Time and Place

Time and Place, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

3rd shot of the morning and one of the last before the light got really harsh.

The comp was originally scene by Jermaine a friend I went shooting with. What a great eye he has for scene's. It is really a blessing to go shooting with him and learn about what he see's to help improve my comps.
I do recommend to anyone to find someone to shoot with. There are many advantages:
1. Share ideas and learn how to see scenes in a different way
2. Someone to watch your back when you are shooting in areas that maybe a little unsafe.
3. How about just good old conversation

Release the Hounds

Release the Hounds, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

The plan was to shoot from the otherside of the gate and get the gate and downtown LA skyline. Well we decided to enter the park and shoot the skyline from a better vantage point which is the previous post. But while the camera was doing it's 20-30 second exposure it does give you time to look around and look for other comps. This shot was way to nice to miss. What caught my eye is the way the street lights shadowed the gate on the ground. The gate was a little more open than this so I did close them a tad bit to add what I thought to be a more dramatic look.

This is an HDR.

Post Processing:
>Standard HDR Shot -2,0,+2.
>Photomatix-Detail Enhancer
>Photoshop CS-5
>Color Efex Pro-Pro Contrast, Tonal Contrast
>Adjustment Layer-Shadow/Highlight-Bring out stonework even more
>Topaz InFocus
>Noise Ninja-Sky only
>Color Efex Pro-Midnight Filter-Masked and Gradient to minimize filter upper photo.

Glorious Day

Glorious Day, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

Goood Morning LA!!
It has been a little over 2 weeks since my last post and since I have gone out to shoot. It feels like forever. The opportunity arose this morning to shoot with my friend Jermaine(new to flickr). The morning was awesome, clear and beautiful. A Santa Ana condition is happening here in So. Cal (Santa Ana Condition is when high winds come off the desert and blow all the smog and fog away. it also gives us warm weather) With that said, with the wind blowing and the clear night we knew it was going to be a great morning for shooting and to our planning it made for a crystal clear morning in LA to shoot. We had plans to hit 2 or 3 spots. This was the 1st spot we hit and never left until the sun was up and harsh. But as you can see we were not a bit disappointed.

This shot was taken at a small park outside LA with a great view of the city. Sunrise was to the left which also gave to the reflection of light on the buildings.

Sees The Moment

Sees The Moment, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

Cesar, a friend of mine has asked me many a time to get some shots of him surfing. Last week was finally a day to get out and give it a shot. He picked me up at 5:45am and we headed on out to Newport Beach. The waves were great but the skies were overcast. It created some even light but little in contrast of water and sky. Also early in the shooting while the sun is coming up you have to shoot in higher ISO's to get the right Shutter speed to freeze the action.
Personally I like the way the ocean looks in this shot with the foam and frozen splashes of water.
I used a 70-200L with a 2X extender. The 70-200 does not have IS (Image Stabilization) so I shot from a tripod the entire time.
The other thing of note is the way Cesar surfs I needed to shoot at an angle. So I constantly needed to move to shoot Cesar at a 45 degree angle other wise all the shots would have been of his back.
By the way all the surfers out there look alike. All in Black wet suits bobbing up and down on the water...so keep an eye on the person you are trying to shoot. One blink of an eye and they blend into everyone else.

Long Exposure Good Conversation

Long Exposure Good Conversation, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

When shooting last night one of the last shots of the night was this shot. I saw this much earlier in the day (Presunset) and wanted to get back to it while the sun was setting knowing that the algae was going to light up with the sunset. Well needless to say by the time I got back here it was pretty dark but I decided to give it a go anyway. This is an HDR of 3 shots with the shortest being the sky of about 70 seconds and the longest being the foreground of 5 minutes.
My buddy I was shooting with had some reservations on the out come with not much light coming from the crescent moon. But this is exactly the lighting I was hoping for with the smoothness of the ocean and the lit up algae. My friend did place out a light for me to find a focal point but after that this is all lighting from the crescent moon.
I am pleased with the outcome.
The title comes from hanging with Jermaine and having some great photography conversation while the camera was doing its thing.

The Shot:
>3 shot HDR 0EV for sky and then I figured out the other exposures from there knowing the sky would be the darkest exposure-ISO 320, F/11, 70 Seconds up to 5 minutes

Post Processing:
>Photomatix-Detail Enhancer

CS-5:
>Combined Sky Exposure and HDR Exposure masked off and used sky in HDR
>Lab Color
>Nik Color Efex-Pro Contrast
>Adjustment Layer-Curves increase exposure and masked for water and green land
>Adjustment Layer-Curves darkened outer areas of grass
>Topaz InFocus-Sharpening of grass area
>Noise Ninja-Noise in sky
>Cropped and vignette applied
>Sized and framed for posting


VIEW LARGE
G+
500px
IMAGE INCEPTION BLOG

Veterans Memorial Pier

Veterans Memorial Pier, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

Went out shooting on this night and it was a really beautiful sunset but it seems the shots I did capture didn't really move me to post at this time. I will keep a few and ditch the rest.
I did turn away from the spectacular sunset to capture the pier. The color photo of this shot came out nice but as always I try to move towards black and white and see if the scene comes out more dramatic. In this case it did so I did some more processing in the black and white and eventually came out with this outcome.

Rise Above

Rise Above, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

Here is a shot pretty much straight from the camera. This is where a clear sky turns out nice to show silhouettes of nice clear objects and clean lines.

The Shot:
Single Exposure, F/8, ISO 200, 1/250 second, 24-105L @105mm

Post Processing:
>Nik Color Efex Pro-Bi Color filter for sky
>Adjustment Layer-Levels-Black Dropper to enhance Silhouette
>Topaz InFocus
>Noise Ninja
>Cropped and Framed for posting