Category: Kentucky

Louisville’s Downtown Bridge Is Underway

Posted on by Nick Roberts
The first phase of construction on the Downtown Bridge is underway.
The first phase of construction on the Downtown Bridge is underway.

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This is another HDR image of  Waterfront Park looking west toward the crane that will be part of the skyline for the next couple of years. I shot this from the ramp to the Big Four Bridge overlooking the Swing Garden. I shot a handheld bracket set of three frames +2, 0 and -2 EV. I was able to hand hold the shots because it was mid morning and the light was high which resulted in relatively short exposures.

I first took the three RAW frames into NIK Sharpener Pro and applied adaptive sharpening to all of them. I then opened them in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 where I merged them and applied  the Deep 2 preset which I tweaked a bit to reduce some of the luminance and saturation. I then returned the merged image to Aperture 3 for final adjustment, sharpening and added a small vignette. In Aperture 3 I also adjusted the exposure and contrast as well as tweaking the individual color channels in the green, yellow and blue areas.

Louisville’s New Downtown Bridge

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Waterfront Park during the Downtown Bridge construction, June 27, 2013
Waterfront Park during the Downtown Bridge construction, June 27, 2013

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Work has begun on the Downtown Bridge carrying I-65 across the Ohio River from Louisville. The impact on Waterfront Park should be minimal because the Waterfront Development Corporation had the foresight to prepare a place for it to cross the park. The Waterfront Development Corporation made sure to keep any major component of the park out of this area in an effort to accomodate the bridge and still have a world class park along the Louisville waterfront. This type of forward thinking is the hallmark of the Waterfront Development Corporation which has returned the waterfront to the citizens of Louisville as the “Commons” that the city’s founders envisioned.

As with the Big Four Bridge project I am excited to see and photograph the changing face of Louisville as it continues it’s march into the future. Over the course of the next two years I will be following the construction and the people making it happen. After shooting the Big Four Project I have discovered how much I enjoy construction projects and will certainly be following this latest engineering feat as the work progresses.

I shot this image in the part of the day that most photography “experts” would say to put the camera away. The conventional thinking is that midday light is too harsh and the only time to shoot landscapes is during the “golden hours” or the “blue hours”. I don’t think that is necessary and subscribe to the belief that even when the sun is high in the sky there are plenty of good photo opportunities if one will only open one’s eyes and mind to the possibilities. This particular day the sky was full of interesting cloud formations as a low pressure front was pushing in from the south and colliding with a high pressure front from the north. Had the sky been empty I might have chosen another framing to show the park and construction project.

The image was created from a three frame bracket set using +2, 0 and -2 EV. I first took all three RAW images into NIK Sharpener Pro where I applied some initial sharpening. I then merged the three shots in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and applied the Deep 2 preset before returning the merged image to Aperture 3 where I applied several adjustments to saturation and luminance in an effort to tone down the colors slightly. I then straightened and cropped the image and applied the final sharpening.

A Path Through The Woods

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Enchanted Wood
Enchanted Wood

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Today I am sharing an HDR image that has been processed with Aperture  3, NIK HDR Efex Pro 2, Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop CS5, Topaz Clarity and OnOne Perfect Effects. I shot the scene along Floyds Fork in the new Parklands Park that is being developed in eastern Louisville. My bracket set was -2, 0 and +2 EV which gave me three versions to work with for my HDR merger and tone mapping.

I first took the three bracket set into NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 where I merged them and applied the Balanced Preset. After that I made some adjustments in Aperture 3 before opening the HDR image in Adobe Camera Raw where I adjusted color saturation and luminance and then saved it in Photoshop CS5 as a tiff file. I then used Topaz Clarity to add micro-contrast and further refine the colors in the image. After returning the image to Aperture 3 I adjusted the sharpening, definition and added a vignette. I then opened the image in OnOne Perfect Photo Suite 7 and used Perfect Effects where I first applied the Vecchio filter at approximately 75% opacity to warm the image even further. Next I added the Holga Filter to another layer in OnOne Perfect Effects before returning the image to Aperture 3 for final sharpening.

