The Alamo

We found ourselves at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas last Saturday around sunset and I took this photo. I did a lot of work on it in Photoshop to remove all the security ropes (and some tourists) and to correct the perspective distortion resulting from not being able to stand directly in front of it (because of the security ropes) to take the photo. I know most folks have already seen a lot of Alamo photos but I hope I did a good enough job on this one to hold your attention for at least a few seconds! :-)

Title: "The Alamo"


Shot Data: 1/40s f/4.5 at 17.0mm iso640
Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Nik Viveza plugin > Topaz Adjust plugin

Vacation Portrait

Today's post is a quick impromptu portrait of my daughter Emma. We took this under a bridge on the San Antonio River Walk near the Hyatt last weekend.

Title: "Emma in San Antonio"


Shot data: 1/13s f/2.8 at 33.0mm iso640
Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing tools: Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Tower of the Americas

Taken from the 11th floor of my hotel room in the Hyatt last weekend.

Here is some info about the Tower of the Americas that I copied over from Wikipedia:

Tower of the Americas is a 750-foot (229 m) observation tower with a restaurant in San Antonio, Texas. Tower of the Americas, designed by San Antonio architect O'Neil Ford, was built as the theme structure of the 1968 World's Fair, HemisFair '68.

Construction of the tower began on August 9, 1966 and was completed in approximately 18 months, just in time for the opening ceremonies for the fair held on April 6, 1968. The tophouse of the building was constructed at ground level and hoisted to the top of the poured concrete shaft. As the tophouse was being hoisted into place, on October 30, 1967 some of the cables used to hoist the tophouse snapped leaving the tophouse resting on and precariously tilted on the Tower’s shaft. Eventually, oil field pipes were used in lieu of cables to complete the job.


Title: "Tower of the Americas"


Shot Data: 8s f/7.1 at 50.0mm iso400
Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom shot from a tripod
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin > Nik Viveza plugin

Seguin's Big Nut

Taken on my stop over in Seguin Tuesday before last. Paris has the Eiffel Tower, London has the London Eye, and Seguin has the Worlds Largest Pecan! :-)

Title: "Seguin's Big Nut"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: HDR from three handheld exposures (-2, 0, +2) using Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin

The Doll House

Another shot from my trip to Seguin last Tuesday. A Sheriff that I talked to for a while (she approached me because she was interested in photography) pointed me in the direction of the Dietz Doll House. She told me that someone used to actually live in it. That makes a better story but information I found on the Internet pretty much indicated that the doll house was no more than a playhouse for one of Seguin's resident's children.

The information I found on the Internet is, in part, as follows: "The Dietz Doll House is one of the Seguin Conservation Society's most charming properties and like the others, comes with an intriguing history. It was built in 1910 by Louis Dietz for little Alice O'Brien, 5 years old, who had come to Seguin as an orphan train child."

Title: "The Doll House"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: HDR from three handheld exposures (-2, 0, +2) using Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin > Nik Viveza plugin > RPM Beautifier plugin

Seguin Square

Taken last Tuesday. One of the buildings on the Seguin town square, opposite the County Courthouse, features a small coffee shop in a building with an interesting historical mural painted on the side.

Title: "Seguin Square"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: HDR Image from three handheld exposures (-2, 0, +2) using Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin

The Calaboose

Continuing my posts of shots taken during my visit to Seguin, Texas on last Tuesday this image is of "The Calaboose". Now located near the Sequin town square, the calaboose was originally located on the Guadalupe County poor farm. It was originally mounted on wheels and used to transport county prisoners. I gave the photo the aged look by utilizing a free Photoshop action called "Old Toy Camera by Smaragd" that I downloaded from the Internet. Hope you like it!

Title: "The Calaboose"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to create one HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo from three handheld exposures (-2, 0, +2) > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Seguin's Palace

I love the predictability of the county seats in Texas! You pretty much can count on a town square layout with the county courthouse in the middle and surrounding businesses that include some "Mom and Pop" restaurants and usually an old movie theater from back when movie theaters were a little more special. Seguin is a county seat and I was glad to find the Palace theater only a block away from the courthouse!

Title: "Seguin's Palace"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: HDR from three hand held exposures using Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Sebastopal House V2

Same house as yesterday from my stop in Seguin, Texas on Tuesday afternoon. Same house but... this photo has an amazingly different feel to it because of the different composition and post-processing. Hope you like it!

Title: "Sebastopal House V2"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine three handheld exposures (-2,0,+2) into one HDR photo > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin > Virtual Photographer (best free Photoshop plugin available on the net) for sepia conversion

Sebastopal House

On my way back from San Antonio on Tuesday I stopped for about an hour in Seguin, Texas to see what images I could make in this small town I had never visited before. A local Sheriff pointed me in the direction of this historic building called Sebastopal House. Information from the historical marker says this Greek revival house was built in 1854-1856 of unreinforced load-bearing walls of cast-in-place limecrete (an early form of concrete). I really like this shot from the sidewalk approaching the from of the building, framed by the benches and trees in the foreground.

