Painting from the Air

Painting from the Air, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

I took this shot on the way to Washington last year. I have reworked it through my new processing. I really like the lines that have been created by the new processing.

This is a rework of an old post. Nothing new as of right now because I have sold the Canon 1ds Mark II and I am searching for a 5D Mark II. Any hints on what to look for when buying a used camera would be helpful.

Thanks for looking and leaving comments.

Off the beaten path

Off the beaten path, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

Another HDR/Painted photo.
This was taken in a industrial section off of LA. I found this area intriguing because of the road leading to the city skyline. Once again this photo is taken just before sunrise the only time to be taking photo's in LA without traffic and of course a small thing like getting run over while taking shots in the middle of the street.
I am enjoying running through past shots and working the new processing and figuring out which ones it works on and the others it really doesn't.

Here is some of the post processing steps taken:

Standard 3 shot HDR +2, 0, -2
>Photomatix-Detail Enhancer

CS-5:
>Blend in -2 ev of the original shots to remove noise in sky and overdone lamp glare from HDR processing
>Topaz adjust-To bring back color and detail
>Nik Color Efex Pro 4.0
>Oil Painting
>Sized and framed for posting

Watch Over Me

Watch Over Me, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

Took this shot and I have looked it over a few times, Never really cared for how it came out in previous processing's. When I took the shot I felt a dark moody look and my Post Processing never really brought out the image that I wanted until now.
I am really quite pleased with this final processing holding off the verdict until I see some others in print and see if this all works. As I worked through the process the shades of the tree and roots became more and more of an interest to me to finalize the shot and bring out some nice detail.

I like the color of this as well but I decided to post the B&W liking the mood it portrayed.

Thanks for looking and the comments.

Parks Open

Parks Open, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

Always a great view LA Skyline. Can't imagine what it is like not to live near a big city. I am blessed that LA is only a 30 minute drive from The OC at 5am on a Sunday. Haven't tried to drive this at rush hour, not really interested in trying either.
This is a mix of post processing, let me list them.

Post Processing list:
>HDR- Photomatix-Detail Enhancer
>Photo Blending
>Cloning Tool and Fill-Removal of
>Stop Sign and shadow
>Red Zone Parking
>Cross Walk
>Topaz Adjust-Detail and Color
>Pixel Bender and Mask for fence and grass area
>Nik Color Efex Pro 4.0-Misc filters to achieve desired result
>Adjustment Layer-Curves
That about sums it up

VIEW LARGE
G+
IMAGE INCEPTION BLOG
500px



I really like processing and posting but if the eventual print comes out like crap than what good is it. Well time to put the processing to the test. Gonna get some of this new processing printed. I will let you all know how they turn out. Specially the one below (Previous Post). I really like the way it turned out but it has to look good in print or this processing will go in the round file.

Bold Colors

Bold Colors, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

Yesterday I finally got out to take some photo's with my friend Jermaine. We headed down to Dana Point for sunset photo's. it was a beautiful sunset and we both really felt that even if we got no shots of any significance the trip was well worth it. The lighting and high surf really created for a magical sunset. I do have some sunset shots to process but those will come later.
Along the side of the cliffs that align the shore are these ice plants that have some magnificent colors.
This didn't take a lot of processing to bring the colors out. Such bold and vibrant colors were definitely worth photographing.
I gave this a black framing around the white to bring the colors out more.

Post Processing:
Nik Color Efex Pro 4.0
Contrast Only Filter
Skylight Filter
Detail Extractor Filter
Adjustment Layer Curves for more global Contrast and color pop
Topaz Adjust Infocus for Global sharpening
White Frame with Drop shadow
Black Frame to make photo pop more
Sized for posting

Evenings Fade

Evenings Fade, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

Good Morning to all, I would hope that you all are having a blessed day!

The 2 previous shots were the prelude to the sunset shot taken. The boat by the dock was just a perfect timing shot with the sun shining just right on the small boat by the dock, it just happened to be by the parking lot when we first got out of the car.
The ice plant shot was taken just walking along the rocks trying to get to a good sunset spot.

Small Explanation:
This part of the beach along Dana Point has a lot of cliffs that stick out and the beginning part of the beach faces South/West so you don't see the sun setting per say. So you need to walk around the cliffs to get to a sun facing sunset and of course while you walk you look for things to shoot. It is exactly why you get to the area you are going to shoot 1 or 2 hours ahead of time. This is why it takes you 1-2 hours to get to the spot you want to shoot and only 20 minutes to walk back after the sun has set.

