Barn in Fall - What a difference eight years makes......

One of my favorite subjects to photograph is old or wood barns.  First, it seems that no two buildings are the same.  Next, you have the wood patterns and what digital processing can do.   Another aspect I like are the surroundings, whether it is nature or multiple legged.

One of my first subjects is a barn in Pennsylvania.  And by first, we're talking eight years ago.  We're talking D80.  I must have deleted the RAW files somewhere along the line, but I do have .HDR files that were created by Photomatix.  And at that point in time, the single image process wasn't that good, so I'm guessing there were three merged (RAW) images.  At that time, I was also using Elements.  Not Photoshop.

I thought it might be interesting to see how processing, software and my tastes have changed over the years.  These are two shots taken on the same day, minutes apart.

The first shot is one I last worked in 2009.  It is one of my favorites.  When I was part of the Art at the Market group, it was a seller.  Again, at that time I was using Elements and Photomatix only.  I also thought grunge was really cool.  Here are a few flavors:

Trying to recall, but I must have been real happy to figure out how to watermark the image and get the copyright right.  Pretty plain.  This is the image I sold at the Market.  This image came out best when printing to paper.  I remember the color of the barn doors is what caught my eye.

On the next/following image I remember trying to boost the colors with Photomatix.  I used this image for years as part of my personal screensaver slideshow.  As I look at it now, it is a bit over-saturated.  Or just colorful.

In the next image, I used the grunge setting in Photomatix.  At one time, I thought this was just plain cool.  And all I can say now is, sometimes you just have to step over the line to define where it is.  (Don't judge me.)

Now let's fast forward to today.  The images is from a RAW D80 file using current On One and Photoshop software.  And my personal take.

Initially I see more sharpening used.  Not as much fall colors in the trees.  I tried to pop the tree colors, but it didn't look right to me.  Made the image look too 'Photoshopped'.  So this shot for me is a lot cleaner, still has some colors and not overly painted.

Fun to see the differences.

DMRRC - Burlington Northern

Earlier this year I purchased a 85mm (AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/3.5G ED VR) Nikon lens.  The main goal was to get sharper images than I was getting with my 18-200.

My first excursion with the lens outside of Grandpa's Dungeon was to the Detroit Model Railroad Club.  I had grand visions of what the day would bring.

I didn't do much to this image with respect to sharpness and bokeh.  If I remember right, this was taken on a tripod with a remote release.  To help maintain the sharpness, I didn't do any smoothing.  In my past train photos, I've photo stacked to get the image entirely in focus.  So this is different.

The vitals:  85mm, 1/15th, f/5.0, ISO 800.  Put that in the DOF blender with my distance of 3 ft and that gives a DOF of about one inch.  That is probably pretty close to correct.

When going through some shots to work on, I chose this one because of the sharpness of the front of the train.  I also chose to process the shot entirely with On One.  The exposure didn't need much work as the light is pretty even all around.  i was going through all the filters in On One when I stumbled on this color shade.  For what ever reason, this combination with the existing colors works for me.

In the past, I might have warmed or cooled an image a few points but that is as much as I've ever used for a total color shift.  This is new to me and I'll have to remember it.

On many fronts, this is a different photo from me.  Maybe I need to explore more?

Summer 2017 is over.........

Well, the summer photo vacation is over.

I didn't take a lot of new shots this year.  I'll have to make up for it with software amazement.

I've updated my software packages.  Photomatix, who I last gave money to over three years ago, still gives me no charge updates.  Beside the fact it is world class software, that alone makes Photomatix a valid software consideration if you are looking to get into HDR.  I updated my On One software package.  Looks like they've made some very nice enhancements.  The Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom 2018 versions just came out.  We'll see how lost I can get with that stuff.

Adobe also has Photoshop and Lightroom Apps for your mobile device.  I should add they are FREE apps.  I've played with them for a bit - and they are a lot lighter than the desktop versions, but for free they are still very powerful.  I just completed a technology upgrade (tablet and phone) where I can try these apps out.

The improvements in the On One Photo Raw 2018 software look very interesting.  I've used the software primarily for the the masking functions as I've found them to be much better/easier than Photoshop.  Related to this, I now understand their luminosity mask and how powerful that can be.  I need to get more comfortable with On One.