Tomorrow I hope to the finish work I started on a completely different take of this interesting historic structure.

Title: "Sebastopal House"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing tools: Photomatix Pro to combine three handheld images into one HDR image > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust Plugin

Tywheelosaurus Rex

I drove to San Antonio and back yesterday. The trip to SA from Houston is mostly down I-10. One of the places I stopped to take a few photos on the way back was just outside of Brookshire, TX where I had always wanted to grab a photo of "Tywheelosaurus Rex," a large sculpture of a dinosaur made from old car wheels. If memory serves Rex was originally constructed by a business located on the property to grab the attention of passing motorists. I'm thinking the original business on the property may have been a golf driving range. Someone with a better memory than my own can probably correct me if I'm wrong!

Title: Tywheelosaurus Rex


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing tools: Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Columbus Deadwood

We went up to Wimberley this weekend for my in-law's 50th wedding anniversary. On the way up my wife spotted this old tree in the middle of a pasture in Columbus, Texas. It's one of those subjects that no self-respecting photographer can pass up! :-)

Title: "Columbus Deadwood"



Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine three hand held images (-2, 0, +2) into one HDR photo > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin > Nik Viveza plugin

Park Pond

We were out at a local park today at dusk when the reflection of the remaining daylight in the pond caught my eye! Luckily I had my camera handy! :-)

Title: "Park Pond"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8mm
Post-processing: HDR image combined from three hand held exposures (-2, 0, +2) using Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS3 > Nik Viveza plugin > Topaz Adjust Plugin

Blue Light Pavilion

I went down to Galveston last night to see if I could find something to shoot. I didn't have any bites on my "fishing expedition" until I saw this pavilion on my way home. It is located on Broadway Ave on the grounds of one of the historic mansions (Ashton Villa I think) behind locked fences. I shot it from seven different vantage points with my camera resting on different fence posts (I had my tripod but the fence posts worked just as well). This shot was my favorite of the seven.

Title: "Blue Light Pavilion"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Combined three exposures (-2, 0, +2 with camera resting on a post) into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo using Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust Plugin

Ducks

Ducks taken at a park in Nassau Bay, Texas earlier today.



Title: "Ducks"
Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm L zoom

An Artist's Van

I took this photo in Galveston this past Saturday. It's not often you see a van this colorful that just happens to be sitting in an all black and white area of town! :-)

This van was parked in an area that I was in much of the night so I did eventually see that the owner of the van was one of the street artists performing in the little park on the Strand at 23rd. If I had given it any thought before hand I should have been able to guess that it belonged to an artist. :-)

Title: "An Artist's Van"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17/55mm f/2.8 zoom

Petroleum Club View #1

Here's the last of the set of 5 HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos I took from the Petroleum Club in downtown Houston last Friday.

Title: "Petroleum Club View #1"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: HDR from three handheld exposures (-2, 0, +2) combined with Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Petroleum Club View #5

Another High Dynamic Range (HDR) photo taken from the Petroleum Club in downtown Houston last Friday.

Title: "Petroleum Club View #5"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: HDR from three hand held exposures (-2, 0, +2) using Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Galveston Movie #1 and #2

Here are a couple more shots from the Bay Area Photo Club's field trip to Galveston on Saturday night. These shots are of a free outdoor movie being shown in the small park at the corner of Strand and 23rd in Galveston (the movie was "Some Like it Hot").

Title: "Galveston Movie #1"


Title: "Galveston Movie #2"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: HDR image from three tripod mounted exposures (-2, 0, +2) using Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Galveston Moon

Bob Dempsey put together another great field trip for the Bay Area Photo Club last night. We met down in Galveston's historic district for fellowship and photo taking. I took this shot at the end of the night as I was about to get back in my truck to head home. It turned out the be my favorite shot of the night so I'm glad I took the time to take one more shot! :-)

Title: "Galveston Moon"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: HDR from three exposures using tripod (-2, 0, +2) using Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS3 > Tapaz Adjust Plugin

Petroleum Club View #2

Another HDR photo of the view from the Petroleum Club in Houston on Friday!

Title: "Petroleum Club View #2"


Post-processing: HDR from three hand held exposures (-2, 0, +2) using Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Petroleum Club View #3

Another HDR photo taken during lunch at the downtown Houston Petroleum Club on Friday!

Title: "Petroleum Club View #3"


Post-processing: HDR from three hand held exposures (-2, 0, +2) using Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin