Urban Art...

I missed the Pintura Project, an annual graffiti art event here in Orlando, Florida, but I was able to get a few shots afterwards. Very impressive urban art to be found here. The textures and colors in these walls create a dynamic composition, with unique areas that command further exploration. No fancy filters in Photoshop, just a couple of different lenses, a few creative angles and great light. The art speaks for itself - very cool...

 I used a Nikon 24-70mm lens for the first image. With the second image,  I used Nikon's wide angle 14-24mm lens which allowed me to capture more of the surrounding area of the buildings. Tip - A low perspective worked well for the images, waiting for the best light created a more balanced overall exposure. A few foreground elements adds interest to the overall composition. Have fun shooting! ~ Deb

Don't miss the boat...

Please join me for Photoshop - Enhancing Images and Creating Works of Art, and/or Digital Infrared Photography online May 5th at BetterPhoto.com! You'll have a great time working on images creatively, whether infrared or color. Spring and summer are perfect for infrared, time to dust off the old camera and have it converted to photograph in infrared. Try one of the new cool infrared filters such as Super Color! Wondering how other photographers make their images more artistic? Find out in my Enhancing Images course. You can learn new techniques to round out your photography, make your images more artistic, and have fun the entire month of May! Hope to see you there!

Come Sail Away...

Florida's Birding & Fotofest was fantastic! Thanks to the great group of photographers who attended my presentations on Digital Infrared Photography, and a Creative Approach to Digital Photography! I enjoyed meeting so many fascinating people from Florida to California.  I attended wonderful presentations, including those by fellow BetterPhoto instructors Lewis Kemper and Rob Sheppard.

St. Augustine offers wonderful opportunities for the photographer! I took this picture of a sailboat during a North Island photo safari led by Scott Elowitz and Kevin Karlson (look for Kevin's new book, Birding by Impression).

To create an aged photo look, I added a scratchy texture layer and a few filter effects from Nik Color Efex Pro. I chose Multiply as the Blend Mode for the texture layer, and reduced the opacity. Here's a tip... hold down the shift key and scroll through the various Blend Modes using the plus or minus key. This allows you to see the effect each Blend Mode has on your image. Make great pictures! ~ Deb

Photoframes Fast...

A finishing touch such as an edge treatment is often all a photo needs. OnOne Software's Photoframe 4.5 Professional Edition offers the photographer a wide variety of edge treatments, frames, borders, everything you need to add an artistic flair to your image. For this lovely dancer, I used a border that transitions a fade to the edge, simple, effective, and pulls the image together. One of the other cool features of Photoframe is that it also has quite a few textures and embellishments you can use with your images. You can create your own look by combining different frames, colors, textures and effects. Make great pictures! ~ Deb

Twilight Photography...

Twilight is one of my favorite times to take pictures. The sky can be beautiful, and it's the perfect pairing for cityscape photography. To make pictures at twilight, you'll need a tripod, shutter release cable, (or self timer) and a great subject. The best opportunity for photographing a city is often during the week when the most lights are on.

Scout out an interesting location ahead of time, and make a few test shots to make sure you have the composition you are pleased with. It takes a little patience to wait for the right light, the magical moments between sunset and dark as shown in the above San Francisco, California cityscape.

If you have the opportunity to get close to your subject, try using a fisheye or wide-angle lens. The photo below was captured with an 8mm circular fisheye for an fun and interesting take on Orlando, Florida at twilight. Make great pictures!

Room with a View...

This window has a nice view capturing the heart of San Francisco's Chinatown. I like all the colorful signs and architecture. I photographed the street scene outside, but taking the picture from the inside was much more interesting. The lantern and beads make everything very festive!  For an artistic rendition of a photo, try using Topaz Labs Adjust, Painting - Venice. This Photoshop plug-in adds beautiful color and softness to an image, making it painterly in the process. Make great pictures! ~ Deb

Bay Bridge View...

This view of the Bay Bridge in San Francisco was taken well before sunrise. I ended up liking this "vintage" version better than the sunrise image. It has a different mood with the sepia tones, as if it was photographed late at night. It feels quiet to me, without distractions, and the architecture somehow becomes more powerful. The iconic Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful, but I had more fun photographing this bridge. You'll probably see a version with textures in the future!