I will also work more with my phone camera.  For now it won't take the place of my DSLRs, but it would be nice to get 'better' results.  Now that I know about the Adobe Apps, I need to work on transferring photos between my phone and tablet, without wi-fi.  I'm not kidding myself, working on the phone screen is not going to happen with me.  The kids in the training videos are awesome, but they don't have my peepers.  I can live with working on the tablet.

I'd also like to get more comfortable with my device tablet (instead of mouse).  I've played with it off and on, but now that my mobile tablet has a pen I should get more comfortable with this device as well.

That's the plan for this winter.  Between now and June 2018 the paying job will get very busy.  I will have some opportunities for photos so I'll just have to make the most of them.

DMRRC 2017 Visit Prep

My photo club field trip to the DMRRC is this week.  Time to get ready.

Last year I had new camera, and a new strategy.  This year if something goes wrong, I don't have those excuses.

This year I am using new software for my remote tethering.  I've been working with it for a few months so that can't be too much of an excuse.

There could be a new and unexpected twist.  I'm comfortable with the D7200 and the Helicon Remote software.  I haven't worked that much with the D90 and the software, so was down in the dungeon putting that configuration through its paces.

The D90 is not wi-fi capable, so had to use USB cable.  Not a big issue.  What I did discover is that in some configurations the Remote software will not save to the camera.  The table I'm using has about 6 GB of space available - I need to save to the camera or at the very least save to the tablet's external card.  If I changed the my thoughts and had all the images sent to the tablet, either USB or wi-fi, that adds a lot of time to the shooting process.  I do like the idea of sending a image tot he tablet, only for verification.  But i want the RAW image to stay on the camera, both for speed considerations and file size.

Fortunately there is a setting on the Remote software as to what to do with the image(s).  This setting will send the JPG image to the tablet and will save the RAW image to the camera.  I tested on both the D90 and the D7200 and it worked well.  Cuts the stacking process by more than 50%.  Huge.

The next change will be I will start off using the 85 mm lens (AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR

85mm f/3.5G ED VR).  The lens I used last year, my go to 18-200 did are real nice job.  I thought i would use it again.  But as i was int he dungeon for a few hours, I decided to see if there was a difference in the lens with respect to clarity.  yea, I know.  With a prime lens I should always get better clarity.  I just didn't know how much.  And now I know.

The subject is the underside of a PC disk drive, the circuit board.  This looks like a really good subject for focus stacking.

Both shots are 30 shot stacks.  For the display, the area that is shown is at 100% magnification.  i tried to get as many environmental settings as close as possible.  The camera and the subject were not intentionally moved.  Both shots were with the D7200.  ISO is 100.

The first shot is with the 18-200 lens.  The focal length turned out to be 150mm.  This is f/6.3 at 1/25 second.

Reality is, this isn't all that bad.  (Or so I thought.)  I accept the challenges of small sensors and some what limited lenses.  Unless I'm going to enlarge this to a wall sized photo, this will look good.

Until.

This is the 85mm prime lens.  Same speed and f/stop.  Same number of photos in the stack.

Based on this information, I will start with the 85mm lens - until it doesn't work.

I will do more prep this week.

Back to the Detroit Model Railroad Club - 2017

In a few weeks, my Photo Club will be heading out to the DMRRC for a return visit.  Personally, I had a lot of fun last year.  The DMRRC members who were out that night were just wonderful.  Like most places as soon as I left when we were done, I know I left so many shots out there.  Fortunately, I get another crack at them.

Last year I worked with focus stacking.  While most of my shots lacked train aesthetics, but technically they were good.

I've been asked by the Club to lead a discussion in our next meeting about the photo shoot.  Most of our members are outdoor photographers and being inside is a stretch.  

From talking with Club members after the 2016 visit, many said they didn't understand why the shots appeared out of focus.  That seemed to be the number one challenge.

I've been out to the DMRRC a few times in the last weeks.  I was in with the paying public, I didn't have the freedom to do focus stacking in these visits - as well as the trains were now in motion.  Well, this stinks.

In my first visit this year, I shot maybe 300 images - and only two came out that were any good.  And guess what - they were all fuzzy - like out of focus.  And then it hit me what the problem was.  Depth of Field.  I could usually find some point that was sharp - just not the point I wanted.

Unless this engine is getting ready to hit a fog bank, the focus starts to come in about two to three inches behind the front of the unit.  This is a clear miss on my part.  I'll bet I hit the front with the focus point and as I moved the camera back to center the subject, I held on the focus and it moved.  Rookie mistakes.......  Well that mystery solved.  But this illustrates how shallow the depth of filed can be.

