Photo Shoot for Fusion City Church
Check out the entire Photo gallery here. Would Love to help your church with new photos to use on social media, website, and in print.
TheProcess
I always get "did you 'Do something' to that photo"? My answer is pretty much 99% of the time "Yes".
In some cases I like the look i got when i shot the photo, but in some cases I have something in mind, a mood, or a look, or something.
For the photo of the Gem at Sunset I took the other day, I wanted something super saturated in color, with lots of orange, and the feeling of the wetness of the ground, and more.
I didn't have the time to do as much editing to it as I would have liked, so I spent some time editing a slightly different angle shot.
What I want to show you is my "process", how I get from "OOC - Out of Camera" to Final Image.
If you are not into photography, thats cool, just check each photo and see how it changes from image to image.
If you ARE into photography, read the details on what steps I took to get to that particular image.
Step 1: OOC - Out Of Camera
This is the shot as it comes out of the camera, with little to no cleanup at all.
Out Of CameraOut Of Camera
You will notice how dark it is and that there is very little color in this. But this was the shot as I took it.
Step 2: Lightroom adjustments
With just a little adjustment in Lightroom you can vastly improve your image. I used "auto" on the Tone, and then tweaked that some till I got the image looking like below:
After Lightroom AdjustmentsAfter Lightroom Adjustments
Step 3: Photoshop cleanup
Decided to remove some things, like some of the cars, the street signs, fix the distortion of the buildings and straighten things up.
I liked the cleaner look, no bright orange signs, this took a while to "stamp" out the offensive items. LOL
Step 4: Adding some color
So, its not a bad photo at this point, it just isn't the deep dark orange super saturated photo i wanted. so...
In Lightroom I added some gradient orange fills, 3 or 4 actually. on the sky, on the ground, using V6's ability to Brush out some of these, i removed areas on the buildings and the GEM sign so that it didn't turn everything orange.
After LR GradientsAfter LR Gradients
Step 5: Layering
Still not that "deep" orange I wanted, so into PS we go, duplicated the layer, using "multiply" then made a masking layer and removed a lot of the places where it was just way to dark, then made the whole layer about 65% transparent.
Photoshop Layer MaskPhotoshop Layer Mask
Combined layers from PSCombined layers from PS
The above image is pretty dang close.
Step 6: Topaz Impression
To kind of "smooth things out" and get rid of some of the noise (junk) in the shot, I took it into Topaz Impression, and played with some of the settings to get the look i wanted (OKeff to start).
Topaz ImpressionTopaz Impression
Didn't want 100% of this look as it makes it too much of a painting, so I dropped the opacity to 50%. Giving me the image below (with a little Lightroom adjustments).
After TopazAfter Topaz
Step 7: Adding some "light"
Almost there, not bad, but the street lights were not on yet, and I think if we add some "orange" to it (via lightroom's brushes) it would give it a really cool look. After adding a orange tint to the lights, I took the radial filter and added some orange glow around the lights to give the impression of light emitting from these street lamps.
Before is on the Left / After is on the Right.
Lightroom - adding "LIGHT" to the street lampsLightroom - adding "LIGHT" to the street lamps
Step 8: All done!
Here is the "final" image, after all the above cleanup. Thoughts? comments? input?
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this entry.
Please let me know what you think.
David
Persistants Pays
One of my favorite places to shoot is The Gem Theater in Kannapolis, NC. I have probably shot well over 500 photos of the Gem or with it in the frame somehow. I also love to shoot sunsets and sunrises; there is something about that golden hour, it brings out colors we do not normally get to see.
I have seen the many many shots of "Manhattanhenge" that happens in NYC twice a year, and thought that it would be cool to shoot something like that in my little town of Kannapolis. This alignment of the sun and street only happens twice a year, and with my schedule I am normally not around. This time I was home and decided to try and capture this shot.
MONDAY NIGHT
I got up there Monday and the clouds were just so thick there was no real sunset, it just vanished.
I did get a few cool shots of some clouds, including one great shot of an "Angel".
Was shooting and looked up to see this awesome formation. Lasted only a few mins, but was great!
TUESDAY NIGHT
So, Tuesday rolls around and its raining even more. I take a ride over to the loop to see what the sky is going to do.Its raining and so I just sit and wait in the van. Of course I was bored and had my camera, so.. Decided to play with some shots I have not tried before.
These are of the rain on the windshield of the van with a Light pole and the Gem's marquee behind them. What do you think of these??
