Canon 5D Mark II, 70-300mm F/4, f/5, 1/125, iso 250
Living by the beach, in a Northern climate, you get to see something I'm not very used to. Fall color on the beach. I have some shots of this scene both with the rocks, and just the log. Decided I like to include the rocks so you do get that "beachy feel."
I have often said here on the blog that some of the scenes I come across, and photograph, seem at the time like a natural Topaz subject. So it was with this scene as I strolled through NYC's West Village. I really enjoyed this neighborhood, there were lots of people walking and hanging out.
Everything about this scene was so photogenic to me. Once I got the image into Topaz Adjust 5, and hit it with the Spicify preset, I was pretty amazed at how the entire scene was brought to life. I thought about fixing up the perspective a bit, but to me the way it was shot adds a bit of character and quirkiness that I like.
As always, the original is available on the Continue link.
SOOC Image
Leica M9, 50mm F/1.4, f/3.4, 1/60, iso 200
Was walking through Seattle on a rainy day a few weeks ago. I saw this nice composition created by the wind and thought "why not?" Urban fall color. Something new.
Canon 5D Mark II, 180mm Macro, f/5, 1/320, iso 320
Nature always inspires and amazes me. So that certainly calls for inventing another new word - Rainwonder.
Leica M9, 28mm F/2.8, f/5.7, 1/8, iso 400
No, not in Australia, silly! It's Spring there right now. Got down under this amazing Japanese Maple in Seattle's Arboretum. Love the interplay of the tree trunk and the foliage.
Leica M9, 90mm F/2.8, f/6.7, 1/250, iso 800
I attended a workshop this past weekend, in Seattle. I'll have more to say on that later. We did most of our shooting at the Arboretum, a beautiful park that features plants from all over the world.
I thought I had this creek all to myself, and I was photographing some floating leaves, very close to the shore. I was pretty focused, when all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye this canoe comes into view.
I had only about 3 seconds to manually focus and get off a couple of shots. No time for any other camera settings, but it worked out just fine.
When I looked at the original file, I saw a lot of individual detail, way too much in fact. What I wanted was more of a picture of the stillness, the beauty this man must have been feeling. Certainly the image had potential.
Remembering the watercolor effect in Topaz Simplify, I went there and gave it a try. The preset was a good start, but not what I had in mind. But it is so easy to simply move the various sliders and instantly see the effect. Basically what I did was increase the watercolor effect, toning down what Simplify was doing with small details. I also decreased the brightness a bit.
Check out the original on the Continue link below. Note that this week I also am showing the pre-cropped version. The photographer leading the workshop definitely likes to fill the frame with the subject, so I'm giving that a go in this finished image.
Leica M9, 50mm F/2, f/3.4, 1/250, iso 160
We have a lovely greenhouse on our property. I had noticed how pretty the leaves resting on the slanted ceiling glass pieces looked. For a couple of weeks I meant to head out there with my camera and see what I could do.
Once I did, I realized this was going to be more challenging than I thought. In the composition department. Easy enough to take a competent picture of them. But moving around to find something interesting was challenging. It was darn cold, so I only fired off about 10 frames.
Then in Lightroom I looked for something interesting within each one, sometimes rotating the image. I decided this particular arrangment was working for me. A few adjustments with curves and luminosity, and there we have it.
Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm F/1.4, f/22, 1/5th, iso 250
I have been doing some abstracts recently and really enjoying them. All the bold colors are really working for me. What about you?
Leica M9, 35mm F/2, f/4.8, 1/60, iso 320
I believe I mentioned a while back that I had no plans for specific fall color shooting this year. Due to my schedule, I'd only get fall color shots if they happen to come my way.
Little did I know that here on Bainbridge Island I'd be treated to amazing fall color possibilities. Where I used to live, I'd drive hours to get to nice fall color locations. The scene above is five minutes from my house!
When we returned from Mexico, we found the entire island was awash in fall color. It's been joyous!
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