You’ve Inspired Me….
I have seen many of you utilizing the Topaz products lately and that has inspired me to put together a post regarding it’s many uses in my photography.
I know there are many products available from Topaz Labs and many of you use them. My line-up includes Topaz Adjust 5 and Topaz Simplify. I have to say I love both of them and utilize them in almost all of my shots. They both serve individual purposes, Adjust for detail enhancement and Topaz Simplify to present my photos with more of an artistic style. Each product delivers a completely different result, perfect for my needs.
The above posted shot was from Red Rock Canyon, taken a few years ago. It was processed in Topaz Adjust 5 with the following settings……BTW clicking on the images should give you larger view….
My main thought was to bring out the details as much as possible given the small posting size on the web and the limits of my Canon XTI. Topaz has done this perfectly with these settings. You can use these as a starting point and always adjust them to your likings.
My next creative thought was to turn this into a piece of art using Topaz Simplify 3. I usually just utilize the BizSum preset which reduces the details fairly significantly but still retaining the basic elements of the shot. The result can be seen below…..
My final step is the recessed border and that’s processed in Photoshop Elements 10. I really like how this finishes off the piece. My tutorial for this border can be found here.
I hope this gives you some insight into my thought process and inspires you as much as you’ve inspired me. A big part of my purpose for blogging is to help others develop skills to produce better photos. I hope this has helped and please let me know if you have any questions.
One last question for you…. there’s been some talk over at the village about printing on metal. Do you think this is the type of photo that would do well on that medium? Thanks for your help.
365: Compact…
You are looking towards the tail turret of a B-24 Liberator bomber from World War 2. Considered a heavy bomber with the length 67′ and wingspan of 110′, the interior is quite compact. In fact, at 6’4″, I could barely move around the belly of this beast. I can’t imagine being able to move at all with 8000lbs. of bombers aboard. I have a much greater appreciation for the men that did their duties aboard this aircraft.
Below you will find an exterior shot of this magnificent plane.
Heavy Metal…
As I was cruising around Sunday morning listening to some of my favorite heavy metal music (yes, I’m an 80′s early 90′s guy) I came across this set of metal boxes so I guess it’s a match for the theme.
This is a 3 shot HDR in which I masked in the original dirt and grass with 50 opacity. It made the shot much more realistic than the tonemapped image.
Words…
Just a little play on words…… I took this right after my previous post, saw the words and thought Bam! I’ve got me a theme shot!
The yard behind the train depot at Allaire State Park was more like a grave yard for old and rotted rail cars and miscellaneous train parts. Items of various shapes and sizes were strewn all over the place. I’m guessing some frustrated worker decided to clean up the place and labeled these barrels for organization. By the looks of the yard, he didn’t get very far. Didn’t do much for cleanliness but sure makes for decent photographic opportunities.
A 6 shot HDR, prepped in Lightroom, tonemapped in Photomatix and finished in Adjust.
Don’t know what happened but uploading sucked the life out of the shot.
Numbers…
So many things we encounter every day have some kind of number attached to it. I suppose that behind each number there’s some sort of history. So this #4 might be able to tell us the history of this rail car, where and when it was made, in what year, who operated it, and maybe even when it was decommissioned. Might be somewhat interesting and even lead to some kind of photographic journey.
This was taken with my new Sigma 10-20mm lens and tonemapped from 6 bracketed shots, processed in Lightroom and then finally in Topaz Adjust. I really like Adjust for bringing out details in shots like this.
The Problem with Cars these Days…
….is that there’s so many bells and whistles you can’t find anything…….. where’s the damn usb port in this thing?
Same processing as yesterday’s post.
Rough…
As my daughter was getting a sailing lesson with the girl scouts I was scouring the banks of the Manasquan Reservoir. As water levels continue to recede new treasures can be found around the perimeter of the reservoir. What I find interesting is that the metal is almost completely corroded but the tire looks like it could be remounted and driven on with no problem.
Shot at f5.6, 1/125 sec, 91mm, iso 100 and Hoya CP.
Metal
Metal, originally uploaded by boomer3297.
This shot, although several months old(I know I’m cheating) is perfect for this theme because the siding on this house is all copper.
The back story goes like this, my youngest brother, who lives in Las Vegas, is a highly accomplished landscape architect. Most of his work is designing exterior landscapes for the large resorts and high rise complexes on the strip. If you’ve been to Caesar’s Palace lately and seen the pool complex and surrounding landscapes, that’s him. Anyway, he wanted some shots of a high end residential project he did recently. Needless to say, I was real excited to do this because it would obviously help him tremendously as well as give me some pseudo professional shooting experience.
We arrived at the residence about 45 minutes before sundown which didn’t give us much time for shooting optimally. In retrospect it was perfect timing because I could really use my HDR skills as the light got darker and darker. I spent the good part of the first 20 minutes figuring out what he wanted and then it was a race to get the shots done. This is one of the first shots I processed and sent to him. A 3 shot HDR of the left front corner of the house showing the new landscape as well as the house.
My brother was pretty happy with the shots and utilized several of them in a promotional brochure for the company. My plan is to show you a few others when I”m a guest blogger for our photowalk group.
What do ya think?
Metal
Metal, originally uploaded by boomer3297.
This could have gone under the unexpected theme as well because I never would have thought that I would come across someone with a metal detector at the beach in the middle of a harsh northeast winter. I usually see these guys during the crowded summer months scouring the beaches after everyone has left for the day. But then again, valuable items can wash up on shore any day, I guess.
