This was just a shot I took on a whim and it turned out pretty well. I saw the streak of light on the dresser and it occurred to me to put the watch in the streak. I took a couple of shots to make sure I got the depth of field right. I wound up with a bunch of similar shots, but I liked this one the best. The only post processing I did was a little cropping.
Read more
Crack in the Road
I was wrapping up the photo shot at the American Triple T race and happened to notice this crack in the road. It took a couple of tries as I could not see through the view finder but I was please with this result. the depth of field really highlights the crack, specifically the one stone on the left edge of the crack. I like the green and blue at the top also. I think it balances the monochrome of the bottom nicely.
Read more
How to Pull an Image Out of the Crapper
I got to spend the better part of Saturday photographing the HFP Racing American Triple T triathlon. There were a lot of great photo ops at the race, but I just stumbled into the one below.
I was on my way to the start when I saw this herd of triathletes making their way from the transition area to the swim start. I thought it was an awesome shot and started shooting away. Fortunately, I also did a little chimping and noticed that my camera was still set for the dark, shaded area of the transition. My shot was waaay over exposed. I quickly made adjustments and got a few more images but none of them were as good as this first one.
I didn't give up hope though, because I have Lightroom and Photoshop. I fired up Lightroom and started adjusting exposure, curves, contrast, white balance, and anything else I could thing of with no luck. The image was almost usable except the color was atrocious.
Then it hit me: Make it black and white, stupid.
What a great idea. So I did and you can see the result. The moral of the story is that monochrome gives you some added flexibility that color doesn't. If you have a shot with great composition but you completely borked the color, don't forget your old friend black and white.
Read more
I was on my way to the start when I saw this herd of triathletes making their way from the transition area to the swim start. I thought it was an awesome shot and started shooting away. Fortunately, I also did a little chimping and noticed that my camera was still set for the dark, shaded area of the transition. My shot was waaay over exposed. I quickly made adjustments and got a few more images but none of them were as good as this first one.
I didn't give up hope though, because I have Lightroom and Photoshop. I fired up Lightroom and started adjusting exposure, curves, contrast, white balance, and anything else I could thing of with no luck. The image was almost usable except the color was atrocious.
Then it hit me: Make it black and white, stupid.
What a great idea. So I did and you can see the result. The moral of the story is that monochrome gives you some added flexibility that color doesn't. If you have a shot with great composition but you completely borked the color, don't forget your old friend black and white.
May Photo Challenge 3
This is the third photo for the May Photo Challenge. The theme is still beverage. I'm starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel. I'm a big fan of beverages in general and have a lot of those pictures already. Maybe this is an opportunity to take a second shot at some of those photos to see if my experience and skill has improved.
When I tackled this shot at first I was completely at a loss for what to do. Then I remembered all the bar stuff I had and that bar tools might be a legitimate way to twist the "beverage" theme this week.
I was not very happy with my initial color versions so I changed to gray scale in Lightroom. The shot improved considerably. The next step was to fool around with Contrast, Fill Light, and Curves. It was almost there but I needed a little extra somethin-somethin...then I saw the Vignette option. I flipped things around a little though. This time I have a light vignette instead of a dark one. This turned the contrast of the entire shot from being balanced to high-key. High-key was what the shot needed. The light background and the dark foreground framed the shot nicely.
Read more
When I tackled this shot at first I was completely at a loss for what to do. Then I remembered all the bar stuff I had and that bar tools might be a legitimate way to twist the "beverage" theme this week.
I was not very happy with my initial color versions so I changed to gray scale in Lightroom. The shot improved considerably. The next step was to fool around with Contrast, Fill Light, and Curves. It was almost there but I needed a little extra somethin-somethin...then I saw the Vignette option. I flipped things around a little though. This time I have a light vignette instead of a dark one. This turned the contrast of the entire shot from being balanced to high-key. High-key was what the shot needed. The light background and the dark foreground framed the shot nicely.
May Photo Challenge 2
This is my second shot for the May Photo Challenge. I try to drink a cup of green tea every day. The problem is that green tea tastes like grass clippings soaking in the hot sun all day. Fortunately, Tazo infuses a little mint and lemon grass to cut the grass clipping undertones. I had my camera at work today and the pattern of the tea bag packages caught my eye.I made a few minor changes to the original shot. I increase the exposure a little and emphasized the blacks and shadows in Lightroom. I also pumped up the vibrancy a little to make the green pop a little more.
May Photo Challenge-1
This is my submission for the first day of the May Photo Challenge. The theme this week is "beverage". This particular beverage is about two fingers of Woodford Reserve Bourbon and a little ice. Very tasty.
With regard to the photo, I turned up the blacks and contrast in Lightroom. I also put in some heavy vignetting and a added some noise to the photo. It all just seemed to work for this shot.
I was all fired up to do some off camera flash work for this shot but found out that my battery died. Now I need to go out and buy a new 3V lithium for the trigger.
Read more
With regard to the photo, I turned up the blacks and contrast in Lightroom. I also put in some heavy vignetting and a added some noise to the photo. It all just seemed to work for this shot.
I was all fired up to do some off camera flash work for this shot but found out that my battery died. Now I need to go out and buy a new 3V lithium for the trigger.
