#587. Danielle

Here's another portrait from last Saturday's field trip to Galveston with the Bay Area Photo Club.

Title: "Danielle"


Shot data: 1/125s f/6.3 at 170.0mm iso800
Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 100-400 L zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS4 > Red Paw Media Beautifier plugin > Topaz Adjust plugin > texture from Flypapertextures.blogspot.com

#586. Crystal

I did take a few portraits at Gately Paper Company in Galveston last Saturday. That was the point of the field trip after all. There were around twenty photographers on this field trip and four different groups of models. I have seen some of the shots taken by some of the other photographers and they are for the most part all better than mine. I'm OK with that: I realize that I'm still learning the portraiture skill set. Because of where I am in my development as a portrait photographer I feel lucky when I have any success at all and the two photos I'm posting today were pretty much all the "luck" I had that night (thanks to Crystal being such a great model).

Title: "Crystal #1"


Shot data: 1/100s f/6.3 at 370.0mm iso200

Title: "Crystal #2"


Shot data: 1/100s f/6.3 at 300.0mm iso200

Post-processing (both images): Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Virtual Photographer plugin

#585. Gately Paper: Loading Dock

This is the loading dock at Gately Paper. This dock area and the steps in the front of the building (see #584) were the setting for our photo club's portrait session on Saturday evening.

Title: "Gately Paper: Loading Dock


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine 7 exposures into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) image > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

#584. Gately Paper: Freight Office

Members of our photo club (Bay Area Photo Club) found and obtained permission to use this property owed by the Gately Paper Company in Galveston, Texas as a setting for some portrait sessions on Saturday night. I hope to have a posting of some of the portraits I took here later in the week but for now here at least is photo of the front of the building. Unfortunately I don't know the history of this building (built in 1904) but it is my understanding that Gately Papers has only occupied it for a fairly short time. This is an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image made from seven exposures using Photomatix Pro.

Title: "Gately Paper: Freight Office"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

#583. Lost Oaks - The Tin Man

Taken a couple of weeks ago. This is another of the sculptures carved from oak trees lost in Hurricane Ike which are located in the historic housing district of Galveston, TX. As was the case with my previous "Lost Oaks" postings I made up the title as I don't know the title given by the artist.

Title: "Lost Oaks: The Tin Man"


Camera / Lens: Canon 24-105mm f/2.8 L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Nik Viveza plugin > Red Paw Media Beautifier plugin

#582. Well Placed Shrub

I was in San Antonio this past weekend and went by the UTSA campus to see if I could find anything to photograph. In this photograph I liked how the flowers on the shrub matched (either by luck or by careful planning) the red highlights on the building behind it.

Title: "Well Placed Shrub"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: No idea! :-) Sorry but I lost track of my post-processing on this one.

#581. Wasteland: Unattended

Another in my "Wasteland" series of photos. With the "Wasteland" series I'm attempting to create imagery that reminds the viewer of all the post-apocalyptic worlds which exist after the end of civilization as we know it (usually as a result of mankind's evil disregard for the environment) as depicted in many American science fiction movies, from "Mad Max" to "The Book of Eli," released over the last few decades.

Others in the series are:
"Wasteland: Empty"
"Wasteland: Disused"
"Wasteland"

Title: "Wasteland: Unattended"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin > Textures from flypapertextuers.blogspot.com

#580. Lost Oaks - Call of the Mermaid

Taken last Saturday. This is another of the sculptures carved from oak trees lost in Hurricane Ike which are located in the historic housing district of Galveston, TX. As was the case with my previous "Lost Oaks" post a few days ago, I made up the title as I don't know the title given by the artist.

Title: "Lost Oaks - Call of the Mermaid"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Adobe Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin > Nik Viveza plugin > Red Paw Media Beautifier plugin

#579. On Display

Taken a couple of weeks ago at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas.

Title: "On Display"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 50mm f1.4 prime
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

#578. Dry-docked

I was driving around Seabrook earlier this week and this dry-docked boat caught my eye. While obviously in need of the repairs it is receiving it struck me as having "great bones"! :-)

Title: "Dry-docked"


Shot data: 0.00s f/6.4 at 24.0mm iso200
Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-Processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

#577. Lost Oaks - Phoenix Rising

Taken Saturday in Galveston, Texas. I don't know the sculptor's title so I gave this work of art the name "Phoenix Rising" because it reminds me of the mythical creature's rise from the ashes. This sculpture was carved from one of the many oak trees in Galveston that were lost to Hurricane Ike. Citizens in the historic homes district of Galveston arranged to have local sculptors carve the trees into works of art rather that having them cut up and removed. I for one am glad they did! :-)

To order a copy of this image click here.

