Portraits

 

 

 

1. Taylor Williamson; May 28th, 2010; 9:35 p.m.; Sunnyvale, CA; f/2.8; 1/1000 sec.; SONY DSC-H50

2. Taya Tang Williamson: May 28th, 2010; 9:47 p.m.; Sunnyvale, CA; f/2.7; 1/800 sec.; SONY DSC-H50

3. Bannack Portrait: May 21st, 2010; 5:45 p.m.; Bannack, ID; f/ 3.2; 1/8 sec.; SONY DSC-H50

4. "Engagement?" May 21st, 2010; 9:55 a.m.; Dubois, ID; f/ 4.5; 1/400 sec.; SONY DSC-H50

Taking portraits is something that is way out of my comfort zone. I was able to try new things and see what I could do with children. It was a lot harder to get them to pay attention and really do what I want them to do, however, it helped me learn a lot and start to see how light can really play in their faces in order to make it either better or worse of a photo. It was also harder to work with the light at that time, but it was just the time I had to do it. I also played with the burned border effect to focus on the faces of the people that were in the photos. All in all, this made me want to be so much better at taking portrait photos. Hopefully I will be able to get better in the future!

HDR Photos

THREE SHOT HDR 

 

 

1. Sewing Machine: May 21st, 2010; 2:15 p.m.; Bannack, MT; Edited in HDR

2. Sewing Machine 1: May 21st, 2010; 2:15 p.m.; Bannack MT; f/3.2; 1/30 sec.;SONY DSC-H50; -1

3. Sewing Machine 2: May 21st, 2010; 2:15 p.m.; Bannack MT; f/ 3.2; 1/30 sec.; SONY DSC-H50; 0

4. ewing Machine 3 May 21st, 2010; 2:15 p.m.; Bannack MT; f/ 3.2; 1/30 sec.; SONY DSC-H50; +1

1. HDR Edited Bannack Salon Chair: May 21st, 2010 4:35 p.m. Bannack, MT

2. Bannack Salon Chair 1; May 21st, 2010; 4:35 p.m.; Bannack MT; f/2.7; 1/13; SONY DSC-H50; -2

3. Bannack Salon Chair 1; May 21st, 2010; 4:35 p.m.; Bannack MT; f/2.7; 1/15; SONY DSC-H50; 0

4. Bannack Salon Chair 1; May 21st, 2010; 4:35 p.m.; Bannack MT; f/2.7; 1/13; SONY DSC-H50; +2

This was harder then I thought it would be. I used a tripod and set my camera to Braketing (for the first one) which was set to take three consecutive shots with different exposures of -1, 0, and +1. Then I imported all three exposures into HDR and let the program do the rest! I was able to help enhance the photo with different settings, making the end result something I like! With the second set of photos I manually changed the exposure compensation useing -2, 0, and +2. This one has way more visible contrast between the three photos taken. I did the same as before and brought all three into HDR, watched the magic work and then used the tonal mapping features to enhance color and lighting.

ONE SHOT HDR

 

1. HDR Edited Bannack Wall

2.Bannack Wall; May 21st, 2010; 12:48 p.m.; Bannack. MT; f/2.7; 1/10; SONY DSC-H50

 

 

3. HDR Edited Old Bottles

4. Old Bottles; May 21st, 2010; 4:41 p.m.; Bannack MT; f/2.7; 1/100; SONY DSC-H50

 

 

5. HDR Edited School House Doors

6. School House Doors; May 21st, 2010; 1:02 p.m.; Bannack, MT; f/2.7; 1/125 sec.; SONY DSC-H50

 

 

7. Edited HDR Bannack Masonic Temple/ School House

8. Bannack Masonic Temple/School House; May 21st, 2010; 5:19 p.m.; f/2.8; 1/640; SONY DSC-H50

These shots are all one shot HDR photos, which means that there was only one photo taken and then opened them in HDR. I used the same editing techniques with the one photo as I did the three. It was amazing what could be done with only one image instead of three. Below I have added a few more photos that I edited in HDR just to show you what else was done in Bannack!

