Category: iPhone 5s

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iPhone 5s Photography

Highway 1

Highway 1 - California - 2014//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

In June of 2014, I was up in northern California – in Humboldt County – for a workshop with Michael Frye. That time of year is pretty magical along the northern California coast – with the fog coming in overnight and – sometimes – burning off in the mornings.

On this particular day, we were heading south along California Highway 1 to our first stop. This image was captured in the car – following Michael’s – with my iPhone 5s heading into the morning light. One of my favorites from the trip!

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Black and White iPhone 5s Lightroom Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White San Francisco/California

Channeling Fan Ho along San Francisco’s Embarcadero

Belle - San Francisco - 2014

A while back while watching one of Kelby’s videos with Jay Maisel, Jay mentioned some other photographers whose work he enjoys. One of them was Fan Ho – who Jay thought was copying his work until he learned that Fan was older than him!

We recently visited an exhibition of Vivian Maier’s photography at a gallery on Geary Street in San Francisco – and down the hall was the Modernbook Gallery which has published a couple of books of Fan Ho’s work and had several examples hanging in their gallery. One thing that pops out when you look at his work is how often his images are shot into the light – and, as a result, have striking contrast between the bright and dark tones in the image.

This is a cheap example of a Fan Ho style shot – along San Francisco’s Embarcadero. Shot with my iPhone 5s and post-processed in Lightroom 5.

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iPhone 5s Photography

That Dinner at the Village Pub

Working - Village Pub - 2014

We recently had a wonderful dinner at the Village Pub in Woodside – a top favorite of ours.

On this occasion, we happened to be seated at a table that provided me a direct view into the kitchen through the wood fired grill and the table of wines in front.

Shot with my iPhone 5s – I’ll remember this image for a long time as a great memory of a special evening at the great Village Pub. Oh, and here’s what I had for dinner: “Grilled Pork Chop / Roasted Apples and Bacon Braised Savoy Cabbage” – wonderful!

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iPhone 5s Lightroom Photography San Francisco/California VSCO Film

San Francisco’s Ferry Building from Pier 1

Ferry Building - San Francisco - 2014

Here’s a different view of San Francisco’s Ferry Building taken from Pier 1. This was my first time on Pier 1 – one of those beautifully restored artifacts along San Francisco’s Embarcadero.

This image is from my iPhone 5s – post-processed in Lightroom with VSCO Film and a couple of other special presents.

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Black and White iPhone 5s Lightroom Monochrome Photography Nik Software Photography Photography - Black & White Photoshop CC San Francisco/California Street Photography

Cosmopolitan San Francisco

Cosmopolitan - San Francisco - 2014

Here’s another iPhone 5s image shot from a bench in front of San Francisco’s Pier 3 with my iPhone 5s. Actually, this is three images overlaid on each other.

I selected the three images based on the placement of the people in the frame. I used Photoshop’s auto-align layers feature to get them into alignment and then applied layer masks to isolate the subjects. The monochrome conversion was done using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 along with some dodging and burning to adjust highlights, shadows, and contrast – along with a touch of toning.

The image isn’t perfect – if you look closely, you’ll see a few flaws. It’s one of those 90 percent complete solutions!

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iPhone 5s Lightroom Photography Photoshop CC San Francisco/California Street Photography VSCO Film

On Stage along San Francisco’s Embarcadero

Pier 3 - San Francisco - 2014

I continue to delight in how great the whole renovation of San Francisco’s Embarcadero has turned out to be. Recently, I found a bench and just sat down and began taking pictures with my iPhone 5s as people walked, bicycled, ran, and skateboarded past. This was a great “stage” – with no parked cars along the curb and the interesting convergence of the Embarcadero Center buildings in the background. And that locked up bicycle provided an interesting element to “the set”. If you’re curious, this bench is just outside Pier 3 – a few steps south of the entrance to Hard Water.

After capturing this in my iPhone 5s, I post-processed it in Lightroom 5 applying a VSCO Film emulation and a bit more tweaking done in Photoshop CC.

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iPhone 5s Photography Photoshop CC

Top of the Market

Top of the Market - San Mateo - 2014

For thirty years, I’ve been having business lunches at the Fish Market in San Mateo. The restaurant has two venues – the regular restaurant downstairs and the Top of the Market upstairs. Top of the Market has long been the business lunch venue.

I recently met a colleague for lunch there. I got there a bit early and snapped this image with my iPhone 5s while waiting for him to arrive. I love the two guys on the pier – sort of a Huck Finn aspect to the image. I’ve added a painterly touch to add more interest – and to simplify the image.

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Black and White iPhone 5s Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White VSCO Film

F Castro Streetcar along San Francisco’s Embarcadero

F Castro - San Francisco - 2014

Here’s an iPhone 5s shot taken while waiting to walk across San Francisco’s Embarcadero.

Post-processed in Lightroom 5 with VSCO Film.

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iPhone 5s Photography Photoshop CC santa fe

That Frosty Window at Bistro 315 in Santa Fe

Bistro 315 - Santa Fe - 2014

Santa Fe has several really special restaurants. For our first dinner, we went to a great spot close by – Bistro 315.

Above our table was this window with the wine bottles all lined up. In fact, all of the windows had wine bottles lined up!

I shot this with my iPhone 5s and added a bit of texture in Photoshop CC using the oil paint filter. The texture on the window almost looks like frost – but it wasn’t frosty in Santa Fe!

I love how the label on one of the bottles is peeling off – adding visual interest.

We had the D’alfonso-Curran 2008 Chardonnay with dinner – a pretty amazing wine!

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iPhone 5s Photography

Table Flowers

Table Flowers - Santa Fe - 2014

Here’s an iPhone 5s image shot at a restaurant where the small flowers and the light just captured my eye.

I’ve applied some oil paint effect in Photoshop CC and used the sponge tool to remove color in the area around the flowers – preferring just the monochrome tonality in those areas.