Tag: texture

Angel’s Envy

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Office of the Angels
Office of the Angels

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I really like to shoot buildings that are in a state of deterioration and neglect because they contain so many textures and interesting details. I enjoy the beauty of things as they weather and deteriorate and I strive to share that beauty with the world. The Japanese term Wabi-sabi, which means to appreciate and accept the forces of transience and imperfection and find the beauty that exists in the state of impermanence, is often applied to this type of photography. 

I was down on Main Street last week to photograph the construction taking place as the Ohio River Bridges Project begins to take shape along I-65. While shooting the cranes and the activity around them I also started shooting the Vermont America Building as it exists today. This image is from above the door at the old Vermont America Building which has been closed for many years but will be reopened in the future as Angel’s Envy Distillery. This building is slated be renovated as the main headquarters for Angel’s Envy Distillery.

I used a three frame bracket set of +2, 0 and – 2 EV at ISO 200 to create this HDR image. I processed it in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 to merge and tone map the image. I also created my own preset from these adjustments so that I could experiment with other versions such as monotone or black and white without having to go through the merging process again if I wanted to try applying them to the image. In the end I settled on this version as the one that best captured my vision for the image. I then returned the merged image to Aperture 3 where I completed the finishing touches such a sharpening and straightening.

 

 

 

 

Funnel Cake Fourth

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Fourth of July Funnel Cakes
Funnel Cake Fourth

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This past week I attended the Fourth of July event in Louisville’s Waterfront Park to capture some fireworks images. While waiting for the fireworks show to begin I wandered around the park looking for images that spoke to the idea of festivals and the attendant support services that are needed whenever large groups of people gather for a celebration. The sky was leaden with the remnants of our unrelenting week of rain and thunderstorms so I went in search of some color to shoot.

As I strolled through the park I came upon the food vendors area and was immediately drawn to the scene you see here. I liked the graphic quality of the signage and the lights on and in the funnel cake vendor and decided to create a composition that incorporated it. I found a place behind the food wagons that also held some promise of a strong foreground element. I set my tripod up and shot this image because I enjoyed the strong diagonal lines and the contrast of colors between the booths and the park’s water feature. I also liked the way the stainless steel rails contrasted with the concrete and the angles that they created.

I shot a three frame bracket set using +2, 0 and -2 EV to be sure that I had a wide dynamic range to work with. Back at my computer I first took the three RAW frames into NIK Sharpener Pro and pre-sharpened them. I then opened the three images in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 where I merged them into a HDR image. I applied the Deep 2 preset and then adjusted the amount of tone mapping and contrast to suit my taste. After the initial tone mapping was completed I returned the HDR image to Aperture 3 where I adjusted the individual color channels to bring out the reds and yellows of the signage. I also added some additional adjustments to the contrast and sharpened the image before adding a small vignette to it.

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/

More Playing with Topaz Adjust

Posted on by Nick Roberts
He Retired in Kansas
Retired Kansas Farm Truck

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Here’s another image from Cawker, Kansas. 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. Once again 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 old Ford farm truck. Spicify really enhanced the crazed windshield glass as well as the reflections inside the headlights.

The current version of Topaz Adjust has the ability to create layers of effects and control the amount and transparency they apply. Not only that, they have added a robust Vignette and Borders feature that didn’t exist in earlier version. I can also apply sharpening within the Topaz application which allows me to finish the image inside Topaz and eliminate the added step of returning to Aperture 3 for final sharpening.