Category Archive: Black and White

Quick Trestle Redo

A comment from oneowner had me detouring from wasting time with one thing to wasting time with another. Specifically — as the title of the post implies — processing a few old photos using current tools. In this case, photos of a train trestle originally snapped in 2012 and featured in this week’s SmugMug Appreciation post.

The above is an HDR rendering from three photos using Aurora HDR 2019, which is still my go-to program for merging bracketed photos, and then tweaked in Luminar AI.

Now, you might not like that particular ‘look’, and I’m there with you. It doesn’t look natural, but the problem is that all three photos were overexposed, and Aurora is doing some heavy lifting to get something useful out of them.

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February 2022 Monochrome Ice Storm Macros

Pressure Points

This is a continuation of yesterday’s post, namely, the monochrome versions of those shots. Typically, I would lump those photos together — color and monochrome — in one post, plus add a bunch more semi-related photos.

Unfortunately, all that takes time to compose and read, as can be experienced by reading THIS post.

Anyway, let me recreate the previous post in monochrome, starting with . . .

I vacillate between thinking chromatic is the better choice and monochromatic as the way to go. Of course, it depends on the subject, one’s preference, the skill of the photographer in processing each version, the preference of the reader (typically fickle and affected by their mood), and, obviously, the current moon phase.

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Ice Disks

For them not interested in reading, you can see the photos in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery.  

For a SmugMug slideshow, click HERE<<link. When you click the link, it will open in a new window, and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button at the top-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: clicking the PLAY arrow will run a full-screen slideshow. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos (this will pause the slideshow).

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

That’s yet another ice disk I pulled from one of my birdbaths following a partial thaw of the ice contained therein. I’ve shared such disks before, like, for instance in THIS post.

That was from two years ago, and I then had only one birdbath . . . I now have four, and I’m sharing the discs from three of them. The fourth birdbath is roughly heart-shaped, and I broke the ice before it dawned on me to photograph it.

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The SDS Challenge — Last “Envy” Voting Reminder in monochome

Can you believe it’s been almost four weeks? That’s right; you have less than two days before the voting closes. I wouldn’t wait until the turkey is in the oven, but that’s up to you.

If you are new to the SDS Challenge, a little background.

Three writers will each write one story a month going down the list of deadly sins. The stories can be anywhere from 666 words to 6,666 words in length, although those numbers are not set in stone. If ambitious, the writers will provide accompanying graphics. These stories will not be anonymous because some writers may want to use the same characters for each story and write a series — or book — encompassing all seven sins. Finally, interpretation of the titular sin is up to the writer. Meaning, each ‘sin’ can take multiple forms.

Disclaimer: The writing challenge has no restrictions and the stories will likely span a wide gamut of genres. The majority of the stories fall in the PG-rating range with a few perhaps pushing into the soft R-rating. Some readers might find a few of the stories disturbing because of the topics, language, and/or plot points, and if so, stop reading and move on.

If you want to read the Seven Deadly Sins submissions for the Sin of Envy, and then vote, your gateway is THIS POST <<link. There, you’ll find links to each of the three stories and a poll for you to vote after you finish them (if you be so moved).

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Old Hawk Photos Reworked 002

For them not interested in reading, you can see the photos in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery.  

For a SmugMug slideshow click HERE<<link  When you click the link, it will open in a new window and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button/symbol at the top-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: clicking the PLAY arrow will run a full-screen slideshow. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos as this will pause the slideshow.

The first post in this two posts series is at this LINK. In that post, I specified that the photos in the SmugMug Gallery are the same size as what was in the blog post.

Well, no longer . . . these reworked photos were run through Topaz Lab Gigapixels AI to double their size. That means that even a crop of the photo is still substantial For example, this photo (JPG output of the RAW file as it came out of the D7000 camera) . . . .

Turns into this cropped, cleaned, enlarged, and processed photo . . .

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Travel Photos — Where in the World 011

Hey! … does anyone still remember these?

I know, I know . . . it’s been a while.

As mentioned before, all the WitW photos are collected in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery.  Each new post will identify the previous post’s photo. The poll at the end of this post is mostly to amuse and entertain (me), but I name the location of these photos along with a red herring or two. It’s fine if you look up the answer, and I won’t care much which name you vote for because, hey, you might want to amuse yourself as well. It’s open to multiple voting for people who like more than one answer. Let me know if multiple voting doesn’t work.

The photos in the previous post<<link showcased the Pikes Peak Highway<<link. For them interested in looking at it on Google Earth, here’s a screenshot of Google Earth’s street view. That’s close to the approximate location from where I snapped the first photo (the coordinates are in the lower right corner of the screenshots — click for a larger version).

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Travel Photos — Where in the World 010

Once more, it’s been a while since one of these. Such a long while that I almost forgot about them, so I can only imagine what a surprise this will be for the few readers of this blog.

What prompted me to author this post? Well, we’re not traveling, and not likely to travel much, so why not revisit past treks through the American (or maybe South American) landscape? No reason I could think of.

As mentioned before, all the WitW photos are collected in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery.  Each new post will identify the previous post’s photo. The poll at the end of this post is mostly to amuse and entertain (me), but I name the location of these photos along with a red herring or two. It’s fine if you look up the answer, and I won’t care much which name you vote for because, hey, you might want to amuse yourself as well. It’s open to multiple voting for people who like more than one answer. Let me know if multiple voting doesn’t work.

