Category Archives: Australia
Aussie Aussie Aussie!
I took this shot last year in Melbourne during our trip to Australia. Happy Australia Day to all the Aussies out there!
Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikon 18-105
Processing: Photoshop CS5, Photomatix
Image Type: 3 Bracket HDR
Back In Action
I’ve had to take a little break from blogging the last several days because I’ve been so busy with work. I am happy to announce that I am back in action however. This past weekend I had the opportunity to act as photographer on a canyoneering trip with several Boy Scouts. It was a really fun trip and I was able to take some nice pictures. I will post of a few of them in the upcoming days.
So what’s next on the agenda you ask? I have a quick weekend trip planned to Sedona this week where I will be looking to get some killer fall foliage shots. Next week on Wednesday I’m leaving to spend 6 days in Southern Utah in search of arches, slot canyons, natural bridges and with a little luck, some great Milky Way shots. All of this followed up with a possible trip to Monument Valley and Arches National Park during Thanksgiving weekend if the weather (snows) cooperates. This next month is going to be very exciting so keep checking back!
Cape Woolamai
Today’s image is another from the Pinnacles at Cape Woolamai taken on Phillip Island Australia. This place remains one of my favorite places that I’ve photographed so far. I’ve been playing around with some different processing styles and today, I wanted to ask your opinions of the processing on this image. Which do you like better?
This first image is the result of manual blending and brightness/contrast/saturation adjustments in Photoshop:
This second image is the result of Tone-Mapping in Photmatix followed by slight brightness adjustment in Photoshop and finished with Topaz Adjust:
Camera: Nikon 90
Lens: Tokina 11-16
Processing: Photomatix Pro 4, Adobe Lightroom 3, Photoshop CS5, Topaz Adjust
Friday Photo Spots & A Sly Smile
Welcome to Friday Photo Spots. This post is part of a weekly series, Friday Photo Spots, which showcases some of the best photos of the week from around the photo blog community. This is just a sampling of some awesome photos I’ve come across in the course of the week. Be sure to visit their sites and comment if you like their images! Also, make sure to subscribe via RSS or email so you don’t miss any future posts!
Do you have a photo blog? Would you like to be featured in a future Friday Photo Spots Post? Please feel free to leave a comment below with a link to your blog and I’ll be sure to check out your work!
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Landscapes & Nature |
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Landscapes & Nature |
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Animals |
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Black & White |
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Architecture & Cityscapes |
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Architecture & Cityscapes |
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Urbex |
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Miscellaneous |
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And Finally
- This week’s sunset photo of the week award goes to Chris Frailey for this fantastic photo entitled “Sky Fire.” These are truly some spectacular colors here so make sure you check it out!
A Sly Smile
As we were preparing for our trip to Australia, Kristi had only one thing on her mind – Koalas. She wanted to pat them, she wanted to hold them, I think she even wanted to take one home with us. We were therefore pleased to have the opportunity to pat a Koala at one of the wildlife parks on Phillip Island. She never got to hold one, but all and all I think she was quite content. We met this little guy at a Koala Conservation Center. He was just waking up as we passed and when he noticed that his alertness was getting lots of attention he became quite active and even posed for a several pictures. As I look at this shot I almost expect him to wink at me. Enjoy your weekend and thanks for commenting!
Would you like to be part featured in Friday Photo Spots?
The photos featured about come primary from people I interact with through comments as well Twitter and Facebook. I very much enjoy checking out the work of fellow photographers and I would love to list you in a future post. Thanks!
Topaz B&W Effects Review
Topaz B&W Effects
We all love black & white photos – the simplicity, artistry, detail and raw drama all combine to make photos of exceptional beauty and elegance. Black and white photography does a great job of enhancing contrast, shapes and lines in your photos but sometimes the editing process can just be frustrating and confusing.
I have been a Topaz user for some time and have been favorably impressed by the power and ease of use of their products. In fact, I routinely use Adjust, Detail and DeNoise in my post processing technique. Not long ago, I received an email update from Topaz informing me of their new product – I have been a B&W Effects and I immediately decided to give it a shot. I have been playing around with the software for a week now and I couldn’t be happier with it.
The Review
Topaz B&W Effects is a plug-in that is compatible with Lightroom, Aperture, Photoshop CS5, Photoshop Elements, iPhoto, Paint Shop Pro and more. Like all Topaz products, the interface is extremely simple and easy to use. Once you load the plug-in from the filter menu you can select from Traditional, Toned, Stylized, Cyanotype, Albumen, Van Dyke Brown & Opalotype effects and find the the preset you like!
Once you’ve found an interesting preset, use the sliders on the right to fine tune your image. The basic and adaptive exposure menus let you adjust all the basics like contrast, brightness, blacks, whites, details and shadows. Select the color sensitivity and color filter menus to adjust color tones, balance and hue of the overall image allowing you to a create a truly unique looking image.
One of the best things about BW Effects is the local adjustment panel. Choose one of the 5 tools – Dodge, Burn, Color, Detail, or Smooth – and set your brush size and opacity so you can selectively apply these effects anywhere in the image! To make things even better, Topaz has included advanced Edge Aware Technology that really makes it easy to brush only the things you want.
Topaz B&W Effects is one of the most versatile tools I have used for black & white conversion and enhancement. I find the user interface organized and simple to use whether you’re a casual photographer who’s interested in having some fun with your images, or a pro photographer who is looking for a truly unique look for your portfolio.
For a limited time, Topaz is offering 50% off the product price using the coupon code “bwandbeyond”. I also recommend checking out the full Photoshop bundle while your’re there and try out some of the other great Topaz Products like Adjust and Detail.
The Final Product With Topaz B&W Effects:
Other Photos Processed With Topaz B&W Effects
The Pinnacles
Happy Monday everyone!
Today’s image comes to you from Australia. I took this shot at The Pinnacles which is a point at Cape Woolamai. It was a really interesting evening as we walked about a mile along to beach before climbing a path that meandered it’s way along the cliffs that hugged the coast line. We met a fellow hiker along the way that explained to us that the all the holes we were seeing along the path belonged to a species of bird referred to as the “muttonbird” and told us that this was their nesting season.
I didn’t think too much of it at the time and had soon put it out of my mind. I took a couple shots from the ridge but soon decided to climb down the steep bank to get some shots closer to the water for sunset. While I was watching I saw several of these birds come in on the horizon and by the time I climbed back up to the ridge after sunset there were literally THOUSANDS of these birds flying overhead. We found out later that Phillip Island is home to over 1.5 million of these birds that nest in various areas throughout the season. It was one of the strangest experiences of my life. Kristi took a video of the birds which you can check out here.
Camera: Nikon 90
Lens: Tokina 11-16
Processing: Photomatix Pro 4, Adobe Lightroom 3, Photoshop CS5, Topaz Adjust
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