Category: Vintage Tin

Using Topaz Adjust to Process Vintage Tin Photos

Rusty 1940 Chevrolet Detail
Rusty 1940 Chevrolet Detail

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On my motorcycle ride up US 31 yesterday I came across a 1940 Chevrolet sedan sitting outside BABBS Auto Collision Center in Sellersburg Indiana. It was around 12 o’clock and the sun was pretty high in the sky which is almost always regarded as a poor time to shoot anything. I decided to stop anyway and shoot some rusty vintage tin for processing with Topaz Adjust. I knew from experience that the Spicify preset in Topaz Adjust would reveal a rainbow of iridescent colors in weathered dark paint that is streaked with iron oxides from the rust around it. As you can see I was well rewarded and captured some incredible textures and colors in this image. I finished it with a small black border that just felt right to me when I applied it.

Rusty 1940 Chevrolet Detail #2
Rusty 1940 Chevrolet Detail #2

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Here’s another version of the same car from another frame that I captured with a normal exposure value. The previous image started out as a 2 stops underexposed frame and this normal exposure produced even more iridescence when the Spicify preset was applied in Topaz Adjust. As with the previous image I added that small black border I have come to like for these sorts of images.

Rusty 1940 Chevrolet Detail #3
Rusty 1940 Chevrolet Detail #3

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Same basic processing as the two previous images using Topaz Adjust and the Spicify preset.

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End of Tractor Week

Kansas Tractor #2
Kansas Tractor #2

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Today’s post is the last one I want to share from my Kansas tractor series. Sometimes a detail is all that is needed to tell a story; I think that is the case with this image of an Allis-Chalmers grill shell and Allis-Chalmers emblem. The patina, the complex curves of the metal and the Allis-Chalmers emblem speak to an era long ago when industrial design was also concerned with aesthetics. The farm trucks in the background exist as metaphors for a time when America was struggling to survive the Great Depression and tractors such as this Allis-Chalmers were working to feed the world.

Because I was working with a single frame I used a preset in Topaz Adjust that I built especially for these images. I started with the Spicify preset that I dialed down to a level that emphasized texture and color; I then added a vignette and a border to the image as my finishing touches.

More Playing with Topaz Adjust

He Retired in Kansas
Retired Kansas Farm Truck

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Here’s another image from Cawker, Kansas. I had a polarizer on my Nikkor 12-24 mm lens which really cut down on the glare and saturated the colors before any processing was done. Once again the sun was almost directly overhead but by using Topaz Adjust with the Spicify preset I was able to bring out the texture and patina on this old Ford farm truck. Spicify really enhanced the crazed windshield glass as well as the reflections inside the headlights.

The current version of Topaz Adjust has the ability to create layers of effects and control the amount and transparency they apply. Not only that, they have added a robust Vignette and Borders feature that didn’t exist in earlier version. I can also apply sharpening within the Topaz application which allows me to finish the image inside Topaz and eliminate the added step of returning to Aperture 3 for final sharpening.

Alabama Morning

Alabama Morning

These Fords were in a wrecking yard in Alabama a couple of years ago. The cars I find in the southern states have a much different patina of rust on them than the cars out west of the Mississippi River do. The climate in the south is much more humid and therefore the rust is more agressive. The oxidation process creates a much rougher surface which in turn traps more moisture that then eats away at the metal more aggressively.

I liked the way the early morning sun was lighting the scene and how it really emphasized the texture on the 1949 Ford in the foreground. The contrast of the smooth chrome and glass in the headlights really caught my eye. The cars are framed to in a typical rule of thirds composition and the rust on the roof in the background draws the viewer’s eye back in the scene while reinforcing the colors of the cars.

There wasn’t much I needed to do in processing to get this image finished. I used a little of the Spicify preset in Topaz Adjust to punch up the texture and saturate the colors before returning the image to Aperture 3 for final sharpening and output.

Freebird

Chevy
Freebird

This image is another pseudo HDR I created a couple of years ago using  Topaz Adjust. The advantage of using these plug-ins is that they can often salvage an otherwise flat image and allow me to create something rich and dynamic. The ability to extract information and enhance the colors and details within the original file is the main reason I started using them. I don’t think they are an answer for every situation, if the image is poorly composed they won’t help it, but if the exposure range is too extreme they can be invaluable and allow me to rescue my original idea for the photo.

This image works because of the composition which adheres to the rule of thirds. By giving the car the bottom two thirds of the frame and placing the hood ornament at the intersection of the of the upper right third of the frame the viewer’s eye is directed there. The colors of the sky reflect in the chrome and tie the blue of the sky into the dark browns and oranges of the rust on the car. The yellowish orange of the clouds further emphasizes the complimentary color scheme of the photo too.