by successfulbob | architectural photography, fine art photography, photography
From the Tuscan region of Italy. An aged brick wall with vines artwork.
This was created from a wall the Italian town of Radi. This brick wall was full of texture and vines and growth. I enhanced the color, added more texture and selectively blurred and sharpened different areas of the image to create the final piece using Adobe Photoshop as my main editing tool. This is hanging in my home because my wife saw it on the monitor and said, “I want one of those for the house!” you know the expression Happy wife equals happy life. This is also hanging at the restaurant Dans Bistro in Sedona, Arizona to help give the decor a European flavor.
You can see more of my fine art work on my art web site. I am available for commissions. Pick the subject, size, color palette, material to print on and I’ll create custom art for you. You can even send me a picture of where you would like the piece to hang and I can show you what the image would look like before we get it printed. That way you wouldn’t end up with a piece of fine art that was either too large or too small for the space. As always all work is guaranteed to please or you get your money back. Interior designers give me a shout let’s see what we can create for your clients,
by successfulbob | architectural photography, commercial photography, photography
It’s always good to have a second set of eyes checking over your work… My friend Ron Jackson who does a lot of real estate photography saw my Creekside Inn image and made a couple suggestions to give it a little more pop. And he was right. Cleaned and brightened the trim. Changed the color balance a little bit and a few minor changes led to this…
The changes are small but add a bit more pop to the image. See the original here.
Check out the previous image and let me know what you think. I love this industry where other photographers have your back and are willing to take time to give their feedback on work you’ve done. Did I take all the suggestions? Nope, but I certainly appreciated all of them.
by successfulbob | commercial photography, Lumix GH3, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education
Every business needs an image that steps out beyond the norm and grabs attention. These are often referred to as the ‘HERO’ shots. The idea is to create something that grabs attention because it goes above and beyond the norm either in composition or lighting or a blend of the two.
Creekside Inn Sedona, Arizona beauty image. (a great place to stay by the way…)
In order to accomplish this look for people who are trying to promote their properties I make a time based image. What do I mean by that? I create a series of images over a period of time from just before sunset until after the sun has sunk below the horizon. This allows me to show the best features of a property by blending them together. Photos taken before the sun goes down allow me to show detail in the building. Images taken after the sun starts to go down allow the sky to record as the cobalt blue and images made after the sun has disappeared show off the lighting and allow the warm glow to come from the windows.
In this particular image I needed a high angle to show off the deck so the camera was placed on top of a light stand about 12 feet off the ground and wasn’t the most stable platform to shoot from. Because of that I didn’t want to touch the camera to get exposures so I used two features on the Lumix GH3 * that helped immensely. The first was a 7 stop bracket setting to grab a number of exposures from each time I fired the camera. The other was the on-board WIFI in the camera that allowed me to control the camera using my I-pad. The 7-14mm f4 lens really kept the lines straight on the verticals. To say I’m happy with the micro 4/3rds cameras would be an understatement!
After the images are captured then it’s off to the computer to assemble the finished piece.
Here’s a reminder that I am available for one on one or group Adobe Photoshop classes to help you get the ‘HERO’ images for your clients. As I am also a Panasonic Lumix Luminary you can contact me to see if I can be brought in to speak before your photography group paid for by Panasonic. Drop me an email with your contact information and request or give me a call to start the process.
* Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3K 16.05 MP Digital Single Lens Mirrorless Camera with 3-Inch OLED – Body Only (Black)
by successfulbob | Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography
Created a moving photography self portrait in the middle of Oak Creek in Sedona, Arizona. This area is known as Red Rock Crossing at Crescent Moon State Park. I set up my Lumix GX7 camera on a tripod. Asked a passerby to hold down the shutter for a burst of images and uploaded the images to Google Plus to use Auto Awesome to create an animated Gif file to show the motion of the creek but leave most of the rest of the image alone. Then I downloaded the Motion Gif to my computer downsized the image and used the Adobe Photoshop Save for Web feature for the image you see below.
Fun stuff and easier to do than ever…
Self portrait by Bob in Oak Creek – Sedona, Arizona.
by successfulbob | landscape photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, panorama, photography
Monsoon sunset in Sedona, Arizona from Sound Bites Grill. Red rock landscape image with cloud formations.
Great time of year for landscape capture in the southwest. Sedona, Arizona has great red rocks all year long but add in the cloud formations of the monsoon season at sunset and things really start to rock!
This landscape image was assembled from 2 in camera panoramas made with the Lumix GX7 with a 25mm 1.4 Leica Summilux lens. Then the 2 images were stitched together using Adobe Photoshop to get more of the clouds in with the red rocks.
FYI, I wasn’t thinking about making images when this started to occur. I was out to dinner with my wife Holly and things started to happen on the horizon and luckily before we left the house I had grabbed the GX7 “just in case”. I’m finding that because of its small size I am keeping the camera with me more and more often. And, consequently I’m finding more and more photo opportunities unveiling themselves before me. I tried to do this with my former go-to camera but often found it too cumbersome so often left it behind and lamented not getting the shot when it jumped up in front of me.
Click here to see other sedona canvas prints
