by successfulbob | landscape photography, LumixGH5, photography, photography software
Desert Cactus – Working Files to Completion
As I wasn’t having a ton of luck getting images from the driveway due to mobility issues I decided to go back into my archives and see if there were any images which I hadn’t processed. I found this desert cactus on a side road in Phoenix. A saguaro cactus is an iconic object screaming “DESERT!” in my mind. Last January as I was heading out of town for a speaking engagement I was watching this scene develop and pulled to the side of the road to explore possibilities.
Here is the original five stop bracket. It was a bit overcast, so I probably could have made three exposures and been OK, but I like to err on the side of caution to have more information rather than coming up short.
These five images were fed into Aurora HDR 2018 **. I’ve found Aurora to be a solid performer in creating natural looking HDR images without much ghosting or obvious ‘HDR LOOK’ for images that become overcooked.
Without too much fiddling in the Aurora program the image has a full range of tones with just the slightest halo around the main cactus in the foreground in the sky.
With a small amount of dodging and burning and a Curves ayer cleaned the image up nicely. I often use a Photoshop Layer in Soft Light Mode to Dodge and Burn. Painting with black will darken and painting with white will lighten. I use my brushes at a very low opacity and build up or knock down density to avoid seeing the brush strokes.
Here’s the final image after a stop in Luminar 2018** for some finishing touches and enhancements.
I hope some of these steps will give you some ideas for processing your images. If you have any questions or would like me to address a particular type of image processing, let me know.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
** Use Coupon Code – COATES – to receive $10 off on the software programs
by successfulbob | Lumix FZ2500, photography creativity
More Images from the Driveway
When your mobility is cut down things that you take for granted become apparent. Assuming you can hop in your car, go for a hike, walk without assistance and generally go where and when the mood strikes you. (first images from the driveway here) Rehab underway and trying to get full mobility once again. Here’s what I am working on in trying to keep the creativity flowing.
Blooming Yellow Bird of Paradise set against a mesquite tree. The long reach of the Lumix FZ2500 (25-480mm) compressed the scene and allowed me to fill the frame with color and pattern.
The is the bloom from a hesperaloe plant that I isolated against textures of mesquite pollen and leaves. Nothing spectacular but a little exercise in play. I’ll share my failures, as well as those I think, are more of a success.
Clouds are always a source of wonder for me. The myriad shapes, layers, texture, and color are always an excellent source for images
Ant Dance. These critters are FAST. Had to spend a fair amount of time finding them in a still enough position. As a friend noted after seeing one of these ant photos, “I am getting a bit antsy!”
Thanks for following along and I hope some of the ideas I share are helpful to you.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | bird photography, fine art photography, flower photography, imaging competition, photography, photography competition, photography creativity
Professional Photographers of America
Southwest District – Artist Category
The other day I shared the Photographic Open results for the PPA Southwest District Photographic Competition. Today I share my results from the Artist Competition. All four images were judged to be of Merit category quality. They all scored in the low 80’s to earn a District Seal.. Because they did not score above an 85, they will not have a chance to be judged for the PPA Loan Collection. Very proud of these results. With all four being judged a Merit when they are entered into the International Photographic Competition (IPC) I will earn a Bronze medal in the August judging and receive it at the convention next year in Atlanta.
This image is titled Grand Opening. I’ve been experimenting with some new techniques with art brushes in some of my art.
The judging in the Artist Category is, of course, on the final image but also the transformation from the original to the final is examined for the amount of change and how well those changes to the image were accomplished. That is why there is a reference image. This allows the judges to see the starting point of the project.
Hummingbird Study is the transformation of a slightly underexposed image of the bird that was extracted from the scene and worked into an artistic background
A dragonfly pausing in the morning light becomes transformed with some Layers of texture and various color and lighting treatments.
This rose has moved from a photo to a classical feel of a painting. In all cases, there are many renditions of an image as it goes through the transformation process.
I participate to keep myself motivated to learn new techniques and ways of processing images so I can stretch my artistic goals. I am so very fortunate to be working in a medium that has the untold potential for transforming images. If I ever felt that I had mastered the medium entirely, it would be time to move on to the next adventure.
Still way too much to learn and share!
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | cityscape photography, landscape photography, panorama, photography, photography competition
Professional Photographers of America
Southwest District Competition – Photographic Open Results
Professional Photographers of America supports photographic education in many ways. One of those is through the Merit and Degree program. Two of the degrees are image based on that you need to earn thirteen Merits plus another twelve Merits for service or education in the industry.
On the way to International Photographic Competition (IPC) is a proving ground called the Districts. The country is divided into five different Districts of which I am a member of the Southwest District. They recently completed the judging, and I earned Merits for all eight of my entries. Additionally, I received an automatic Loan Collection image for scoring 95 or above. Another image will be judged for Loan when IPC commences August 5th through 8th at Gwinett Technical School just outside Atlanta in Georgia.
I’ll share my images here except for one that will be judged for Loan Collection as the judges are not to have access to any unjuged photos.
‘Days End’ – A spectacular sunset on the red rocks in Sedona viewed from Hwy 179.
A slightly different version of this image is available for sale through the Gallery of Modern Masters in the Hillside Shopping area. Day’s End will be automatically accepted into the PPA Loan Collection at the final judging in August because it scored above a 95.
A capture of my Muse Pash Galbavy who is an incredible artist who is in love with nature. She is a life model, mask maker, performance artist and so much more. Other images from this series with Pash are also available through Gallery of Modern Masters. This image earned a Merit score
While in Nashville at last year’s PPA convention I hoofed it out to the bridge to capture a night shot of the skyline along the river. This image also earned a Merit score.
This image will represent the Non-Event album which scored a 92. I can’t share the images from this until after judging for the Loan Collection in August. It scored second place in the category.
These are the Photographic Open Category images. In the next couple days, I’ll share my Artist entries with you.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | flower photography, inspiration, Lumix FZ2500, photography, photography creativity
Meet ‘Scoot’
and the visit to the Blooming Mesquite Tree
Here’s my new best friend ‘Scoot.’ Scoot makes it possible for me to move about as I work to rehab my Iliopsoas muscle. The scooter is there for a bit of support when the pain in my a** gets too intense. But mobility leads to some possibilities.
Meet ‘Scoot’ My new best friend for a while.
I broke out the Lumix FZ2500 because of its range and all in one 24-480mm f2.8-4.0 Leica DG Vario-Elmarit lens. This is the first time I’ll have a camera in my hands in over a week. Can you say withdrawal?? I had asked my wife Holly to bring a camera to the hospital to document some of the things going on around me. Too much pain, not enough sleep and worrying about the camera being in a hospital environment. My wife told me I was nuts to even think of doing that, once again proving that my wife is the smarter of the people in our marriage… and I was wrong again.
Onward to day’s walk to the end of the driveway. I made it under the mesquite tree and was pausing for a break. Lo and behold I was enjoying the soft fuzziness of the yellow blooms against the beautiful blue sky. Off the get the camera and an excuse for a bit more exercise.
Goal. The shade under the mesquite tree at the end of the driveway.
Once underneath the blooms, I started looking for some interesting compositions.
The sharp yet soft bloom of the mesquite against the Arizona blue sky.
A pollinator visits the yellow bloom
I guess I’ll have to be creative find images within this 100-foot circle until I can begin to range further.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