Title: "Lost Oaks - Phoenix Rising"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin > Red Paw Beautifier plugin

#576. Rocket Science (rollover)

Taken yesterday at NASA's Johnson Space Center. I wanted to showcase some of the incredible mechanics of this rocket engine so I'm presenting that on the top image with the underlying image being the entire frame in order to provide some context to the more detailed crop.

Title: "Rocket Science" (rollover)


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust Plugin

#575. Texas Style

I went out driving this evening and saw this cool limo parked under the Seabrook-Kemah bridge and couldn't pass up the opportunity to stop for a photo or two.



Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

#574. Galveston Building

Taken from near The Strand in Galveston, Texas. The image underlying the rollover is after processing with Photomatix Pro, which you should always consider to be your starting point for post-processing when you are working with HDR images (i.e. never think of the image created by Photomatix as your final HDR image).

[Technical Note] This particular image had an alignment problem that Photomatix couldn't resolve (it was taken hand-held) so I aligned the images by loading them into Photoshop CS4 as three separate layers and then used the auto align feature, cropped the edges to lock in the alignment (basically trimming the uneven edges caused by the auto alignment process), and then saved each layer as my Photomatix input. This is a technique I credit to Larry Patrick from the Bay Area Photo Club and it really does a great job.

Title: "Galveston Building" (rollover)


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS4 > Photomatix Pro > Virtual Photographer plugin

#573. The Pool House

I posted some detail shots of this pool house back at post #546 in May. At the time I somehow overlooked this wide angle shot, which was my favorite, so I'm posting it now (better late than never right?).

Title: "The Pool House"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom

#572. Happy Birth Day America

Happy Independence Day everyone! I still believe that, in spite of what our politicians are trying to do it, America is still the greatest country in the world! I consider myself blessed to live in America and I will definitely be celebrating my good fortune today!

Title: "Happy Birthday America"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5d Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS4

#571. Galveston Bay Moon

Taken from near Toddville Road in Seabrook, Texas Friday before last. The image underlying the rollover is the original image from the camera.

Title: "Galveston Bay Moon" (rollover)


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin > Red Paw Media Beautifier plugin > textures from flypapertextures.blogspot.com

#570. Blue Moon

Taken this past Saturday night in Seabrook.

Our photo club's (Bay Area Photo Club) photo assignment for August is "Monochrome (but not black and white)". The original sky surrounding this full moon last Saturday was obviously very dramatic but in shades of blacks and greys it left me wanting something more. The upcoming Monochrome assignment made me think about tinting as a way to add even more drama and, after trying several different options, I decided I liked this Cyan colored tinting the best. The goal of the assignment is to improve the photo with the monochrome application so I would like to know if you think I was successful in that respect or not. Cheers!

Title: "Blue Moon"


Shot data: 0.59s f/6.4 at 400.0mm iso200
Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 100-400mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine 3 images into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) image > Photoshop CS4 > Virtual Photographer plugin for toning > Topaz Adjust plugin for noise reduction

#569. RTD Fireworks #3 and #4

Two more photos from the Rock the Dock ("RTD") fireworks display last Friday night. To me these two are not as strong as the first two I posted (post #566 and #567) because I didn't capture the trail of the rocket as it launched. Still, the explosions captured are nice and hopefully make them post-worthy! :-)

Tip for processing your fireworks shots this upcoming July 4th: Open your captured image in Abobe Photoshop CS4 and duplicate the background layer [CTRL + "J"] then switch the blending mode on the top layer to "Multiply". If you have foreground in your image and don't like how the "Multiply" blending mode changes it, simply add a layer mask and mask off the foreground by painting over it on the layer mask with a soft black brush. You can adjust the Opacity of the top layer to reduce the intensity of the changes made by using the "Multiply" blending mode if so desired. Next, Merge Visible Layers to a new layer and continue processing from there. This simple first step will usually go a long way toward eliminating all but the heaviest of any distracting and otherwise undesirable background smoke. This will also slightly reduce the brightness of the explosion itself but that is easily dealt with, if you think it is necessary, in further processing.

Title: "RTD Firework #3"


Title: "RTD Firework #4"


Post-processing: Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin