Point Montara Light Station

Point Montara Light Station - Montara - 2012

Late this afternoon, I headed over to Half Moon Bay – specifically to Montara and the Point Montara Light Station – to join up with a small group of Google+ photographers. I tried several HDR shots – none of which worked very well given the continuous movement in the ocean. But this image grabbed me – primarily because of the vanishing point effect of the clouds merging at the lighthouse.

I shot this with my Canon 5D Mark II on a tripod – using a Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 lens. I shot it at f/11 at 1/50 of a second and post-processed it in PhotoShop CS5 using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2 and Color Efex Pro 4 filters. I particularly like the wide tonal contrast around the lighthouse in this image.

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Scott Loftesness
in Black and White, Half Moon Bay, Lighthouse, Monochrome Photography, Nik Software, Photography, Photography - Black & White, Photography - Canon 5D Mark II | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Bane of Batteries – My 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid

IMG_0079.gif

I’m back from our local Honda dealer where I got the news that my 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid needs a new IMA battery. That’s the big battery (behind the seat in my Civic) the helps boost acceleration in concert with the small gasoline engine in this car. It’s a core component of the hybrid technology.

Earlier this week, the Check Engine and IMA lights popped on on my dashboard – although, curiously, when I headed out to the dealer this morning both lights were off! But the codes were still set – which the dealer readout – and pronounced the verdict. The battery needs to be ordered and then installed – a half-day downtime.

I shouldn’t complain too much about this – it’s covered under warranty and the car really has been trouble-free to this point. I ride it hard and put it away wet – so it’s proven its worth. I’ll be interested to see how it performs after the new IMA battery is installed.

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Scott Loftesness
in Cars, Honda Civic Hybrid | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

More on HDR Processing Workflows using Lightroom, Photoshop

Doug Kaye has added a new post that describes several workflows – including his new favorite – for High Dynamic Range (HDR) image processing using Lightroom, Photoshop and tools such as Unified Color’s HDR Expose/32 Float, LR/Enfuse, Photomatix Pro, Nik’s HDR Efex Pro, and more.

If you’re wanting to try HDR photography, Doug’s pretty much covered the bases on the various post-processing alternatives. I’m looking forward to trying out his newly recommended favorite technique using 32 Float in Photoshop!

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Scott Loftesness
in HDR Photography, Lightroom, Photography, Photoshop | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Such an Elegant Custom – Writing a Thank You Letter!

While recently going through some old boxes of work-related materials in an early attempt at spring cleaning, I came across an old file of mine containing thank you letters from colleagues and clients of mine back in years at IBM. Finding these letters made me abandon the cleaning process for a while – while I reminisced about the memories the letters brought to mind!

Having started my working life at IBM, I was shaped by the strong culture that was such a core part of the company. The IBM Basic Beliefs (Respect for the Individual, Customer Service, and Excellence) became part of my life in those early years. Especially that first one: Respect for the Individual.

One of the customs inside IBM that was a delight was the practice of just saying thank you. When you became an IBM manager, one of the accoutrements was a set of personal stationery that you used to just say thanks. Sending those letters was an important part of gratitude for me – and receiving them was just a delight.

I had such fun going back through this folder of personal thank you letters that I had received over the years. A practice and a tradition that’s certainly faded a bit in today’s email-based world – but one certainly worth remembering! Gosh, how I also wish I had kept copies of the thank you letters I sent as well!

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Scott Loftesness
in Business, Living, Work | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Tunnel View at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve

Tunnel View - Fitzgerald Marine Reserve - 2012

Yesterday, Doug Kaye and I headed out on a glorious January morning for some photography shooting over on the coast. We headed first to one of my favorite spots – Fitzgerald Marine Reserve north of Half Moon Bay. This county park has an iconic row of trees that offer a beautiful setting for us photographers. On some mornings, you’ll get fog – on others, a mix of fog and sun. Yesterday we had a glorious bright sun – but with that low sun angle this time of year.

I call this image “Tunnel View” – mimicking the Yosemite shots of that same name. I just love how these trees frame the path – and provide their own tunnel. The sun and shadows add layers to the image.

I shot this with my Canon 5D Mark II with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS L lens – and post-processed it from a single RAW file using Lightroom to export 0/+/-2 exposure JPEGS for processing in Photomatix Pro. I imported that result into Photoshop CS5 and further tweaked the image using Nik’s Viveza 2, Color Efex Pro 4 and the amazing Silver Efex Pro 2. I did a final blend in Photoshop before importing back into Lightroom for some final tweaks, noise reduction, a touch of vignette and a bit of love (!).

Hope you enjoy it!

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Scott Loftesness
in Half Moon Bay, HDR Photography, Lightroom, Nik Software, Photography, Photography - Canon 5D Mark II, Photomatix Pro | Tagged | 1 Comment

Coasting in 2012 – Pigeon Point Lighthouse

The Lighthouse - Pigeon Point - 2012

This morning I met up with Doug Kaye over on the coast – for a morning of shooting – of the photography kind. We started at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and then headed south to Pigeon Point Lighthouse before heading to Pescadero and Duarte’s Tavern (DOO-arts they say!) for a great cracked Dungeness crab lunch.