For this image, I used Topaz Labs Detail - Desaturated Blush, one of my new favorite filters! It can create very interesting variations of the original! Try it and see. Make great pictures...  ~ Deb

Downtown Chinatown...

San Francisco's Chinatown is like being in another country. There is much to explore! I like the oriental lanterns rather than city's contemporary streetlights, they have a lot of character. The smaller red lanterns make everything very festive! When the markets are open, you can barely walk through on the sidewalk. People are looking for the freshest fish, or the best oranges, it's a lot of fun to watch and photograph!

To make this photo, I shot down the street capturing all the signs and lanterns. It's a busy composition that reflects the activity here. Topaz Adjust was used to enhance the detail and color in the image. Definitely have mooncakes at the corner bakery, Bill Clinton was here too! Have fun shooting ! ~ Deb

Chinatown...

Walking the streets of San Francisco's Chinatown is wonderful! There is so much to explore in the various shops, markets, and bakeries. The windows are works of art, colorful lanterns, golden Buddha's, all kinds of treasures. I liked the glow of the lights through the paper lanterns, and wanted to create an image that a similar glow and artistic look. I used Topaz Lab's Simplify to create brushstrokes of color in this image. This plug-in can create a different painterly impressions from watercolor, to oil painting to sketches. We are getting ready to start class on Wednesday with creative visualization such as this! I hope you can join us for artistry and imagination in Photoshop - Enhancing Images and Creating Works of Art! Class starts this Wednesday online at BetterPhoto.com. Hope to see you there! ~ Deb

San Francisco at Dawn...

I'll try a movie for this panorama, otherwise you can click on the picture for a larger version. This is the most beautiful San Francisco at dawn. It looks tranquil, but it was quite cold and windy where I was standing. It was worth every moment for the view. For this panorama, I used a several jackets, tripod, remote release, long exposures and overlapped the images by a third. Using a panorama head such as the Nodal Ninja is ideal, but I used my standard tripod head and my Nikon 70-200mm lens for this image.  I used PTGui Pro to assemble the cityscape photos for this panorama.  Dawn and twilight are equally magical times to photograph cityscapes. The sparkling lights create a wonderful opportunity for photography and panoramas. Have fun shooting! ~ Deb

Church in San Juan Capistrano...

This church doesn't have stained glass windows, but it seems to glow with it's own color and light. The candles are beautiful, and lights the way for those entering the church. There's a small chapel off to the right that is also quite nice. The church looks very dramatic, yet is simple architecturally, a peaceful place.

To capture this tranquil composition, I made various exposures and merged them to HDR in Photomatix. I used the Tone Mapping Filter, and Nik Color Efex Glamour Glow to enhance the look I remember seeing as entered this picturesque church. Have a wonderful Easter. ~ Deb

San Francisco's Dutch Windmill...

Tucked away in a garden near the Pacific Ocean is a beautiful windmill surrounded by tulips and poppies. How a lush green garden can grow right next to the ocean is beyond me. I photographed this scene in both color and infrared. I like the infrared black and white version for something a little different. I used Nik Silver for conversion to black and white. The edge treatment is one of my favorites. It's from OnOne PhotoFrame, and I like the finishing touch it provides for the image.

Interested in infrared? Please join me for Digital Infrared Photography online at BetterPhoto.com. Classes start next Wednesday! I hope to see you there! ~ Deb

The Painted Ladies of San Francisco...

Ok, I admit that I'm in love with San Francisco! This was taken on the first evening. Rounded the block several times before realizing there are simply no parking spaces to be found. Hiked up a hill, set up my tripod, a storm rolls in and it starts to rain. I'm trying to think positive, that the weather will add "ambience" to the scene, while wishing I had an umbrella. Minutes later, the sky began to glow pink for just a few seconds, and this ended up being one of my favorite shots of San Francisco.

To take this photo, I used a tripod, cable release and a 70-200mm lens. Post processing was easy, just a delicate touch was all that was needed. I used Nik Viveza 2 for subtle enhancements in the image. Make great pictures! ~ Deb