So....  Speaking of Depth of Field, working inside is a real challenge.  The lighting isn't too bad but far from ideal.  You are shooting short distances to subject with high lens mm settings.  For example, if you shoot f/8 at 30 inches to subject with an 85mm lens - your DOF is essentially one inch.  Which coincidentally is just about right on for the image above. 

So the first points to the club are this.  Be sure of your focus point and have a strategy to deal with Depth of Field.  

One of the environmental factors is the subjects will more than likely not be moving.  They will be staged as requested.  So the speed question is reduced.  Even better if you bring a tripod.  I used a bean bag on the track last year.

Also, I will be focus stacking again this year.  I've gone over this with the Club a few times, hope they stayed awake.

Next up:  Increasing ISO if necessary.  (And it might be.)

Hole Drill

Nikon is running a sale on two lenses - theoretically for close up work.  Both are prime.  One is a 35mm and the other is a 85mm Micro.  Nikon is calling its macro a micro lens.  Whatever, as long as it works.  

Yep, bought them this weekend.

I bought a 50mm last year - and it really wasn't doing the trick for me.  I was using it primarily for portrait work of which I don't do very much.  But I couldn't get the family picture right.  So - I'm going to a 35 mm.  As to the 85mm micro, I don't have anything to do real close up work.  With this lens, I can get close ups just under a foot away.  with my other lenses, I'm looking at another six inches away.  Doesn't sound like much, but.....

So today is play day.  My subject is a common hole cutting drill.  Truth be told, I had six different sets of shots.  Either the expose wasn't right, the tilt wasn't right or the lights didn't do the trick for me.  But stuck with it.

This is a 36 shot focus stack with the 85mm lens.  ISO 100, f/5.6, .3 Sec.  I shot this in RAW and the post work was in Photoshop.  The object is placed on a white poster-board.

As most of my efforts are HDR and somewhat 'soft', this is quite different.    

Toy RC Helicopter

This weekend's subject was photo stacking a smaller subject than the Walking Shoes projects.  I have a small, very small, RC helicopter I bought a few years ago to keep me occupied for a Christmas Day.  The Cats were not amused.
The toy has been sitting on the shelf since then.
Before I get into the toy, I thought a look into what I am now calling the dungeon.  I've set aside a corner in our basement for my photographic equipment.  I have two tables set up - one has the mat cutting equipment and the other is the table top studio.

So far, the single lighting source into the umbrella is doing the trick.  I have been very happy with the results.  That tip alone was well worth the gas money to Procam and back.
On to the helicopter.
The goal was to test the Helicon Remote (PC) and Focus programs with something other than the default settings.
Over the course of the day, I found out a few things that sound like I should have known them before today, but like most things I have learned I needed to see it for myself.
The first thing I figured out, is don't be so fast to jump to a RAW format.  As RAW files are larger, guess what?  Yep - they take longer to process.  That probably cost me a hour.  Lesson learned, unless there is a reason for RAW format or you are just testing go with a medium JPG format.
Another lesson, it appears that the smaller f/stop (larger opening) doesn't always mean a clearer product.  i found in the course of the shooting that for some reason, the tail section would never come out clear when I was shooting f/2.  Not sure if it was the complexity of the section, or the backdrop or a combination of the two.  I would see clear shots in the stack, but in the processing it never came out.  I'm sure there is a way to clean that up, but that is time I'd rather not take.  When I shot a stack at f/4.5 and f/8 the tail section came in very nicely.  Lesson learned, if you have the time take multiple sets with different aperture settings.  I believe it can make a difference.
Next lesson, complex subjects can be frustrating.  I'll define complex as having multiple points of focus that overlap.  In this case, I spent a lot of time moving the rotor blades so they didn't overlap the body.  The more independent each element, the better.  It took me a while to get this straight, and coupled with the RAW image lesson, there was a lot of time consumed.  Lesson learned, practice, practice, practice.  Note: I always go back to my first stacking adventure, the DMRRC shoot.  These were not so much complex shots, for the most part the scenery was uncomplicated.  There was depth, but none of it was overlapping.
And probably the last lesson for the day, when it comes to rendering the photos there is always room for improvement.  In this case, methods A and B worked best when the radius and smoothing values were set to 1.  And while that was fun trying to figure those settings - option C worked the best with no extra effort.  The Helicon vendor website said that most of the default settings would work most of the time.  Don't believe it - explore.
So on to the Helicopter, again.
Using two different DOF web calculators with the following:  Camera D7200 crop sensor, distance to subject of 24 inches with 50 mm lens set to f/8 gives me a DOF of just under 2 inches.  The helicopter is 7 inches long, plus maybe 2.5 inches for the front rotor blade.  Something isn't going to fit.
This is one of the mid-photos in the stack where the focus is just forward of the rotor.

