Category: Lightroom

Simplicity along San Francisco’s Kearny Street

Post author By Scott Loftesness
Post date May 7, 2014
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San Francisco’s Kearny Street is one of our favorite photographic stages – there are a couple of whole blocks that have no parking on the eastern side of the street – the side which is also well lit during the day. You can stand on the other side of the street and just wait for interesting things to happen.

Here’s one from a recent visit with my friend Doug Kaye. I enjoyed the shapes in this image: squares, rectangles, triangles – and cones! The simplicity is the shot.

Shot with my Fujifilm X-T1 and the 55-200mm zoom, I post processed it in Lightroom 5 using VSCO Film.

Black and White Filoli Fujifilm X-T1 Lightroom Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Fujifilm X-T1

Another View of the Olive Grove at Filoli

Post author By Scott Loftesness
Post date May 6, 2014
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A few days ago I published another version of this image shot at Filoli with my Fujifilm X-T1. It was somewhat unsatisfying to me – not sure why but it just was.

After asking my friend Doug Kaye for his thoughts, I worked on it again in both Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CC – working to remove a couple of branches in the middle that I thought distracted from the “tunnel effect” of the composition. I also, learning from Doug’s feedback, used some dodging and burning to adjust the contrast selectively in various areas of the image – trying to improve the sense of dimensionality.

I think this one is better – but I’ve decided to set it aside for now and will likely come back to it again with another try!

Tags olive trees

Lighthouse Lightroom Nik Software Photography Photography - Canon 5D Mark II

The Light at Point Montara

Post author By Scott Loftesness
Post date May 5, 2014
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Here’s an image shot a couple of years ago at Point Montara along the Pacific coast. This is one of my favorite spots close to home – and I shot this image using my old favorite Canon 5D Mark II with the 70-200mm f/2.8L lens.

I processed it in Lightroom 5 and added a touch of Glamour Glow using Nik’s Color Efex Pro 4 to soften the skies and water just a touch.

Tags point montara

Abstract Black and White Fujifilm X100S Lightroom Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Fujifilm X100S San Francisco/California Street Photography

Channeling Vivian Maier on San Francisco’s California Street

Post author By Scott Loftesness
Post date April 26, 2014
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We recently saw the Vivian Maier exhibition at the Scott Nichols Gallery in San Francisco. We’d seen the documentary film “Finding Vivian Maier” a week before.

At the exhibition, many of her photos struck me in terms mostly of composition but also with respect to tonality and how she used light/dark. A favorite – which also had some truly beautiful film grain is this untitled image of a woman laughing. She’s totally out of focus in the shot – but the story is there nonetheless.

As we were walking down California Street in the rain recently, I was about to snap an image of the cable cars when this man, coincidentially another photographer, walked in front of me. I thought the shot was a throw away – but decided to channel a bit of Vivian Maier into the shot – with tonality and adding grain in Lightroom. While it’s certainly not up to Maier’s composition, it’s a fun image – and that smile on his blurry face makes me smile!

Black and White Fujifilm X100S Lightroom Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Fujifilm X100S Photoshop CC San Francisco/California

Along the Waterfront in San Francisco

Post author By Scott Loftesness
Post date April 25, 2014
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Here’s a quick shot taken earlier today in the gentle rain along San Francisco’s waterfront at the Ferry Building. The rain brings reflections – and a whole new treat for the eyes!

Shot with my Fujifilm X100S as we were heading into the Slanted Door for lunch! Monochrome straight out of the camera, adjusted in Lightroom 5 and a bit of platinum toning applied in Photoshop CC.

Tags bay bridge, ferry building

iPhone 5s Lightroom Photography San Francisco/California VSCO Film

San Francisco’s Ferry Building from Pier 1

Post author By Scott Loftesness
Post date April 13, 2014
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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.

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

Cosmopolitan San Francisco

Post author By Scott Loftesness
Post date April 12, 2014
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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!

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

On Stage along San Francisco’s Embarcadero

Post author By Scott Loftesness
Post date April 12, 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.