PaW 2010 Week 15

MY SISTER AND HUBBY

Week 15 had me down shooting portraits for my sister
it was a fun day with some good results
I asked them to pose for my HDR PaW on their camper trailor
the pic with sammy is just after he let rip a huge fart that echoed thru the floorboards
just as i hit the shutter his dad gave him a shove and his sister couldnt stop laughing as you can see




Your Hilliarious Sammy







Submission Week 15

PaW 2010 Week 14

ENDEAVOUR HILLS SUNSET
Unfortunately i slipped behind on this blog but will endeavour to catch up over the week
the other day as i arrived home from work the sun was starting to set with the most amazing cloud formation
just around the corner is a new estate and the homes are quite amazing so with the sunset as a backdrop i captured 5 frames and using matixpro merged and tonemapped them
then in CS4 i did noise reduction and sharpening




Submission for week 14

PaW 2010 Week 13

FRANKSTON PIER



Saturday I had to visit my parents in Carrum Downs which is close to Frankston
so I decided to put my gear in just in case the morning was nice and it was
The sea was pretty calm and although it was rather overcast at first soon the sun came out and the sky's cleared
I had intended to shoot an arched bridge that is on the foreshore but as i wandered about i found myself under the pier and decided this would make for a better subject with the newly refurbished pylons



OUTTAKES







WEEK 13 SUBMISSION

Week 12 " Camberwell Station"

Waking up early again for a Sunday at least with our daylight savings ending soon the sunrises are becoming later it was about 7.30am today so I got to sleep in a little longer

Each morning on the way to work I drive past this area and one of the hotels which I had intended to shoot for the challenge has always interested me with its stunning lighting

so I shot a few HDR of the Palace Hotel as well

Camberwell station has a rich history as it caused a huge community fight a few years ago over a proposed redevelopment of the site

bringing a few well known celebs including Oscar winning Actor Geoffrey Rush to fight to preserve this icon

till next week thats it for week 12

thanks for visiting

Palace Hotel

Week 12 Submission

Week 11 "March Sunset"

G'day
Welcome to Week 11
hasn't the year just flown almost the end of March already
this week I guess I wasnt feeling all that creative and as the week started drawing to a close I wasnt really all that keen on doing a submission but that soon evaporated when on Thursday night Mrs C rang me from Gym and asked to go get something for dinner up the street as I stepped out the front door I was struck by this amazing sunset I had tried to do a HDR of one before but failed miserably as I was just at the end of the sun setting that time.
I went back in grabbed my camera bag and tripod and went to get dinner {with a quick detour} to an agistment property around the corner where I had shot some of the horses previously
one thing that never ceases to amaze me is as soon as you set up to take an image someone will miraculously appear from nowhere and walk directly into your image these happened on two occasions and you should have heard what I was saying to myself they even said hello before strolling down the road.
luckily the sun cooperated with me at least







SETUP

knowing that there are these powerlines that run towards the sunset I set up to include them as well as the leading line of the rails that border the areas of the local council parks and vacant blocks in Endeavour Hills
I only captured 15 frames in total
to create 3 images with 5 exposures in each
-2, -1, 0, +1, +2. (.8s ,1.6s, 3.2s, 6.0s,13.0s - for the submitted image)
All shot @ F/22
ISO 100


PROCESSING
using Photomatix Pro I merged the images then tonemapped
set the increments back to default then {B}boosted or {R}reduced each of the toggles
starting with the amount of strength{R} then saturation{B}, luminosity{R} and microcontrast
{B}
I normally dont use the slide toggle for smoothing but check the box and then use the program settings this time I went with medium
then in the Tone Setting Section I reduced the white and increased the black and also just reduced the gamma a little
this gave the darker tones a bit more pleasing look
finally i increased the smoothing in both the highlights and shadows
then processed it and opened up CS4
in Photoshop I tweaked the noise and sharpness then saturated the reds blues and greens
and finally adjusted levels and curves


OUTTAKES
although these may look similiar in composition there is a slight difference in the road position









WEEK 11 SUBMISSION

Week 10 " Kurth Kiln"

Last Tuesday as I had the day off I had arranged to spend the aftyernoon helping a friend with his new camera
about a month earlier he was telling me of this place he took his dog to for a swim and showed me some of the images he had captured
when I saw the detail in the brickwork I knew that it would make a pretty interesting shot for my HDR images

what is Kurth Kiln?
I had never heard of this place nor realized the signifiant of it even tho it was only about 40km from me in the Dandenongs at Gembrook
from what I had learnt during World War 2 when petrol was heavily rationed they built a number of these charcoal producing kilns scattered around various state forests this one was named after Professor EE Kurth of the Tasmanian University who patented and developed these kilns as well as the converters used in cars during the war but was found to be not economical and was soon discontinued and is located in a state forest that now bears his name
the drawbacks with the charcoal fuel was it was dirty and less economical with the units costing 100 pound in 1941 which was 18 times the weekly wage and also produced 40% less power
this is apparently the only intact kiln left in australia


the additional images are of the caretakers quarters and where they have set it up as a small village that is well looked after which was a pleasing thing to see

PaW 2010 Week 10 Submission

Week 9 " Scots Uniting Church"

Today I tried something different once again
as I wasnt to keen on the Color version I went for a duotoned effect
to give it a sort of B&W
I have often driven past this old church built in the 1855
the oldest standing church in Victoria
it has a small cemetery at the start of the grounds that really hasnt been maintained unfortunately
as it has been heritage listed I was a little surprised that the area wasnt all that looked after
the church is from what I could see very well maintained so that is a good thing I guess


OutTake



Week 9 Submission