Blog 5 - Portraits

"Spades' smile" - 2/5/12 - 4:09 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.0 - 1/2000 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

So I convinced my friends to let me use them as my victims. I had them dress in red and black and drew card symbols on their faces. I took several different shots of each of them, but I really liked Brooke's expression in this one. I did do a little editing in Camera Raw and some Levels adjustments in Photoshop, but nothing drastic.



"Dramatic Diamond" - 2/5/12 - 4:20 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.0 - 1/1600 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I realized for the first time during this photoshoot that my camera can tip on it's side when mounted on the tripod. I was way excited to discover this and started taking some "tipped" shots of my models. I did a little bit of Camera Raw editing, and added Exposure, Levels and Brightness/Contrast layers to this image.



"Holy Snow" - 2/5/12 - 4:31 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/4.0 - 1/4000 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

Once I ran out of ideas, the girls got bored and started kicking around bits of snow. I turned my multi-shot on and managed to catch this one during their antics. I love the way the shattered snow halos around her foot, and I was very happy with the pose as well. Definitely a lucky shot. A little editing in Camera Raw and a Color Balance layer in Photoshop.



"No Straighter Face" - 2/5/12 - 4:13 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.0 - 1/2500 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I brought my wand and sonic screwdriver out and they all started goofing off with them. I tried getting some posed shots, but they kept giggling, and I caught this shot by accident because they started giggling again right as I pushed the button. Camera Raw editing, and Levels, Vibrance, Color Balance levels in Photoshop.



"Are you ready?" - 2/5/12 - 4:15 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/4.5 - 1/1600 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

When I finally managed to get them to stop giggling and hold still, I got a few good shots of them posing. This one was my favorite. I really liked their expressions and the lighting fit well. I did a little bit of Camera Raw editing and cleaned up the edges of Brooke's lipstick.



"I Hope They Call Me on a Mission" - 2/6/12 - 3:00 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/4.0 - 1/1600 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I was walking home from work and happened to have my camera on me when I spotted these two. I can only assume it was a brother and sister taking pictures, and the fact that he was dressed up made me think mission. I thought the girl's body language added a fun element to the shot. I edited it a bit in Camera Raw and added a Levels layer in Photoshop.

Blog 4 - Edit: Camera Raw

"Avian Neighborhood" - 1/28/12 - 4:20 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/4.0 - 1/4000 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I really liked the pictures I had of the birdhouses, but this was the only one that wasn't too underdeveloped. I did like the lighting on it too, but I knew it would take some work. Pulling it into Camera Raw, I adjusted the temperature, exposure, fill light, blacks, brightness, contrast, clarity, orange hues, and then used an adjustment brush with an orange coloring to paint some warm light over the light that was already there. Then I took it into photoshop and added some adjustment layers. I added levels, brightness/contrast and color balance.

"Net in the Trees" - 1/28/12 - 3:22 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.6 - 1/200 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

While ambling through the lesser known areas of Rexburg, I was walking past a tree and was transfixed by the light shining through the trees. I had a time trying to get a good picture though because the camera wanted to focus on EVERYTHING. I lucked out with this shot though. Once I pulled it into Camera Raw though, I got to work. I adjusted the temperature, tint, exposure, fill light, black, brightness, contrast, clarity, highlights, lights, darks , shadows, sharpening, radius, detail, hue and saturation of the yellows and greens, and used adjustment brushes to darken the edges and lighten the focal point. After that, I took it into photoshop and added vibrance and black& white adjustment layers.

Blog 4 - Panoramics

"Crystal Fish" - 1/28/12 - 4:34 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.0 - 1/125 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I wanted to take some pictures in the Geology Museum, but I couldn't get far enough away from them to get good shots. Except the fish tank. The guy that worked there had just fed the fish, so they were swimming all over the place. I was worried that it wouldn't work as a pano because of all the movement, but I really like how it turned out. Once I photo merged it, tried CA Fill and decided to crop instead, I started adding adjustment layers. First, I added a Vibrance layer, increasing the vibrance and saturation of the image. Then I added a color balance layer, adjusting only the midtones. Finally, I added a Brightness/Contrast layer, greatly increasing the brightness and decreasing the contrast slightly.

"Time to Play" - 1/28/12 - 2:52 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/4.0 - 1/4000 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I went wandering around Rexburg for a few hours taking pictures of things and decided to try doing a pano of the playground at Porter Park. After applying photomerge and trying CA Fill, which didn't work, I cropped the image a little. First I added a levels layer, pulling in the white tab a tad. Then I added a vibrance layer and upped the vibrance and saturation. Finally, I added a Hue/Saturation layer, increasing the saturation and masking out parts of the playground set.

Blog 3 - Edit: Adjustment Layers and Smart Filters

Adjustment Layers

"Kinetic Ooze" - 1/23/12 – 3:13 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/4.5 - 1/25 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I began with a levels layer at 100% opacity. I moved the black and grey tabs over to the right and moved the white tab in a smidge. On top of that, I put a hue/saturation layer at 100% opacity. I put the hue to +180, the saturation at -68 and leghtness at 0. I masked out part of the layer to have both colors show through. On top of that is a vibrance layer at 100% opacity with vibrance at 100 and saturation at +9.

