Showing posts with label seattle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seattle. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Come for the Coffee, Stay for the Overcast Skies
Seattle is my home, always will be (if I can help it). I love it here. Coffee shops out number natives two to one. Everyone dresses like they are ready to go hiking at all times. And it rains, more then I care to admit. Yes, when you live in a place where everyone is suffering from seasonal depression, your false god of choice is the sun.
To this point, today I photographed my son Tyler minutes before the rain began to fall. In any other place common wisdom would suggest that today wasn't the right day to trespass into a secluded car graveyard with preschooler and camera in hand. (Some of you are thinking- it's NEVER a good idea to trespass. You are correct; but I lean towards getting the shot and then asking forgiveness later.) The reason I was so willing to risk rain and hillbilly gun fire was the light. Perfect, seductive, overcast light.
The combination of high clouds bloated with moisture and the noon day sun makes a celestial soft box that will softy kiss the cheek of any subject and provide delicious saturated colors. Minimal work, I just have to be there. Joe McNally's blog (which I highly recommend) spoke of this back in Feb. As a photographer we wait on the light, we are subject to it's every whim, and love every moment.
Tyler on the other hand was not so enthusiastic. The clouds and approaching storm meant cool temperatures and wind that he said "hurts my eyes." I bribed him heavily and he smiled about three times.
The real magic of this photo I think is the shoes. The red pop is really nice and the color on the car is classic. I did however enhance it slightly. This is an easy trick though. Create a layer in photoshop and set it to color mode with about 20-30% opacity. Then chose a deep rich color and paint on your layer. The color will be applied to the image. I made several different color layers with different tonalities and opacities to achive the desired look. The rope was also traffic cone orange in the original image. I toned it down by adding a slight green on one of my color layers. Finally I increased the saturation and contrast slightly, watching carefully to avoid loosing information in the highlights and done! The 24x36 gallery wrap print is already set to be ordered and placed above my fireplace (with the images of his sister and brother of course) in just a few weeks.
To this point, today I photographed my son Tyler minutes before the rain began to fall. In any other place common wisdom would suggest that today wasn't the right day to trespass into a secluded car graveyard with preschooler and camera in hand. (Some of you are thinking- it's NEVER a good idea to trespass. You are correct; but I lean towards getting the shot and then asking forgiveness later.) The reason I was so willing to risk rain and hillbilly gun fire was the light. Perfect, seductive, overcast light.
The combination of high clouds bloated with moisture and the noon day sun makes a celestial soft box that will softy kiss the cheek of any subject and provide delicious saturated colors. Minimal work, I just have to be there. Joe McNally's blog (which I highly recommend) spoke of this back in Feb. As a photographer we wait on the light, we are subject to it's every whim, and love every moment.
Tyler on the other hand was not so enthusiastic. The clouds and approaching storm meant cool temperatures and wind that he said "hurts my eyes." I bribed him heavily and he smiled about three times.
The real magic of this photo I think is the shoes. The red pop is really nice and the color on the car is classic. I did however enhance it slightly. This is an easy trick though. Create a layer in photoshop and set it to color mode with about 20-30% opacity. Then chose a deep rich color and paint on your layer. The color will be applied to the image. I made several different color layers with different tonalities and opacities to achive the desired look. The rope was also traffic cone orange in the original image. I toned it down by adding a slight green on one of my color layers. Finally I increased the saturation and contrast slightly, watching carefully to avoid loosing information in the highlights and done! The 24x36 gallery wrap print is already set to be ordered and placed above my fireplace (with the images of his sister and brother of course) in just a few weeks.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Panorama: How to shoot and stitch with CS4
When I was in college one of my assignments was to shoot and then combine photos into a panorama. Back then we were using Photoshop 7 the software that would put together panoramas was just barely hitting the market. It was still better to do the work yourself, one photo at a time. Today the process is uncomplicated and available to anyone with CS4. Here's what you need to do.
1. Choose your location. I love night shots and downtown Seattle. So during a warm summer night I spent an hour on the corner of Pike and 4th Ave shooting a variety of frames.
2. Keep the following things in mind while shooting: use a 50mm lens to avoid distortion, overlap enough to provide a reference point, and use a tripod. It's hard to keep the same position when hand holding and the slightest movements on your part can ruin your hard work. Plus if you choose to do a night shot like me, your exposures will be for several seconds each. I would also suggest shooting with a small aperture, say F22 for maximum depth of field.
3. Once you've taken your shots and selected the frames you want to use open them in Photoshop CS4. You can also select a folder where your images are, but I like to open them first just to make sure they are the ones I wanted since I always shoot more versions then I need, just in case.
4. Select File>Automate>Photomerge to start the process. A window will open listing a number of different options for how to best create the final image. Feel free to experiment with each of these to get the results you want. Auto worked for this image and so did Reposition, both options will probably work for most people, especially if you follow my advice and use a 50mm lens and tripod.
5. Add Open files and then go make a sandwich while CS4 does the work.
6. Crop your image since there will be jagged edges and edit your image for color, sharpness, and contrast as necessary.
7. Buy a very long, skinny frame.
Tomorrows blog post:Color balance and correction.
1. Choose your location. I love night shots and downtown Seattle. So during a warm summer night I spent an hour on the corner of Pike and 4th Ave shooting a variety of frames.
2. Keep the following things in mind while shooting: use a 50mm lens to avoid distortion, overlap enough to provide a reference point, and use a tripod. It's hard to keep the same position when hand holding and the slightest movements on your part can ruin your hard work. Plus if you choose to do a night shot like me, your exposures will be for several seconds each. I would also suggest shooting with a small aperture, say F22 for maximum depth of field.
3. Once you've taken your shots and selected the frames you want to use open them in Photoshop CS4. You can also select a folder where your images are, but I like to open them first just to make sure they are the ones I wanted since I always shoot more versions then I need, just in case.
4. Select File>Automate>Photomerge to start the process. A window will open listing a number of different options for how to best create the final image. Feel free to experiment with each of these to get the results you want. Auto worked for this image and so did Reposition, both options will probably work for most people, especially if you follow my advice and use a 50mm lens and tripod.
5. Add Open files and then go make a sandwich while CS4 does the work.
6. Crop your image since there will be jagged edges and edit your image for color, sharpness, and contrast as necessary.
7. Buy a very long, skinny frame.
Tomorrows blog post:Color balance and correction.
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