Dream Tomorrow, Live Today, Cherish Yesterday

Topaz Tuesday - Decay Factory

Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm F/1.4, f/8, 1/15, iso 320

Welcome new visitors to Topaz Tuesday. A couple of days ago the great people at Topaz Labs informed me they want to feature my Topaz Tuesday posts on their Facebook Page.  I already saw a big jump in traffic today. 

For the new visitors, most every Tuesday I feature an image I have worked over with one of the Topaz products. After the jump below, you'll get to see the original image, for comparison.

Also, over on the right hand side of this page is a list of post categories. If you click on Topaz Tuesday you'll filter the posts to just Topaz Tuesdays.

I hope you find some images you like here, and I'd very much appreciate a comment from you on those that you find appealing. Comments keep my creative juices going. You just hit the "continue" link below and then scroll down.

Today's image is another "decay" image from my weekend shoot.  Having seen this big pipe and all the girders from below, I climbed up several flights of stairs to get to a platform.  As soon as I got there, the tour leader said "hey, you aren't supposed to be up there!" There were no railings and it would be a painful fall for sure.  But the stairway had not been roped off, so really I hadn't broken the rules.

So I said "as long as I'm already here, how about I get a few shots?"  He grinned and I was in business. The original shot though does not convey the grittiness of the scene.  For processing, I first boosted the Clarity, Saturation and Vibrance sliders in Lightroom 3.2.  I then took the image into Topaz Adjust 4.0, and hit it with the Crisp preset, after trying out several.  There was not yet enough "grunge" so I boosted the detail slider until I got the effect you see here.

I think it is a cool image, I like the competing geometric shapes and bands of color.  The detail & color that Adjust brought out in the sheetmetal is my favorite part.

Click on the continue link for the original and to leave a comment if you find this image to your liking.

The Devil's Storeroom

Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm F/1.4, f/7.1, .8/sec, iso 320

It has been a while since I got ten comments on a blog post, so for those of you that commented yesterday, a hearty THANK YOU!  And since the subject was decay, and you expressed appreciation, I might as well work that theme, eh?

Today's image was from the same room as yesterday's ladder shot, just the other side. I was really drawn to this scene. The table, ugh! And the vat in the wall, with some noxious potion no doubt. An altogether creepy scene.

For post processing, I began with a preset I have called Cinema 1, which added a cooling effect.  Saturated some color channels and desaturated others. I then changed the exposure to lighten it up, and use the painter to darken the area in the middle that had gotten too hot. Then I used the painter, this time with exposure set up, to bring out detail in the foreground floor.

I should have brought in some model and had her sit right on that table! Maybe next time. Thanks again for the thoughts on the decay theme.

[Not] the Stairway to Heaven

Canon 5D Mark II, 85mm F/1.2, f/7.1, 1/2sec, iso 320

I'm a big fan of "decay" shots but don't get that many opportunities to shoot that type of subject. Yesterday I did another model shoot, this one in a long unused factory.  It is decaying badly. Perfect!

While I was setting up this shot a photographer came down, front ways. Let's just say she's not one of the young models. I remarked on her gutsiness and she said she has fallen down so many stairs that she's really careful now.  Wouldn't be pretty to fall down this set, let me tell you.

So it's really just a stairway to another level in this factory, but you can still leave me a comment if you are a fan of this type of work.

Angels and Demons, Final Day

Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm F/1.4, f/2.8, 1/1600, iso 100

Well, I have saved my favorite shot for last. I like many of these, but this one is the most dynamic in many ways. Love the posing. Amazing sky. And the mask on Thomas just really makes it for me. Not really that well planned, I was just in this spot when Thomas came into view. Grabbed about five frames. Life is good.

For processing, I once again used the saturation sliders to take away all but the red and orange channels. It's a nice effect.  Thanks for taking this tour with me this week, I guess I owe everyone a few nice landscape shots now eh?

Fun Friday with the Angels

Canon 5D Mark II, 135mm F/2.0, f/2.0, 1/1000, iso 100

I saw this shot and thought it would make a pretty good fun friday, and also show you that it wasn't all serious at the shoot. Far from it! Lots of cutting up. 

This image is a good DOF tutorial.  The background is wonderfully blurred, good show.  I obviously focused on her, because she's focused perfectly.  But he's not quite sharp is he (photographically speaking of course)?  When shooting at a low f-stop like f/2.0, you really have to be careful.  If I would have had time in real time, maybe I go to f/3.5. 

But to me his being just a bit OOF doesn't really take away from the image. It's a contrast from her wild expression and perfect focus. He seems very calm considering he's about to be choked.

It's working for me, how about you?

I have saved my favorite for last, which will be tomorrow.  Another girl/boy shot.