The front looks OK, but from roughly half way back on the tail the sharpness is fading.

With a 16 shot photostack, this is the image:

And a close up of the tail section:

The tail section is sharp all the way through.

So that is the stack part - done in JPG.

And the Blog version:

As this project was done in JPG, I'm stuck with the coloring of the backdrop and soften the object shadow a bit.  Still in the learning process.

Walking Shoes II

Had a really good photo related day on Saturday.  I started with a few hours at ProCam in Livonia for their Demo Days event.  I had a few subjects to address while I was there - and all were taken care of.
First, I had the sensors cleaned on the D90 and D7200.  Pretty reasonable price and they did it while I was there.
Next I wanted to see what the Nikon 200-500 lens really looked and felt like.  I did.  Yea, I could have bugged the store people about it at any other time, but on Saturday I could bug the Nikon Rep.  It's bigger and heavier than I thought.  What I found out is I need to include in that purchase price a mono-pod.  The lens is coming in at around 5 pounds, its not a real mobile thing.  Good information.  Still in the running.
I'll get to the walking shoes.
I also needed to chat with someone about lighting for the downstairs studio, aka Grandpa's (Munster) laboratory or dungeon.  In the first effort with the walking shoes (Walking Shoes) I thought the subject was OK, but the environment was not.  I was mostly concerned with correcting the shadows cast on the backdrop.  The first thing I could correct was moving the backdrop back a bit, and that's easy to do.  But that might not be enough, I needed to get to the light source.  So I needed to chat with someone about the dungeon lighting.
Seriously, I'll get to the walking shoes.
I found a sales rep for Westcott, a seller of studio lighting materials.  Condensing the story, he said I had everything pretty much all wrong.  (I take things like this well, as I hear it a lot.)  I had used two table lamps on the previous walking shoes photo.  The light was OK - but I did get unwanted shadows.
The sales rep's suggestion was to use the modeling light on one of my White Lightnings into an umbrella to expand the light source and see what that does.  Go down to one light?  Less is better, right?
I was all for that - I already have the stuff.  No extra $$$s necessary.
Now to the walking shoes.
I set up the environment so the backdrop was more relaxed and back off the subject.  I used one overhead light with the full power of the modeling light into an umbrella.
I used a nine shot photostack.  I changed the defaults on the Helicon program to take two shots per focus step instead of one.  More is better, right?
And one other teenie weenie change, I returned to processing RAW files.  (I was playing with JPGs earlier because in the stacking learning curve, I didn't want to confuse any issues.)
On the previous project, the light temperature from the table top lamps came out pretty close to what I would want.  In this new set up, not even close.

Looks like a bizarre autumn warming filter was used.  There's some heavy tungsten temps.  Maybe some white reflection from the umbrella as well.  For reference, the backdrop is black.  Seriously.
Maybe I've lived under a rock for most my photographic journey, but I've never really had to play with white balance before.  I remember trying to find a neutral spot on photographs and identifying it to Lightroom in hopes of making a difference I couldn't see.  But in this case, I need to do something.  So in PS raw editor, moved the WB from AS SHOT to AUTO.  Bingo!  I was in the ball park.  It was that easy.
After I hit it with the WB change, I applied a custom color profile file I created for the studio.
So, here are the vitals:  I used the D90 with a 50mm prime lens.  ISO was set to 200, Aperture was f/2.8, speed was 1/6 second.  I used Helicon Remote to calculate and manage the shots.  I used Helicon Focus to merge the nine shots.  

I hit it with a bit of NIK's HDR filters and Glow.  (Hey, it's still me.)  On the original file, you can increases to 100% and it is tack sharp everywhere, even in the color transition areas.  I attribute that improvement over the previous version of Walking Shoes to doubling the number of shots per focus step in Helicon Remote.
The walking shoes set up was a fun learning experience.  This project is closed.  Time to move on.

