Producing an image

I want to write a longer post about what I went through to produce a specific image.  When I was coming back to the car after I took the pictures of the “Wacotown” sign on the building at fourth and Franklin, I looked and saw the combination of the clock on the WISD’s Mae Jackson Building and the ALICO Building.

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I used the exposure brackets in the camera to take three pictures – one correctly exposed, one under exposed and one over exposed, and used the HDR software to produce an HDR version of it.

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I liked that, but, somehow the clock was giving me an art deco vibe, and that made me wonder how this would look as a black and white image.  So, I took the HDR image and removed the color in Aperture.

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That had a rather dark and brooding nature as a result of the HDR treatment.  I decided to try something else, and used NIK effects Color Effects Pro on the HDR image to make a Black and White version.

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That made it a little darker and even more broody.  I tried Using NIK’s Silver Effects Pro on the HDR image and got this.

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That was really dark and broody.  It had almost an old horror movie feel to it, and it looked really grainy like it was shot on tri-X film and pushed.  So, I wondered what it would look like with less treatment.  I went back to the original, single image that was correctly exposed and used Silver Effects on it to get this.

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This is much “cleaner.”  I think I am going to make an 8×10 print of it, and put it in an 11×14 mat in a simple black frame.

The Dr. Pepper Museum

Another Waco landmark is the Dr. Pepper museum.

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While photographing the museum, I noticed about a block away, across the street from First Baptist Church were these two structures.  I believe they are grain silos, but I am not sure.  They appear to be long-ago abandoned, But, they are still interesting.

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Icons of Waco

We had a meeting of the HOTPPG a week ago, and Doug Box took us outside to do some shooting.  While doing that, I became interested in the refurbished Waco Hippodrome sign.  I went back there on Thursday to see what kinds of angles might exits, and I found one that I could get both the sign and the ALICO building together.

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Return to Dynamic Imagery

It has been a while since I did HDR imagery.  I made a book of the Galveston Images and used some in a calendar for next year.  I have been meaning to start some of locations in Waco.  So, yesterday, I decided to get started on that project.  I shot around the suspension bridge, the courthouse, and the hippodrome.

For this post, I want to post the shots from the suspension bridge/Indian Springs Park area.

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Family Photography

We had dinner with a couple of friends a few weeks ago, and while talking, I mentioned that I was seriously considering photography as a means of staying active in retirement.  She said she really wanted family pictures, and asked if I would be interested.  Well, their three sons and their families visited on Saturday, and they asked me to come and take some pictures.

I had visions of getting some really dramatic shots, as the forecast was for overcast skies and periods of rain.  So, I thought we would find a place where I could use some lights to get under-exposed skies.  Well, it turned out to be mostly sunny.  They had a spot in the yard where they wanted them taken.  So, I set up a light, and we shot there. The ended up being really good pictures and just what they wanted.

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