10/07/2009, 4:39pm, Bannack, MT, f8, 1/30, Nikon D-80
10/07/2009, 11:44pm, Bannack, MT, f5.6, 1/200, Nikon D-80
I really enjoyed doing the HDR images. I tried to get shots that had good skies and were well put together compositionally. I learned that you’ve got to have your first shot set up perfectly so that when you combine all three the colors come out right.
Door Knob
10/07/2009, 1:45pm, Bannack, MT, f5.3, 1/250, Nikon D-80
Gear Shift
10/07/2009, 4:57pm, Bannack, MT, f5.6, 1/1600, Nikon D-80
Barber's Chair
10/07/2009, 3:28pm, Bannack, MT, f4.5, 1/125, Nikon D-80
Kurt
10/07/2009, 1:36pm, Bannack, MT, f5, 1/100, Nikon D-80
Ghost in the Closet
10/07/2009, 5:33pm, Bannack, MT, f22, 4″, Nikon D-80
Ghost Knife
10/07/2009, 5:40pm, Bannack, MT, f13, 8″, Nikon D-80
I really enjoyed the trip to Bannack. I tried to get some unique shots that other people might not think of, then I looked at other peoples shots and saw that my attempts were futile. In the portrait of Kurt, I copied the layer and decreased the brightness, then masked out everything, but the window because it was a little blown out in the original. I adjusted the levels on the other images.
Dandylion
10/03/2009, 2:46pm, Ammon, ID, f5.6, 1/200, Nikon D-80
Pumpkin
10/03/2009, 2:38pm, Ammon, ID, f5.6, 1/100, Nikon D-80
Chipmunk
09/26/2009, 9:57am, Yellowstone National Park, f5.6, 1/400, Nikon D-80
Elk
09/26/2009, 12:55pm, Yellowstone National Park, f7.1, 1/1600, Nikon D-80
I took the shot of the pumpkin and dandelion because there are only a few flowers that are left alive and looking good at this time of year, especially after the frost we’ve had. I didn’t want to have the same shots as other people so I thought I’d try something a bit different. I took the other two in Yellowstone. I really like the way the chipmunk is kind of hidden in the shot. I would have liked to get closer and make him sharper, but he moved so fast it was almost impossible.
Gnarly Tree
Tree with Gaussian Blur
10/03/2009, 2:42pm, Ammon, ID, f3.8, 1/200, Nikon D-80
I chose to use the same image and do different edits to it so that I could show what one can do to an image. The first version has adjustment layers for brightness/contrast and hue/saturation. The second image has a smart filter with a gaussian blur. I copied the layer and then masked out the tree so that it appeared sharp and created a deeper sense of depth.
The Great Prizm Geyser
09/26/2009, 12:25pm, Yellowstone National Park, f7.1, 1/1600, Nikon D-80
The Fire Hole River
09/26/2009, 09:57am, Yellowstone National Park, f4.5, 1/400, Nikon D-80
Yellowstone Valley
09/26/2009, 12:05pm, Yellowstone National Park, f16, 1/2000, Nikon D-80
Dragonfly
09/26/2009, 12:26pm, Yellowstone National Park, f7.1, 1/1600, Nikon D-80
I took this assignment as an opportunity to go camping up in Yellowstone. The park is full of great scenery and beautifully intense color. I tried to vary the types of landscape that I captured in the park. This was made more difficult because of road closures and fires in the park, but I feel I met this goal. I got to see some parts of the park that I had to see in all my years of visiting. The light was very bright out side and so I struggled to find the right aperture and shutter speed to capture the color and not get blown out and washed out color.
Old Faithful
Old Faithful with Vintage Effects
09/26/2009, 11:17am, Yellowstone National Park, f16, 1/2000, Nikon D-80
Geyser Rock
09/26/2009, 12:21pm, Yellowstone National Park, f6.3, 1/1000, Nikon D-80
Grungy Text Edit
Algae
09/26/2009, 12:20pm, Yellowstone National Park, f6.3, 1/1000, Nikon D-80
I found this great tutorial online (http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/photoshop_vintage_effect/) for giving images a “vintage” look, as if it were taken back in the early days of color photography. I used this tutorial as a starting point and added a grungy texture using an image of the ground around one of the geysers. I used an image of black algae for my grungy texture to do my text edit. I used the guide on page 15 of the Custom Images book.
Crane Color Exploration
Crane, 09/19/2009, 04:35 pm, Idaho Falls, ID, f5.6, 1/500, Nikon D-80
Fazoli's at Night Color Exploration
Fazoli’s at Night, 09/19/2009, 10:46pm, Idaho Falls, ID, f5.6, 1/4, Nikon D-80, Tripod
Daylilly Color Exploration
Daylilly, 09/19/2009, 10:03 am, Idaho Falls, ID, F8, 1/1000, Nikon D-80
I was inspired by the golden yellow of the daylilly. I saw it outside my apartment and thought that it really popped. I decided to take a macro shot of the daylilly. The crane is next to a grain elevator off of highway 20. I took several different shots of the crane from several angles and depths of zoom. I found this one to be the most interesting and I feel that the compliment between the blue sky and the crane creates a striking composition. Fazoli’s at night was difficult to capture. The colors were either blown out or under exposed. I shot it using a tripod and timer to avoid any blur from pushing the button.
Original
Edited
Dice, 09/17/2009, 03:34 pm, Idaho Falls, ID, f5.6/ 1/60, Nikon D-80
I took this picture on a dark background with the intent of cutting it out. The higher the contrast the easier it is to use the quick select and magic wand tools. I used the quick select to select most of the background and then I turned that selection into a mask to remove most of the background. I used the brush tool to clean around the edges. By using a mask I can change the background color with one click.
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