Category: Photography – Black & White

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Black and White Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Canon 5D Mark II Stanford

Moonrise Over Stanford – 2011

Moonrise - Stanford - 2011

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Last night, I went over to Stanford to try to capture the full moon rising near Hoover Tower just as the sun was setting. I had figured out (using the great TPE application) that a good spot for trying to capture this might be the roof of the parking structure at the corner of Panama St. and Via Ortez.

Turns out that this particular parking structure isn’t an ideal location – because of the new buildings in the Science Quad that block the lower half of the tower from this vantage point – but it was good enough for tonight and, most importantly, properly aligned with the path the moon was going to take as it was rising. Unfortunately, the tower itself was in less than perfect form with the scaffolding still remaining up top! So, this was good practice but didn’t produce a perfect image!

The moon began to appear out of the haze around 7:10 PM and then slowly rose up and to the right. This particular shot was the last shot I took – about 7:30 PM – handheld as I was putting everything (tripod, etc.) back into the trunk of my car. It was far and away the best shot of the night! Post-processed in Photoshop using Nik’s Color Efex 3 and Silver Efex Pro 2.

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Black and White Nik Software Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Canon 5D Mark II Yosemite

The Valley in January – Yosemite – 2011

The Valley in January – Yosemite – 2011

We’ve all seen photographs of this particular vantage point – Tunnel View as you enter Yosemite Valley on Wawona Road. When the valley opens up in front of you as you emerge from the tunnel, it’s stunning. And photographers love shooting the valley view from this site.

This January we spent a few days in Yosemite – and, naturally, we stopped at Tunnel View to snap a photo or two. As I was relaxing this Labor Day, I went looking through those photos to see if one might have potential. I chose this one taken in the late afternoon – because of the expansive view – and also because of how the sun shadow swept across the valley from upper right to lower left.

In the original image (see below), the shadow area in the lower right quadrant is almost completely darkened. I wondered what I might be able to accomplish with post-processing and first did a single-image tone mapped HDR of the original RAW file taken with my Canon 5D Mark II. Photomatix Pro did an amazing job of popping the details up out of the shadow area – including beautiful Bridalveil Fall. But, the rest of the image was very busy – a cluttered mess. I wanted something that was non-traditional – a different kind of perspective from this iconic location.

First, I used Nik’s Silver Efex 2 to convert the image to black and white. I adjusted the toning a bit, added a vignette – but was still unhappy with the result. After trying a couple of other filters, I settled in on the combination of the Low Key filter in Nik’s Color Efex 3 and Topaz Simplify. The toning is the result of Low Key, the reduced complexity/busy-ness of the image is the result of simplify. I used a tweak in Viveza to drop a control point on Bridalveil and brighten that up just a touch before pulling the image back into Lightroom for final noise reduction.

The result is different from the traditional valley view photos – hope you also enjoy the difference! Click on the image to see the large version.

Yosemite from Tunnel View - January 2011
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Black and White Mare Island Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Canon 5D Mark II Textures

Another Look at Building 680 at Mare Island

Building 680 - Mare Island - 2011

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Here’s the exterior view of Building 680 at Mare Island. In this treatment, I’ve added a texture effect along with a bit of Pixel Bender’s OilPaint filter to stylize the image – definitely into the “grunge” category! Makes the place look ancient (it is!) and the photo too!

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Black and White Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Canon 5D Mark II San Francisco/California

The Rack

The Rack by by Scott Loftesness

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I’m heading up to San Francisco this afternoon to meet up with Doug Kaye for an afternoon of exploring and photography. Thinking about it last night, I remember this photo taken at the first photo workshop I attended in 2009 with Chris Honeysett.

During the workshop, Chris had us set our cameras to display our images in black and white – and I remember feeling how different the feedback was when in that mode vs. looking at the usual color display on the back of my DSLR. There’s something about seeing the results in black and white that focuses on the quality of the light and not the noise of the color.

As we were leaving Embarcadero Center, I happened to notice this circular bicycle rack – which had exactly one bicycle in it – you can barely see it at the far end. I loved the symmetry of the circles in this rack – and bent down very low to take this shot. I post-processed it (an original JPEG) using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2 and added in just a bit of color to set the mood.

