Kats Image

This was an exercise based on an image from a friend. I suggested turning it B&W which she did and Istill thought it could be stronger so I had a go myself.
Converted to B&W using a Black & White adjustment layer in CS5. (Although you can use other tried and tested methods to turn the image into B&W)
I first set the overall brightness and contrast based on the foreground then selected the sky from the horizon up (with plenty of feather) and used Curves to darken it further.
Duplicated the layer, masked out all but the sky on the dup and set the blend mode to multiply. This darkened the sky even further. The wet sand was then too light to be a reflection of the sky as it now was so a further selection of that area and use of Curves to darken it slightly.

The jaggies on the horizon are artifacts caused by using a small copy of the file as a starting point and not the original.

Orchid

Canon 5DMkll, EF 24-70mm, 1/60sec. f/2.8, ISO 800

I am a very reluctant gardener, preferring to looking at it to looking after it. However, I adore orchids and I am prepared to lavish time and TLC on them. This is a photograph of my latest acquisition. Minimal processing, just Raw conversion and a little sharpening.

Sea Lion

Canon EOS 40D, EF 70-200 f/4, 1/400sec, f/5.6, ISO 800

I dragged this out of the archive for a Flickr 'challenge'.
7 Days of Shooting (7DOS) sets a daily challenge based around a weekly theme, in this case the theme is 'Wet' and the daily challenge is 'dramatic lighting'.
For me dramatic lighting is usually associated with Black and White. Oh, I have seen some very good coloured images you could apply the dramatic lighting tag to, I have even taken one or two :), but I generally fall back to black and white.
In this case the image was a so,so coloured photograph (the colour of the sea lion too close to that of the water to give good separation) so I took it into Silver Efex Pro and played with the presets. By increasing the emphasis on the structure of the image rather than the contrast I got the separation I was looking for. A touch of sepia and a suitable vignette and the image was there.

Wet

Canon EOS 40D, Tamron 28-300mm, 1/250sec, f/8

This image was taken at the edge of Grassmere.
I was taking landscape shots including the reflections in the water, which was disturbed only by the passage of a couple of swans, when a couple arrived with their water-loving dog.
All possiblity of getting reflections in the water vanished as the dog frollicked in the lake.
I could have become Mr Grumpy and stalked off muttering about dogs disturbing other peoples enjoyment but instead I recognised that here was another photo opportunity.
I took this shot as the dog emerged from the water, it is not the sharpest pet photograph but as a record of the joy the dog got from the water it was worth keeping and it certainly qualifies for the title 'WET'

Light burst

Canon 5DMkll, EF 24-70 f/2.8, 2sec, f/20, ISO100

I was looking for an image that wasn't the usual 'dappled light in trees' shot.
This image reminds me of all those fantasy/sci fi films where the burst of light seen through the trees presages something 'other worldly' happening

I placed the camera, with the 24-70 zoom lens, on a tripod and narrowed the aperture so that shutter speed slowed down. With the lens set at 70mm I pressed the shutter and at the same time I rotated the zoom ring so that the focal length changed whilst the shutter was open. The final image is a matter of trial and error, getting the right combination of shutter speed and zoom change to give the effect you want.

Playing with Plug-ins

Canon 5DMkll, EF 24-70 f/2.8L, 1/50sec, f/2.8, ISO 800

Its a cold and very windy day outside so I decided to get my photographic fix for the day indoors.
My model was my favourite Phalaenopsis Orchid.

Having taken the photograph I thought that it lacked a bit of character so I decided to subject it to a couple of plug-ins to give it a bit of 'pop'.
Firstly I use Nik Viveza 2 to selectively boost contrast and tweak the colours and then used Topaz Adjust 4 to get the final look I wanted.
The Spicify preset got me most of the way there and with a little final tweaking achieved the result you see here.

A touch of colour

Canon 5DMkll, EF 24-70 f/2.8 L, 1/250sec, f/2.8, ISO 100

This post box is in danger of disappearing behind the ivy so I thought this treatment would give it a chance to show.
The box is probably 60+ years old, the GR stands for George Rex (King George) and the last one we had was the present Queens father who died in 1952 It could be a lot older, there is no indication as to which George is involved and there have been six kings with that name.
[ Update  Further research has narrowed the cypher to George V which gives a date range for the box of 1910 - 1936 ]

Processing:
Duplicated the original layer; converted the top layer to black and white; erased the box on the top layer to let the colour show through.

