Category: Topaz Plug-in

Racecourse Reflections

Posted on by Nick Roberts

Image

This week I would like to share some of the candid portraits I have taken in my travels across America. This young man’s name is Vic Briggs, sadly he lost his life last summer in an auto accident in South Dakota. He was a really quiet guy with a quick wit and good sense of humor and he is dearly missed by his friends and co-workers at Klock Werks Kustom Cycles in Mitchell SD.

I try in my portraits to capture the essence of the subject and to show them in their element. In Vic’s case it was as a crew member for the Klock Werks team at BUB International Motorcycle Speed Trials. The reflection in his glasses is that of the starting line staging tent. I like the way the motorcycles and the racers are shown in his glasses.

I processed this image using Topaz Adjust and Aperture 3. The composition is a standard rule of thirds. Not much to add beyond that.

One final note here, Vic was an advocate for organ donation and his organs went to help several people who needed them. In a sense he lives on through his selfless act of signing his drivers license as an organ donor. In memory of Vic; his friends and co-workers at Klock Werks established a fund for his children: Vic Briggs Memorial, Home Federal Bank, 714 S. Burr Street, Mitchell, SD 57301, (605) 996-8100

Thunder Under The Bridge

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Fireworks under Clark Memorial Bridge
Thunder Under the Bridge

This image was taken during Thunder Over Louisville which is billed as one of the largest fireworks displays in America. Thunder Over Louisville occurs every spring as the kickoff event of the Kentucky Derby Festival. For this shot I went under the Clark Memorial Bridge to get a different vantage point from the typical fireworks shot. By including the bridge’s architecture I was able to take a rather mundane subject and give it a sense of scale.

I processed this image in Aperture 3 and Topaz Adjust which really added punch to the texture of the stonework and enhanced the colors in the fireworks. The composition is balanced by the strong diagonal line of the underside of the bridge deck and the curve of the arch on the left which also reinforces the arc of the fireworks as they stream down from the sky.

 

Then and Now

Posted on by Nick Roberts

This image was taken at the 2010 NSRA Streetrod Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky. I titled it “Then and Now” because of the juxtaposition of the modern form of travel, the jetliner, with the Buick which would have been the way many people travelled in comfort and style in 1948.

I liked the big green Buick in the foreground and wanted to use it as the foreground anchor. The diagonal lines on the pavement serve to reinforce the angle the cars are parked as well as directing the viewer’s eye into the scene. I saw the jetliner making it’s approach to the airport and knew immediately that I wanted it in the photo. I shot several frames as it descended for landing and this one caught the airplane in the spot I liked best because it is framed by the clouds.

When I’m working at a car show the size of the Streetrod Nationals, over 10,000 cars typically, there is no way to shoot when the sun is low in the sky. The gates don’t open until well after sunrise and they are closed by early evening. Since I am shooting in some of the most unflattering light a photographer can get I must rely on subject matter and composition to get memorable shots.

I used Topaz Adjust on this image which helped bring detail back into the shadows while preserving the highlights. Topaz Adjust also does a fantastic job of accenting the texture in an image. In this image it enhanced the pavement texture as well as the clouds while punching up the colors of the entire image.

Tri-Five Beauty

Posted on by Nick Roberts

Among the lovers of the 1955 through 1957 Chevrolet the term “Tri-Five” is used to differentiate these models from the rest of their General Motors brethren. This gorgeous 1955 Chevy was parked at the Streetrod Nationals last year. I thought the overall restoration and modernization  of this car was outstanding. Even though it has been completely refitted with a modern driveline and custom wheels it is so well done it could fool most people into believing it is a stock 1955 Chevrolet. The interior was all reupholstered in new old stock factory seat covers and interior panels. The radio was hidden somewhere in the car but the controls looked like the original radio knobs and tuning dial.

I like this composition for it’s repetition of the forms that occur in the roof behind the car and the sky bridge at the left side of the image. The strong diagonals of the buildings reinforce the the placement of the car in the frame while the colors in the scene are harmonious and intensified. I used Topaz Adjust and Aperture 3 to process the image.

Mighty Mercury

Posted on by Nick Roberts

This 1946 Mercury coupe is the same car I used for my self portrait shot last week. I composed the image with the car coming at the viewer as if it were rolling out of the frame. Since one of my criteria for this shoot was to accent the reflections in the cars I really liked the way the reflection of the other cars showed up in the door on this car.

I processed this image using Topaz Adjust and Aperture 3 to intensify the color of he car and sky.