve details on the turtles and surrounding areas > Merge Visable to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette

The Big Picture

I took this photo about this time last year at a concert in the old court house in Blanco, Texas. I was thinking about the photo because this coming weekend we will be returning to the same venue for another concert (my father-in-law is plays violin in the orchestra).

Title: "The Big Picture"


Post-processing: I only had my 50mm prime lens with me so I had to stitch together this panorama from multiple handheld exposures. This was the first time I realized how terrific Photoshop CS3 was at doing this! I think the shot turned out really well but this year I think I'll bring along a wide angle lens! :-)

Lindsey

Here are a couple more shots from our family get together on Thanksgiving Day. This is my niece Lindsey.

Title: "Lindsey"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Layer > Spot Healing > Merge Visable to New Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Spicify" preset > Merge Visable to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette

Title: "Lindsey 2"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Layer > Cloned out some undesirable background elements > Merge Visable to New Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Spicify" preset

A Sluice

This is a sluice located outside the entrance of Natural Bridge Caverns in New Braunfels, Texas. It's a replica built to attract tourists to "pan for gold" but I thought it made for an interesting photograph nonetheless.

Title: "Sluice"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background layer > Topaz Adjust "Spicify" plugin > High Pass Sharpening > Curves Adjustment Layer to increase contrast > Levels Adjustment Layer to set black and white points > Merge Visable to New Layer > Red Paw Media "Beautifier" plugin @ 45% opacity and with a layer mask to isolate the effect to certain areas of the photograph