Dream Tomorrow, Live Today, Cherish Yesterday

Topaz Tuesday - Hands and Faces

Canon 5D Mark II, 135mm F/2, f/3.2, 1/15, iso 250

I decided to troll through some of my images of the Gladding McBean factor shoot, from October of 2010. Looking for something that seemed like a good Topaz Adjust candidate. This one caught my eye, I like the subject and composition quite a bit.

Usually I'm cropping an image, and making a few adjustments in LR before going to Topaz. In this case, I made several trips, because once I applied changes in Topaz, I realized I wanted to change the crop, things like that.

I settled on the "Dramatic" preset in the "Vibrant" collection. I was going for a look which would really bring out all the textures. No other changes!

As always, the original image is displayed on the continue link below. This time I did something different though, I'm showing you the pre-cropped version. Often when I meet people in person that are visitors, they say they are intrigued by my choice of crop, rotation, that kind of thing. So showing you the entire image, and the cropped one, will give you a bit more insight into my thinking.

(Also, if you weren't reading the blog back when I posted the Gladding series, you can review it here)

Moody Monday

Leica M9, Zeiss 25mm F/2.8, f/3.4, 1/60, iso 500

I'm always attracted to images that make me stop and think "what the heck?" Even better if I can make one myself...

Topaz Tuesday - Simplicity and Grunge

Leica M9, 50mm F/2, f/4, 1/60, iso 250

While in Trinidad, Cuba, several of us made friends with a wonderful proprietress of a Casa Particulare (Cuba's version of a B&B). She was gracious enough to let us photograph her beautiful property and we got some great images. Many were simple in nature, like this one.

I selected this one for today's Topaz Tuesday for a "particular" reason. With Topaz Adjust, I mostly try not to "over do" the effects it is capable of. I don't want to render a scene too crazy or untrue. But looking at the original of this still life, I felt I had license to do whatever I want. There aren't any people or other recognizable elements that would mean I had to use restraint.

So let's play!

Into Adjust 5 we go. I tried several presets, deciding I wanted this afternoon light effect. I settled on Grunge II. Grunge II has a vignette built in, and I backed that out by 50%. The hat was not defined enough for me, so I used the local effects burn tool (hey, just like the darkroom!) to darken it up a bit and make it more defined.

Working on the image I noticed that the bottom bar was a bit off vertical, but I decided I liked that just fine. This scene can stand a bit of quikiness.

As always, the original is on the continue link below. The Topaz Labs people have done a great job with this software. It's pretty much the only third party image tool I use. Everything else I want to do, I can do in Lightroom.

Last Call 2011

Leica M9, 50mm F/2, f/2, 1/90, iso 400

Happy New Year's Eve everyone. Stay classy!

Fun Friday in Mexico

Leica M9, 50mm F/2, f/2.8, 1/125, iso 160

I find it difficult to explain why I'm drawn to window mannequins as photographic subjects. Does this say something about me? Maybe I don't want to know? I know what it is, as a manual focus rangefinder shooter (i.e. the Leica), it's easy to focus on these subjects, since they don't move much. That's it.

Boatin Sunday - Shot for Dan

Canon 5D Mark II, 70-300mm, f/4.5, 1/100, iso 200

Now that I'm back home for a while, I'm going to resume the Boatin Sunday images. Today's image is a tribute to my friend Dan Sniffin. Dan was the first photographer that told me I needed to slow down. "Don't try to get every shot, Bob, get the shot." Watching Dan work is like the difference between fast food and gourmet food. He crafts his images.

It reminds me of a line from the Dan Fogelberg song "Leader of the Band." He's talking about his father and he says ".. A thundering velvet hand, his gentle means of sculpting souls took me years to understand."

The shots Dan took while in San Miguel (that I saw anyway) were mostly about lines and color (well there was the shot of the woman in the shawl that could be on the cover of NatGeo...).  And they were beautiful. Crafted. He took his time with those subjects. Dan thinks of things I just don't think of. Yet, anyway.

I have some more trips coming up with Dan and "I'm gonna get me some mo' learnin' `bout taking my time."

 

Miércoles Sin Palabras

 

On Wordless Wednesday, you tell the story...

Captured Angels

Canon 1D Mark III, 70-200mm F/4, f/4, 1/160, iso 250

In kind of a funky mood this morning. So I looked for something in my library that was a bit edgy. Chose this one. Perfect for my mood. Gotta put on some happier music I think.

Fun Friday - With a Twist

Canon GH2, 14-140mm, f/5.8, 1/100, iso 320

Okay, not fine art, but fun, don't you think?

At the Farmer's Market

Canon 5D Mark II, 70-300mm, f/5, 1/60, iso 200

This is the first place I have ever lived where there is a farmer's market every weekend, with locally grown produce, flowers, meat, etc. We try to go every Saturday. Our favorite stop is the pasta booth. Amazing hand made pastas featuring locally grown ingredients. Last time we bought beet ravioli! Each one was a flavor explosion in my mouth. Added some toasted walnuts, goat cheese, olive oil and lemon... mmmmm.

Don't these beets just jump right off the screen and say fresh picked flavor?