Walking Shoes

I've been working with Helicon Remote and Focus.  These programs are primarily used for focus stacking.
The Remote product serves two purposes.  I wanted a better tethering application than the base Nikon product.  The Remote product works on both my Samsung Tablet and my W10 laptop.  That is HUGE.  The product will control everything except a zoom function.
When I have the table attached to my camera, via WiFi, I can place the camera in places that are hard for me to use the live view and control the focus points plus all other elements.  I've configured the application to save the files on the camera which has more space than on the tablet.  I can use this when working on a location.
When I have the laptop attached to the camera via USB, I have the same control but I have the images sent to the laptop.  From there I can run the Focus program to verify the image is as I want it.
The entire package is a bit on the pricey side, that is north of $100.  After a few days of testing, for me it is worth it.
So this is my first public effort with the new package.  The goal is to be ultra sharp through the entire subject (running shoes).  The bonus is that even with a HDR effect, still very sharp.
The vitals:  f/1.8, 1/40th second, ISO 400.  The lens is a Nikon nifty 50.

First effort - not bad.

The White Barn

This is a barn in the Saginaw area.  I was out driving around and the sunlight and sky seem to be calling me.  This barn is photographed often by our Club, so it is not entirely unknown to me.  I've seen many shots at different times of year.  I think this has many possibilities.
First, I've started taking both RAW and JPG files.  I quit taking JPGs a few years ago, but now I have plenty of disk in the camera.  More information, even if it is not used ain't all that bad.

The RAW image:

The white siding is very close to being blown out.  On the histogram, that is represented by indications on the right and the warning symbol.  There just isn't a whole lot to deal with and the side is white so I'm expecting just a bit.

The Original Nikon JPG

By the histogram, it looks like the RGBs were reduced pretty evenly and added some dark blue.
Its OK, but not to my tastes.  First the golden vegetation has real possibilities.  I like yellows.  But I need more definition and a touch of saturation.  I think the real center of the picture is the white siding of the barn.  Again, more definition of the weathering.  And to finish up, the green on the tree and silo ivy is just plain boring, just some saturation.  Also, if I can do something with the sky in terms of clearing up the dull blue, that will be a bonus.

Now that I'm getting very comfortable Photoshop, I'm getting a solid workflow to 'prep' the image.  I start with the RAW filter.  In the RAW filter, I use the Transform tool to set the overall picture horizontal and vertical elements and correct for camera distortion.  Sounds busy, but I pretty much let PS do all the work.

In this case, there was some adjustment.

My next set of adjustments came from On One.  I tried the NIK adjustments and nothing suited me. In On One, I used Dynamic Contrast and Grunge filters.

On One Adjustments:

Now we're starting to get somewhere.  Starting at the top, the sky/clouds are starting to get some edge to them.  The tress and ivy have a lighter color and you can see much more definition.The flat white on the barn side is disappearing.  Not yet where I want it, but it is a start.  And as a bonus, I'm seeing some definition in the roof and silo.  The histogram is showing the image darkened a bit so I'll want to recover some overall light.  I used the RAW filter again to bump up the yellows and greens just a bit.

The Final Image:

I think I got what I wanted.  The sky has some definition, without looking too altered.  The tree and ivy have more color and definition.  The white barn siding isn't so bright, looks more weathered and detailed.  And the gold sea looks a lot more detailed.

High ISO with Polarizer

Continuing my practicing photos with high ISO, I headed out to Port Huron.  I figured there would be plenty of action shots between the boats and the birds.  I shot many images of boats going from 'no wake' to wide open and could follow/pan pretty easily with the 200 mm  lens.  I had lots of luck with clarity and had many more good shots than bad.  It was a good beginning.
Shooting the birds in flight was a bit more difficult.  They did not get the memo to fly close to me and in a direction I could use.  At least none of them crapped on me.
I did see some of them guarding the lights, and with the mix of blue sky and white puffys, there were some opportunities.
I wanted to shoot at ISO 1000 but I was using a polarizer, so bumped it down to 800.  With that set up, I had a shutter speed of 1/640.  I always use a polarizer around the water.
What I learned.  I've shot (photographically) a number of Gulls.  There is definition in the chest feathers.  On this shot, there is no definition.  Like he's wearing a T-shirt.  I'm going to take it that in the RAW image with enough time I might be able to bring something out - but I'm OK with this as it is.  There is a lot of white between the Gull, the lamp and the clouds.  All of it is nice and defined.
The final product is cropped pretty tight, if i was going to do something more with this image I might have to take a different approach.

