Ford Racing... HDR fun...

Classic cars can be a lot of fun to photograph, even under the hood like this cool Ford racer! The engine detail has highly reflective chrome parts, and wonderful vintage colors. This is an HDR image merged with Photomatix, with just the needed exposures merged to bring out the detail and color in the image. The gas station and classic cars in the background are actually painted on the inside of the hood, which makes for a playful composition. The finishing touch is a edge treatment modified from one of the presets in OnOne Photoframe, made to resemble engine lube or grease. I admit I'm not an expert on that end of an engine, I only know the gas pedal part! You can use coupon code debsandidge for anything OnOne. Enjoy taking pictures! ~ Deb

Create an HDR look with cool classic cars and more! Topaz Adjust Webinar this Wednesday...

If you hail a taxi in Cuba, it's likely to be of the 1950's American Classic Car variety, such as the car above. These cars have such great personality! I like making pictures of these old cars by using a wide angle lens and getting in close and at eye level with the headlights. The lower angle accentuates the cars best features, and gives it more character. Capturing a little background gives the car a sense of place, adding another layer of interest to the photo.

I have just as much fun photographing old cars, as I do enhancing them in Photoshop! With this photo, I created an artistic HDR look with a single image. This is super easy to do with Topaz Adjust. You can create an illustrative or realistic HDR look with a single photo of just about anything! Cars, architecture, landscapes and even people photos can be enhanced with an HDR look. I'll be happy to share with you a few ideas for HDR look creativity with a variety of subjects. Follow this link to join me for an informative and fun webinar on Topaz Adjust this Wednesday, February 23 at 3 CST!  You can use code DEBORAHSANDIDGE for anything Topaz. See you there!

Infrared Fun with a Compact Camera

I like to carry an infrared converted compact camera with me. It fits in my pocket and is great for candid type shots on the go. This Rolls Royce was waiting for the bride and groom, and for me to grab a couple of quick shots before they departed! This classic car was photographed in Colorado near the Rocky Mountains, which you can see reflected in the chrome.

This compact camera was converted with a standard infrared filter (R72 type).  I made a custom white balance setting which created the silvery blue tones in the image. This camera records in Jpeg only. It doesn't have the flexibility or quite the image quality of Raw, but it's a fun camera.

My infrared converted SLR camera records in Raw format, also capturing similar tones.  Adobe users may notice those tones are altered (introducing a slight magenta cast) when viewing an image in Bridge, Camera Raw or Lightroom. This won't matter for the most part, or if you're converting your images to black and white. Some of my students use a DNG profile for their infrared photos. I use Capture NX2 for Raw conversion for many images in color or infrared.

To complete the "fun factor" with my infrared image, I used some of my favorite filters in Photoshop! Alien Skin Bokeh softened the distracting background creating a soft blur around the image. The cool contemporary edge treatment was created by using OnOne Photoframe. We cover everything infrared in my upcoming online course at BetterPhoto.com. Class starts March 10. I hope to see you there! ~ Deb