Category: Nik Software

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

Going Ear to Ear along San Francisco’s Market Street

Ear to Ear - San Francisco - 2014

Part of the joy of street photography for me is how unpredictable it can be. You turn, see a good opportunity for a shot and try to capture it – in the decisive moment as they say.

Here’s an example – the shot I composed was waiting for the distant fellow talking on his iPhone to get into a certain spot against that wall – acting as a stage. I was shooting with a telephoto from the curb of Market Street. As I’m waiting, this guy closer up walks right in front of me just as I’m snapping the image.

At first look, I thought the image was a throw away – he’d ruined my shot. Instead, considering it later, I actually like the image – they’re going in opposite directions, the closeup guy provides some sense of depth to the image, etc.

I processed it in a high key style using Lightroom 5 and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. Shot with my Fujifilm X-E2.

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Fujifilm X-E2 Lightroom Nik Software Photography Photography - Fujifilm X-E2 Photoshop CC San Francisco/California VSCO Film

Terminator Salvation and Laffing Sal at San Francisco’s Musée Mécanique

Terminator Salvation - San Francisco - 2014

While wandering around the Fisherman’s Wharf area recently, we came across the Musée Mécanique – an amazing collection of old coin-operated mechanical delights from days gone past. Admission is free, it’s open 365 days/year – but you’ll need to make change and get some quarters to play some of these old timers!

Walking through the place is a trip down memory lane – bringing back memories of San Francisco’s old Playland at the Beach, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and those east coast seaside towns along the Jersey shore. In my family, the boardwalk at Seaside Heights, NJ was the star attraction back in the 50’s and 60’s.

This is an image taken with my Fujifilm X-E2 and pretty extensively worked in Lightroom and Photoshop to deal with the high contrast nature of the image. I wanted sort of that “gangsta” style – and a final touch in Nik Color Efex Pro 4’s Glamour Glow added the finishing touch.

Below is an image of Laffing Sal – a longtime attraction at San Francisco’s Playland at the Beach. My photo buddy Doug Kaye remarked at how small she seemed – his memories of her from his childhood is that she was “so much bigger”! She looks pretty huge to me in this shot – also taken with my Fujifilm X-E2!

Laughing Sal - San Francisco - 2014

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Black and White China Monochrome Photography Nik Software Nikon Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 San Francisco/California

Armored Kneeling Archer – China’s Terracotta Warriors

Armored Kneeling Archer - San Francisco - 2013

Here’s another image from the exhibition of China’s Terracotta Warriors now underway at San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum.

This image required a bit more work. One of the challenges of shooting images of the warriors as they’re displayed is the combination of lighting and reflections – which bring extra “stuff” into the images.

Plus, when we were there, it was really crowded inside the darkened exhibition gallery. Lots of folks moving around – and bumping into each other – a challenging photographic venue for sure!

But the gallery that the Asian Art Museum created for the warriors is really is superb in terms of how the terracotta warriors are placed and, in particular, how they’re lit.

So, to deal with the issues in the image, I did a quick selection in Photoshop to isolate the warrior from extraneous background elements. I then faded those elements into the background while adding some contrast to the warrior.

Then we made a trip into Nik’s Color Efex Pro 4 to do two steps: bring out more detail and add a subtle bit of glamour glow.

Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2 was used for the conversion to monochrome – adding a bit of structure to the midtones and highlights while removing structure from the shadows. A bit of soft contrast adjustment helped with lighting.

A quick pass with Doug Kaye’s Warm Black action helped tone the image just ever so slightly.

For the final sharpening step, I used the Sharpen 2013 action included in the latest version of Dan Margulis’ Picture Postcard Workflow panel in Photoshop.

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Black and White China Monochrome Photography Nik Software Nikon Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 San Francisco/California

China’s Terracotta Warriors

Driver - San Francisco - 2013

San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum is currently featuring a beautiful exhibition of China’s Terracotta Warriors.

Here’s an image from a recent visit – of a horse carriage driver. He’s out in the lobby – before you get into one of the three galleries with the other warriors and related sculptures.

This image was shot handheld with my Nikon D600 and post-processed in Photoshop CS6 along with Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2.

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Black and White Maker Faire Monochrome Photography Nik Software Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Canon 5D Mark II

A Look Back at Maker Faire SF 2011

Maker - Maker Faire - 2011

A few days ago, I had a request from one of the exhibitors at Maker Faire SF 2011 for copies of the images I shot of her beautifully colored yarns.

While pulling out those images for her, I began to explore the rest of my images from that day – and came across this image of a maker – staring intently. The image seemed like a great candidate for a monochrome conversion – which I did using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2 along with some other Photoshop CS6 tricks and a quick pass of high pass sharpening.

I just love his look and the “attitude” in this image! Hope you do too – please share your comments below!

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Black and White Lightroom Monochrome Photography Nik Software Parades Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 San Francisco/California

Goodfellas Enjoying the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in San Francisco

Goodfellas - San Francisco - 2013

For the first time, I attended the San Francisco Saint Patrick’s Day Parade a few weeks ago. The event is a great time – lots of wonderful street photography opportunities!

This image is of the firefighters’ section of the parade – one of the largest units. I enjoyed seeing these guys have a great time driving their old time fire engine, smoking a couple of cigars and enjoying the crowd!

The image was shot with a Nikon D600 and post-processed in Lightroom and Photoshop using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2 plus some other tricks.

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Black and White Monochrome Photography Nik Software Nikon Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600

The Kiterunner on the Beach at Point Reyes

Kiterunner - Drake's Beach - 2013

Here’s a shot from early January 2013 – at Drake’s Beach at Point Reyes. Shot with my Nikon D600, I post-processed it in Photoshop with Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2. I love the contrast in this shot – and how the kiterunner is heading into the light off to the right.

Hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think by adding a comment below!

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Black and White Hawaii iPhone 5 Monochrome Photography Nik Software Photography Photography - Black & White

Which Way Is Up? – An iPhone 5 Experiment in Black and White

Which Way Is Up? - Hawaii - 2013

An experiment in black and white – image from a portion of a carving hanging on a wall in a Hawaii hotel – with some very special sunlight streaming in from the left side.

Shot with my iPhone 5 and post-processed using Nik’s Snapseed on my iPhone.

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Black and White Monochrome Photography Nik Software Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 San Francisco/California

At the Beach – New Year’s Day at Ocean Beach, San Francisco

Ocean Beach - San Francisco - 2013 by Scott Loftesness

For the past few years, I’ve been heading to San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge for some photography. I’m not much of a football fan – and after the holidays it feels great to get out and walk with camera in hand!

This past New Year’s Day, I went up the Great Highway and stopped at the Cliff House. The morning light was very nice and I captured this shot looking down the beach just down the hill a bit from the Cliff House. I processed it to black and white using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2.

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Black and White Filoli Monochrome Photography Nik Software Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 Photoshop

Monochrome Bones at Filoli

Camperdown Elm #2 - Filoli - 2013

Here’s an initial monochrome version of the Camperdown Elm photo from my walk at Filoli a couple of weeks ago. Handheld shot with my Nikon D600.

For this version, I used Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2 do to a black and white conversion, darkening the lawn area up front and adding a bit of color to the highlights.

The “bones” of this tree are so beautiful – and the morning light that morning at Filoli was just right to light it up.