Back to the Angel Girls

Canon 5D Mark II, 85mm F/1.2, f/4.5, 1/1000, iso 100

Well, yesterday's post was enough of the guys, wasn't it? BACK TO THE ANGEL GIRLS!

I don't have too much to say about this one. They are each lovely. I guess my favorite part is that each pose is just a bit different and they are all looking in a different direction. Only the left angel is looking right at me.  Did some processing to give it a vintage feel (accentuate the yellow/gold tones).

Ah, I just thought of the perfect title for this one: Welcome to Heaven, Bob.

Wordless Wednesday

On Wordless Wednesday, you tell the story...

Angel or Demon?

Canon 5D Mark II, 85mm F/1.2, f/2.0, 1/1000, iso 100

Now I'm new to shooting models, but Jen is no newbie at modeling. It was pretty apparent that she was a pro, even to a rookie like me.

One of the fun things I learned from her is how a model makes eye contact with numerous photographers.  There might be four of us shooting from a fairly tight location, and she'll work her posing, and when it's really good she'll "make the rounds" with her eyes, making eye contact with each of us for a few seconds for our shot.  It was cool.

And I can tell you the first time she trained those big green eyes on me it was an "electric moment!"

For post processing on this image I began with a preset called "Cinema 1" then I lightened up her eye area and made some other minor fixes.  Jen was dressed as a "Demon," but for this rookie she's my Angel!

Hey ladies, I have some pretty nice guy model shots as well. Send some "comment love" my way and maybe we can see about posting them?

Angels and Demons

Angels and Demons

Canon 5D Mark II, 25mm F1.4, f/7.1, 1/800, iso 100

Today we slide out of my comfort zone just a bit. As you know, I really enjoy people photography, and want to experiment more in this direction (actually, what direction don't I want to experiment more in?).

I made friends with a great Sacramento based photographer named Tim Engle (www.englephoto.com), based on his amazing work I saw on Facebook.  He leads a Meetup group called Click Monkeys, and hosts several kinds of photographic events.

This weekend I joined them for the first time, a themed shoot called Angels and Demons. I of course wanted to get some good shots, but my main focus was to learn about working with models. I listened carefully to the other photographers - I'd say nearly all have more experience than me.  It was a very interesting four hours, I must say.

The theme was the classic Good vs Evil. Above we have (at left) the Angels and then at right, naturally, the Demons.  We did all kinds of poses individually and with groups. The setting was great (a large private home) and all in all I thoroughly enjoyed it.  In addition to the theme, Tim was sharing with us his techniques for lighting up scenes using inexpensive reflectors. In most cases, the "harsh light" in a lot of our scenes was deliberate.

For post-processing this image, I really wanted to concentrate on the bodies and forms. I desaturated all but the red and orange channels, and small WB adjustment. All in all, one minute in Lightroom.

Thanks Click Monkeys! And a big thank yo to the models, who are really a fun bunch. I hope I can participate more, and make some kind of contribution to the group.

If you like this one, let me know, and if you want to see more from the shoot, let me know that too.

No more walks in the woods?

Canon 5D Mark II, 85mm F/1.2, f/14, 13 seconds, iso 100

My wife and I saw The Eagles this year. One of the songs they sang is "no more walks in the woods." Incredible harmonies, reminiscent of Crosby, Stills and Nash.  Here, click on the play button and you can hear it:

I'm a person that really enjoys getting into the lyrics of a song as well. Here they are:

No more walks in the wood
The trees have all been cut down
And where once they stood
Not even a wagon rut
Appears along the path
Low brush is taking over

No more walks in the wood
This is the aftermath
Of afternoons in the clover fields
Where we once made love
Then wandered home together
Where the trees arched above
Where we made our own weather
When branches were the sky
Now they are gone for good
And you, for ill, and I
Am only a passer-by

We and the trees and the way
Back from the fields of play
Lasted as long as we could
No more walks in the wood

Written principally by Don Henley.  I ask you, what makes a person so cynical? The trees have ALL been cut down?  The scene of today's image is played out millions of times just across America, let alone the world. When Don is flying along in a private jet, does he ever look down?  The rest of the country is not like downtown L.A. you know?

I once flew from Alaska down to Seattle, mesmerized by the view of Canada as we flew south for several hours. I'm not sure there is a number big enough to count the trees in Canada. It's unbelievable. A short time later I was having a conversation with a Canadian woman and she got very heated about logging in B.C. Having just seen what I described, I failed to grasp her concern. Exasperated, she said to me "well why don't we just CUT DOWN THE LAST TREE?"

I really don't get it. But anyway, back to photography, this is a beauty of a trail through a thickly wooded forest next to Lost Lake in Oregon.   Looks like perhaps someone cut down a few trees so that people could walk through the forest and enjoy it.  Seems like a pretty good bargain to me. I think Mother Nature approves.

Maybe tomorrow I'll show you what was off to my left as I took this shot. Want to see it?