Tag: distillery

Moon Over Angel’s Envy

Moon Over Angel's Envy
Moon Over Angel’s Envy

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This image is a single frame from my exploration of the Vermont American Building last week. I used Topaz Clarity to process it before returning it to Aperture 3 for cropping, sharpening and color channel adjustments.

Angel’s Envy

Office of the Angels
Office of the Angels

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I really like to shoot buildings that are in a state of deterioration and neglect because they contain so many textures and interesting details. I enjoy the beauty of things as they weather and deteriorate and I strive to share that beauty with the world. The Japanese term Wabi-sabi, which means to appreciate and accept the forces of transience and imperfection and find the beauty that exists in the state of impermanence, is often applied to this type of photography. 

I was down on Main Street last week to photograph the construction taking place as the Ohio River Bridges Project begins to take shape along I-65. While shooting the cranes and the activity around them I also started shooting the Vermont America Building as it exists today. This image is from above the door at the old Vermont America Building which has been closed for many years but will be reopened in the future as Angel’s Envy Distillery. This building is slated be renovated as the main headquarters for Angel’s Envy Distillery.

I used a three frame bracket set of +2, 0 and – 2 EV at ISO 200 to create this HDR image. I processed it in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 to merge and tone map the image. I also created my own preset from these adjustments so that I could experiment with other versions such as monotone or black and white without having to go through the merging process again if I wanted to try applying them to the image. In the end I settled on this version as the one that best captured my vision for the image. I then returned the merged image to Aperture 3 where I completed the finishing touches such a sharpening and straightening.

 

 

 

 

Old Taylor Images Revisited

Reflected Memories #3
Reflected Memories #3

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This weekend I decided to return to some images I shot last summer at Old Taylor Distillery. I felt that I had grown greatly in my skills with NIK HDR eFex Pro 2 and wanted to see if I might improve on my earlier versions. I also wanted to make some corrections to the lens distortion with Photoshop CS5. I’m better satisfied with them after this round of processing and feel that I’ve learned a lot from going through this exercise. Just like using the camera requires constant practice to master it; using post processing software requires practice to become proficient. It all comes back to my manta “Practice, Practice, Practice” the more a photographer uses the tools of his/her craft the better he/she becomes.

Temple to the Whiskey Spirits
Temple to the Whiskey Spirits

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Reflected Memories #2
Reflected Memories #2

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Reflected Memories
Reflected Memories

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Temple to the Whiskey Spirits #1
Temple to the Whiskey Spirits #1

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One more shameless plug for my upcoming HDR workshop later this month here in Louisville. If you want to take your HDR processing to a new level this workshop is for you.

Nick Roberts – Using HDR Photography to Create Your Own Personal Style Tickets in Louisville, KY, United States.

Trompe l’oeil at Buffalo Trace Distillery

Trompe l’oeil at Buffalo Trace Distillery

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This image was taken last Saturday morning at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort Kentucky. The mural on the building is a trompe l’oeil painting. The term trompe l’oeil means “to fool the eye” and this mural does just that. As you walk past it the perspective seems to change and it appears that the wall in the back of the mural moves from side to side. It is quite a sight to see and to experience.

I shot a five exposure bracket set +2, +1, 0, -1, -2 which I then merged in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2. One problem I encountered after merging was with the clouds. I had the anti-ghosting set to 20% and the clouds were severely misaligned creating a very unnatural sky. I tried selecting a different reference image but the problem remained. I then boosted anti-ghosting to 60% but the problem was still there. My final attempt was to use the anti-ghosting at 100% which gave me an acceptable sky.

I applied a realistic preset in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and tweaked the temperature, black point and highlight sliders very slightly before returning the image to Aperture 3 for cropping and sharpening then I exported it for the web.

Where the Bourbon Was Born

Memories of Spirits Long Gone
Memories of Spirits Long Gone

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This image is a four exposure bracket set taken at ISO 200 without additional light added. One of the benefits of shooting for HDR is the ability to capture scenes such as this with the extended dynamic range that a bracket set encompasses.

By exposing at +2, +1, 0, and -1 EV I was able to capture the textures within the scene and then merge them using NIK HDR EFex Pro 2. I adjusted the exposure and details in NIK HDR EFex Pro 2 and then I took the resulting image into Nik Silver Efex Pro to create a montone image. As I experimented with the various presets I came upon the “Antique Plate 2” preset which allowed me to create an image that feels as if it were made in another time. I thought the preset fit the subject and gave it an aura of mystery that I was hoping for.

After completing the monotone image I returned it to Aperture 3 where I sharpened it slightly and made a few other minor adjustments.