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Fujifilm X-E2 Lightroom Photography Photography - Fujifilm X-E2 San Francisco/California Street Photography VSCO Film

On the Chess Board

Players - San Francisco - 2014

Here’s a quick grab shot taken at Embarcadero Plaza in downtown San Francisco. The Plaza has a bunch of small vendors, artists, photographers, etc. selling their wares. It’s a busy place – especially around lunch time.

Last time we were there, there was a small table setup behind a couple of the booths with this chess board and pieces. As we walked by, I caught this quick grab shot – loving the angles, the lines and the textures in the pieces in the box.

This image was captured with a Fujifilm X-E2 and post-processed in Lightroom 5 using VSCO Film 05.

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Black and White Fujifilm X-E2 Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Canon PowerShot S100 Photography - Fujifilm X-E2 San Francisco/California Street Photography

The City and the Power of Light

Sutter Street - San Francisco - 2012

I was struck by the work of Chicago-based Marie Laigneau who I stumbled upon thanks to Jefferey Saddoris and a post of hers that he shared on his Faded and Blurred. Her work – in both color and monochrome – is beautiful.

She inspired to go back to some shots of mine from downtown San Francisco – and to try processing them a bit differently. The one above is from February 2012 and was shot with a point and shoot (Canon PowerShot S100). Same with the first one below.

The second image below is from last week’s photowalk with Doug Kaye – shot with a Fujifilm X-E2.

Dusk - San Francisco - 2012

Zellerbach - San Francisco - 2014

Categories
Black and White Fujifilm X-E2 Lightroom Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White San Francisco/California Street Photography

Catching Up

Catching Up - San Francisco - 2014

Here’s an image I almost tossed away. I wasn’t sure about catching the woman’s face in the lower left of the image – she walked into my otherwise perfectly composed (!) image.

But, after playing with it a while, I decided I really like the extra layering effect of having her – in all her unfocused glory – in the image.

Shot with Fujifilm X-E2, 55-200mm Fujinon lens. Post-processed in Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.

Categories
Black and White Fujifilm X-E2 Lightroom Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Fujifilm X-E2 Photoshop CC San Francisco/California

Humans and Food Trucks

Humans and Food Trucks - San Francisco - 2014

While wandering downtown San Francisco on Friday with Doug Kaye, we rounded a corner and came across three or four food trucks lined up front to back in this tiny alley – with not a lot of room on either side.

I captured this shot from the end of the line with my Fujifilm X-E2. When I first reviewed it, I marked as a reject. But tonight I came back across it and studied it a bit more. I noticed this guy on the right edge and the look in his eyes. In the original image, he was way to dark so a few strokes of Lightroom magic brought him back to life.

I then opted to do the black and white conversion using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 – it does such a great job and provides such great control.

Finally, I added an oil paint layer in Photoshop CC. The oil paint helped smooth things out a bit in some places and added texture in others – particularly the highlights. A final touch of feathered platinum toning brought the image to this point – worth sharing.

My images are really never done. I enjoy the process of re-processing them, applying new techniques that I’ve recently learned and experimenting for new looks. This is an image I suspect I’ll be coming back to – it’s rich in composition and so human in sensibility.

Categories
Fujifilm X-E2 Lighthouse Photography Photography - Fujifilm X-E2 Photoshop CC Street Photography VSCO Film

A Look Down San Francisco’s Market Street

Market Street - San Francisco - 2014

Doug Kaye and I were photowalking in downtown San Francisco on Friday – exploring some old familiar areas as well as a few new ones. At one point we crossed Market Street and I snapped this view heading to the Ferry Building. I was shooting on this particular day with my Fujifilm X-E2 with the 55-200mm Fujinon zoom lens.

This image was processed in Lightroom and VSCO Film before being touched a bit in Photoshop CC with the oil paint filter. I like how the oil paint filter (as well as Topaz Simplify) help remove some detail – decluttering the image just a bit.

Categories
Fujifilm X-E2 Lightroom Photography Photography - Fujifilm X-E2 San Francisco/California Street Photography VSCO Film

The Redhead

Redhead - San Francisco - 2014

While walking up one of our favorite blocks on Kearny Street in San Francisco, I happened to notice this woman in a beautifully lit alley off to my left. She was eating an apple – and casting a lovely image against that stage of a background.

Shot with my Fujifilm X-E2 and post-processed in Lightroom with VSCO Film 04 (Velvia 50).

An earlier image from this series follows. I love the stars and moons in her shoes!

Pensive - San Francisco - 2014
Categories
Black and White Fujifilm X-E2 Fujifilm X100S Lightroom Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Fujifilm X-E2 Photography - Fujifilm X100S VSCO Film

Misty Morning at Pigeon Point Lighthouse

Misty Saturday - Pigeon Point Lighthouse - 2014

This morning I headed over to Half Moon Bay and then south on Highway 1 to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. I was thinking I’d capture some of the fields of yellow that bloom in the springtime along the coast – but none of them motivated me to shoot! So I kept heading to the lighthouse – it’s always interesting and the weather can be hard to predict.

When I came up on it, it was swirling around in between the fog and the blue skies above – a very interesting subject to photography. The image above is one of the first. I’ve included a couple of others below. These images were shot with my Fujifilm X-E2 and Fujifilm X100S – and processed using VSCO Film in Lightroom.

A beautiful morning along the coast!

Aglow - Pigeon Point Light - 2014
Surf and Sky - Pigeon Point Lighthouse - 2014
Standing Tall - Pigeon Point Light - 2014
Categories
Filoli Fujifilm X-E2 Gardens Lightroom Photography Photography - Fujifilm X-E2 Photoshop CC VSCO Film

The Garden Path at Filoli

Garden Path - Filoli - 2014

A couple weeks back I headed to Filoli for my first visit this year – with my trusty Fujifilm X-E2 in hand. I’d decided to shoot the whole time with just the 14mm Fujinon prime lens – a beautiful wide angle lens.

Here are two versions of the same image from the X-E2. The top version has been processed in Lightroom with VSCO Film 05 which adds a film like quality to the overall image.

The version below is that same processed image but after a pass through Photoshop CC and a touch of the Oil Paint filter applied. I like both versions a lot – but find the visual interest added by the oil paint filter keeps my eye more engaged looking at the painterly version!

Garden Path - Filoli - 2014

Categories
Fujifilm X-E2 Lightroom Photography Photography - Fujifilm X-E2 Stages Street Photography VSCO Film

Boots on Stage

Boots - San Francisco - 2014

I’ve written before how one of the fun parts of street photography is to find an interesting background and then wait for something interesting to appear within it.

This is a shot like that – taken along San Francisco’s Kearny Street – when there’s no parking and the shops along the street provide a wonderful backdrop – a perfect stage. Gotta love those boots!

This image was shot with my Fujifilm X-E2 and post processed using Lightroom and VSCO Film 05.

Categories
Black and White Filoli Fujifilm X-E2 Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Fujifilm X-E2 Photoshop CC

The Olive Grove at Filoli

Olive Grove - Filoli - 2014

Filoli has a wonderful grove of olive trees outside the Visitor Center. I shot this image with my Fujifilm X-E2 – and post-processed it using Photoshop CC, Nik’s Silver Efex Pro, and more. A bit of platinum toning tweaked the color just a bit.