Kentucky Derby Festival 2013 The Great Steamboat Race

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Great Steamboat Race 2013
Great Steamboat Race 2013

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This image is from the Great Steamboat Race here in Louisville, Kentucky. Each year, as part of the Kentucky Derby Festival, Louisville hosts the annual Great Steamboat Race which pits her own steamboat the Belle of Louisville against any other contenders that show up. This year was the first time people could view the race from the Big Four Bridge in Waterfront Park.

This image is a single frame post processed in Aperture 3 without using any plug-ins. I liked the repeating shapes of the boat’s wakes as a reinforcement of the bridge beams and handrail.

Great Steamboat Race 2013 #2
Great Steamboat Race 2013 #2

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This image received the same post processing as the previous photo. I created a preset Effect in Aperture 3 based on the first image and was able to apply it to many of the images I shot that afternoon. After applying the preset to an image I could go into the adjustment panes and make small tweaks to each image as needed without having to start from scratch.

The Belle of Louisville in front of Waterfront Park during the Great Steamboat Race 2013.
The Belle of Louisville in front of Waterfront Park during the Great Steamboat Race 2013.

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I applied the preset to this image as well. It’s a real timesaver to build an Effect Preset in Aperture 3 and then apply and tweak it as needed.

Sunset on the Ohio River after the Great Steamboat Race 2013
Sunset on the Ohio River after the Great Steamboat Race 2013

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This last image was also processed in Aperture 3 using the same Effects Preset I created but since it was later in the day I had to go into it and readjust many of the sliders to emphasize the colors of the sky and it’s reflection on the river. Still it was nice to have the preset as a starting point that shared the same overall feel as the earlier images.

onOne Software Announces onOne Labs

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Hexagon House in Franklin Kentucky
Octagon House in Franklin Kentucky

There seems to be a lot of activity going on in the photo software industry lately, discount sales, new pricing, and new features are rapidly happening. With the announcement by Adobe to discontinue it’s CS Software program, and force any new Photoshop users go to their CC cloud based subscription, I think that many of the plugin makers will see an opportunity to build more photographer specific features in the future. OnOne Software is already offering their software in a stand alone suite and I expect other software labs to do the same. To that end OnOne seems to be taking a giant step with their new announcement about OnOne Labs blog where they will be previewing new ideas and seeking feedback from the photographic community.

I received the press release a few days ago but waited until the OnOne Labs blog was live before posting it here on SpeedDemon2.

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OnOne Software has just launched a  New Web Page That Provides Customers the Opportunity to Preview and Provide Feedback on Pending Technologies and Products 

Portland, OR – May 21, 2013 – onOne Software, Inc.®, the leading developer and provider of photo effects for everyone, has announced onOne Labs, a blog that lists new technologies and products being considered for development in the effort to gauge interest and solicit customer feedback. onOne Labs will allow visitors to learn about development projects, note their interest level, and offer constructive comments.

onOne Labs will allow visitors to directly engage with onOne Software in a collaborative development process and voice what’s important for their digital photography and image editing needs. Projects discussed will range from those early in the concept stage to those in the very beginning of development to those that are near completion. Projects will also be updated throughout their development to elicit additional feedback.

“Customer input has always been a key factor in the development of our product offerings” said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. “In the past, we have gained tremendous insight from our customers about their wants and needs through occasional phone calls, emails, surveys, and conversations at conferences. Going forward, we’d like to have an ongoing and direct conversation with our customers to make sure we are meeting their expectations and building the best products for their photography needs. We already have a number of exciting things in the works, which we believe will become great additions to our line up especially after getting customer feedback via these Labs.”

The onOne Labs currently includes discussions about features now in development for the next version of Perfect Photo Suite —including a Quick View Browser and a new Perfect Enhance module—and new product offerings, such as one with the working title, Lightpad. These projects are listed with descriptions and may include visual mock-ups or videos to further describe them. Each of these are now listed in the onOne Labs awaiting feedback.

Availability

The onOne Labs blog may be found at labs.ononesoftware.com. Inquiries and suggestions related to onOne Labs development projects but not listed there may be emailed to labs@ononesoftware.com.

As always I hope you will use my affiliate link in the righthand sidebar to go to OnOne Software. I earn a small commission on any sales made through that link which helps me defer the cost of operating SpeedDemon2.com.