Solway Firth

 Canon 5DMkll, EF 24-70 f/2.8, 13sec, f/16, 10 stop ND filter.

Not sure about the processing on this one. Is the vignette adding or subtracting?
The main feature is of course that sky! It was amazing

Panorama of two files blended in CS5 then converted to black and white. Separate processing in CS5 for sky and land. Final processing in Silver Efex Pro including adding vignette.

Falling into the light

 Canon 5DMkll, EOS 24-70 f/2.8, 30sec, f/9, 10stop ND filter

This is proving to be one of my most effective photographs on Flickr. It jumped into Explore quite easily, which is getting harder and harder these days.

The photograph is of the water falls above Rydal Hall in Cumbria, which is deep in Wordsworth territory. The light was very tricky with the majority of the scene in deep shade but brilliant patches of sunshine showing through. I used Lee Filters 10 stop ND filter to give a long exposure, which gives the milky effect in the water, and toned down the sunlit patches in Photoshop.

Beach steps, Beckfoot

Canon 5DMkll, EOS 24-70 f/2.8, 30sec, f/11, !0 stop ND filter

B&W effects via Siver Efex Pro

Venice here I come

Just booked a workshop/tour in Venice at Carnival time next year.
If anyone is unaware of the Venice Carnival then take a look here Carnival photographs  
This will be a whole new departure for me, street photography and portraits against the backdrop of the fabulous city of Venice. I'm drooling at the prospect already and I dont go until March.

Derwentwater Rowing Boat

Derwentwater Rowing Boat, originally uploaded by marush1.

The workshop is now over and I have a headache of migraine proportions from all the information John (Gravett) has fed us.
I now look at my image processing in a different way, with emphasis on the detailed structure of the image rather than global values. This much more how I used to process images in the darkroom, using a processing plan of the areas I wanted to dodge and burn. It is slow going at the moment but as I get the processing steps buttoned down and instinctive it will speed up. There are plug-ins available to assist in the process and one of the most effective is Silver Efex Pro. This image was converted to B&W using that plug-in and took not much more than 15 seconds to achieve from the basic converted Raw file. Just time enough to open the plug-in, select the preset I wanted to use, move a couple of sliders and save the B&W file. Doing the same thing directly in Photoshop would have taken me upwards of an hour at my present level of ability. The time saving alone justifies, to me, the cost of the plug-in.

The shape of things to come

Canon 5D Mark ll, EF 17-40 f/4L, 1/160sec, f/8. ISO 100

Bags are packed, dog in kennels, just twiddling my thumbs until its time to go.

Off for a weeks B&W workshop in the Lakes.

To get me in the mood I selected this image of the Keswick Landing stages on Derwentwater and converted it to B&W using Silver Efex Pro from Nik Software.

Abandoned Hope revisited

Canon 550D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 1/400sec, f/8, ISO 100

On a recent visit to Skippool I found the Good Hope in a worse state than ever.
Rather than just create a straight record I used a modified Spicify preset in Topaz Adjust 4 to highlight the grunge and decay.

Goldfinch

Canon 20D, 300mm f/4 L + 1.4 Extender, 1/250, f/8, ISO 200

Sat having breakfast watching the birds at the feeders I was amused by the antics of a family of Goldfinches. They all seemed to want the same perch on the feeder and they would try anything to get the current occupant to move off so they could get their turn. Meanwhile other perches on the same feeder were empty.
I do wish they would eat what they take from the feeder. 90% of the food ends up on the floor, which encourages the wood pigeons to come in and hoover up the cast offs. I hate woodpigeons!
Watching the show I realised I had not photographed the birds for quite a while so here is one I took (a lot) earlier.

Family

Canon 5D Mark ll, 24-105 f/4 L, 1/1000sec, f/8.0, ISO 200

The latest PSP Challenge has just been posted, the theme is 'Wet'.
Its brilliant sunshine today so here is one from earlier in the 'summer'.
It is a non-entry for the challenge since entries have to be taken after the challenge announcement.
I'm off to the Lake District on Saturday so I expect 'Wet' is going to be an easy subject.