Really Big Flag

Taken this past weekend at the Homes for Our Troops Sporting Clays event in Fulshear, Texas. I was invited by an old friend to attend this event and take photographs as the official event photographer. The shot posted today took a lot of work in Photoshop in order to get it like I wanted it. Maybe you think I did too much work on it? Or not enough? The only thing I'm fairly sure of is that no one will tell me they like the "before" better than the "after" shot. Maybe! :-)

Title: "Really Big Flag" (rollover)


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin > Nik Viveza plugin

HOTBARBQUE

Not far from the feed store image I posted yesterday I found the remains of "Downtown Bar B Q" that apparently used to feature "HOTBARBQUE". No doubt the money save on signage had once been invested in fine meats! :-)

Title: "HOTBARBQUE"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine three handheld images (-2,0,+2) into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) image > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Feed Store

An old feed store near the railroad tracks in historic downtown Richmond, Texas. Taken last weekend.

Title: "Feed Store"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine 3 handheld exposures (-2, 0, +2) into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) image > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin > Virtual Photographer plugin

Richmond Railroad Bridge

Taken in Richmond, Texas this past weekend.

Title: "Richmond Railroad Bridge"


Shot data: 1/125s f/8.0 at 58.0mm iso100
Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105 L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine three handheld images taken with exposure bracketing (-2, 0, +2) into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin > Virtual Photographer plugin

Imperial Sugar

Taken this past Sunday as we were passing through Sugar Land, Texas. I liked the color version (keep your mouse over the image long enough and you should be able to see the color version) but wanted to go for a photo with a more historical look and feel befitting the subject matter.

Title: "Imperial Sugar" (rollover)


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine three handheld exposures (-2, 0, +2) into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) image > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Sandy McGee's Decor

Taken today at Sandy McGee's restaurant in Richmond, Texas.

Title: "Sandy McGee's Decor"


Shot data: 1/400s f/4.0 at 105.0mm iso400
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine three handheld exposures (-2, 0, +2) into one HDR image > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Baytown Eagle

I made a trip over to Baytown today to try and photograph the pair of nesting eagles located off of Tri-City Beach Road. I don't really have enough lens for this type of birding but I had a great time watching and photographing the eagles just the same! This shot was taken with a crop camera (Canon 40D) using a 100-400mm zoom lens at 400mm and using a Canon 430EX flash equipped with a Better Beamer flash extender. Today I could almost understand why some folks might buy a $12,000 800mm lens. Almost! :-)

Title: "Baytown Eagle" (rollover)


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L zoom
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Nik Viveza plugin > Topaz Adjust plugin

"High Tide Ford"

I took this photo on my trip to Galveston's East Beach on New Year's Day. I initially wondered why anyone would park in the water but soon realized the truck belonged to one of the fishermen that had walked out on the jetty to fish. While I was there I had to move my truck further away from the water twice to avoid the incoming tide. By the time I saw the owner of this truck come to retrieve it the water was about 8 inches deep!

Title: "High Tide Ford"


Shot data: 1/500s f/8.0 at 100.0mm iso320
Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm L zoom

Greune Tower

Taken in Greune, Texas last December for no other reason than I liked the light hitting the water tower on the hillside.

Title: "Greune Tower" (rollover)


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

Bleachers

Here are two more shots from the baseball field at Bay Area Park on Saturday. Like the shots I posted yesterday , both of these shots are HDR images taken from a tripod about 18 inches high.

Title: "Bleachers - Tangential Perspective"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw to covert bracketed exposures to JPEG files > Photomatix Pro to generate HDR from bracketed JPEG file (exposure at -2, 0, and +2) > Adobe Photoshop CS$ > Topaz Adjust plugin > RPM Beautifier plugin


Title: "Bleachers - Parallel Perspective"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw to covert bracketed exposures to JPEG files > Photomatix Pro to generate HDR from bracketed JPEG file (exposure at -2, 0, and +2) > Adobe Photoshop CS$ > Topaz Adjust plugin > RPM Beautifier plugin

Dugout

I went to Bay Area Park yesterday and took some shots of the little league baseball field. It was pretty chilly (for Houston) so not many folks were in the park and I was able to wonder around unimpeded. Both of these shots are HDR images taken from a tripod about 18 inches high.

Title: "Dugout - Outside Perspective"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw to covert bracketed exposures to JPEG files > Photomatix Pro to generate HDR from bracketed JPEG file (exposure at -2, 0, and +2) > Adobe Photoshop CS$ > Topaz Adjust plugin > RPM Beautifier plugin

Title: "Dugout - Inside Perspective"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw to covert bracketed exposures to JPEG files > Photomatix Pro to generate HDR from bracketed JPEG file (exposure at -2, 0, and +2) > Adobe Photoshop CS$ > Topaz Adjust plugin > RPM Beautifier plugin

Winter Tree

I took a trip down to Bay Area Park today to capture an image I thought would work well as a practice subject for working with textures. Here is the result: If the code is correct you should be able to see the "original" image by rolling your mouse over the image below. The original image is an HDR image created with Photomatix Pro.