EXTRAS

 

 

 

1. Door Knob; May 21st, 2010; 2:15 p.m.; Bannack, MT; f/5.6; 1/20 sec.; SONY DSC-H50; HDR Edited

2. Hotel Stairs: May 21st, 2010; 2:18 p.m.; Bannack, MT; f/3.5; 1/30 sec.; SONY DSC-H50; HDR Edited

3. Old Car; May 21st, 2010; 10:09 a.m.; Bannack, MT; f/2.7; 1/1600 sec.; SONY DSC-H50; HDR Edited

4. Tree; May 21st, 2010; 10:04 a.m.; Bannack, MT; f/2.7; 1/1000sec.; SONY DSC-H50; HDR Edited

I really loved using this program and seeing what could be done with colors, lighting, and other enhancements that were features in HDR. I am excited to use it more in the future!

Macro Abstract

 

1. Macro Abstract Old Car with Webs: May 21st, 2010; Edited in Photoshop

2. Old Car: May 21st, 2010; 10:00 a.m.; Dubois, ID; f/2.7; 1/200 sec.; DSC-H50

3. Web #1; May 21st, 2010; 9:45 a.m.; Dubois, ID; f/2.7; 1/40 sec.; DCS-H50

4. Web #2; May 21st, 2010; 9:47 a.m.; Dubois, ID; f/2.7; 1/40 sec.; DSC-H50

To get this Macro Abstract effect I took one photo using macro mode to caputre one close up subject with a shallow depth of field and bokeh in the background. Then, I took two texture shots that were webs and old rope in an abandoned building. I thought that these would look nice as an overlay with something old. Then, I took the three photos and used a blending mode to have them overlap each other and blend nicely. I then used a black paint brush and mask to take away the parts of the web image that I didn't want to show through. This helped me keep the integrity of the old car that I wanted while still getting the great effect of the cob webs laying over it. This is always fun thing to do with so many different and interesting photos!

Reverse Shallow Depth

1. Foreground Pipe: May 21st, 2010; 3:00 p.m.; Bannack, MT; f/ 2.7; 1/20 sec.; Enhancements: Levels, Contrast and Brightness, Vibrance

2. Background Sharp; May 21st, 2010; 3:00 p.m.; Bannack. MT; f/2.7, 1/13 sec.; Enhancements: Levels, Contrast and Brightness, Vibrance.

I took two shots of the exact same scene with reverse focus points. The first one was with the foreground in sharp focus, and the background blurred. Then I did the exact opposite with the foreground  blurred and the background in sharp focus. In order to do this I used the Aperature Priority Setting on my camera to choose a small F-stop which is what got me that small area of focus. I pointed the camera at the center of the thing that was in focus, and then re-framed the camera to shot the same subject or composition twice. Both shots that I took have a shallow depth of field.

Action Blur and Freeze

1.Girl Ghost; May 21st, 2010; 2:00 p.m.; Bannack, MT; f/3.2; 1/4 sec.; SONY DSC-H50; Enhancements: I imported four images with three different exposures, -2, 0, 0 and +.3. These worked together to get the darker or more exposed hallway. While these were being taken Erica was also walking through the doorways giving me a great ghost photo with a normal exposure. It was a great experience with learning HDR and how when using a tripod you can do lots of different things! Here are the original images:

2. Group of Ghosts; May 21st, 2010; 2:15 p.m.; Bannack, MT; f/3.5; 5.0 sec.; SONY DSC-H50; Enhancements: Levels, Contrast and Brightness, and Vibrance adjustment layers were all used to help enhance the original photo.

These shots were really fun to take. In order to blur the action I used a tripod so that the background would be sharp and then changed the shutter speed to 5.0 seconds so that I could get in the right amount of light. I then had the subject start walking in one place and continue to walk slowly towards me or across the hall. You can see the result above: transparent people that appear to be ghosts.

