UrbExploring Exterior Options…
Exploring different processing options with this shot….the first is processed in Lightroom 3……
This one processed in Photomatix and Lightroom….
And finally processed in Topaz Adjust with Lightroom…. The possibilities are endless these days!
So which do you prefer?
Focused…… It’s Quite Clear…
With softball taking up 5-6 days a week, photography remains a second thought. Be back soon!
Adult Activities….
…well not really!
The Casino building, located in Asbury Park, New Jersey, was built in 1929 and ironically did not house any gambling. In it’s heyday this structure offered 3 sections and housed amusements such as a indoor/outdoor roller rink, an ice skating rink, a carousel, skee ball and bumper cars.
For you movie buffs, the Casino complex was used as a setting in the movie “City By The Sea” starring Robert DeNiro and several scenes from one of my favorite TV series, “The Sopranos” was filmed just steps from here. Finally, for you video gamers, you might recognize this building from Grand Theft Auto IV. It was rendered as “The Alderney Casino”, an abandoned casino.
The Casino along with the nearby Palace amusements and The Convention Hall formed the core of Asbury Park’s historical amusement attractions. Sadly the complex has been allowed to deteriorate for decades and plans have been proposed to replace it with a similarly built structure, albeit without a skating rink, yet no construction has begun on a permanent replacement for the complex to date.
The photo on my home page was shot from inside this building. Have a great weekend!
One of My Quests….
….this year is to shoot more people pictures in different environments. Also vowing to see more live music, I was psyched when I heard the Brian Kirk and the Jirks were playing at the Polar Plunge on new years day. What a better way to attack one of my resolutions for the year than by snapping a few shoots of the band.
In this first shot band leader Brian Kirk belts out one of their token covers…don’t remember which one but they all sound good.
I’m fairly pleased how my old Canon XTI handled the high iso settings necessary to stop the action. A shutter speed of 1/150 was the best I could do at f4…..I also knew that the noise reduction capabilities of Lightroom and Topaz could help in this situation. The overall clarity could be better but it’s not bad for the web.
In this next shot Brian’s got a hold of his trumpet player James Gibbs.
I really like how this shot turned out, pretty clear on James at f4 and 1/45 of a second shutter. My Canon 70-200mm L lens comes through with flying colors again at 200mm. I guess there’s something to be said for good glass. Do yourself a favor, if your going to stay with this crazy hobby, save up your $$$ and get some good glass as soon as possible. Don’t go with a lens of lower quality in the interim, when your not satisfied you’ll end up spending more $$$ and you’ll kick yourself like I did.
I have a few more of these that I will show you in the not to distant future so stay tuned…..
To The Stars…
I have to thank Karen B. for helping me with this one! Over at Google+ Karen, Tammy, Gisele and a few others have gathered for a new kind of social media and I used that platform to contact Karen to help me with this shot. I was having a bear of a time trying to select the ferris wheel to add a texture when I got the idea to call on the “Expert in Elements” to school me on the latest and greatest on object selection. After a failed attempt(on my end) to follow Karen’s directions she offered to do a video describing the steps. Low and behold about 25 minutes later Karen orchestrated a fantastic video on how to select those hard to select objects(in my case the ferris wheel) in your photos. I’ll give you a little hint….threshold layer.
Thanks again Karen and I hope to see a few other photo bloggers over at Google+.
Just A Little Movement…
…at the boardwalk in Ocean City, New Jersey.
I wonder if the pier in Ocean City has withstood the brunt of Irene.
A Creative Night At The Beach….
When I go out to shoot during the blue hour I embrace the challenges that are presented at this time of day. Slow shutter speeds and low light are your friend if you have the correct equipment. So to make it work I attach my Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 lens to my camera body and then attach that to my Manfrotto tripod and shoot away. Generally I don’t expect very many keepers but if you shoot enough you’ll eventually get a couple of interesting shots.
So if your stuck in a rut or have very little time to shoot( like me), get the camera out, accept the challenge and if you manage to get a good shot or two link to it in my comments section. Would love to see your results!
You have to be a Little Nuts to go to a Place like This…
On the boardwalk in Cape May, most stores like these are still closed for the season. As April approaches the town comes to life. On this day, it was myself, 3 beach walkers and a few joggers….. just perfect.
Seaside….
I took part in the worldwide photowalk yesterday in Asbury Park, NJ. If you are a fan of “The Boss” (you know who that is?) you might remember his first studio album called Greetings from Asbury Park, well, this is where it all started for Bruce. Just up the street is the Stone Pony where Springsteen made his mark.