Smart Filters

"Emergency Station" - 1/23/12 – 2:59 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/6.3 - 1/250 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I started out with a Neon Glow smart filter with a green glow, glow size 13, glow brightness 22. Opacity 100%, light building masking and 100% mask on the emergency station. Then I used a watercolor smart filter, brush detail 4, shadow intensity 4, texture 3. Opacity 50%, medium masking on the sky, 100% masking on the emergency station.

Blog 3 - Flora & Fauna

"On the Hunt" - 1/23/12 – 2:42 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.6 - 1/500 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I was walking around campus, happy that it had finally snowed, and lo and behold, I find a squirrel. I was apprehensive to get too close to it, but I zoomed as much as I could and inched slowly towards it until I got a shot that I liked.


"Faerie Hut" - 1/23/12 – 2:45 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.6 - 1/500 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

Taking random pictures of plants in the snow, and I found this. The angle of the shot that I took made it look like a little house, and I really liked it.


"Winter Waits" - 1/23/12 – 3:21 PM - Rexburg, ID - f/5.6 - 1/500 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

Walking home from campus, I periodically took pictures of the snow covered plant life and took this shot. I really liked how it turned out.

Blog 2 - Edit: Blends & Types

Blend

Through the Spokes - 1/14/12 – 1:38 PM - Romney Building, Rexburg, ID - f/32 - 1/160 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

Rusty Rock - 1/14/12 – 2:17 PM - Snow Building, Rexburg, ID - f/32 - 1/50 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I used tutorial 34 on this image. I began with the image of the bike spokes that I took, added a warm rust brown color fill layer with an 81% opacity and Overlay blending mode. Then I added the Blue Channel pixels from my rock texture at 44% opacity. Over top of that, I put two levels layers in hard light blending mode, one at 100% opacity and the second at 30%.

Type

Fred - 1/14/12 – 12:44 PM - Spori Building, Rexburg, ID - f/4.0 - 1/2500 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

Stripes - 1/14/12 – 12:58 PM - Spori Building, Rexburg, ID - f/5.6 - 1/500 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I used tutorial 17 on this image. The first layer is the image of the skull with flowers that I took. I put a warm brown color fill in overlay blending mode overtop at 50% opacity. Then I added the green channel of the rough marble texture at 80% opacity. On top of that, I put a levels layer at 100% opacity in Color Burn blending mode. The text on top consists of synonyms for romance that I found on a Thesaurus website, one set in white Adobe Caslon Pro 72 pt size, 150 pt leading, and the other set in red Adobe Caslon Pro 60 pt size, 150 pt leading. Both have layer masks. The word "Romance" is in white the King & Queen font 170 pt size, 60 pt kerning, and "is DEAD" is in white Adobe Caslon Pro 100pt size, 10 pt kerning.

Blog 2 - Color Study - Green

Slytherin Pride - 1/14/12 – 12:53 PM - Spori Building, Rexburg, ID - f/5.6 - 1/800 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

After situating myself in the shadows of the Spori building, I laid my hand-carved wand and my Slytherin tie on top of my roommate's copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, opened to roughly the middle. I was amazed at how far away I had to be to get this shot. I had to spot meter the tie because my camera kept trying to auto focus on the text behind it or the wand instead.

Industrial Ribs - 1/15/12 – 4:53 PM - Hart Building, Rexburg, ID - f/4.0 - 1/100- Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I was sitting at a bench outside the Hart building when I took this shot, roughly at sunset. I looked down and really liked how the warm sunlight of early evening was shining off the side of the bench. It took me a bit to figure out what angle I wanted and to spot meter it because the camera kept trying to auto focus on the ground beneath.

Precariously Perched - 1/14/12 – 1:01 PM - Spori Building, Rexburg, ID - f/5.6 - 1/4000 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

In the shadows of the Spori building, I found a railing onto which I positioned my lime green rubber duck. Mostly I was just laying around with the aperture settings, trying to get a feel for my camera, but I liked how this one turned out. I probably should have given the duck some more lead room, but I kind of liked how he was turning away.

Sea of Gates - 1/15/2012 – 5:04 PM - Hart Building, Rexburg, ID - f/32 - 0.8 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I tried several different methods to get this shot. I tried lying on the benches, placing the camera itself on the benches, and finally positioning my camera on a brick ledge right next to the benches before I was able to get an image I liked. Taking pictures at sunset is really difficult without a tripod.

Death of Spring - 1/17/12 – 9:07 AM - Ricks Gardens, Rexburg, ID - f/11 - 1 /125 - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

I coerced my friend into taking pictures with me at sunrise. It was cold and snowing, but once the sun came out, we got some really interesting shots. This was one of my favorites. Despite the harsher lighting, the expression really draws you into the shot.