Categories
Cuba Nikon Photography Photography - Nikon D600 Street Photography

Havana Simplified

NY - Havana - 2013

A couple of years ago, I noticed the work of Chris Hilgert on Google+. At the time – he’s since moved on to other things – he was using a post-processing technique which I really enjoyed. The basic idea was to simplify the image to push noisy details out of the image while retaining fine details in the areas of primary interest in the image.

I decided to try experimenting again with variations on this technique – applying the technique to some of my images from Havana shot in 2013. The Flickr album that resulted is here.

Passing Conversation - Havana - 2013
Sisters - Havana - 2013
Categories
Nikon Photography Photography - Nikon D600

Sunrise – Mount Thielsen

Sunrise - Mount Thielsen - 2013

Tonight I was looking back through my Lightroom archive and came across this image. It’s from the summer of 2013 when I was driving up to Bend, Oregon for a workshop with Sean Bagshaw and Zack Schnepf. I stayed overnight in Klamath Falls and got up early to drive to Crater Lake before heading on to Bend.

Crater Lake itself was amazing – but the drive out to the north brought this view of Mount Thielsen which was hard to pass up. This is one of those images that really takes me back to the moment in time when I was there. Part of the joy of photography is re-experiencing these moments!

Categories
Nikon Photography Photography - Nikon D600 Point Reyes

The Blue Hour at Drake’s Beach

Shoot Me - Drake's Beach - 2013

An image from early January 2013 – with my then new Nikon D600. Love the blue hour down by the ocean – Point Reyes and Drake’s Beach in this case.

Categories
Black and White Cuba Lightroom Nikon Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 Photoshop CC

Viva! – Life on the street in Havana

Viva - Havana - 2013

Looking back through my shots from our visit to Havana a year ago, I came across this image. I had skipped over it previously – probably because it’s not super sharp and that blurred motion of the woman in the foreground. But, giving it a second look, it pulled me in – there’s the element of layers in this image.

Shot with my Nikon D600, I post processed it using Lightroom and Photoshop to emphasize the textures and tonality of the image.

Categories
Black and White Faces of Cuba Monochrome Photography Nikon Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 Portraiture

Another Monochrome Processing Example: In the Light in Havana

In the Light - Havana - 2013

Following on from yesterday’s “The Leader” image, here’s another example from our visit to Havana, Cuba last January. Also shot with my Nikon D600. I’ve been experimenting with some new techniques for monochrome conversion using a new action being developed by Dan Margulis as some other special tricks.

Here’s the before image:

Beauty - Havana - 2013
Beauty – Havana – 2013

Categories
Black and White Cuba Flickr Monochrome Photography Nikon Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 Portraiture

The Leader of the Band at Cafe Taberna in Havana Cuba

The Leader - Cafe Taberna - 2013

This is one of my favorite images from our trip to Cuba a year ago this week. It’s a shot of the lead singer in the band the night we were at Cafe Taberna – which plays that wonderful Ry Cooder / Buena Vista Social Club style of music. By the end of the evening, the band had us on our feet with lots of folks dancing in the aisles. Such a great memory!

I re-processed this image last night and uploaded it to Flickr. Today, it got picked up by Flickr Explore and went viral – resulting in thousands of page views and many new followers to my Flickr photostream. Pretty amazing to watch! The re-processing I did last night primarily involved a new Photoshop action being worked on by Dan Margulis which does some magic to portrait shots. I then processed it into monochrome in two steps – first using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2 and then applied a platinum gradient map to give a gentler look to the monochrome treatment.

If you’re curious, here’s the original image straight out of the camera – my Nikon D600:

The Band at Cafe Taberna in Havana Cuba
The Band at Cafe Taberna in Havana Cuba

Cafe Taberna - Havana Cuba
Cafe Taberna – Havana Cuba

Categories
Black and White Lightroom Monochrome Photography Nikon Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 Point Reyes

That Photographer Working at Point Reyes

At Work - Point Reyes - 2013

Here’s another shot from a great day on Point Reyes with Doug Kaye back in January.

The photographer had the high ground up on the rock – and he looked at us suggesting that it was his turf!

Shot with my Nikon D600 and post-processed in Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CC. A bit of platinum toning adds to the depth and color – of this monochrome image. A personal favorite of mine – this one is getting printed and hung on the wall!

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

San Francisco’s Ocean Beach at New Year’s

Ocean Beach - New Years Day - 2013

For the last few years, I’ve headed to San Francisco on New Year’s Day – mostly to the Golden Gate Bridge.

This year I did that as well – but had fun stopping along the way at Ocean Beach.

Here’s a shot taken with my Nikon D600 – converted to monochrome using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro.

I love the movement in this image – and the contrast that the monochrome treatment provides.

Categories
Cuba Lightroom Nikon Photography Photography - Nikon D600 Photoshop CC VSCO Film

Two Brothers in Havana

Two Brothers in Havana - 2013

Here’s a fun shot from our visit to Havana earlier this year – taken outside our hotel with my Nikon D600 with the Nikkor 24-85mm kit lens.

Post-processed in Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CC with VSCO Film 04 Fortia SP and Topaz Simplify 4.

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.