Shutter:  1/640
Aperture:  F/11
ISO:  800
Mode:  Manual
Focal Length:  135 mm
Polarizer

High ISO Shots

My next big photo op is roughly one year away.  I am heading west with a few friends to attend the Reno airshow.  As in Reno, Nevada.  Wow, I have some work to do!
First, this takes me a bit out of my element.  I like nice static subjects.  If I miss it, I can go back.  I'm not much for one and dones.
I've been looking at web sites for aviation photography and a few things I've learned.  One is I'll need to go shopping for something more powerful than my 200mm lens.  Doable.
I'll also need to be able to take shots at 1/2000.  The guideline for taking photos of prop driven aircraft is 1/40 to 1/125.  The blur of the prop makes the shot.  But for jets and very distant shots with longer focal distances, the higher speeds are essential.
One option to achieving higher speeds is to open up the lens' F/stop.  I'm real comfortable at F11.  I'll go to F/8 if I need to but that's about my limit.
Another option is to increase the ISO.  Being brought up in the 35mm days, 100, 400 and 800 are my familiar numbers.  The advertising on my D7200 says I should be able to get up to 1600 without too much issue.
OK, let's find out.
I've seen a number of sites that demo ISO noise effects.  Mostly the changes are in the area of color and definition, plus the introduction of 'noise'.  I should be able to compensate for definition to keep away from a really soft look.  I should be able to saturate as necessary for color.  The noise?  We'll have to see.
Now what I really need is a subject.  And as luck would have it, the snowmobile races that I went to last year - were going on today.  This is as close to air races as I'm going to get today.
To get where I want to go, I'm using Manual Mode.  I have the lens set at F11 and the speed at 1/1000.  I took a few evaluation shots and found that when shooting in the sunlight, 1/1250 painted a very nice histogram.  With a year to prep, I have one data point.

ISO 1,000
Speed  1/1250
Aperture  F11
Mode Manual
Focal Length  27mm
(Just in case you missed it before.)

The JPG that Nikon created was OK.  On the RAW image, which is the one above, all I did was let Photoshop add some depth and I added just a bit of green saturation for the grass.

First test passed.  I think the image is fine.  Next test - will the D90 do as well?  (It's going out west too!)

Playing with NIK Software

I spent time today talking with two of my fellow photo-club members and as usual we wound up on the subject of workflow processes.
We started talking about the software we used.  We all had NIK software mostly because it is now free to use.  Thank you Google.  The software also works well with Photoshop and Lightroom.
In using NIK, one of the tips I picked up was to use a bleach filter early on in the process.  A bleach filter will do what bleach does - remove a lot of color.  Clean up the stains.  The filter will also sharpen and tone compress a lot of the photo.  In my limited experience (this afternoon) the filter seems to do a much cleaner job of sharpening and compression.  In the process, you can add color back  - and the color stays where you want it - that is no compression halos.
For my testing purposes, I'm using a photo of a church door I shot earlier this year in Flint.  Nothing reacts better to tonal compression that rock/stone and wood.  
This is the original RAW image.

The image is about as sharp as it will get naturally, I used a tripod.  As with RAW images, this is a bit flat and dull.  This is what the camera sees before going through some Nikon processing to make it a bit more pleasing to the eye.  This is the starting point.
My first step is to use the RAW editor to use the camera correction to straighten the image and lighten it up a bit.

In the next step or layer, I will add the bleach filter.

As with bleach, it has removed what looks like a layer of color.  Looking at the door in the center, you can now see wood grain definition.  The masonry looks like a sharpening effect was used, but was much easier than trying to find that right amount.
Next step will be to add some color back in with the Brilliance/Warming filter.

I like the way the color of the door has started to return.  When the new door lays is compared to the pre-bleach layer - you can tell the difference.

With a lot of work, I might be able to get the same result using multiple filters.  With this flow, there is no halo and the wood grain and masonry grain really pop.
I usually don't use - or haven't thought much of using this next filter, but for this photo it works.  The filter adds a bit lo light to the center.  it is basically the same as a vignette, but more of a circular pattern.  And in this case, I just want to accentuate the doors and this does the trick nicely.

So I now have the door where I want it color-wise and relatively speaking.  I'm on the final stretch here.  And because it is me, I need to add an HDR effect.

Now I've got the HDR effect I like.  The color is really close but going to give it just a little warm boost.

