Category: Photoshop CC

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Black and White Cuba Faces of Cuba Lightroom Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 Photoshop CC VSCO Film

The Photographer – Havana – 2013

The Photographer - Havana - 2013

One of the real treats of our week in Havana was being able to shoot on the streets with Cuban professional photographers. They showed us their favorite venues and helped us appreciate the rich textures of Havana in our photography.

We were fortunate to be teamed with several outstanding Cuban photographers – including this one. He’s Raúl Cañibano Ercilla – a superb street photographer. I had some much fun just watching him work – how something would catch his eye, how he’d quickly pull his camera up to his eye and snap off a shot or two – and then move on. Just a delight to watch him work.

One afternoon we went to watch a dance exhibition – and I was able to catch this image of Raúl at work – this time using a monopod.

See my earlier post about Raúl’s portfolio book now available for purchase from Amazon.com – it’s a superb body of work.

Raúl is part of my Faces of Cuba portfolio. Post-processed using Lightroom 5, VSCO Film 04, and Photoshop CC.

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Black and White Cuba Faces of Cuba Lightroom Monochrome Photography Nikon Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 Photoshop CC VSCO Film

The Matriarch – Havana – 2013

The Matriarch - Havana - 2013

This is another image from our last day in Havana last January. We were out walking the neighborhoods in Central Havana when we came across this woman waiting along the street. She had full command of her small corner there! The bright sun was flowing in over her right shoulder making this grab shot a bit tricky – perhaps this is one great example of the dynamic range of the sensor in the Nikon D600 I was shooting with.

Another in my Faces of Cuba portfolio. Post-processed using Lightroom 5, VSCO Film 04, and Photoshop CC.

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Black and White Cuba Faces of Cuba Lightroom Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 Photoshop CC VSCO Film

The Beauty – Havana – 2013

The Beauty - Havana - 2013

On our last day in Havana, we visited a nearby family apartment in Central Havana – several families sharing space in what must have been a much wealthier family’s private home back before the revolution. The natural light through the windows was just beautiful that morning – helping to create some great portrait opportunities like this one.

She’s part of my Faces of Cuba portfolio. Post-processed using Lightroom 5, VSCO Film 04, and Photoshop CC.

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Cuba Photography Photography - Nikon D600 Photoshop CC Topaz

The Bread Shop in Havana

Morning Bread - Havana - 2013

Another image from our first morning in Havana last January – a bread shop just opening up.

For this image, I did a lot of tweaking in Lightroom 5 before bringing it into Photoshop CC. I used the Topaz Simplify 4 filter to soften some of the areas of the image and and few other tweaks.

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Black and White Cuba Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 Photoshop CC

Streetside in Havana

Streetside - Havana - 2013

On our first morning after arriving in Havana, we went out early on “Dawn Patrol” to catch the morning light. We walked down this street heading to the harbor – and came across this relic up on blocks collecting dust.

I like the juxtaposition of the car and the guy walking toward me. The gradient of the street light on the car body also adds some visual interest.

I processed it in Photoshop using some techniques I’ve been experimenting with – including platinum toning and selective sharpening.

Consider it a work in progress!…

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HDR Photography Photography Photography - Nikon D600 Photomatix Pro Photoshop CC

A Special Weekend in Bend with Sean Bagshaw and Zack Schnepf

Sunset - Smith Rock Oregon - 2013

Last weekend, I headed north from Menlo Park to Bend, Oregon – and a photo workshop led by Sean Bagshaw and Zack Schnepf. This image is from our visit to Smith Rock on Saturday evening. A special spot – with some very special clouds that evening.

Sean and Zack are masters at both the outdoors and post-processing images. They’re both very familiar with the luminosity masking approach pioneered by Tony Kuyper. If you have an opportunity, do a workshop with them! Just be prepared – at this time of year – for a couple of long days – up early to leave around 4:15 AM for the morning sunrise and staying up late to catch the evening sunset!

Here are a couple of other images – taken at sunrise Saturday morning (same day) at Dillon Falls along the Deschutes River south of Bend.

Morning - Dillion Falls - 2013

Rapids - Deschutes River - 2013

Untitled - Dillon Falls - 2013

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Black and White Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Canon PowerShot S100 Photoshop CC

Delta #2 – at the Hyatt Embarcadero Center

Delta #2 - Embarcadero Center - 2012

After I posted my Delta image yesterday, my friend Richard Valenti suggested an alternative treatment – rotating it 90 degrees counter-clockwise.

I think he was right – this makes for a more interesting image! I added a bit more vignetting and a bit of sharpening. Nice!

Thanks to Charles O. Perry for Eclipse – a beautiful sculpture.

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Black and White Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Canon PowerShot S100 Photoshop CC

Delta – at the Hyatt Embarcadero Center

Delta - Embarcadero Center - 2012

This image is from a photo walk last September at Embarcadero Center.

You may recognize this as part of the fountain inside the Hyatt Embarcadero Center – shot with my tiny Canon PowerShot S100 and post processed in Photoshop CC and Lightroom 5.

I love the angles and tonality of this image – and the sparkling lights coming down in the background.

Thanks to Charles O. Perry for Eclipse – a beautiful sculpture.

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Black and White Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photoshop CC

Welcome to The City – San Francisco

The City - San Francisco - 2012

In late February 2012, I attended a conference in San Francisco – I think the topic was “mobile payments”. I opted to stay at the conference hotel in San Francisco rather than commuting back to Menlo Park in the evening. After checking in the night before the conference, I went to my room and looked out the window – and saw this view of San Francisco as the sun was beginning to set.

I shot this image with my tiny Canon PowerShot S100. I post-processed it today in Photoshop CC using some new monochrome techniques that I’ve been experimenting with.

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Aviation iPhone 5 Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photoshop CC San Francisco/California

Rose of Sharon – The National Flower of South Korea

Rose of Sharon - Menlo Park - 2013

This afternoon brought the horrible news of the crash of Asiana Flight 214 – a Boeing 777-200ER with tail number HL7742 – while landing at San Francisco International Airport. The day couldn’t have been more perfect weather wise – so one has to wonder what the cause might be.

As I was editing some photos earlier today, I wanted to try out a new black and white post-processing technique and had picked a recent image I’d taken here in Menlo Park a few days ago of a Rose of Sharon flower – actually a double-flower which is what had caught my eye and caused me to take the shot while on the go with my iPhone 5.

This new technique for post-processing black and white is all about the tonality of the image – and this seemed to be a good one to practice on. So I loaded the image into Photoshop CC and began my editing.

As I was getting ready to share the image online, I did a quick Wikipedia search and discovered that Rose of Sharon – formally “Hibiscus syriacus” – is the national flower of South Korea. I had also just learned – from Twitter – that there were now two confirmed deaths in the Asiana crash. Not sure what this all means – but somehow this image came together this afternoon around the same time I learned of the tragic result. My heart goes out to all of those affected by today’s unfortunate incident.