Windshield RaindropsWindshield Raindrops
Windshield RaindropsWindshield Raindrops
Windshield RaindropsWindshield Raindrops
Windshield RaindropsWindshield Raindrops
I was about to give up, it was 8:20 and I think sunset was 8:34 or so, the sky was solid and black toward the setting sun. I drove around to where i could get a better view down the street. Parked over by the train tracks. Got out started to walk around. The rain was just a drizzle at this point. As I got up to the corner I could see a little sliver of sky (or I thought it was sky) under the heavy clouds.
Little Slice of Sky and SunLittle Slice of Sky and Sun
MIDDLE OF THE ROAD
I had to get out into the middle of the street to get the shot I wanted, lucky its not super busy in Ktown at 8:30 in a Tuesday. There were a few cars, had to run out, get a few shots then get back to the curb. Did this a few times. Got maybe 8 shots, only 1 was close to what i had been looking for.
The sun was just about gone, the clouds were moving back in to close up the hole, and the sky started to glow that amazing orange color. One of the things I love about sunsets/sunrises is you have no idea whats coming, and the sky can change completely in just a few seconds.
I managed this amazing shot. Granted I was hoping for a more dramatic sky and no cars in sight, but, we take what God gives us.
Hope you like it.
Thanks for visiting, please comment, let me know what you think of this shot, and of my work in general, or if you have any questions.
David
Cruise-In
April 2015 Kannapolis Cruise-In
Every 2nd Saturday from March to November (Except may) in downtown Kannapolis something magical happens.
Amazing looking cars from all over the area show up and show off! (Want to see a Video - Click here!)
Some of these cars are still works in progress
Some of the car's owner's enjoy adding a little "extra" to their display.
Some of these cars are just amazing looking:
Even the insides are awesome:
Was a great day, 70's and beautiful. Don't forget there are more of these June-Nov! Don't Miss out!
1st Day of Spring
Spring!
We have all been waiting for it to get here. It's been a LONG winter, lots of cold and nasty weather. Lots of people have been waiting to get their shorts on and head to the beach.
I happened to be in the Baltimore area on the 1st day of spring. It had been an up and down week weather wise, not too cold (for Baltimore). So, when the weather guys said that on the 1st day of spring there was a chance of snow, I was thinking, "yeah right". Well, the 1st day of spring arrived (well not really till 6??pm), and I looked out the hotel room at 5:30 am, didnt see anything but some wet roads. Got a shower got dressed, looked out the window and was shocked to see a good dusting of snow on the ground, and a bunch more coming down.
Had to get to the plant I was working at that day, and by the time I got breakfast and out of the hotel, there was already 1/2 to 1" of snow on the ground. Got to the plant and to work. Was working for about 2 hrs while the snow just kept coming down. Got a call from my co-worker (who happens to be my brother) asking me to bring some parts over to the plant he was working at. So, got in the van and drove across Baltimore, snow was getting pretty thick in places, the main roads were not bad, but the side roads were starting to look like this.
Snowy roadRoad leading to the plant.
This was the road leading to the plant I was going to. It's a little plant way back in a very out of the way area.
Dropped off the parts, and they really didn't need me, so I decided to head back to the other plant. Told them, I was going to take the "back roads" to try and get some snow shots along the rural roads. Was hoping for something like a red barn in the snow, or who knows.
The plant I was leaving is behind (yes behind) a youth detention facility, with some out buildings, and trees. I passed this one, and had to stop and get a shot.
The field behind it and the heavy wet snow just made this look too cool.
Got about 2 miles down the road and came across this really awesome looking red barn in the snow. Exactly what I had been looking for. Now, its not like you can just stop and take a shot on a 2 lane road. There were very few turn-offs so, ended up pulling into a driveway, and walking back (in the snow) got a few different shots, this one below turned out the best.
It's a good idea that they paint these things red, or it would have just vanished.
Drove down this same rural road and came across a few more amazing barns (click to see in gallery/purchase a copy!).
E_0769
Katherine & Eric Wedding-1483
All of these were just amazing finds. Some were REALLY hard to get off the road to shoot. It was still snowing like mad (you can see the snow falling in a few of these).
Past a little stream, pulled off into a little area for the "park" (not sure what park was there as all i saw was this little stream). Walked around trying to get a good angle on the stream.
I'm a sucker for reflections (LOVE THEM!) the water was not a smooth as I would have liked, but it was snowing, and a little windy too. Like the feel of the above shot. You can almost feel the cold.
Drove past this one farm, and noticed this little pond, with a dock of some kind in the middle. Had to make a u-turn to get back to where it was, and pull into their driveway, but i think it was worth it.
This is actually (3) shots joined in Photoshop to get one long panorama.
You never know when you will get an opportunity to get shots unlike the norm. Take advantage of them!
Even with all these stops I only spent about 45-60 mins more driving back (I call that my lunch break).
Hope you enjoyed this. Would love to get your comments and feedback.
David