Blue Coast

Getting back from vacation and into the work week means waiting until the weekend to get back to reviewing the images from our California Big Sur Coast trip.

As the week progressed the weather was more and more grey and cloudy. We were headed south one morning and this view of the band of light and the layers of smoke and mist drew my eye.

The conversion to Blue/Black/White is a duotone in Photoshop. Enjoy the image!

Yosemite - Half Dome

We ended the day towards the upper part of Yosemite Valley watching the sunset on Half Dome. There were light clouds forming and moving across the face of the formation. As I started to process these it quickly became clear that a Black and White treatment was the best way to represent these images.

Clouds on Half Dome

Conversion to B&W in ACR, additional post in CS5. Nikon D7000 and 70-200mm f/2.8 @ f/11

The Simplex

This is an image from earlier this year. This old movie projector was setting on the sidewalk outside an antiques store in a small town in Arizona.

This image has been lingering in the back of my mind as one I would like to use to try various post-processing approaches to finishing this one for display.

Simplex - High Contract Color

Simplex - Black & White

Comments on which you prefer are welcomed !

Processing done in ACR6 & CS5 (no plugins)

High Plains Skies

The High Plains are the region of my birth, and where I spent my childhood. The broad expanse of sky is one of the trademarks of the region.

I've just finished up a week visiting family. The weather was not very cooperative for photos in general, and particularly of the skies. Several rainy days, preceded by dust and haze limited the opportunities. On my day of departure the skies had been washed clean by the precipitation and polished by winds that were blowing out of the northwest.

These views of the clouds appeared as I was driving in Kansas. The clouds began filling what had earlier been clear skies.

Country Hiway

High Plains

These photos were taken with my D7000 and 35-70mm. The conversion to Black & White was done in ACR 6 and final prep was in CS5.

Finding ways to portray these skies and the level horizons has been one of my photographic challenges. Using B&W and the ability to use the tools of the digital darkroom give me some pleasure with the outcome of this attempt.

Photo of the Week - The Work Train

Several weeks ago I was out, and discovered a string of rail cars on a siding. The cars were obviously a work train, waiting for a crew to arrive or a return to some yard.

It was nearly mid-day and bright out. The deep shadows and rugged and worn nature of the cars made a natural fit for black and white images.