Wednesday, December 31, 2008

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

4 comments:

Larry said...

Good image overall. Good choice on B&W presentation and I like the grain that post processing added.

As far as club judging goes - it is of course dead center. Did you consider an off-center crop? Maybe losing some of the right side [I like the sails of the Alyssa on the left.] Also on screen there is a visible circular gradation in the lower portion. Is that just on screen or it there by design.

Barry Armer said...

Thanks Larry!

I can't really do proportional crop because I can't afford to lose anything from the top or bottom and I don't want to do a disproportional crop and end up with a tall skinny non-standard size print. I'll have to look at a scaling option to see if I can improve it by getting away from dead center.

Not sure what you are seeing in the lower portion but I'll take a look at that in full resolution also.

Cheers!
Barry

Larry J. Patrick said...

The clouds set the chimney off perfectly. You could not have asked for a better backdrop--or is this one you ordered up?

Barry Armer said...

Thanks Patrick!

The weather in one of many key elements in my photography that depends entirely on luck! :-)

Cheers!
Barry