Small Story:
As Jermaine and I were walking back after the sunset we came across 2 guys sitting on some rocks facing the South/West not really seeing the sunset drinking a few beers. What transpired next was the usual back and forth we all hear:
Guys on Rocks: "Get some good shots?" (Hmmm, just because I have a back pack, tripod, big ass camera attached to tripod, shutter release attached...what makes them ask that all the time?)
Tony: "Beautiful Sunset tonight"
Guys on Rocks: "Yeah this is far as we got before the sun started to go down and it started getting dark"
Moral of story...GET TO SUNSET EARLIER TO ENJOY THE MOMENT!!!

So that is a lot of story to say that it was a great sunset and whether you get a good shot or not it is just good to get out and appreciate all of God's glory and all the blessings He bestows upon us.

HDR Post Processing:
>Standard 3 shot HDR
>Photomatix-Detail Enhancer and saved as Tiff's
>HDR Tiff brought into Photoshop
>From original Raw shots I blend in all areas of the HDR shot I don't like. In this case, -2ev for sun and sky (I like to get the sun to show if possible), +2 EV for water reflection.
>Topaz Adjust to retrieve color and texture
NIK COLOR EFEX PRO 4.0
>Remove Color Cast
>Contrast Only
>Bi-Color Filter-Sky only
>Skylight filter for warmth
>Dark/Lighten Filter
>Shadow/Highlight Layer to bring out slight shadow areas in rocks and cliffs
>Cropped and framed for posting

Evening Fade by Tony DeSantis

Natural History Museum LA

Natural History Museum LA, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

I know some are not big fans of HDR. But when you walk into a room such as this what is your best way to capture it? For some I guess it would be to capture as is and let the lighting, textures and shades fall as is. The small hand hand held mini's try for a flash and walk away disappointed. For those who shoot HDR this is a dream come true. Textures, marble, lighting all move the imagination. I personally don't think there is any other way to do this room justice without HDR.
The other issue we have is "The NO Tripod rule". So here we are shooting a Pano HDR, multi upon multi shots hand held. For this shot...18 exposures. Let me explain:
I went with my family to the Natural History museum and knowing that no tripods were permitted, flashes only create bad reflections, and I really didn't like hauling around a backpack. I decided to go with my cheap lens, the 50mm 1.8. Best $100 lens on the books bar none!
The fast lens helped with some shutter speeds that were manageable. Yes the 1.8 doesn't create for great depth of field but hey with life there are always trade offs.
With that all said, you can see the final outcome. Your feed back is greatly appreciated.
Here is my Post Processing, it maybe a little long...sorry

Pano HDR in Camera:
>6 vertical 3 Exposure (+1, 0, -1) Total 18 Exposures, 1/30-1/60-1/125, 50mm, ISO 800
I did a 1EV spread because pushing a 2EV spread would have been hard at the +2 to hold without blur

1st Part of Post Processing:
>Each 3 Segment Vertical brought into Raw
>Black slider to 0, White Balance and Temperature and Tint matched
>Default Sharpening to 0
>Noise Reduction on all
>Saved as Tiffs
>Any Exposures that had to much movement were deleted and replaced by one of the other exposures at the deleted exposures EV.
>Once finished you should have 18 tiff files

Photomatix-Detail Enhancer:
>1st 3 shot Segment brought into Photomatix
>Sliders moved to taste and saved as 16 bit tiffs
>Each additional 3 shot segment brought into Photomatix, since Photomatix saves
previous settings, each panel would get the same settings by default of previous settings and saved.
>Once all 18 shots/6 segments are processed you will end up with 6 panels of the Pano all as 16 bit tiffs.

CS-5:
>All 6 HDR Tiffs brought into CS-5
>1 Panel at a time, starting with the 2nd panel CMD-A (Select All), CMD-C (Copy), CMD-W (Delete)
>Back to 1st panel, CMD-V (Paste),
>Same process for all 5 panels stacked onto the 1st panel
>Choose 1st layer (Background Layer)
>Shift/Click on the Last Layer (5th Layer) Should choose them all
>EDIT-Auto Align Layers, Wait for processing to finish
>EDIT-Auto Blend Layers, Wait for processing to finish
>Flatten Image
>Save Image but don't delete (You save image in the event you mess up somewhere or your CS-5 closes
>Crop or Duplicate and Free Transform to get rid of any white areas

2nd Stage Post Processing:
>Nik Color Efex Pro-Pro Contrast
>Nik Color Efex Pro-Tonal Contrast
>Topaz Adjust-inFocus for global sharpening
>Shadow/highlights-For middle statue alone
>Adjustment Layer Levels-Remove color cast of yellow
>Adjustment Layer Curves-Slight global Contrast
>Left Segment of pillars duplicated, Transform/Flip Vertical and aligned on floor
>Soft Light Mode/ Opacity to choice
>Redo until you move across entire floor with a nice reflection
>Cropped and Framed for posting