Category: Lightroom

Categories
Fujifilm X100S Half Moon Bay Lightroom Photography Photography - Fujifilm X100S Photoshop CC

The San Giovanni

San Giovanni - Pillar Point Harbor - 2013

As Doug Kaye and I were walking out on the pier at Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay, I was drawn to the combination of the angle of the sunlight on the bow of these two fishing boats along with the yellow color of the closest boat (the “Sunshine”). I shot the image with my Fujifilm X100S.

In this version of the image, I’ve exaggerated both the color and the glow – through application of a cinematic toning in Lightroom. The highlights have a bit more orange in them than normal while the shadows have a bit more blue. The combination gives a film-style cinematic effect.

I then brought the image into Photoshop CC and added an Oil Paint layer at about 50% opacity to add some additional texture/shadows into the image. Finally, a 50 pixel black frame around the image to keep your eyes inside.

Categories
Lightroom Photography San Francisco/California

Enjoying Lunch at San Francisco’s MarketBar

Lunch at MarketBar - San Francisco - 2013

Sometimes you just get lucky. That’s the lesson you learn over and over again in street photography. You need to be there. You need to be present in the moment. In that decisive moment.

As Doug and I were walking to lunch we passed by the outdoor terrace of MarketBar at the Ferry Building. It’s a beautiful venue and I quickly snapped this shot using my borrowed Fujifilm X-E1 with the gorgeous Fuji 14mm lens mounted at the time.

I loved the shot – so cropped it a bit in Lightroom and then opened it in Photoshop CC. Applied a bit of Oil Paint filter and then did a final touch of post using Nik’s Viveza 2 to adjust saturation and structure.

What a great place for lunch!

Categories
Lightroom Photography Photography - Fujifilm X100S San Francisco/California VSCO Film

Line ’em Up – San Francisco Victorians

Line 'Em Up - San Francisco - 2013

The area of lower Pacific Heights in San Francisco has these wonderful splotches of old Victorian homes.

This is one example – shot with my Fujifilm X100S during a recent visit to the neighborhood with Doug Kaye.

Post-processed in Lightroom 5 with VSCO Film.

Categories
Black and White Fujifilm X100S Lightroom Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Fujifilm X100S San Francisco/California VSCO Film

Look Through My Window

Look Through My Window - San Francisco - 2013

Another image from a recent visit to lower Pacific Heights in San Francisco with Doug Kaye.

This lovely staircase corner – and that window – just captured my eye!

Shot with my Fujifilm X100S – post processed using VSCO Film in Lightroom 5.

Categories
Fujifilm X100S Lightroom Photography Photography - Fujifilm X100S San Francisco/California

Only the Lonely #2 – Ferryboat Eureka – San Francisco

Only the Lonely #2 - San Francisco - 2013

There’s something peaceful about this image that I really like. It was shot onboard the Ferryboat Eureka at the San Francisco National Maritime Historic Park in late August with my Fujifilm X100S.

In Lightroom 5, I gave this image the “full cinematic” treatment in terms of split color toning – highlights going towards orange and shadows toward teal/blue. The red is just perfect!

The only thing missing are the actors – waiting off on stage right!… A good friend comments on Facebook: “Hopperesque“.

Categories
Cuba Lightroom Nikon Photography Photography - Nikon D600

Cruising in Havana

Cruising - Havana - 2013

A fun shot of one of the taxis across from our hotel in Havana – beautiful paint job on this old car!

Tweaked a bit in Lightroom with for a more cinematic look with some split toning, a 16:9 crop, and a vignette.

Brings back lots of memories of our great time in Havana last January! Nikon D600, 85mm, 1/200 at f/3.5, ISO 100.

Categories
Inverness Lightroom Photography Photography - Canon 5D Mark II

A Cinematic Treatment of the F/V Point Reyes at Inverness

Stricken Lady - Inverness - 2012

Here’s another look a the stricken fishing boat Point Reyes run aground at Inverness. I’ve posted several versions of various shots of this boat over the years – it’s a favorite subject and brings back so many memories of great times shooting there. (See Related Posts below for more examples!)

This image is from May 2012 and was shot with my Canon 5D Mark II using the 70-200 mm f/2.8 IS lens at 200 mm (f/8 at 1/160). I’ve used this image to experiment a bit with cinematic effects – beginning with a 16:9 crop, a bit of Topaz Simplify to remove some of the grassy details, and then – in Lightroom 5 – an orange/teal split toning effect to adjust the colors to be more in the style of movies of today. A final fairly aggressive vignette completes the effect.

It’s a different effect, for sure – more artistic than realistic – but I like the way it turned out!

For more on this cinematic “Hollywood” look, see some of these resources:

Categories
iPhone 5 Lighthouse Lightroom Photography Santa Cruz

The Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse – Santa Cruz

Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse - Santa Cruz - 2012

Here’s another iPhone 5 images – this one from late December 2012 in Santa Cruz, California. The iPhone 5 (and now the iPhone 5s) has a great camera – I’ve put together a special set on Flickr with some examples of my iPhone 5 photos – and a new one where I’m collecting iPhone 5s photos.

This is the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse built by Abbott’s parents following his death in 1965 while surfing near the point.

This version was adjusted in Lightroom 5 using VSCO Film presets.

Categories
Lightroom Palo Alto Photography Photography - Fujifilm X100S

Ah Evvia!

Ah Evvia - Palo Alto - 2013

One of my favorite local restaurants is Evvia at 420 Emerson St. in Palo Alto. A long time favorite, this restaurant serves up great Greek and Mediterranean cuisine. In addition to the great food, the setting is also superb – with lots of texture, color and ambiance.

Here’s a shot from a lunchtime visit last August when I happened to take along my then-new Fujifilm X100S. I happened to have a table right across from the oven – and loved this scene with the bread and bread baskets piled high and the copper cookware hanging from the rack above.

This image is straight out of the X100S (shot as a JPEG) with a bit of vignette added in Lightroom 5.

Categories
Lightroom Photography Photography - Fujifilm X100S San Francisco/California VSCO Film

Along the Waterfront and the Picture Postcard Workflow

Hercules and Eureka - San Francisco - 2013

In late August, Doug Kaye, Chris Chabot and I visited the San Francisco National Maritime Museum – it was one of my first times out with a new Fujifilm X100S. This image – shot at f/10, 1/800, ISO 200 – shows the great capture capability of the X100S – Tug Hercules and the ferry boat Eureka. This image was post-processed using VSCO Film 04 and Lightroom 5.

After considering this version of the image, I knew we could do better. There’s a distinct blue cast to it – which you can see in the white paint on the Eureka.

The Picture Postcard Workflow taught by Dan Margulis teaches us that the first thing we must do to every image is to adjust the color. So, I bought this version into Photoshop CC and went through the adjustment process using RGB curves. That took care of the blue cast nicely.

I then used Shadows/Highlights to bring out more detail in the shadows near the bow of the Hercules and then used the Man from Mars/Color Boost technique to add more color separation. A final sharpening step using the Sharpen 2013 action with reduced opacity results in this version of the image – much nicer I believe!

Hercules and Eureka - San Francisco - 2013