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Topaz Tuesday - Havana B&W

Leica M9, 35mm F/2, f/8, 1/350, iso 320

As I look through my Havana pictures, a scene like this is fairly unusual. The street is both in great shape and devoid of debris. This car is also in excellent condition (some of the cars have had a rough life).

I like the scene in color, but felt it would be even better in black and white. I played around with a few presets in Topaz B&W Effects, settling on Warm Tone II Smooth. I learned about a handy slider called Protect Highlights watching a John Barclay webinar. That helped with the bright reflections on the car.

I love this rich and timeless look that B&W Effects achieved here. As always, you can see the original on the Continue link below.

Very Hot Rod

Canon 5D Mark II, 24-70 F/2.8, f/4.5, 1/800, iso 200

Sorry, no Topaz Tuesday today. Rushing to load the blog before heading to Mexico. But this is a fun Lightroom treatment. The actual image has the color flams you'd imagine, orange and red. I rather like this. How about you?

Cuba Series - Day Three (Wordless Wednesday)

On Wordless Wenesday, you tell the story...

Cuba Series - Day Two (Topaz Tuesday)

Leica M9, 50mm F/2, f/3.4, 1/600, iso 320

For a Valentine's Day, this image isn't too romantic is it? Or perhaps it is. Given this car is from the 1950's, and knowing the Cubans, there has no doubt been a lot of romance taking place right there.

But I digress. Happy Valentine's to all the sweet people out there. And to you Topaz Labs people and Topaz users.

I felt this shot, as a subject, was great. But in color it was underwhelming. A good candidate for black and white, and Topaz Black & White Effects is the easiest way to select from many possible treatments.

What I was looking for was more emphasis on the car, particularly the windshield with its enormous crack. The background is nicely out of focus (thank you Leica) but due to the tones in the original it is all blending together.

My starting point was the preset Warm Tone II. But it didn't have enough "edge" for me. So into the dialogs/sliders area. Three small adjustments dialed in the image - reducing Protect Shadows, increasing Adaptive Exposure, and a touch of Detail Boost.

Compare for yourself because as always the original shot is on the Continue Link below.

Wordless Wednesday - from Havana

On Wordless Wednesday, you tell the story...

Cuba, Land of Contrasts

Leica M9, 50mm F/2, f/3.4, 1/2000, iso 160

I'm back home! At least until tomorrow when I head to Cali for my day job.

Amazing trip. Number one was all the photographic opportunities. Number two was the cameraderie with my companions. Thanks again for the invite Dan! It was a special time. I especially apprecaite the chance to make new friends.

I shot about 4,500 images, and remember you don't work too quickly with a rangefinder like the M9.

As for today's image, you may or may not know that from an automobile point of view, Cuba is sort of frozen in time. American cars were shipped there until the embargo. They love the American cars from the 40's and 50's, and keep them running. It's really a trip. Shooting the cars is one of the most fun experiences there.

I'll talk more about what it is like when I post my Cuba images.

Topaz Tuesday - Average to Amazing

Canon 5D Mark II, 24-70mm F/2.8, f/3.2, 1/60, iso 100

For some reason I was having a hard time this morning choosing an image for Topaz Tuesday. In Lightroom I was scrolling through month's worth of images, nothing striking my fancy. When I saw this image, I loved the art deco speedometer, but that was about it. The whole dash is bright red and there were some bright areas that distracted me.

But the speedo was so great that I thought I'd give Topaz Black & White Effects a try. Whoa! I started with a preset in the Van Dyke Brown collection and then just played a bit with the sliders. This treatment gives the image a completely different feel for me. Average to amazing.

On the Continue link below, I'll show you the original, as always, but I have also included the Lightroom Adjustments I made before going into Topaz.

In Your Face!

Canon 5D Mark II, 24-70mm F/2.8, f/4.5, 1/250, iso 200

I don't often see Desoto's at the classic car shows, so this one really caught my attention. I tried a couple angles but this low one just screamed "in your face!" to me. Just can't beat these old chrome machines, can you?

 

When Chrome was King

Canon 5D Mark II, 24-70 F/2.8, f/4.5, 1/2000, iso 200

Another beauty from the July 4 classic car show here on Bainbridge Island. Although I didn't pay attention, I'm pretty sure this car was from the 40's, definitely the chrome decade. Wonderful subjects to shoot and behold. Probably quite a bit of fun to own as well.

B&W at the Carshow

Canon 5D Mark II, 24-70 F/2.8, f/4.5, 1/1000, iso 200

As I noted in a post last week, the July 4th classic car show here on Bainbridge was one of the largest I have ever attended. Due to getting hungry (etc) I would say I saw less than half of the cars. But I managed a few nice images. This one is one of my favorites.

Roadkill POV! With all of the people around, I'm not going to lay down on the ground to get a shot like this. So how is it done? I had the zoom fully wide angle (i.e. 24mm). I then just hold the camera at the angle I want it, press the shutter listening for focus, then take the shot. Look at it on the screen, and make adjustments to where I'm holding the camera. It's trial and error. But easier on the old bod than laying on the tarmac.