#868. Welcome to The Mullet

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

Title: "Welcome to The Mullet"

Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 15mm fisheye
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Adobe Photoshop CS4 > Nik Color Efex > texture from Flypapertextures.com

#838. Irish Hunger Memorial

Taken last week in New York City.

Here's a blurb from Wikipedia: The Irish Hunger Memorial, designed collaboratively by artist Brian Tolle, landscape architect Gail Wittwer-Laird, and 1100 Architect, is located on a one-half acre site[1] at the corner of Vesey Street and North End Avenue in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, and is dedicated to raising awareness of the Great Irish Famine - referred to by the Irish as 'The Great Hunger' or An Gorta Mor in Irish Gaelic - that killed up to a million people in Ireland between the years 1845 and 1852. The memorial was dedicated on July 16, 2002. 

Title: "Irish Hunger Memorial" Camera / Lens: Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Nik Silver Efex Pro > Nik Color Efex Pro

#820. Pipe Dreams - Hippo Hitchers

Still playing around with making composites of photos taken two weekends ago at the Texas Pipe Eclectic Menagerie Park in Houston, Texas.

Title: "Pipe Dreams - Hippo Hitchers"

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

#819. Pipe Dreams - Kong Gone Wild (Rollover)

Another composite from two of the photos taken at the Texas Pipe Eclectic Menagerie last weekend. Hold you mouse over the image for a closer view of the actions.

Title: "Pipe Dreams - Kong Gone Wild"


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

#818. Pipe Dreams - Widow-maker

Another composite from two photos taken at the Texas Pipe Eclectic Menagerie Park this past weekend. Another dream.

Title: "Pipe Dreams - Widow-maker"

Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 15mm fisheye
Post-processing: Same as "Pipe Dreams - Eagle Flight"

#817. Pipe Dreams - Eagle Flight

Taken this past weekend at the Texas Pipe Eclectic Menagerie Park in Houston, Texas. I had fun taking the photos but really couldn't think of anything to do with the results except composite them into some new scenes I must only have imagined.

Title: "Pipe Dreams - Eagle Flight"

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

#803. So Much Drama

Made a quick trip down to Galveston today so my daughter could get some time in toward her highway driving milestone before she tests for her driver's license in a couple of weeks. Took a few snaps of the rock art while there and this was my favorite (like my daughter it exudes drama).

Title: "So Much Drama"

Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust > Nik Silver Efex Pro 2

#749. Rock Art Too

From a couple of weekends ago. Another shot of the public art display created from rocks along the Galveston sea wall.

Title: "Rock Art Too"

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

#747. The Great Benini

#Taken a few weekends ago at the Benini Sculpture Ranch in Johnson City, Texas. "The Great Benini" is not a self portrait but rather a creation by artist Jonas Perkins. From the Sculpture Ranch web page:

About his massive Luminary Sculpture Mosaic, The Great Benini, Jonas says:
In homage to my friend, my monolith artist emerges from the earth, seeing our world for the first time. Exploring, he is still part of the earth—not yet of our world. Looking at The Great Benini, spectators imagine the rest of him that is yet to emerge into our sight. The sun and moon reflect in The Great Benini luminary, attracting galaxies of artists on earth—just as gravity attracts planets to large celestial bodies.

Title: "The Great Benini"

Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 15mm fisheye
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine three exposures into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) image > Photoshop CS4 > Nik Silver Efex 2

#746. Eagle Chief

Taken this morning at Texas Swing in Alvin, Texas.

Title: "Eagle Chief"

Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 15mm fisheye
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Nik Viveza 2 plugin > Nik Silver Efex 2 plugin > texture from Flypapertextures.com

#740. Red Cross

Taken this past weekend at the Benini Sculpture Ranch in Johnson City, Texas. This particular piece of art is by Bobby Hamric.

Title: "Red Cross"

Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 15mm fisheye
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

#730. Seven Wonders

Taken this past weekend in Downtown Houston. Seven Wonders by Mel Chin behind the Wortham Center overlooking Buffalo Bayou's Sesquicentennial Park.

Title: "Seven Wonders"

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

#656. The Spirit of Texas City

Taken yesterday afternoon at a small park near the Texas City Dike in Texas City, Texas. Hold your mouse over the photo to reveal the original (unprocessed except for Photomatix Pro) image. I really wanted to create an image out this photo I was happy with and it took a lot of post-processing work to get there (as you can see from looking at the underlying image). In the end I was very pleased! :-)

Title: "The Spirit of Texas City" (rollover)


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 15MM f/2.8 fisheye
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to convert one image into a "psuedo-HDR" image > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin > textures from flypapertextures.blogspot.com

#655. Totem

Taken this afternoon at a small park near the Texas City Dike in Texas City, Texas.

Title: "Totem"


Shot data: 1/250s f/7.1 at 15.0mm iso125
Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 15mm fisheye
Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin > texture from flypapertextures.blogspot.com