#867. Pink Lockers

Taken today at The Mullet near Almeda Mall in Houston, Texas.

Title: "Pink Lockers"

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

#844. Marigold Flower Pots $3

Taken a few weeks back on our trip to High Bridge, New Jersey.  We never actually saw anyone manning this roadside stand but the things for sale changed every day.  When I stopped to take my photograph someone came down from a house barely visible on the hill behind to see what was going on.

Title: "Marigold Flower Post $3"

Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-Processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Nik Viveza plugin

#774. I. M. Back

Taken tonight in Houston, Texas. Happy Halloween!

Title: "I. M. Back"

Shot data: 0.80s f/5.6 at 380.0mm iso200
Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 100-400mm L zoom
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 plugin

#744. Rock Art

Taken this past weekend on the seawall in Galveston, Texas. Apparently some local artists got creative with rocks used for rip rap on the seawall. I first spotted the rock art on Friday. I took some images on Saturday morning. I went back on Sunday for one last look and the majority of the sculptures have been knocked over! Seems like there's always someone ready to destroy what someone else has built.

Title: "Rock Art"

Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 15mm fisheye
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine three exposures (-2, 0, +2) into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) image > Photoshop CS4 > NiC Viveza 2 plugin

#679. Its All About Me

Taken this past weekend at one of my old reliable shooting locations: Maas Nursery in Seabrook, Texas. This is actually a composite of two shots; one to get the frame in focus and one to get the subject in the mirror in focus.

Title: "Its All About Me"


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

#661. Driftwood Diptych

Taken at the Texas City Dike a couple of weekends ago. I took a few minutes off from photographing the kite surfers to photograph this piece of driftwood laying on the beach. I wanted to focus on the textures so I desaturated the color a little.

Title: "Driftwood Diptych"


Shot data: 1/250s f/8.0 at 400.0mm iso125
Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm L zoom
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin > Virtual Photographer plugin

#641. Niños No Tocar Machetes

My wife spotted this sign at Cole's flea market in Pearland this past Sunday and it struck me as being funny. I don't know, it's just the idea that someone had to make a sign because they were having a problem with kids playing with the machetes! At least they weren't playing with guns right? :-)

Title: "Niños No Tocar Machetes"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 50mm f/1.4
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine three handheld exposures (-2, 0, +2) into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) image > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

#624. Pumpkin Patch

Taken this past Friday at a local church in Clear Lake City. This church sells pumpkins every year as a fundraiser and there are always abundant photo ops. I didn't spend long there this year but I did grab a couple of sets of brackets (and a couple of pumpkins). :-)

Title: "Pumpkin Patch"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine three exposures into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) image > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

#526. Fishing Pier Tableau

Taken two weekends ago in Fulton, Texas. The old hand pump water faucet caught my eye and made me realize that there was a picture here.

Title: "Fishing Pier Tableau"


Shot data: 1/60s f/5.6 at 24.0mm iso400
Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Custom Bike

Taken in Baytown, Texas yesterday. A classic bicycle with a custom headlight!

Title: "Custom Bike"


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

St. Mary's Nerve Center

Taken this past Sunday at St. Mary Roman Catholic Church in High Hill, Texas. The scene in the entrance hall of this church caught my eye because of its muted colors and great wall textures. Also this small entrance hall struck me as the social "nerve center" for the church.

Title: "St. Mary's Nerve Center"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to conver three tripod mounted long exposures 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

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

GBF Bucket O' Grass

Yesterday I volunteered with some other Bay Area Photo Club members to photograph a Galveston Bay Foundation (GBF) event. On Saturday volunteers planted grass on sand bars the GBF had built in earlier weeks. Eventually the grass planted on Saturday will spread and create wetlands in Burnett Bay in Baytown (the original wetlands were lost due to subsidence). We were there to document the event. Over the next few days I'll be posting some of my photos from the day.

Title: "GBF Bucket O' Grass"


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

Ikea Lights

This weekend I took my camera into Ikea as we looked around. I wasn't in a very creative mood though so I only took a few shots. I liked this shot for its simplicity.

Title: "Ikea Lights"


Shot data: 1/250s f/4.0 at 43.0mm iso400
Camera // Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom

Da Vinci

So the deal is that you have two days to shoot a photo that relates in some way to a photo taken by the photographer before you on the list. The guy after you has to tie into your photo, etc, etc. It's an exercise put together by Bob Dempsey, out photo club's Field Trip coordinator. Go here to see the entire progression of photos (so far) if you have any desire to do so:

Title: "Da Vinci"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Shot data: 1/100s f/4.0 at 28.0mm iso400

La Belle

This model is located at the Texas Maritime Museum in Rockport, Texas. The ship is La Salle's ship La Belle discovered off the Texas coast in Matagorda Bay. The detailed craftsmanship displayed in the model's construction is amazing to me.

Title: "La Belle No. 1"


Title: "La Belle No. 2"


Title: "La Belle No. 3"


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

I Am What I Am

This is another shot from our side trip to Richmond, Texas this past weekend. This is the Flying Pig restaurant.

Title: "I Am What I Am"


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

Little Shop in Richmond

We made a side trip to Richmond, Texas while camping at Brazos Bend State Park this past weekend. One of our stops was this little shop where everything was displayed beautifully. I love the colors and textures included in this shot.

Title: "Little Shop in Richmond"


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

Overloaded

I spotted this car parked at a local marina this weekend. From a distance it looked like it had about a dozen bikes on it! It turns out there were only four bikes but to me the vehicle still looked overloaded!

Title: "Overloaded"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Psychedelic" preset > Curves Adjustment Layer to improve overall contrast > Levels adjustment to set black and white points > Black and White Adjustment Layer at 35% opacity to tone down colors > Merge Visable to New Layer > Red Paw Media Bleach Bypass > Merge Visable to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette