This is another photo I shot yesterday evening on the shores of Lake Michigan.
I was kind of in the mood to keep playing with these photos to see what I could transform them into. With this photo, I’ve kind of pushed this one to be more like a painting in CS4. I also wanted to go with a panoramic aspect ratio.
There’s really no tips or instructional for this post. Other than perhaps this: “keep playing!” with the tools. Have fun and try new things.
Finally got out to take a few photos here in Chicago – of course the rain came in today! But, I walked out toward Navy Pier this evening and made a walk through Olive Park. I've never spent any time in this particular part of Chicago and it was an enjoyable walk.
I was trying to take a photo of the building I’ve been working in this week (for the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation) when the fog started to break in spots and the Sears Tower and other buildings started popping out. It was kind of a dramatic effect.
In Photoshop, I corrected the perspective as I was below buildings and shooting up – but then I decided to use eOne’s PhotoTools 2.0 to apply an HDR effect to the skyline. If I had a tripod, I would have done it the right way with multiple exposures, but I figured what the heck. I took it to the max and then darkened the levels just a tad once I returned it to Photoshop. I’m pretty darn happy with the result. Hope you like.
Below is the original:
Next is the more surreal HDR feel:
I might have another photo or two to post from Chicago, but that will have to wait until I get home tomorrow!
PJ
Just a quick note to say I am off to Chicago for the week for a consulting gig. Hopefully, I’ll get some time in the evenings to find something to photograph.
I helped a colleague shoot a wedding this weekend – it was kind of fun to just be the second camera and not to be the one in charge. Here’s a “cutesy” photo from the event – while my friend was shooting serious photos I was free to spot candid opportunities like this.
Check out my colleague’s website here: www.jrportraitdesign.com She does fantastic work.
Hi Everyone!
I’ve been working on a new web site for a while – been a slow process, but I think it is 99% ready to go. And I may make it “Live” anyway, as I am the kind that will tweak it and tweak it until it is perfect in my mind… meaning, it would never get done.
I’m inviting you to take a look if you would like. You can find it here: www.pjandersonphotography.com
There are actually two web sites under the splash screen. One for “people” and another for everything else (nature, places and things). Also there is a link back here to the blog. Hope you take a look at both sites and let me know what you think! I know I won’t please everyone 100%, but I hope it shows off a bit of my work.
PJ
I wanted to do a post on the trip my parents and I took to Sica Hollow State Park near Sisseton, SD. BUT, first a big “thank you!” to Tatyana T and J for their assistance on the identification of the plant I posted yesterday. So far, everyone seems to be in consensus that it is indeed a Trillian. How great is it that we can develop these networks of people from all around the world to be able to converse and ask questions like this!
Ok, on to Sica Hollow (pronounced she-cha meaning evil or bad.) First some background, hope it isn’t too boring! The part of South Dakota that I live in and where Sica Hollow is located is called the Coteau des Prairies. This is French for the “Hills of the Prairie”. If we could travel with Peabody and Sherman in the Wayback Machine (click here for you to young to have watched Rocky and Bullwinkle aka Moose and Squirrel) back to the the last Ice Age in the Pleistocene era, we would see two glaciers part on the east and west side of the Coteau. You can read more and see a satellite photo of the Coteau here.
I don’t think most people driving down Interstate 29 give it a much thought, but I’ve been fascinated with that hill for nearly twenty years. Something about that makes me wonder and contemplate.
Sica Hollow is on the northeast side of the Coteau where the hill is maybe most dramatic. It is amazing to me as you cannot see the hollow until you are in it. It is a quiet place. Where noises like traffic, lawnmowers or people in general don’t really exist. I can see why the place holds meaning for the Sioux. Sica Hollow has a very interesting Sioux legend that you can read here.
Sica Hollow is pretty much off the beaten path. Which gives it some pros and cons. The pros are that it REALLY is quiet. You get to hear nature around you. If you do hear someone else’s voice, it seems out of place. One of the cons is that the park is mostly unsupervised. It is common for me to see beer cans tossed off the side of the trail. This trip I was treated to a dirty diaper in a tree. People are funny/strange animals. I didn’t bring a bag with me this time to pick up all the trash, but I did take out an old Budweiser case, a foam paper plate and a couple of plastic water bottles.
There were a number of beautiful flowers to photograph – although for this trip, I mostly looked and just took it all in. One flower that I do want to share today is this one. I believe this to be a Cup Rosinweed (Silphium perfoliatum). Again, if anyone has a better identification, I’d love to hear it.
This flower was at least as tall as I am – right around six feet. It was a very vibrant yellow and it sucked me in from at least 50 yards!
It had been a year or so since I’ve been to Sica Hollow and the first time my parents had been there. I’m so glad the magic is still there and that my parents enjoyed it as much as I do.
I’d like to make it a goal for next year to try to get into the park every month to photograph the changes. In winter, the road is not plowed – so no guarantees that I can make it in every month if the snow gets too deep. So, wish me luck and if anyone wants to push me into sticking to my goal, I’d sure be open to that. Especially on those COLD days in January and February!
I hope this post didn’t drag on too much! Always like to hear your thoughts!
Patrick
I visited Sica Hollow State Park, north of Sisseton, SD yesterday. I’ll give more information and details on the park in the next post. I’m shooting for tomorrow on that one.
However, I could use some help tracking down the identification of one of the plants I photographed. As I was walking the trails, I saw a red seed pod hanging under a plant. It took me a while before I could find a plant that was accessible enough that I could photograph.
I believe this to be a Trillium, but if anyone can confirm this or give me more specifics about this particular plant, I’d sure appreciate it.
The first photo is a detailed look at the seed pod (also the “keeper” of my photos of the plant). The second photo shows more of the leaf structure. The plant stood about 12-18 inches tall. The seed pod is about the size of a grocery store strawberry and had a smooth texture. This location is a very damp, shady hardwood forest where it was growing.
Thanks for your help!
Been a while since I updated last. Been working behind the scenes on my business, wedding photos, websites, etc. I apologize for the quiet period.
Right now I am actually exporting some photos out of Lightroom tonight, in prep for burning photos to a CD so that I can get them shipped out tomorrow. The export can take a while, so while I was waiting I decided to try a tutorial on the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) website www.photoshopuser.com.
Being those tutorials are provided to the members as a benefit of membership, I don’t feel it is exactly ethical to lay it out step by step. But, I’ll give you the lowdown on what settings I manipulated. If you enjoy Photoshop, I’d recommend checking out NAPP – it is SO worth the price.
This process is all done in Adobe Camera Raw, which makes it kind of neat going forward as I can save these settings as a preset and apply it to any other RAW image in the future.
Essentially, opening the photo in ACR, I set Recovery, Fill Light, Contrast, Clarity, Vibrance all to +100. Then to tone it down, I slide the Saturation down until it looks good. Finally, I tweak the “Lens Correction” to add quite a bit of vignetting to darken the sides of the image.
The photo I played with was of an old truck I photographed at Itasca State Park in Minnesota (at the old Itasca Sawmill). First up is the original with no tweaking.
ISO 1000, 1/500 second, f/4.5, 28mm – Nikon D300
Next is the “After”
You can really see the changes in the windshield and the tires. It is a fun effect that I’ll probably play with more in the future.
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