Category: Fine Art Photo

Rigging for the Caisson Pick

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Nick Roberts

Rigging the Caisson For Lifting #1 — Rigging the Caisson For the Pick #1

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These Ironworkers are setting the rigging to pick this caisson and right it so that it can be lowered into the casing for final placement. To lift it two cranes must coordinate their actions so that the main crane can upright the assembly and transfer it from the barge to the pier casing. Photo Tip: Having the men in the photo helps give scale to the size of the structure.

Once more this is a three bracket set of exposures using -2, 0 and +2 EV to capture the broad dynamic range between the sky and the foreground I encountered. This is one of the most important reasons to learn and use HDR techniques so that in a situation like this there is a reasonable chance that there will be enough data to create a good image after merging the exposures.

I used NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and Aperture 3 to merge and process the image.

Rigging the Caisson For Lifting #2 — Rigging the Caisson For the Pick #2

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This second image is not an HDR image. There was too much movement of the cables and hooks, between frames in the bracket set; for the anti ghosting to handle in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2. I decided to take the normal (0 EV) exposure into Topaz Clarity to see how well it would do with the wide dynamic range. All in all I am fairly pleased with the way that I was able to bring out some shadow detail and still hold the sky detail using a single exposure. I know some folks like to take the normal exposure and change the exposure value in subsequent copies for a faux HDR look but I don’t go that route since there isn’t any additional data captured as there is when a bracket set is used.

Caisson Pick

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Nick Roberts

Lifting the Caisson Into Place — Moving the Caisson Into Place

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Yesterday morning the caisson for the bridge pier, 6R2, was moved into place inside the 12 foot diameter steel casing that will protect the bridge piers from damage once the bridge is finished and the river channel is reopened. The rebar caisson is over 60 feet long and moving it requires excellent coordination between the crane operator and the crew on the ground. The caisson must be precisely placed so that the connections to the next components of the tower can be completed. Not only are there Ironworkers involved but additionally there are Carpenters, Pile Drivers and Surveyors that have specific roles to play when these caissons are positioned. The men in the foreground are surveyors whose role is to make sure that the attachment points are properly aligned by accurately measuring exactly where the caisson is situated in the bore. Once all that is completed the cylinder will be poured full of concrete and the pier will be ready for the next piece to be attached.

This is a three frame bracket set of images shot at -2, 0 and +2 EV. The three images were merged in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 to create the HDR image. After merging and tonemapping the image was returned to Aperture 3 for final processing.

Sunrise Over the Ohio River Bridges Project

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Nick Roberts

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Today’s HDR image is from the Ohio River Bridges Project, Downtown Span, being built by Walsh Construction on the Ohio River in Louisville Kentucky; they are now working on the foundation for every pier across the river. This view is from the Indiana shore in Jeffersonville looking east. There are cranes on barges across the river; each one doing some piece of work essential to the foundation prep work. Looking south there are also cranes along the horizon where work is also progressing on the rebuilding of Louisville’s Spaghetti Junction which will tie the existing freeways into the new Ohio River Downtown Span.

I used my usual three bracket set of -2, 0 and +2 EV to capture the broad dynamic range in the scene. In my processing I first merged the three images in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 where I tone-mapped it before bringing the HDR image back into Aperture and into onOne Perfect Layers where I used some adjustment layers to intensify and enhance to colors in the scene. I also applied my sharpening in onOne Perfect Effects before saving the image for the web from Aperture 3.

Spaghetti Junction Sunrise

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Nick Roberts

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Today I’m sharing two versions of the same image to show how Topaz Clarity and Topaz Restyle can be used to create different feeling images from the same exposure. In the each version I worked the underexposed frame from the bracket set I shot for HDR processing. I opted to use this frame because I liked the way it emphasized the sky and obscured the foreground. The Clarity version allowed me to bring out the colors in the sunrise sky and the reflection in the foreground while still keeping the equipment subdued yet readable.

Spaghetti Junction Sunrise (Topaz Restyle Version, Fiery Night Preset Version)

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In this second version I used Topaz ReStyle and selected the Fiery Night Preset to really change the sky colors.As you can see it has an entirely different feel from the first image The only difference was the Topaz program I chose to use on the original image.

I intentionally allowed the exposure to be dark in the foreground to lend an air of mystery to the final image. One of the things I like about how ReStyle worked was the way it didn’t create or amplify any noise in the dark areas of the image.

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Using Topaz Adjust to Process Vintage Tin Photos

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Nick Roberts

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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.

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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.

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

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Speeddemon2 Photography

Fine Art Photography

Category: Fine Art Photo

Rigging for the Caisson Pick

Caisson Pick

Sunrise Over the Ohio River Bridges Project

Spaghetti Junction Sunrise

Using Topaz Adjust to Process Vintage Tin Photos