Scott Loftesness

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

Post author By Scott Loftesness
Post date March 22, 2014
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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!

Tags laughing sal, Musée Mécanique, playland at the beach

Fujifilm X-E2 Lightroom Photographers Photography Photography - Fujifilm X-E2 San Francisco/California VSCO Film

Lobster Eye and Crab Shooter at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf

Post author By Scott Loftesness
Post date March 22, 2014
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Here’s a fun shot from a recent visit to Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco with my photo buddy Doug Kaye.

We were walking along outside where for as many years as I can remember they sell these shrimp cocktails, fresh crab, sourdough bread bowls with soup inside, and more! It’s quite a marketplace in action and fun to just stand and watch.

One of the stands had this really big lobster – and I caught this image of Doug shooting the crab while I focused on the lobster’s eye.

Shot with a Fujifilm X-E2 and processed in Lightroom 5 using VSCO Film 05.

Tags crab, fisherman's wharf, lobster

Lightroom New York City Photography Photoshop CC Street Photography VSCO Film

Lean In – An Example of Cinematic Photography

Post author By Scott Loftesness
Post date March 20, 2014
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Ming Thein recently released a new two part video series on developing style in photography. One of the four styles he discusses is a cinematic style – something he’s known for.

This is an example applying some of his techniques to a 2007 image of mine shot on the steps of the New York Public Library in New York. As I was spinning through my old Lightroom library looking for examples, this woman’s red jacket jumped out at me. The image was shot with a Canon PowerShot S500 – my ever present companion back in those days.

I post processed the image using Lightroom 5, VSCO Film 05 and Photoshop CC.

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

New Year’s Morning at Gate B

Post author By Scott Loftesness
Post date March 20, 2014
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I’m often blown away by the quality of the images that my iPhone 5s captures. This is one of those examples – shot on New Year’s Day morning at the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

Post-processed to monochrome in Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CC with a bit of platinum toning applied.

Photography Photography - Canon PowerShot S100 Photoshop CC San Francisco/California Street Photography

Overhead – A Walk on the Wild Side

Post author By Scott Loftesness
Post date March 19, 2014
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Once in a while one of my images just grabs me to be “pushed” – to what it can become. This is one of those – a drab, flat image that comes to life in processing it. It’s an image of a San Francisco Powell Street cable car coming down the hill – shot from my hotel room above.

I shot the image with my tiny Canon PowerShot S100. Post processed it in Photoshop CC to add color and texture – it’s got a lot of style!

Fujifilm X-E2 Lightroom Photography Photography - Fujifilm X-E2 San Francisco/California Street Photography VSCO Film

On the Chess Board

Here’s a quick grab shot taken at Embarcadero Plaza in downtown San Francisco. The Plaza has a bunch of small vendors, artists, photographers, etc. selling their wares. It’s a busy place – especially around lunch time.

Last time we were there, there was a small table setup behind a couple of the booths with this chess board and pieces. As we walked by, I caught this quick grab shot – loving the angles, the lines and the textures in the pieces in the box.

This image was captured with a Fujifilm X-E2 and post-processed in Lightroom 5 using VSCO Film 05.

Black and White Fujifilm X-E2 Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Canon PowerShot S100 Photography - Fujifilm X-E2 San Francisco/California Street Photography

The City and the Power of Light

Post author By Scott Loftesness
Post date March 18, 2014
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I was struck by the work of Chicago-based Marie Laigneau who I stumbled upon thanks to Jefferey Saddoris and a post of hers that he shared on his Faded and Blurred. Her work – in both color and monochrome – is beautiful.

She inspired to go back to some shots of mine from downtown San Francisco – and to try processing them a bit differently. The one above is from February 2012 and was shot with a point and shoot (Canon PowerShot S100). Same with the first one below.

The second image below is from last week’s photowalk with Doug Kaye – shot with a Fujifilm X-E2.

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

Catching Up

Here’s an image I almost tossed away. I wasn’t sure about catching the woman’s face in the lower left of the image – she walked into my otherwise perfectly composed (!) image.

But, after playing with it a while, I decided I really like the extra layering effect of having her – in all her unfocused glory – in the image.

Shot with Fujifilm X-E2, 55-200mm Fujinon lens. Post-processed in Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.

Black and White Fujifilm X-E2 Lightroom Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Fujifilm X-E2 Photoshop CC San Francisco/California

Humans and Food Trucks

While wandering downtown San Francisco on Friday with Doug Kaye, we rounded a corner and came across three or four food trucks lined up front to back in this tiny alley – with not a lot of room on either side.

I captured this shot from the end of the line with my Fujifilm X-E2. When I first reviewed it, I marked as a reject. But tonight I came back across it and studied it a bit more. I noticed this guy on the right edge and the look in his eyes. In the original image, he was way to dark so a few strokes of Lightroom magic brought him back to life.

I then opted to do the black and white conversion using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 – it does such a great job and provides such great control.

Finally, I added an oil paint layer in Photoshop CC. The oil paint helped smooth things out a bit in some places and added texture in others – particularly the highlights. A final touch of feathered platinum toning brought the image to this point – worth sharing.

My images are really never done. I enjoy the process of re-processing them, applying new techniques that I’ve recently learned and experimenting for new looks. This is an image I suspect I’ll be coming back to – it’s rich in composition and so human in sensibility.

Fujifilm X-E2 Lighthouse Photography Photography - Fujifilm X-E2 Photoshop CC Street Photography VSCO Film

A Look Down San Francisco’s Market Street

Post author By Scott Loftesness
Post date March 16, 2014
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Doug Kaye and I were photowalking in downtown San Francisco on Friday – exploring some old familiar areas as well as a few new ones. At one point we crossed Market Street and I snapped this view heading to the Ferry Building. I was shooting on this particular day with my Fujifilm X-E2 with the 55-200mm Fujinon zoom lens.

This image was processed in Lightroom and VSCO Film before being touched a bit in Photoshop CC with the oil paint filter. I like how the oil paint filter (as well as Topaz Simplify) help remove some detail – decluttering the image just a bit.

Tags ferry building, market street

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