Category: Software

End of Tractor Week

Posted on by Nick Roberts
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.

Cawker, Kansas Tractor

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Kansas Tractor #3
Kansas Tractor #3

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Here’s another image from Cawker, Kansas. I chose this one because I like the composition with the wheel coming forward in the frame as if it is on the verge of entering the viewer’s space. 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. 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 tractor.

One thing I currently strive for is to keep from overdoing the texture in these types of images. I like bold color but I try to avoid getting too much texture when applying the various filters to my Topaz work. I wasn’t always so restrained and when I go back to some of my earliest examples I wonder how I could have been so heavy handed with the software back then. I also credit Topaz Labs for refining their entire line of software and giving us the tools to take greater control of the various filters in it. As with many skills in photography the more one uses a given technique, or tool, the better one gets with it and they evolve into becoming a better photographer.

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Memo From the Department of Shameless Self Promotion

I am still accepting participants for my next HDR Workshop on May 17-18, 2013 here in Louisville. The last session was a great success; the participants all felt that it was time well spent and were applying the things they learned the next day. Here’s a link to the sign up page at Outdoor Photo Gear.

http://outdoorphotogear.ticketleap.com/using-hdr-photography/

“Using HDR Photography to Create Your Own Personal Style” Workshop Scheduled

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Alabama Morning #3
Alabama Morning #3

The link below will take you to the registration page for this session.

http://outdoorphotogear.ticketleap.com/using-hdr-photography/

I will be conducting a workshop  “Using HDR Photography to Create Your Own Personal Style” at Outdoor Photo Gear’s classroom facility May 17 and 18 here in Louisville, KY.

In this workshop, I will cover the techniques and tools that are needed to enter the fantastic world of High Dynamic Range photographs, and how to give those images your own personal style.

Workshop times are Friday May 17 from 7:00 – 9:00 PM and Saturday May 18 from 9:00am – 5:30 pm.

I will be teaching workshop attendees how to use the powerful NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 software as well as other NIK plugins for Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture 3 to create HDR images that range from Hyper Realistic and Super Saturated to pleasing realistic photos. This small group workshop will be extremely hands on, and each attendee will leave understanding the key elements of processing HDR images to create their own style.

Topaz B&W Effects 2.1 Released

Posted on by Nick Roberts

Topaz Labs announced yesterday that Topaz B&W Effects 2.1 has been released!  This upgrade is free  for all users who have already purchased Topaz B&W Effects. For those who don’t already own Topaz B&W and want to purchase Topaz B&W Effects 2.1 I have included a 15% discount code below.bw

Use the link below to Topaz Labs site where you can download a free 30 day trial.

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

Save 15% NOW by entering coupon code: “ NEW2TOPAZ ” during checkout.

New features include: 

A Zone System: Allows users to identify various zones in their images as well as observe the changes in zones as exposure and other adjustments are made. This is not an adjustment tool, but a visual aid.

Screen-Shot-2013-04-04-at-10.41.40-AM

Each number relates to a tonal range (0-3 are shadows, 4-7 are mid-tones and 8-10 are highlights) . The blue color will show where that particular zone is in the photo being edited on the image you are editing.

Borders: Prior versions of B&W Effects only had a choice of 2 borders: Solid Black or Solid White. This version adds many more options.

Tone Quicktools: Similar to the Color Filter buttons, quicktools have been added for Silver and Paper toning for: 1. Selenium, 2. Cyanotype (Gold/Blue), 3. Copper (Red), 4. Sepia and 5. Antique Dye *The 6th, white teardrop refers to No Tone

Apply Button: This feature allows a user to apply changes without having to exit the program. Multiple presets can be applied one on top of another and so forth.

Language Support: B&W v2.1 supports Spanish, French, German, (Brazilian) Portugese, Japanese and Chinese (Simplified and Taiwanese). If your machine has one of these languages set in the region/language settings, the UI will be rendered in that language.

I hope you enjoy the newest release. Feel free to post any feedback in the comment area below. Thanks and enjoy!