Before and After black and white
Fellow photog David, asked me how I arrived at this image in black and white so I put together this brief explanation.
My 5 bracketed exposures are sent from Lightroom 4 to Photomatix Pro then after viewing the tonemapped result the overall colors were too blah but I did like the composition.
I previewed it in black and white while in Lightroom and it looked very interesting so I ran it through Nik Silver Effex 2 which really pops a lot of the details.
And then back in Lightroom I did some additional tweaks such as crop, vignette and sharpen and other adjustment brushes.
Thanks for reading and if any questions or comments chime in below.
Topaz Adjust 5 and Star Effects giveaway winners!
Hello all click on the video for the winners of Topaz Labs Adjust 5 and Star Effects!
Thanks to Topaz! www.topazlabs.com and Everyone that participated!
Check out their site for more cool plugins and use coupon code TOPAZCAP for 15% off!
Fun with Fish Eye lens
Just got the Rokinon FE8M-P 8mm F3.5 Fisheye Lens this month and am pretty excited about it, I shot a few images with it so far and overall very pleased with the results.
I am looking forward to going out with it to do some night time and also interior HDR scenes.
There are a few negatives that I found with this lens -
Chromatic Aberration, which I tame in Lightroom2 and Photoshop CS5, also when processing in Photomatix Pro I check the reduce Chromatic Aberrations box.
Close focus a bit fuzzy, I noticed when I have a subject in the scene too close about 2 or less feet it seems a bit fuzzy (even at f11) compared to the rest of the scene, but I think I have to fiddle with the focus more.
Manual focus, although with this kind of lens you can just set it in between and just shoot although as mentioned prior I think I need to tweak and test the focus setting a bit more.
And the plusses-
Fun lens!!!
The price is not too bad – less than $300 dollars.
Dramatic views. This can really turn an ordinary scene into a really cool scene.
Fun lens!!! ah ok I said that already lol. But my impression overall is that it is indeed a fun lens.
Below are a few sample images that I shot so far. All were post processed in LR2 and also in addition some with Topaz Adjust and Nik Color Efex Pro as well.
Waiting for some food at Cemitas. The salt and sugar shakers not as sharp as the rest of the picture. Processed in LR2 and Nik Color Efex Pro.
Kumas restaurant. There was some banding from the sky (I noticed this on other shots with the sky in it, maybe due to such a wide angle) and chromatic abberation along the edges of building and power lines.
Having fun with the wide angle.
Lens super close up to the mesh on this shop window.
Crowd shot at the Cloud Gate Luminous display.
5 Exposure test HDR shot.
In closing although I just barely begun using this lens I am really excited about it. This lens will be a regular addition in my camera bag.
onOne Perfect Photo Suite 6 giveaway
Hello all! Click on the video below for the drawing of the winner of onOne’s Perfect Photo Suite 6.
My thanks to everyone at onOne Software for providing a giveaway of such a cool software suite with LOTS of awesome features and to all of you who participated!
Perfect Photo Suite 6 is on sale! Download a free trial today, and place your order before December 8th to save $30 off the regular price.
Craft and Vision eBooks giveaway winners
Hello all click on the video for the contest winners of Craft and Vision eBooks that was run on Chicago Area Photowalks facebook group page!
Big thank you to Craft & Vision for sponsoring this giveaway and to all who participated!
SocialDevCamp Pics #SDCChi
Just wanted to share a few highlights, mentions and some links to pictures from this cool event conference.
It was great working alongside photographer Tom Tran. Cool guy and I got a lot of good tips and ideas.
David Spark, Mike Ewing and David Kadavy
A highlight of the event for me was meeting David Spark who was in a podcast that I enjoyed called Cranky Geeks with John C. Dvorak.
It was a fun time photographing the event and meeting new people and seeing friends.
Thanks to Nicole Yeary for letting me know about this and to Mike Ewing and Tim Courtney for giving me the opportunity to photograph the event.
More Pictures of the event
SocialDevCamp Chicago’s Flicker Page Mostly me and Tom’s pics
My Smug Mug page
Tom Tran’s “Tran Scape Photography”
WordCamp Chicago 2011 Pictures
After having been in DePaul University a few days ago (see prior post) I found myself there again this time attending WordCamp Chicago 2011. It was great learning about various topics on blogging with wordpress.org that I plan to use when I move from wordpress.com for this photography blog. WordPress.org is way more customizable versus wordpress.com which is free but way limited in a lot of ways, although it’s still pretty cool anyways. Learn more here.
I was also looking forward to seeing fellow photog / photowalk member Nicole Yeary guest speak and to finally meet her. Also met other great people and some that I have only known on twitter and facebook.
Of course I couldn’t help but to take my camera and took a few pictures while there….
@NicoleYeary
@KurtScholle
@TheCubicleChick
@MaribethR @NicoleYeary
@NicoleYeary @PicsByRobert
At the Genius Bar
@blondishnet @AskKim
@bikespoke @squishyviolet @HeatherActon78
Guest Speaking about Photography
I was invited to guest speak at DePaul University from fellow photowalker and teacher Sharon, she is teaching a wonderful program for High School youth at the university.
I was really touched and honored to have been asked, and I also immediately thought of someone that could guest speak who is very generous in giving and helping fellow photographers including youth and that would be … Gokhan Cukurova. So he joined me as well! I spoke about HDR and Photowalking and answered questions and Gokhan spoke about a lot of aspects of photography including what its like as a professional wedding photographer, I learned a lot too listening to him and his answers to questions.
About the Summer Youth Scholar program-
As Sharon told us, the students have been selected by DePaul from high schools across the city to provide them with information about college and provide them an opportunity to experience a university campus. The students attend academic classes and then college prep classes. Her class is on urban history through visual arts, culture and architecture. They have been taught how to do a photo essay and are expected to put one together as their final project. They can decide how they want to tell the story they select. Vivitar supplied point and shoot cameras. They have also been given audio recorders to interview urban dwellers.
Gokhan at the podium
In closing, this was a really amazing experience to talk and share about photography and to see the students cool work and each of their unique photos on subjects such as people and architecture.
My thanks to Sharon, Gokhan and most of all to our future creative people who welcomed us with a cheerful smile and great enthusiasm. I hope to see more of their work in the future.
Calumet Photo sensor cleaning giveaway winners
I announce the winners of Chicago Area Photowalks FB Group free sensor cleaning contest, the first winner is for Calumet Photo in Chicago and the second one for Calumet Photo in Oak Brook.
Click on the video below to view.
Big Thank You Calumet Photo for sponsoring this giveaway and everyone for participating!
