Dream Tomorrow, Live Today, Cherish Yesterday

Topaz Tuesday - Street Guitar

Leica M9

I was visiting a farmer's market recently for the first time. Walking along, I happened upon this scene. The guitarist was taking a break, having some lunch. I looked down and thought "could anyone make this composition more perfect?" I immediately thought it might make a nice Topaz Tuesday subject.

So into Topaz Adjust 5.0 we go. I did this on a Photoshop layer. I knew Adjust would liven up the background and that wasn't what I was looking for, just emphasize the "years of experience" on the guitar. This time I didn't use a preset, I just worked with the sliders visually to achieve the look I wanted, being careful not to "overdo" it.

Back in Photoshop, I used a layer mask and painted in the original background. As always, the original is available on the Continue link below. As is a comment area, which are free today, so have at it.

Flower Girl

Leica M9, 50mm F/1.4, f/2.4, 1/1000, iso 160

Found a new farmer's market to visit. Was wonderful!

Stained Glass

Leica M9

Here is a different take on my "going to church on Sunday" kind of posts. What do you think of this one?

Newt Pond

Canon 6D, 70-300mm, f/5.6, 1/80, iso 320

A fellow walker told me about this pond recently. I didn't know the name then, but later a mom and her kids stopped me on the road and asked if I knew where "Newt Pond" was. So now I have the name. Amazingly still and quiet area, and there are always a few birds enjoying the area too.

Flight

Canon 6D, 70-300mm, f/7.1, 1/1000, iso 100

I think most of us dream of flying, right? Living on the water, I'm treated to the flights of so many waterfowl. When I see two or three flying in formation, I often wonder what it would be like, flying together just a foot apart. Now I know what the view would be like!

Sky Cities

Was just finding my own way through Seattle recently and I came across a huge grafitti wall. Shooting from the car, I didn't really have time to admire the artwork. But once I saw it on my screen I realized these are sky cities. How cool is that?

Wordless Wednesday

On Wordless Wednesday, you tell the story...

Topaz Tuesday - Mt St Helens

Sony NEX-7, 18-200, f/10, 1/1250, iso 200

I flew to California last weekend for a business trip, left early in the morning. Luckily I sat on the right hand side of the plane and I had a tremendous view of Mt. St. Helens. The Sony is my "light travel camera" so that's what I had on me. I fired off several frames, aiming for a high shutter speed, given we were scooting along at 425mph or so.

When I looked at the image on the monitor, the blown out mountain was spectacular, but overall the image had that dull cast one gets when shooting through miles of atmosphere (not to mention a pair of plastic & glass airliner windows).

Could Topaz B&W Effects II come to my rescue? I was looking for a dramatic scene, and I settled on the Dynamic Grunge II preset, then visually worked a couple of sliders (contrast in particular) to zero in on my perceived treatment. I played around with the exposure, I didn't want it to look like a nighttime scene. But OTOH, this was 7 am in early Spring.

This Topaz BWE software is fantastic. As much as I love Lightroom and live there all the time, for B&W, Topaz really does it for me.

Compare for yourself, the SOOC image is on the Continue link below. Comments happen to be free today, so help yourself!

Model Monday

Canon 5D Mark II, 85mm F/1.2, f/1.2, 1/400, iso 320

Some fun from back in my model shooting days. Sure miss those shoots!

Sony NEX-7, 18-200mm, f/5.6, 1/80, iso 100

What an absolutely lovely evening we had in Ixtapa. Usually, night after night. Want to go?