Tag: United States

On the Crew Boat with Lee

On the crew boat with Lee and Jeff
On the crew boat with Lee and Jeff

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In order to get to the various work sites on the Ohio River Bridges Downtown Span the workers have to ride in the crew boat. Lee Carson is the Operating Engineer assigned to run the boat. Lee works from before sunrise until after dark ferrying people from job to job. With work progressing on all the piers in the river he is constantly traveling from place to place getting engineers, workers and supervisors where they need to be throughout the day. Lee also has the inside scoop on what is happening at each pier and often gives me tips about significant events that are happening each day. Whenever I have question about where the action is taking place on a given day all I have to do is ride with Lee.

This image is from a three frame bracket set using +2, 0 and -2 EV exposures. I then merged the three exposures in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 using 100% anti-ghosting to get the two figures to render properly. After merging the files and applying a preset I built for this particular day’s shooting I returned the image to Aperture 3 for final color channel adjustments and sharpening.

 

Using HDR Photography to Create Your Own Personal Style Workshop

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

Fourth of July Funnel Cakes
Fourth of July Funnel Cakes

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There is still time to join me for my HDR workshop in Louisville, KY, November 9, 2013. Learn how to use HDR techniques and NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 to create images that reflect your own personal style in this hands on workshop. You’ll be taught how to shoot for HDR along with what equipment you’ll need.

Ohio River Sunset Panorama
Ohio River Sunset Panorama

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We will also go over shooting handheld brackets, using single frames and software plugins to create faux HDR and applying plugins from Topaz Labs and onOne Software to get unique results without beating your brains out in Photoshop. My past workshop participants have all said it was well worth the time and money to attend and they still share images with me that show how well the class prepared them to build their HDR expertise.

Parkland Morning
Parklands Morning

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Learn how to create images that defy the cliched, halo riddled, over saturated, grungy look that many people think of when thinking about HDR. After this workshop you will have the knowledge and the tools to create realistic yet powerful HDR images that show your vision for the subject without drawing attention to the technique that you used. In addition to learning how to use HDR to improve your images we will also talk about composition and it’s contribution to successful and memorable images.

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I have an affiliate relationship with Topaz Labs and onOne Software, and earn a small commission, which helps support this site, on any sales that are made by using the links below. Even if you aren’t ready to make a purchase you can use the links to access a Free 30 day trial of any of these products to determine whether or not they will fit your own digital workflow.

http://www.topazlabs.com/705.html

http://www.onOnesoftware.com/affiliates/idevaffiliate.php?id=459

One additional thing to note is that both Topaz FX and onOne Perfect Photo Suite can be used as stand alone photo editing programs as well as plugins for Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture and Photoshop Elements. Both Topaz FX and onOne Perfect Photo Suite have built in layering features that make it possible to combine their own plugins when using them.

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HDR Image of the Ohio River in Black and White

B&W HDR Image of the Downtown Span Construction Sites on the Ohio River in Louisville, KY.
B&W HDR Image of the Downtown Span Construction Sites on the Ohio River in Louisville, KY.

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This image was taken from the Big Four Bridge looking west over Waterfront Park and the Ohio River in Louisville Kentucky. It was a busy morning on the river, the construction tug was moving barges for the Ohio River Bridges Project, the Belle of Louisville was headed upriver and a tugboat was pushing the largest size tow downriver, five barges long and three barges wide, that can go through the McAlpine Locks at one time. The Ohio river carries more traffic than any river in America delivering cargo from Pennsylvania in the northeast to the Mississippi River in the west and vice versa.

I decided to make this image Black and White after merging it in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2. I first took it into Aperture 3 after merging my three frame bracket set where I applied some additional contrast and a vignette to the HDR image before opening it in Topaz B&W Effects 2.1 where I chose the Platinum preset. I adjusted the paper tone slightly as well as adding some additional contrast adjustments that the Topaz B&W version seemed to need.

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Don’t miss the 50% 0ff sale on Topaz Adjust  that is going on until September 30,2013. Topaz Adjust doesn’t go on sale very often and this is a great chance to save some money and get a true workhorse of a program. My entry into the world of plug-ins began with Topaz Adjust and I recommend that anyone wanting to explore that world take advantage of this opportunity.  Use the link below and the discount code septadjust when you order.

http://www.topazlabs.com/705.html

While there consider purchasing the entire Topaz Suite of programs. Topaz has done a lot of improving in the past few years and offers a very good line of software plug-ins that work well with Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture 3.

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Safety Orientation at Walsh Construction

Morning Ride
Morning Ride

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Yesterday morning I went to Safety Orientation at Walsh Construction to learn the protocols for job site safety while shooting on the Ohio River Bridges Project. It was a beautiful morning and since I was early I decided to capture a few shots of my bike while waiting for the class to start. I really liked the cloud patterns and the Colgate-Palmolive clock in  the background and set up my composition around them and the quarter view of the bike.

I shot my standard bracket set 0f +2, 0 and -2 EV to get my frames for an HDR image I was envisioning. Back at my desk I merged the three frames using NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 where I also tone mapped and adjusted the image detail and colors. I then returned the HDR image to Aperture 3 for final adjustments and sharpening.

HDR Ohio River Bridges Project

Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span #2
Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span #2

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 After a couple meetings with Walsh Construction I have been granted access to the construction sites after I complete the required safety training.  This week I will be going through safety training with Walsh Construction to familiarize myself with the safety procedures that I will need to follow while shooting the Ohio River Bridges Project.

I am excited and honored that they are allowing me to shoot onsite and really looking forward to getting started. It is a huge project and has over 50 individual spans that I will be following for the next three years as the project proceeds. I will be able to document the progress and the men and women who are building the bridges from now until the completion of the project.

I hope you will stick around as I record the day to day work that goes into a project of this scale and the men and women who will be doing the work. I intend to show as many facets of the job as possible from the construction workers to the engineering support teams and the folks who run the office side too. I’ll be shooting most of the work in HDR and I’m sure that there will be many discoveries as I try new software and new camera techniques throughout the next three years.