Serious Soldier

Another Texican soldier from this past weekends San Jacinto Day Festival. I don't know the historical rankings marked on the uniforms but to me this gentleman carried himself like the general. He struck me as very "real" in the portrayal of his character.

Title: "Serious Soldier"


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

Smoke Break

A Texican soldier takes a moment to enjoy a cigar at the San Jacinto Day Festival this past weekend.

Title: "Smoke Break"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin for sharpening and contrast adjustments > Nik Viveza plugin for local brightness adjustments

Gunslinger

While the vast majority of people attending this past weekend's San Jacinto Day Festival were there to have a good time, I had the uncanny feeling that some folks were looking for trouble! :-)

Title: "Gunslinger"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Detailed" preset at 69% opacity > Levels Adjustmet Layer to set black and grey points > Merge Visible to new Layer > Red Paw Media "Bleach Bypass" to add a little grunge to the image with a layer mask to tone down the effect around the gun in order to keep contrast high between the gun and background > Merge Visible to New Layer in Screen blending mode at 20% to increase overall brightness

Chuckwagon Cowboy

This is another shot from Saturday's San Jacinto Day festival. "KR Wood aka Camp Cookie" offers "Authentic Chuckwagon Catering & Cowboy Entertainment" according to his business card. "Camp Cookie" also, I think, never met a camera he didn't like! :-)

Title: "Chuckwagon Cowboy"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background layer > Topaz Adjust "Neutralizer" preset to improve overall exposure > Curves Adjustment Layer to improve overall contrast > Merge Visible to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette

Medicine Man

My brother Larry and I attended the San Jacinto Day festivities at San Jacinto State Park today. There were some small reenactments of skirmishes that took place at the Battle of San Jacinto when Texas won her independence from Mexico (the main reenactment was cancelled due to terrific rains last night that left everything soaked). Fortunately many of the reenactors showed up anyway and there were lots of photo ops (and lots of photographers)! This gentlemen was very eager to model for us in front of his medicine show wagon!

Title: "Medicine Man"


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

Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin "Detailed" preset to add detail and sharpening > Exposure Adjustment Layer to brighten up the image with a mask to keep from brightening the background > Merge Visible to New Layer > Vitural Photographer "Brownie" preset at 29% Opacity > Curves Adjustment Layer to increase overall contrast at 25% Opacity > Merge Visible to New Layer > Cloning to remove high contrast distractors > Merge Visible to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette > Black and White Adjustment Layer at 71% Opacity to achieve final tonality

Duet

This is a photo of my niece and nephew playing an impromptu duet on the piano this past weekend.

Title: "Duet"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime lens
Shot in available light.
Post-processing summary: Photoshop CS3 > Black and White Adjustment Layer for the B&W conversion > Topaz Adjust plugin "Simplify" with a layer mask to smooth out textures as needed > Distort Lens Correction Vignette to add a subtle vignette

The Bat Cave

Taken at the Old Tunnel Wildlife Management Area two weekends ago. Open nightly from May–Oct. for a spectacular emergence of up to 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats from the abandoned tunnel on the old San Antonio Road, originally part of the Fredericksburg and Northern Railway Co. that operated from 1913 to 1941. I left the people in the shot (see them?) to add a sense of scale to the scene.

Title: "The Bat Cave"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Used Photomatix Pro to create an HDR image from three handheld exposures (-2,0,+2) > Photoshop CS3 > combined the HDR image with the original underexposed image to keep the inside of the tunnel completely black (Photomatix desperately wanted to bring out some detail of the tunnel's interior but it just wasn't there)

Bandera Transportation Center

Taken in Bandera, Texas two weekends ago. If it has either four wheels or four legs it's considered transportation in Bandera! :-)

Title: "Bandera Transportation Center"


Camera / Lens: Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
1/256s f/6.4 at 37.0mm iso259

Post-processing: HDR using Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS3

Emma

Today's post is an image of my daughter Emma taken last weekend at the Guadalupe River RV Resort. This shot was taken in the tree house on the playground.

Title: "Emma at Guadalupe RV Resort"


Camera / Lens: Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom

Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine three handheld exposures to one HDR image. Photoshop CS3 crop and Curves Adjustment Layer to improve overall contrast.

Susan Boyle

I think I may have been one of the last people to hear about Susan Boyle but just in case you haven't seen her performance on Britain's Got Talent you must go see it here! If for some reason the link doesn't work just go to Youtube.com and search for Susan Boyle...you won't be disappointed! She gives a Paul Potts type performance (search for Paul Potts on Youtube.com as well if you don't know who he is) that you will never forget!

