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I decided to do some exploring of combining plugins from NIK Software and Topaz Labs using these images of a stunning 1941 Ford Pickup that I discovered while shooting at the 2014 NSRA Street Rod Nationals. The NSRA Street Rod Nationals come here to Louisville the first weekend in August each year. I usually shoot as many cars as I can each year and this year was no exception. I am always amazed by the imagination, creativity and craftsmanship that the street rod crowd exhibits.
This year I joined several fellow photographers for an evening photo walk near the main entrance to the Kentucky Exposition Center. While going around the parking lot at one of the restaurants there I came across this 1941 Ford Pickup. While I was photographing the hood and grill details the builder of the truck came up to chat. His name is Larry Burchett and he owns B Rod or Custom in Knoxville, TN. He gave me his card and a little background on the vehicle. I went home that evening and while processing the images I shot that evening I decided to call him and ask him to allow me to shoot it again in a better setting. The images from the restaurant were interesting but they had reflections of a late model truck on the sides of the pickup and I thought I could get some nice shots in another setting.
Larry agreed to meet me late Saturday at Papa John’s Stadium where we could have the cabooses that people use for pre-game parties as a backdrop. I had been experimenting with an 8mm Sigma Fisheye lens during the weekend and I wanted to shoot this truck with it again. I also used my Nikkor 18-55 mm lens and my 12-24 mm Nikkor for this shoot.
Today as I processed the images I decided to experiment with using Topaz and NIK plugins after creating HDR images from each bracket set. I shoot a three frame bracket set nearly all the time because I really want the option of creating HDR images. By doing so I also have a Normal Exposure frame that I can quickly process as a jpeg if the need for quick turnaround presents itself such as for immediate publication.

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For the first two images in this post I followed my usual HDR processing using NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 to merge my bracketed set of -2, 0 and +2 RV Exposures using the Balanced Preset with Accentuated Detail and Deep Drama sliders. I then took the image into NIK Analog Efex and used Classic Camera 7 as my starting point there. I boosted Detail 16%, Contrast 37% and Saturation 41% and them added one of the Scratches presets at 77%. I then set the Vignette to Rectangular, Film Type to Subtle OZE #3. I also created my own preset from these settings which I applied to other images in this post.

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For the B&W above I used Topaz B & W Effects to create a cool toned image and applied a soft border to the final result. In this image I used my standard HDR processing as the first step before applying the Topaz B&W Effects.

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For the image above I started with three bracketed 8mm Sigma Fisheye images that I first merged in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2. I then took the merged image into Photoshop CS5 where I applied lens correction and cropped the resulting image. I then took that image into Topaz B & W Effects where I used the Palladium presets to build my own preset. I dropped the transparency by approximately 50% which allowed some of the underlying colors to show through without being too intense.

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For this version I went back to my NIK Analog Pro preset and made a few changes to the Scratches preset based on the way it looked on my iMac screen.

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In this version I applied my Topaz B&W Effects preset and further reduced the opacity to allow more saturated color to appear.

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The image above is my basic HDR image processing that I used for the basis of all the images in this post.

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The image above started as a HDR that was created in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 using the Balanced Preset with the Detail slider set to Accentuated and the Drama slider set to Deep. After returning the merged file to Aperture 3 for some refinement of the color channels. I added sharpening and saved the file.

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The image above started out as a HDR that was created in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 using the Balanced Preset with the Detail slider set to Accentuated and the Drama slider set to Deep. After returning the merged file to Aperture 3 for some refinement I opted to use NIK Vivesa to make this version.
WONDERFUL images by using plugins to create stunning effects! LOVE these!!
Thanks Ellen I’m pleased to hear that. I realize they are a departure from my usual work. I wanted to create something fresh from this year’s NSRA event.
I’m pleased to hear this Neva; thanks too for the kind comments about the images.
Greasy results
Pic 7&8 are my favorite
Have not done anything myself since 2002
The last good guys was summer nationals in Indianapolis 1998
Great work
Sorry great results
Damn auto correct
Greasy works too. 😉
all are wonderful, Nick … tweeted!
Thanks on all counts Lois