The photos in the previous post<<link showcased the Great Sand Dunes NP<<link. For them interested in looking at it on Google Earth, here’s a screenshot of Google Earth’s street view. That’s close to the approximate location from where I snapped the first 2007 photo (the coordinates are in the lower right corner of the screenshots — click for a larger version).

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Nikon D7500 in the field . . . and the yard

For them not interested in reading, you can see photos in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery. 

When you click the links, it will open in a new window, and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button near the top-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: Above the play/pause button there’s the option to go full screen. Most of these look really good viewed full screen. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos (this will pause the slideshow).

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

Them who might have noticed me not doing much online these past four days probably knew I was traveling. Them who didn’t notice me not doing much online these past four days probably don’t read my blog.

Well, I was traveling, and when I travel, I travel with my photography equipment (plus the phone camera).

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Travel Photos — Where in the World 009

It’s been a while since one of these. Such a long while that I almost forgot about them, so I can only imagine what a surprise this will be for the few readers of this blog.

What prompted me to author this post? Well, I got annoyed. I read a post on another blog (from which I’ve since unsubscribed) and stupidly commented. Do you know how annoying it is having someone imply you’re a bigoted white Christian? You don’t? Well, let me tell you . . . it’s annoying.

Anyway, I had a choice . . . I could fume and plot the demise of the Human Race . . . but I then worried about all the pets that can’t work a can-opener. So, I decided to relax by processing a few photos and composing this post. I’m not sure I made the right choice, but here we are.

As mentioned before, all the WitW photos are collected in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery.  Each new post will identify the previous post’s photo. The poll at the end of this post is mostly to amuse and entertain (me), but I name the location of these photos along with a red herring or two. It’s fine if you look up the answer, and I won’t care much which name you vote for because, hey, you might want to amuse yourself as well. It’s open to multiple voting for people who like more than one answer. Let me know if multiple voting doesn’t work.

The location of the photos in the previous post<<link showcased U.S. Botanic Gardens<<link. For them interested in looking at it on Google Earth, here’s a screenshot of Google Earth’s street view. It’s close to the approximate location from where I snapped the 2003 photo, but know that the landscaping has changed (the coordinates are in the lower right corner of the screenshots — click for a larger version).

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Travel Photos — Where in the World 008

Would you believe it’s been eight days since my last post? Well, it’s true. Not only that, people probably forgot we’re still doing the Alphabet Challenge.

It’s been a long while since I’ve gone this long without posting, but my navel doesn’t clean itself, and filing my nails takes a lot of time and patience. As for the Challenge, this was a challenging week for a few of the writers and we agreed delays were prudent. I know I’ve said this before, but the “Y” stories should be up and running in one or two days.

Meanwhile, let me continue with this travel-related theme.

As mentioned before, all the WitW photos are collected in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery.  Each new post will identify the previous post’s photo. The poll at the end of the post is mostly to amuse and entertain, but I name the location along with a red herring or two. It’s fine with me if you look up the answer, and I won’t care much which name you vote for because, hey, you might want to amuse yourself as well. It’s open to multiple voting for people who like more than one answer. Let me know if it doesn’t work.

The location of the photos in the previous post<<link showcased Wilson Arch<<link. For them interested in looking at it on Google Earth, here are a couple of screenshots (the coordinates are in the lower right corner of the screenshots — click for a larger version).

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I wave at you three

For them wondering about the title, “I wave at you“<<link and “I wave at you two“<<link are previous posts exploring/offering wave photos (and, if interested, one of those explores my legs). This short post continues the titles (with fewer photos, and no legs … maybe).

No processing (Adobe Color instead of Camera Neutral)

So, that’s right out of the camera, except I turned on Adobe Color as opposed to my usual Camera Neutral. Camera Neutral has a vapid appearance with hardly any saturation or contrast (what I usually start with when I post-process).

Side Note: for them wondering whatever happened to Falkor (LINK), as you can see, he finally got rid of his aversion to water and is now body-surfing in Hawaiʻi.

Anyway, this post was born from my desire to try a few different processing options . . . and the fact I like waves.

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I don’t know landscapes

Nota Bene: if you are reading this on the Reader, and if you are using a Dark Theme or Dark Mode, AND if you are on an Android device . . . well, then, you’re likely not able to read this post (or many of my previous posts). Let me repeat this using a white font color in case that will show up: if you are reading this on the Reader, and if you are using a Dark Theme or Dark Mode, AND if you are on an Android device . . . well, then, you likely won’t be able to read this post (or many of my previous posts).

So, landscapes. I like landscape photography, but I’m rarely happy with my results. I can almost hear a few people start to argue . . .

“Oh, Great Disperser. Thou should not sell yourself short for all you do is pretty good!”

Morning Frost,

Well, yeah, but it turns out “pretty good” is a far cry from “good” and lightyears behind “great“.

Don’t believe me? Take a look at these samples (LINK). Now, for comparison, look at a few of my landscapes (LINK). That’s the difference between ‘pretty good’ and ‘great’.

There is no shortage of sites sharing all manner of rules for snapping great landscape photos (LINK) . . . and I know them rules; so well that I know which to violate.

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