Dark Streets (5 infrared photos)

[Don Ellis]

CyberDyneSystems wrote:
Blown away as allways

Every one a gem.

//P.S.,.. I haven't e-mailed you yet,. as I am having a devil of a time trying to decide on a single print!

Thanks, CDS,

Let me know when you decide... we'll figure something out that won't be too painful -- well, for me anyway.

Don

[Don Ellis]

pappy wrote:
All are superb photos. I particularly like the hydrant, the broom and especially the window washing. You have such a good sense of composition and presentation. Your photos are always inspiring.

Thank you for posting these.

regards,
peter

Hi Peter,

What's truly inspiring are the comments I receive. It's rather like my Cantonese... Hong Kong people are so generous in their praise of a westerner's ability to speak six words of the local dialect that it drives me to learn more (seven, eight, who knows how many I'll master).

Thanks very much for taking the time each time.

Don

[Don Ellis]

slejhamer wrote:
Nice work, Don, esp. the hydrant and broom.

Your new filter is interesting!

Mitch... thank you.

The 093 is interesting... when I was shooting with the normal G1 and the R72, I really enjoyed the light green tones I got on the foliage, using RAW and a custom white balance. Still do, really (my "infrared bali" shots, for example).

But I've also enjoyed experimenting with the black-and-white elements of the new filter. It's always a pleasure to try something new to keep yourself out of a rut. I'm glad it's being well received.

Cheers,

Don

[Don Ellis]

mcouper wrote:
Photography should be more appreciated as a form of fine art. Just lloking at your first picture should convince anyone of the artistic value of a photo.
I love it.
Are these pictures straight out of the camera, or are they processed in any way by PhotoShop for example? I ask because my Sony has a built-in 'NightShot' mode (infrared), but the pictures are very grainy and noisy!

Thank you, thank you.

These pictures are definitely not straight out of the camera, although the manipulation is simple and straightforward. Everything I do goes through Photoshop, but I'm lazy -- I don't spend hours trying to create a photograph out of a snapshot: the picture elements have to be there in the first place and the exposure has to be good before I'll work on it.

So, to share the workflow on this series:

1. Take properly exposed picture... as a note, I usually set exposure compensation anywhere from -1/3 to -1 to retain detail in the highlights. For color, I always set the G2 to -1/3. I'm setting the modifed G1 up to -1.

2. Open Photoshop 7, drag in picture.

3. Auto-Contrast (Ctrl-Shft-Alt, L) in PS7 or use Auto-Levels in other programs.

4. Ctrl-J to duplicate the layer (which will appear highlighted in your Layers palette).

5. Click on the little drop-down menu box in the top-left of the Layers palette and select Multiply. By default, you'll see 100% in the box just to the right of that. For this series, I've been leaving it there, but you can adjust to any value that you like. For many color photos, you'll find that 10-30% looks nice.

6. Flatten image.

7. Slight (and I do mean slight) S-curve in Curves to brighten highlights and darken shadows. Alternatively, you can boost Contrast by 5-10.

8. Resize.

9. Sharpen using your favorite technique or tool.

10. Voila.

I've only used the "duplicate layer and multiply" routine on the "dark streets" series here (and a different broom floating around in another thread). Usually you can forego all that, as I did with the rainy day shot midway through this thread -- that was just auto-contrasted, slight curves and sharpen.

And one last thing... there were a few of those little white spots you see in the broom photo around the fire hydrant -- I cloned them out to keep the focus where it belonged. With the broom, they're related.

Thanks for your comments... I'm always happy to hear others' likes and dislikes and insights.

Don

[marie]

that new photograph is just wonderful
I , for one love it very much
the umbrellas seem so unreal.
its a romantic type of picture
great to have taken the opportunity .

sometimes I wish I said nothing about pictures
as then no one feels an obligation to reply
and they don't need to
but how else can one say what one thinks about a picture
so I mostly say it

nothing to do with what I just said but
the hydrant shot is very fine and shows great detail
I should not have said about the red at all,
as colour was not the issue here.
it was the technique

the bottles are photographed beautifully like that.

thanks a lot for explaining
no worries if you don't get a chance sometimes.
this takes up a lot of time when you could be out shooting more beauties

thanks don


marie

meant to say also that those butts are more of a worry where they are, then on the ground..
maybe blocking something there in that hole

[new girl on the bloc]

love the umbrella photo! very dreamy indeed. Don, your work is gorgeous!

[stopbath]

Love the rainy day umbrella shot. I like the almost glowing leaves contrasting to the wet and dark ground. Also enjoy the contrast in the movement in the people (standing still to walking by quickly.)

Spectacular photo.

[Conk]

Excellent photos Don. The hydrant is exceptional.