Self Portrait (for Dummies)

Last night was the monthly Honors Night at Bay Area Photo Club in Webster, Texas where I have been a member for several years. On Honors Night club members submit photos for presentation to the general membership and for critique by a panel of three judges. Awards are given and photographers advance to higher levels upon meeting certain cumulative awards requirements. Today's photo is one I submitted for the Assignment category. The assignment was Self Portraits. I received a Gold Award for the photo. I also submitted yesterday's post ("Coming Storm") in the Open Category and received a Bronze Award for it.

I hope you enjoy today's post and thanks for visiting my blog!

Title: "Self Portrait for Dummies"


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

Coming Storm

This photo was taken on Ingram Dam in Ingram, Texas this past weekend. I took this shot intending to push it toward surrealism. With the cloud cover we had that day I didn't have to push it too hard! :-)

Title: "Coming Storm"


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

Easter Island Figure (Sort of)

Another shot from Hunt, Texas. This time the artists inspiration is obviously the ancient figures of Easter Island.

Title: "Easter Island Figure"


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

Post-processing: HDR composite of three exposures (-2, 0, +2) using Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS3 > Curves Adjustment Layer to improve overall contrast > Hue Saturation Adjustment Layer to bump up saturation a bit > Nik Viveza plugin to increase brightness on the stone figure head > Topaz Adjust plugin "DeNoise" to remove noise

Stonehenge (kinda)

We took our RV to Kerrville, Texas this weekend and took side trips from there to Hunt, Comfort, Bandera and Wimberley. This photo was taken in Hunt, Texas where a local artist recreated his impression of Stonehenge from a trip he took there earlier in his life. While not a true replica because it is not to exact scale and isn't oriented to the sun like the real thing, it is still a fun attraction to visit if you have time on you hands while in the Kerrville area. With bad weather looming all weekend we had some very photogenic skies.



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

Post-processing: HDR composit of three exposures (-2, 0, +2) using Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin "DeNoise" to remove noise > Duplicate Layer in Overlay mode to pop colors and contrast > Merge Visible to New Layer > Hue Saturation Adjustment Layer to bump up saturation a bit > Brightness / Contrast Adjustment Layer to reduce overall brightness to bring out detail in the sky and used a mask to paint some brightness back in to the foreground stones

Windswept Trees

If you've ever driven down Fulton Beach Drive in Fulton, Texas then you've noticed these ancient windswept oak trees. Subjected to constant wind off of Aransas Bay over the decades these trees are bent but not broken. I guess these guys have had a hard life compared to the relatively upright pine trees dominating a lot of the southeast Texas landscape. :-)

Title: "Windswept Trees"


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

Port Aransas Ferry

I took this shot as we headed from Corpus Christi to Port Aransas to catch a "dolphin watch" cruise that left from Woody's in Port Aransas. It's a short ferry ride (between 5 and 10 minutes); about the time you get out of your vehicle it's time to get back in! :-)

Title: "Port Aransas Ferry"

Tree Tunnel

I always love driving down these tree tunneled roads. We still had decent morning light as we headed down this road in Goose Island State Park near Rockport, Texas two weekends ago so I stopped to try and capture it on my camera's sensor.

Title: "Tree Tunnel"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400 L zoom

The Nina

Two weekends ago we made a trip to Rockport that included a side trip to Corpus Christi. While in Corpus we stopped to look at a replica of The Nina (one of Christopher Columbus' ships) moored in Corpus Christi Bay and I took this photo.

Title: "The Nina"


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

Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to convert three hand-held exposures (-2,0,+2) to one HDR image > Photoshop CS3 > Curves Adjustment Layer for a pop to overall contrast > Topaz Adjust plugin to increase detail and contrast and to reduce noise

Fulton Mansion

The Fulton Mansion is located on Fulton Beach Road in Fulton, Texas overlooking Aransas Bay. Construction of the mansion was completed in 1877. This was one of the sites we visited on our trip to the Rockport area a couple of weekends ago.

Title: "Fulton Mansion"


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

Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to convert three hand-held exposures (-2,0,+2) to one HDR image > Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background Layer > Distor Lens Correction Verticle Perspective to correct verticle perspective > Crop remove some of the empty space caused by the perspective correction in the previous step > select for center of palm tree to bottom left and paste to a new level > Transform to drag the left hand edge to fill the remaining blank space left after the verrtical perspective correction and crop > Merge Visible to New Layer > Clone tool to remove an orange safety cone from in front of the middle of the stairs > Merge Visible to New Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin to increase detail and contrast and to reduce noise > Duplicate Layer > Healing Tool to remove some spots caused by dust on my camera's sensor > Merge Visible to New Layer to Cone out most of the halo effect caused by some of the previous post-processing > Curves Adjustment Layer for a pop to overall contrast