Old Wreck

Old Wreck In Field – Silver Effects Pro 2 – Yellowed 2 Preset

After dropping my daughter off at school the other day I decided it was time to drive to a local conservation area not far from my home. As I made my way there the rains began to come in and were getting heavier. As I drove along the concession road bound for my intended destination I happened upon this old wreck sitting at the edge of an agricultural field. I could not resist the temptation and slammed on the brakes, grabbed my gear and proceeded to create a few images that I could take home to play around with on a rather wet and dreary day.

In the first image I chose to use Nik/Google’s Silver Effects Pro 2 and the Yellowed 2 preset as a starting point. I just love the aged look and border that this preset creates. To create the additional variations below I used Topaz Labs Adjust 5 – Psychedelic Preset and two of my custom presets from the Photoshop plug-in Fractalius. Denise Ippolito and I have written an eGuide for the Fractalius plug-in that should be available shortly.

For folks who love to get creative with there imagery I highly recommend heading to Kitchener, Ontario on June 3rd as Denise will be doing a presentation for the Grips Camera Club, click here for more information.

Hope you enjoy the old wreck creations. Do remember to click on the images to see the larger, sharper version.

Which is your favorite rendering?

Old Wreck – Topaz Adjust 5 – Psychedelic Preset

Old Wreck – Fractalius

Old Wreck – Fractalius

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Grunging the Old Wreck

As I departed Tiny Marsh the other day, due to the heavy rains, I came upon this old truck that was rusting away beside a storage shed with colorful turquoise aluminum siding and an old collection of tires perfectly lined up in front of the truck. Since the rain had slowed to a steady drizzle at this point in my travels home I stopped to create a couple of images of the scene from the side of the road. I knew when I arrived home I would use Topaz Adjust 5 to grunge the old wreck. For this type of rendering I will select one of the ‘Detail’ presets and using heavy-handed slider settings create the grunge-look achieved in the photo above. I find the grunge-look for old wrecks to be most addictive but finding old wrecks like this can be like looking for a needle-in-a-haystack.

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Chutes Provincial Park

Aux Sables River in Chutes Provincial Park

Chutes Provincial Park is a small, but very photogenic park to visit, it is located in the town of Massey, Ontario along the Trans-Canada Highway. The Aux Sables River flows through this park. Along the way, there are several sets of rapids and a few small cascades along the river’s course. This river setting is best photographed in over-cast light. As I drove to Lake Superior Provincial Park last September I was passing through the town of Massey on an over-cast, drizzly day so I made a stop in hopes of walking along the Twin Bridges Trail to photograph various locations along the river. After making a few images of the main cascade I ventured further along the trail, but the over-cast conditions cleared and the lighting became rather harsh so I packed up and continued onward to Lake Superior. Here are a couple of fresh images of Chutes Provincial Park’s main attraction and I also applied Topaz Labs’ B&W Effects using my custom preset “Waterfall Setting” that I created for an artistic rendition of the waterfall. A Nikon 12-24mm lens and Nikon polarizing filter was used in the making of these images.

Aux Sables River in Chutes Provincial Park

Custom “Waterfall Setting” preset in Topaz Labs BW Effects

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Creative Cascade

Spencer Gorge Wilderness Area

I have been busy processing a backlog of images from this past spring, summer and fall and also trying to catch up on much needed rest. While going through my files I came across this small cascade that I photographed at Webster’s Falls in the Spencer Gorge Wilderness Area in Hamilton, Ontario. This is found along the Niagara Escarpment. The Hamilton region is noted for its numerous waterfalls on the Niagara Escarpment, many of them really only show any flow after periods of significant rainfall. I found this one to be particularly attractive with the escarpment wall for a backdrop. After processing the image file I decided to run it through Topaz Labs B&W Effects to create the effect you see above.

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Katherine Cove – One Image, Two Takes, Which Do You Prefer?

Katherine Cove on Lake Superior – B&W Effects

While wandering back along a section of the Coastal Trail in Ontario’s Lake Superior Provincial Park at Katherine Cove this pattern, caused by a previous wave, caught my attention. I used my 12-24mm lens and positioned my tripod low to the ground and chose a vertical composition so that this interesting pattern could dominate the foreground of this photograph. I was able to squeeze off a couple of frames before a rogue wave came ashore and washed away the design. Above is a version converted to black and white using the new photoshop plugin from Topaz Labs called B&W Effects. There is a free trial version available for download, but until October 3rd you can use Topaz Lab’s discount code from the website and purchase the plugin for a mere $29.99. Below you will see the original, colour version of the image which do you prefer?

Katherine Cove on Lake Superior – colour version

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Niagara Escarpment Waterfall Details in Black & White

Beamer Falls, Grimsby, Ontario

After reading Denise Ippolito’s blog today announcing the release of the new photoshop plugin from Topaz Labs called Black & White Effects I downloaded the software and immediately began using it on several images to familiarize myself with the interface and found that I particulary liked how it performed on some of my images from last spring, as I made my way around several of the waterfalls found along the Niagara Escarpment near Hamilton and Grimsby. For most of my B&W conversions I use Nik Software’s Silver Efex and absolutely love the results, but with the release of Black & White Effects I now have another tool in my image optimization toolbox.

Devil’s Punch Bowl, Hamilton, Ontario

Grindstone Creek, Waterdown, Ontario

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Software Solutions

I am by no means a computer genius and my photoshop skills are a little limited also. I tend to learn the techniques needed to achieve the results I am seeking. One such technique I have never mastered is masking to remove complicated objects or to change backgrounds for creative reasons. Recently Topaz Labs introduced Remask 3 which really simplifies the masking process. To find out more about this useful plugin click here. I have posted a couple of before and after examples of how this plugin was used to improve the photos.

In the Mallard drake images below I have always loved the pose of this duck as it came in for a landing on the frozen water of Lake Ontario in Toronto, but the white band of snow on the ice is very distracting and has always annoyed me. After masking the Mallard I was able to easily clean-up the distraction.

Before Remask 3

After Remask 3

The Brown Pelican (Atlantic Phase) below was photographed several years ago in Cuba on the island of Cayo Largo in the Caribbean Sea. I have always enjoyed this Pelican’s humorous pose, but the out-of-focus boat in the background simply ruins this image. After applying a mask using Remask 3 I was very pleased at how the software handled the fine feather details at the back of the pelican’s head. With the mask on a separate layer I was now able to remove the boat simply and efficiently.

Before Remask 3

After Remask 3

(I also rotated the image slightly and moved the bird to the right a little for compositional reasons)

 

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