I’ve really come to appreciate these photo shoots with a friend – especially one who, like Doug, is pushing new frontiers and trying new techniques. As we explore a venue, we see through each other’s eyes – and see things we otherwise wouldn’t see. Try it sometime. It’s great fun!

This image is of the Pigeon Point Lighthouse on the San Mateo County coastline south of Pescadero. The light this morning was beautiful – and this black and white treatment features it!

This image was shot as a 3 image handheld HDR with my Canon 5D Mark II. I post-processed it first with Photomatix Pro (using undeveloped JPEGs exported from Lightroom 3 and Photomatix alignment by features), and then opened in Photoshop CS5. In Photoshop, I first adjusted with Nik’s Color Efex Pro 4 – specifically, tonal contrast and detail extractor. Then I brought the image into Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2 before finally bringing back into Lightroom for final tweaking, noise reduction, and uploading.

I’ll always remember this day and our time coasting the San Mateo coast! Beautiful!

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Scott Loftesness
in Black and White, Lighthouse, Lightroom, Nik Software, Photography, Photography - Black & White, Photography - Canon 5D Mark II, Photomatix Pro | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Better Approach to HDR Processing Workflow with Adobe Lightroom

Last year, I wrote a bit about my mid-2011 photography processing workflow. I talked about how, for single-image HDR processing using RAW images, I would open them in Photomatix Pro rather than using Lightroom’s export image capability. I also wrote how, for HDR bracketed images, I did use Lightroom’s export image capability to convert them to JPEGs for processing in PhotoMatix pro.

My friend Doug Kaye has shared his new insights about a better workflow for HDR processing – one that maximizes the dynamic range available for post-processing rather than limits it as the Lightroom export flow automatically does. Be sure to read his insights – along with those of Klaus Herrmann who introduced the notion creating extended EV value images as TIFF files from the original bracketed RAW images in his article “Creating HDR Images the Right Way.” If you have comments for Doug, please share them on his Google+ post.

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Scott Loftesness
in HDR Photography, Lightroom, Photography, Photomatix Pro, Photoshop | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Year’s Day 2012 at the Golden Gate

New Year's Day - San Francisco - 2012

In what’s become sort of a tradition for me, on New Year’s Day I head for the Golden Gate and see what I can find to start the new year off right.

Today, my favorite venue was blocked by construction fencing – so I headed to my next favorite venue – Baker Beach. I happened to arrive just as the California Hornblower sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge.

This image was shot in RAW with my Canon 5D Mark II and then processed tonight in Photoshop using Nik’s Color Efex Pro 4 and Silver Efex Pro 2 before importing into Lightroom 3 for final cropping (16:9), toning, sharpening and noise reduction.

There were a lot of people enjoying Baker Beach when I shot the original image – but they were removed using the content-aware healing brush in Photoshop CS5 – yielding this final image. I’m sure they don’t mind! ;-)

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Scott Loftesness
in Black and White, Golden Gate, Lightroom, Nik Software, Photography, Photography - Black & White, Photography - Canon 5D Mark II, San Francisco/California | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

What I’ve Learned about Photography in 2011

I Got You Babe - Battery Mendell - 2011

2011 turned out to be a big year for me in my pursuit of photography skills. As I reflect back on my learnings, I thought I’d try to write down the highlights of the year for me in this New Year’s Eve post.

Beginning with my purchase of my first digital SLR about five years ago (a Canon 30D which I purchased immediately after reading Doc Searls post about his evaluation of this camera!), I’ve been making steady progress learning more about both the most important shooting skills for capturing images as well as the post-processing techniques that can really help enhance an image.

For me, it’s all about trying to get it right at capture time in the camera – but then also maximizing the image’s beauty in post-processing. Among other things, I’ve learned that even if the capture isn’t perfect, the end result can still be stunning with the right post-processing. But, it all begins with trying to get the right image at capture.

Continue reading →

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Scott Loftesness
in iPhone 4S, iPhoto, Nik Software, Photography, Photography - Canon 5D Mark II, Photography - Canon PowerShot S100, Photography - Canon PowerShot S90, Photography - Canon PowerShot S95, Photomatix Pro, Photoshop | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Most Popular Posts of 2011

As we’re wrapping up 2011, I took a look back at what posts on this blog generated the most page views during 2011. Here’s the top twelve list (in honor of 2012!) – along with my commentary on each post:

Continue reading →

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Scott Loftesness
in Blogs/Weblogs, Cooking, HDR Photography, Living, Photography, Photography - Black & White, Photography - Canon 5D Mark II, Photography - Canon PowerShot S90, Photography - Canon PowerShot S95 | Leave a comment