Clearly that last add of a warm is personal.
This is the final product up against the original.

If I was going to do more, I'd clean up the snow.  The HDR processing doesn't really do snow any favors, I like the pure white that is in the original.  I'd use masking to fix the snow.  That's about it for this image.
For this purpose, I like using the bleach filter.  That allows me to keep the sharpness of the photo through other adjustment layers.

Crim 2016 Hand cycle start

One of the races at the Crim is the hand cycle.  These amazing athletes go the 10 miles on their cycles.  With their arms.  Wow.

This was taken at the start of the race - clearly with the participants crossing the start line.  I had access to get past the crowd control fences, so I could sit right at the line.

I like the excess contrast and a bit of HDR on this - and most of my shots.

1/25
ISO 400
5.6
Aperture Priority

2106 Crim Festival of Races

Well - I after 15+ years in Flint, I finally made it to the Crim Races.
Like many things in life I can ask myself - why did I wait so long?
From a social point of view, I was really touched by the Special Olympics.  I expected to see the main participants - but what I didn't expect was the support each participant received, from family to strangers.  Very fun to watch.
I saw a number of 'professional' photographers at the event.  They all had lime green vests stating they were professional photographers.  OK then....  I shadowed some of them for a while, just to watch them work the crowd.  I have one real shortcoming - that is I'm not comfortable working with people.  These professional folks were very good at getting individuals and group to pose for them.  I have something to work for.
I also saw what I'd call independent professional photographers.  They had no special credentials or vests - but large camera bags and multiple cameras around their necks.  I watched some of these folks - and they hustled.  They had note pads and they were taking notes.
From a photographic point of view I changed all my plans at the last minute.  I carried only one camera just because this was the first time I've been in this environment and I came to the realization that trying to manage two cameras would have been just too much.  So I carried the D7200 with a 18-200 lens.
I shot all my photos in RAW - just because you never know when that artsy situation is going to happen.
I set my camera up for continuous auto focus, which was new to me.  I set it up for 51 points of sampling.  I found that when there is that much action that close, the camera became overwhelmed.  Next time I will go with fewer points.  I tossed a few shots where the point of focus was not what I expected.  On the bright side, sometimes the unexpected worked out nicely.
The goal for this project is to deliver photographs that can be used for future publication by the race organization.  In return, I was given access to all areas - course included.  This is the first time I've had to deliver 'normal' finished shot - no art.  Yikes!  More about that later.
I took close to 1600 shots.  Sounds like a lot, but I shoot bursts of 3 - 5 shots in most cases.  One of them should turn out OK, right?  In the end, I have close to 700 shots that I will need to process.
The Friday evening photos were mostly in shady light conditions.  In my normal post processing of running the RAW shots through Photomatix, I just couldn't get a normal looking shot.  I was trying to keep at 1/500th for my speed, but the Special Olympics I really didn't need that at all.  I could go pretty normal around 1/100th.  For the other Friday races where I could get some better light I stayed around 1/200.
The Saturday race shots that I shot manual (1/500 / ISO 400 / 5.6) turned out much better than I thought.  I also got some early shots (6:00 AM) of the race set up, but most of them will not see the light of day.
With the number of shots that I had, I also decided that if I can't make Lightroom work for me now, I never will.  Since the Photomatix wasn't giving me the results I wanted, I used LR to apply a general ICC file to add a little color to the RAW images and for the most past they turned out well for at least proofing.  
In the end I think there are maybe 20 photos that could be used for publications.  And I think I have 5 or 6 that have some real potential.
In the end, it was a lot of fun.  I'm happy with the results for a first time - and have some ideas for better shots next year.  (If I can remember that long!)

Flint's Crim Races

The next project:  Flint's 2016 Crim Race.  (http://crim.org/races-events/crim/)

Our photoclub has been working with the race for a few years providing hundreds of photos for promotional and historical publications.

On Friday August 26, there will be a Special Olympics race followed by a series of one mile races.  It looks like there will be some professional races along with some amateur school aged races.

On Saturday August 27, the main races will take place.  The first race is a 10 mile track, followed by a 8k track and then a 5k track.