Title: "Winter Tree"


Camra / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to convert three tripod mounted photos with bracketed exposures of -2, 0 and +2 > Photoshop CS4

Elevated Guitarist

I spotted this performer at a local restaurant call Potbelly yesterday. Performers really will perform anywhere won't they? :-)

Technical Stuff: I took bracketed exposures of this shot with the intention of using Photomatix Pro (one of my favorite tools in my toolbox) to create an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image but found, at least for this test, that Photomatix won't handle the large file sizes produced by a Canon 5D Mark II. As a result I had to do the best I could converting the shot manually to HDR using layers in Photoshop CS4. Hopefully I can find a work-around for this problem (let me know if you know one) because it is definitely a problem if your favorite camera doesn't play nicely with your favorite software!

Update on Technical Stuff: I was able to download an upgrade version of Photomatix Pro that handled the big file sizes produced by the Canon 5D Mark II just fine. Unfortunately it didn't help with this image because the +2, 0, -2 bracketed exposures I took weren't enough to handle the dark areas and the blown out window in this interior shot. Lesson learned: probably should have exposed on the window instead of the guitarist! :-)

Title: "Elevated Guitarist"


Shot data: 1/125s f/4.0 at 40.0mm iso640
Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin > Red Paw Media Beautifier plugin

The Violinist

Taken this past weekend. I took this shot of my father-in-law to test out my new Canon 5D. I was using my Canon 430 EX flash in TTL mode with an exposure compensation of -2. Once again I was very impressed with the quality of light produced by a single on camera flash in TTL mode.

Title: "The Violinist"


Shot data: 1/200s f/4.0 at 105.0mm iso400
Camera / Lens: Canon 5D / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin > Virtual Photographer plugin

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Day 3

We've all seen it on TV! Extreme Makeover starts with a slab and 6 days later they have constructed a new home ready for the occupants to move back into! It's amazing every time you see it! Amazing construction speed, amazing entertainment, and an amazing volunteer effort for a worthy cause. It is even more amazing to see it in person. This is what the project looked like last night, two days after I took the photos in my last post! Amazing!

Title: "Extreme Makeover: Day 3"


Shot data: 1/13s f/4.0 at 45.0mm iso640
Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105 L zoom

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Extreme Makeover Home Edition is building a house in Kemah this over a four day period. I went out to the construction site yesterday to see what I could see. Most of the time I was there the view from the spectator area was blocked by big trucks being uploaded. Here are a couple of shots from the outing.

Title: "Keman XHE 1"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5DMII / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Shot data: 1/200s f/6.3 at 47.0mm iso500

Title: "Kemah XHE 2"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5DMII / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Shot data: 1/1000s f/4.0 at 24.0mm iso250

New Rig

I purchased a new camera that was delivered yesterday! Will it make me a better photographer? Probably not...but it should improve the overall quality of my images. I took this photo with it and now I just need to get out and take some real photos. :-)

Title: "New Rig"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5DMII / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Shot data: 1/40s f/4.0 at 84.0mm iso250

Barbed Wire and Vines

I realize this is a little bit of a tired subject but I wanted to practice with textures and this photo had a blown out sky I thought I could improve. The texture is from a photo of a milled stone I took a while back.

Title: "Barbed Wire and Vines"


Shot data: 1/1000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso320
Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm L zoom
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Hawk

Yesterday afternoon we were driving around in Baytown when we saw this hawk in a field on Main Street. My camera was equipped with my 100-400mm zoom and a 430EX flash with a Better Beamer flash extender attached so we pulled over. I got as close as I could for this shot but I was still pretty far away and as a result this image is about a 25% crop of the original.

Title: "Hawk"


Shot data: 1/250s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso320
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin
Flash: Canon 430EX on camera in TTL mode with Better Beamer attached

Shakespeare, Gandhi, and Twain

We needed some flower pots yesterday so, of course, we headed to Maas Nursery in Seabrook. I liked these pots a lot but we ended up going with something more traditional! :-)

Title: "Shakespeare, Gandhi and Twain"


Shot data: 1/500s f/5.0 at 115.0mm iso320
Camera / lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm L zoom
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Galveston Fishermen

Another shot from my trip to Galveston yesterday.

Title: "Fishermen"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm L zoom
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Beached Auto

Happy New Year everyone!

2010 started out with a beautiful day weather wise in Houston. We took advantage of the unexpectedly gorgeous day and drove down to Galveston for lunch and to see if we could find a subject suitable for a photograph. We saw this car buried in the sand on East Beach and could only assume it is a remnant of hurricane Ike.

Title: "Beached Auto"



Shot data: 1/1600s f/8.0 at 100.0mm iso320
Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm L zoom
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS3 > Virtual Photographer plugin