1. Girls on the Circle Swing: May 21st, 2010; 1:00 p.m.;Bannack, MT;  f/8.0; 1/160 sec.; SONY DSC-H50; Enhancements: Levels, Brightness and Contrast, Vibrance

2. Moving Circle Swing: May 21st, 2010; 1:30 p.m.; Bannack, MT; f/8.0; 1/200 sec.; SONY DSC-H50; Enhancements: Levels, Brightness and Contrast, Vibrance.

Freezing Action meant that I needed to be in a bright space and use a faster shutter speed in order to stop the movement that I was shooting. My subjects were spinning on the swing  with their legs out. I was able to caputre their movement so that everything was frozen.

Portraits

 

1. Jamie Williams; May 21st, 2010; 10:10 a.m.; Dubois, ID; f/2.8; 1/10000 sec.; SONY DSC-H50; Enhancements: I first started in Camera Raw with basic edits, then brought image into Photoshop. Then, I converted the image to Smart Object by going to Smart filter. I then added a filter by going to: Filter-Convert for Smart Filters-Noise-Median. This gave the skin a nice smooth effect and also increased the bokeh. I masked out her whole body except but her skin and then whatever was in the foreground, leaving the background smooth. I then finished by adding a burned border.

2. Erica Arguello; May 21st, 2010; 2:10 p.m.; Bannack, MT; f/5.6; 1/30 sec.; SONY DSC-H50; Enhancements: I first started simple edits in Camera Raw and then brought image into Photoshop. This is where I was able to add a filter, like the one above to smooth the skin, but masking out everything else so that she looks sharp and defined. I then added a burned border to make it look more finished.

3. Josh Peterson; May 21st, 2010; 1:59 p.m.; Bannack. MT; f/3.2; 1/30 sec.; SONY DSC-H50; Enhancements: I imported this photo into HDR to see what it could do, then I opened it into Photoshop to do a few fixes with skin and such to just add a little bit more of a professional look.

These portraits were so fun to take! I have never spent much time photographing people as subjects, but have now found that I really enjoy it. I would love to get better at this and continue to take photos of friends and family from now on!

Panoramic

Temple Panos: May 17th, 2010;8:00 p.m.; Rexburg, ID; f/2,7; 1/500 sec.; SONY DSC-H50; Enhancements: Balanced: Levels, Brightness/Contrast, Saturation using Adjustment layers with a burned border, using a multiply layer and selection tool to "cutout" the center.

This was really neat. I wanted to take a picture of the temple, but there was so much construction that it was hard to find a good place where that wouldn't be included. The problem then was that I was too close to get the whole temple in the shot, so I decided to do a vertical pano and use the space that I did have to just make a big temple photo. I think that the end result was pretty cool. I went through my photos and looked for the 6 that I took for this purpose, then I opened Photoshop, went to File-Automate-Photomerge, choosing auto and then selecting the 6 original photos from their file. Then I just let the program do its magic. With the photomerge pano I cropped out all of the hard edges making it one smooth image. I then went to Layer-Flatten Image. This helped take care of the jagged edges that appeared inside the photo. I then used adjustment layers to enhance the levels, brightness and constrast, and the vibrance and saturation. I then added a multiply layer to enhance the sky and masked out the temple to keep the brightness of the white temple. Then I added a very slight small burned border to add a complete professional effect. I really like the end result!

Grass and Rocks Panos : May 17th, 2010;7:35 p.m.; Rexburg, ID; f/2.8; 1/30 sec.; SONY DSC-H50; Enhancements: Balanced: Levels, Brightness/Contrast, Saturation using Adjustment layers

This was an interesting little pipe that was decaying in the ground that I really liked. I decided that I would use a pano to take it since it didn't fit into one frame or shot. So, in order to do this I did the same thing I did with the first one:  I went through my photos and looked for the 6 that I took for this purpose, then I opened Photoshop, went to File-Automate-Photomerge, choosing auto and then selecting the 6 original photos from their file. Then I just let the program do its magic. With the photomerge pano I cropped out all of the hard edges making it one smooth image. I then went to Layer-Flatten Image. This helped take care of the jagged edges that appeared inside the photo. I then used adjustment layers to enhance the levels, brightness and constrast, and the vibrance and saturation. And then, Poof! It was done!