Since this will be my first time at the event, I have pre-work to do.
1.  I need to see the course.  The route is well published - so a walk/drive is probably in order.
2.  I need to find a unique location/perspective.  As much as I' like to do the Start/Finish line standard shots, I'd find that - well BORING.  I heard there is a person who constructs a water tunnel that runners can use, or not.  I need to find out for sure but this has possibilities.
3.  This is a different environment for me.  My comfort zone is usually more forgiving, that is I can always go back for another try if I don't like the first attempt.  This environment is one and done.  I might be able to make mid-course corrections, if I'm fast enough.  I understand that 80% of the runners in any of the races will cross through the point where I'm shooting in about 10 minutes.  There will be time between races to review, but.....
4.  The whole auto-focus thing.  I usually shoot shoot in the single servo mode.  For action shots, I'll need to go to the continuous servo mode.  Sure sounds easy, but there are other considerations involved, such as when the camera shutter will actually release.  Does it wait for focus, or does it shoot even if the shot is out of focus?  I've enjoyed the back button focus set up - but now with a continuous focus is that going to present an issue?

It's been a nice summer, a long time between photos.  I got the equipment out this morning - charged batteries and started working.

I don't have any issues with using a hand-held camera for this project, but I need to make sure I can get the second camera to work as I want.  

The first camera is a Nikon D7200.  I'll be using that with my primary lens, Nikkor 18-200.  It will be hand held, but taking action shots.  I'm thinking of getting a 1/500 shutter speed at the very least.

The second camera will be a Nikon D90 with Nikkor's 18-105 kit lens.  I will be using a Neewer release timer.  So the work here is to remember how to program the unit.  In my head, I picture (Ha Ha- Pun alert) setting it to shoot one picture every one second for five minutes.  I'd like to hit the timer button then focus (Ha Ha - ah forget it.)  on the hand held shots.  Simple enough, but can the camera buffer take all that?  More pre work, find out how much I can stress the buffer.  As part of the new camera purchase earlier int he year, I had a 32 gig card thrown in.  That is now in the D90 - and will give me over 2k RAW shots.  The number of shots won't be the limiting factor here.  The next issue is the shutter speed.  My first camera, handheld, will be set around 1/500 for capture shots.  For the second camera, I think the effect I'm looking will be a much slower speed, around 1/30.  On a sunny day, that might be hard to achieve - so my have to get the neutral density filter out.  The lowest ISO for the D90 is 200, and I'd like to set the aperture somewhere between 8 and 11.  There'll be some testing involved.

I'm a lot more comfortable shooting in Manual mode these days.  I have no problem setting the second camera in total manual mode, including focus.  Sure, there are things that could go wrong like a cloud drifting through, but if I shoot 600 hundred shots, one is bound to come out just right!  

And the last thing I need to remember is the equipment temperature.  It's been so hot here lately - going from an A/C house to 85+ with high humidity might not be desirable.  

Williamsburg: The Boathouse

When one thinks of Williamsburg, VA - one tends to think colonial.  And in most cases, one would be correct.  But not this one time.
Just outside of the colonial village, there is Bassett Hall Nature Trail.  It's a 2 mile walk between two golf courses.  Being that it splits two golf courses, there is a lake/reservoir between the two golf courses, and the walk goes along the water for some time.  Along the walk, and in this body of water there is what looks to be a boat house.  It has all the qualifying marks, basically in the water and a larger enough door on the water to let a water vehicle transit.
This scene has all my favorite elements, water, wood, reflections and a story.
The particulars:  3 Shot HDR, 400 ISO, Aperture Priority, Focal length 50 mm, f/11, speeds 1/200, 1/1600, 1/25.
I used Photomatix to get my base image.  I was planning to just set the colors, but it turns out I really liked one of the preset effects.  Wow - I didn't have to go too much further on this one.  This is my base image.

There isn't too much to do for the color levels, although I might make it just a bit darker.  The sun was out full, but I see this as a bit darker.  i will crop it closer to the building to really see the wood and reflections.  I need to cop out the grass in the foreground and maybe remove a stray blade or two.  I'll work on some effect to age the building more than it is.  But the first thing I want to do is sharpen the image.  At the club meeting last night, we started talking about the Nik sharpening programs.  I applied the pre-sharpener to this image before I 'aged' the building - and then used the post sharpening at the end.  In the preview pane, you can see some action going on.
So in the end, after the effects, sharpening and a 5x7 crop, this is what I get.

I really like the end product doors.  I usually favor a deeper yellow - but this is right on.  I thought I'd be spending more time on this project but this fell right into place.  After the picture of the Inn (Williamsburg Inn Morning), this is more my speed.