#837. Waiting for Nightfall

Taken this past weekend at the Corral Theater in Wimberley, Texas. We were waiting for night to fall and MIB3 to start.

Title: "Waiting for Nightfall" Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 15mm fisheye
Shot data: 0.00s f/3.5 at 15.0mm iso1600
Post-processing: Photomatix pro > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust > textures from flypapertextures.blogspot.com

Intermission at the Corral Theater

At some point during a movie at the Corral Theater in Wimberley, Texas the movie will stop for intermission. Hopefully you saved your ticket stub because there will be a drawing for prizes. On this night lucky winners won a box of chocolates, a bird feeder, and free tickets for the next show!


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This shot was taken in extremely low light. The combination of the handheld lantern and a couple of bare bulb lights barely lit the scene better than the reflection of the projected movie had before the intermission. I utilized a new Photoshop plug-in called Topaz Adjust for processing the image (lots of exposure adjustments and noise reduction) and I was very happy with the results. In the original exposure of this shot the only thing visible was the lantern's light, all else was black! Tapaz Adjust is being touted as a poor man's substitute for LucisArt (because of its price not because of it's features) which is a popular but much much more expensive Photoshop plug-in. Check out Topaz Adjust if you have ever been interested in LucisArt, or if you are even considering purchasing a noise reduction plug-in for that matter (although Adjust does much more than noise reduction). It is on sale for $40 until October 1, 2008.

Taken with my Canon 40D and Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom lens. Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plug-in for noise reduction and exposure adjustment.

More Corral Theater

The heart of the Corral Theater in Wimberley, Texas is the concession stand, which also happens to be the box office and projection booth!


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Wimberley's Corral Theater

When you go to a modern movie megaplex to see a movie you enter the theater and the lights are low and usually there is something already going on; either music or the pre-show reel of sneak previews and commercials. The setting can make it difficult to converse with the folks you came with and you never even try to talk to your neighbor. The Corral Theater in Wimberley, Texas is an outdoor theater set in the woods on the edge of town. The Corral is all about community and is as much about socializing as it is about seeing the movie that is currently showing. I talked to Mary, the owner, for a while and she was eager to brag about her little outdoor theater. "There are other outdoor theaters in Texas but they don't get new releases from Disney on the actual release date like I do. After all the years we have been talking Disney knows what I want and they call me now to let me know when a new family movie is coming out." Mary likes family movies and I suspect Mary likes families as well! :-)

Title: "The Corral Theater"

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Below: Choose a metal chair up front (these may possibly be as old as the theater itself) or plastic chair in back or bring your own if you like. It doesn't really matter what you sit on as long as you are comfortable and have a good time!

Title:"Inside the Corral"

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Both photos were taken with my Canon 40D and Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom lens. The top photo is an HDR image prcessed with Photomatix. The second image was processed with Photoshop CS3 > High Pass Sharpening > Curves adjustmet for improved contrast > Red Paw Media's Beautifier plugin for a little extra punch.