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Topaz Tuesday - B&W at Palouse Falls

Canon 6D, 70-200mm F/2.8, f/32, 1/5th, iso 100

Although I have been to The Palouse twice before, I hadn't taken the time to visit Palouse Falls. This time our group wanted to go there. It was raining and the light really wasn't the best, but what the heck, we were there.

My image just wasn't matching up with what I felt a Palouse Falls shot should look like, so I decided to try black and white. Topaz BW Effects did a very nice treatment. I began with the Infrared II preset, and worked with a few sliders after that.

I feel the spray at the bottom of the falls is more dramatic in B&W than in color. But judge for yourself, the original is on the Continue link below.

Topaz Tuesday - Architectural Abstract

Leica M9

Another interesting scene I saw while walking the streets of NYC. After seeing this on my monitor, I felt it would make a good B&W, so into Topaz B&W Effects we go!

Just a few simple adjustments with the sliders and I had the kind of edgy B&W I am looking for. I think the B&W version draws me into the image more than the color version. See for yourself, the original is on the Continue link.

Topaz Tuesday - The Kiss

Canon 6D, 24-70mm F/2.8, f/4.5, 1/60, iso 200

As I mentioned, I shot a wedding recently. This was one of the shots the bride had in mind. Was fun doing it with all the rose petals. Tricky shot though, keeping my feet out. Actually just had to hold the camera out at arms length and fire blindly.

It's great in color, no doubt. But as I was looking at it, I thought "hmmm, possibly B&W, let's try Topaz BWE." I tried a few presets and settled on Warm Tone II. Added a bit of protect highlights.

Really happy with this treatment. What say you? Original is on the Continue link.

Topaz Tuesday - Just for FUN!

Canon 6D, 70-200mm F/2.8

Really, it's just for fun. Overall, these days I'm not much into any heavy duty processing of my images. I was showing some relatives around Seattle, and so you just have to go to Kerry Park, right? An overcast day. But you just have to take a shot, right?

So I thought, well, here is one I can go overboard with. It's just for fun. Shows what Topaz Adjust 5 can do (the sketch-color preset). More digital art than photography.

Every once in a while, we can just do something different, something crazy. Original is on the Continue link below.

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.

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!

Topaz Tuesday - Broken Nose

Canon 6D, 24-70mm F/2.8, f/3.5, 1/1250, iso 800

In the junkyard, every car is injured, beat up or mangled in some way. This particular car though, gave me a bit of a giggle. Like an amateur fighter, where mostly he looks pretty good except.. what is it? Oh yes, that broken nose!

Felt like a black and white treatment would emphasize the nose not to mention the beautiful lines of our old warrior. In Topaz BW Effects, I ended up with a Platinum preset, then increased contrast, did some protect highlights to take the sheen off the hood, and gave it a bit of detail boost.

I find working in Topaz BWE to be by far the easiest way to achieve the black and white looks I have in my mind when I see a color image. Speaking of white, the color version is on the Continue link below. Let me know how you like this one?

Topaz Tuesday - Ghost Driver

Canon 6D, 70-200 F/2.8, f/2.8, 1/250, iso 250

I came upon this scene in my recent "junkyard shoot," and the title appeared in my mind pretty quickly. An old "Greyhound" style bus, that had been used by the Navy. Probably Korean war days I would say.

Mother Nature is having her way with this grand old lady, one day at a time. Yet it seemed to me perhaps the Ghost Driver was making regular appearances, and keeping her in something of a worthy condition. Perhaps an occasional spin around the expansive junkyard happens when we are all sleeping?

The image felt like a good candidate for black and white. So into Topaz B&W Effects. I quickly saw that I needed to darken the edges and the railings to achieve more focus on the chair. Back to Lightroom, where I used GND's on the left, right and bottom areas. I then painted the two railings going up, and took their highlight setting to zero.

Now back in Topaz BWE, I was pretty sure one of the "grungy" presets would work for me. I settled on Dramatic II Grunge, then gave it some Protect Highlights slider (as the windows were even brighter) and a bit of Detail Boost.

All aboard for a midnight ride?

Check out the color version on the Continue link below, and feel free to leave a comment on this image if you'd like to. Think of it as a tip to the Ghost Driver.

Topaz Tuesday - The Harley

I shot today's image in a museum in Oregon. I selected it as a candidate for Topaz Black & White Effects because as a color image, the cycle was competing with the brightly colored wing in the background.

Going into BWE, basically I tried several presets before settling on Cool Tone III, it was exactly what I was looking for. Wasn't any harder than that.

Compare to the original yourself, it's on the Continue link below. Must have been a thrill to ride that beast!

Comicon Series, Day 2, Topaz Tuesday

Leica M9

Found this lovely girl outside of the convention center. I think she has done a bit of modeling before! I just did a simple treatment in Topaz Black & White Effects. I selected one of the Platinum presets - that's it!

I think it's great in color too. Just a different feel. You can check out the original on the Continue link below.