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Black and White Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Canon 5D Mark II Yosemite

Young and Old – Half Dome in Yosemite

Young and Old

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I’ve posted an all black and white version of this image before – “The Real Yosemite” – taken in Cook’s Meadow looking at Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. It’s one of my favorites – with big Half Dome in the distance and the young family playing in the snow in the meadow below.

Lately, I’ve been re-learning some tools and techniques for post-processing images and decided to take another try at a slightly different approach to this particular image – you see the result above. This has a very minimalist use of selective color – on the child’s jacket – along with some subtle toning that, for me, adds a bit more depth to the image versus my earlier black and white treatment – included below.

Which version do you prefer?

Half Dome with Family from Cook's Meadow - Yosemite

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Lighthouse Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Canon 5D Mark II Santa Cruz

The Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse in Santa Cruz

Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse

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The Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse in Santa Cruz is a memorial built by Abbott’s family following his death in a surfing accident in 1965. It’s a beautiful lighthouse and sits up high above the Santa Cruz surfing channel. Reading a bit of the history about this lighthouse, it turns out that Esther and Chuck Abbott, Mark’s parents and builders of this memorial, also were photographers.

This image was originally shot in RAW using my Canon 5D Mark II with the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens on March 29, 2009, a beautifully clear bright sunny day. It was post-processed using Photoshop with Nik’s Color Efex 2 and Silver Efex 2. I loved the light angle on the lighthouse – and decided to use a red filter in post-processing to darken the sky and make the lighthouse “pop”. Hope you like it!

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HDR Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Canon 5D Mark II Photomatix Pro San Juan Bautista

The Crosses at Mission San Juan Bautista

Crosses

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Just out back of Mission San Juan Bautista is a small, private cemetery with a locked gate. In the cemetery, there are about twenty crosses spread across the hillside – but apparently they mark many, many more graves. The San Andreas fault runs along the base of the hill just below this cemetery as does the original path of El Camino Real.

This image was taken over the locked gate – using my Canon 5D Mark II with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS lens. The image was first processed as a single image HDR using Photomatix Pro and then converted to black and white with Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2. A subtle color tone was added to slightly warm the image.

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Golden Gate Photography Photography - Black & White Photomatix Pro San Francisco/California

The Golden Gate from Fort Baker

Golden Gate from Fort Baker by Scott Loftesness

I seem to be in a bit of a North Bay rut! Here’s another black and white image from the Marin County perspective north of San Francisco. This is the Golden Gate Bridge from Fort Baker, a truly delightful – and usually lightly visited – spot on the north side of the Golden Gate. Click on the image to see the light boxed version.

You get some unusual perspectives from this location – of both the bridge and also of The City itself (see this wonderful nighttime shot of The City that my friend Doug Kaye took from Fort Baker during a full moon recently). Behind me when I was taking this shot is Carvallo Point, a very pleasant lodge and restaurant (Murray Circle) that uses many of the old buildings from Fort Baker as its rooms.

Continue reading “The Golden Gate from Fort Baker”
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iPad Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Canon PowerShot S90 San Francisco/California

San Francisco Bay Black and White iPad Home Screen

iPad Wallpaper - SF Bay from Sausalito by Scott Loftesness

A while back, I posted about a home screen that I put together for my iPad from a photo taken on a late spring morning in Sausalito using my tiny Canon PowerShot S90.

Recently, I put together another version of this same image – this time converted to black and white. I enjoy a black and white background on the iPad screen – the color icons of the applications “pop” off the background. Try it, you’ll see what I mean. Click here for the light box version!

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Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Canon 5D Mark II Stanford

Youthful Exuberance in the Stanford Quad!

Youthful Exhuberance in the Stanford Quad

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A few weeks ago on Sunday, July 31, I walked a bit of the Stanford campus with my Canon 5D Mark II in tow – shooting this time with the long Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS lens. Turns out I had just picked up a new camera strap – BlackRapid – and wanted to try it out while walking the campus.

While walking around the Stanford Quad, I came across this scene of a young man and his Mom heading out toward the Oval. He was just bursting with energy – almost dancing along as he walked while Mom tried to just stare off into the distance. In ten years, I suspect he’ll be a student at Stanford!

In post-processing this image, I decided on a tighter crop than originally shot along with a black and white conversion using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2. I added a layer mask and brought back in the kid’s colorful hat, hat band, shirt and shoes of this young man as he had fun walking.

Shortly after taking this shot, he threw his hat into the air – but, alas, I wasn’t prepared and missed what was probably the best shot! But this one comes close for me!