Just to brush off this blog a bit...

Wow, its been busy around here since the LA Auto Show...keeping up with it all has been a challenge.

This weeks adventures took me to Detroit for the North American International Auto Show. What a show it was.  This was all courtesy of Acura who sees the value in bloggers and like what I do here and at So Cal Auto Blog. 

The panoramas here were done with the help of Adobe's CS5.  This program does a pretty admirable job of blending multiple images into one giant shot. It isn't perfect and for reasons I don't understand it will blend some like these examples then completely is thrown off with others that it can't blend.  Anyone have an idea why it is so inconsistent with the combining of series shot  into panoramas and not with others?

The Auto Show is made for HDR images

I've made mention in the past that HDR, High Dynamic Imaging is one way to control contrast and get details in the highlights and shadows beyond what a normal DSLR can capture.

Since it is a bracketed exposure set to capture highlights, mid-range and shadow as "perfectly exposed" when you get around to generating the HDR file you have complete detail across a much broader EV scale than what you can get with just one image.

Both of these are HDR images that I post processed with the help of Adobe's CS5.  The Top image, that of a Cadillac ELR that is set for production in the next few years was done more with a surreal touch whereas the Mustang GT500 was done with a more realistic blending.  Both work for their own reasons.  Both will show up in publications around the web.

I have on flickr an entire set devoted to the 2011 L.A. Auto Show HERE.

What I did Friday night...

Yup we saw Cyndi Lauper on her "Memphis Blues Tour".  Great concert, amazing energy and songs by Cyndi Lauper.

A little panorama action...

Yesterday I went to Torrance to the American Honda HQ for an Acura event.  While there they opened up their museum for a luncheon and a tour.  IT was quite impressive to see their collection of historically significant Honda's and concept cars from over the years.

This image was done with the photomerge too in Adobe's CS5.  The program does a pretty slick job of matching frame content to create a single large image.  Enjoy the sneak peak into the American Honda Museum that is not open to the public, rather is a by invitation only.

Very Foggy Morning

Its not the tool used that makes the difference, its the photogs eye.  This little gem was grabbed this morning with my cell phone as just an example of using a low res tool to its advantage.

Sierra Sunset ala Autochrome

I do love the Sierra's.  I find them a great respite from the rigors of day to day stuff.  I shot this a couple of summers ago while on a trip to June Lake.  This was actually a trail off the main road to Mono Lake.  I loved the suns final ray shooting through the mountains before dusk settled into night.

I decided to do this one in the Autochrome look as I felt the painterly impressionistic results fit the image better than the simple RAW image would have given.

This took several steps, most of which I've outlined here in the past.  I do love the simplicity and WYSWYG preview results you get with Adobe's CS5.

I've got a show this spring and am debating what to do.  Should I present all "ala autochrome" or should I go with all "scanned hand painted negatives".  Hell, I can't even decide what one image I should submit to the LA Center of Digital Art for their "Unjuried" Show, which I just adore, in December.  What to do?  Create more is the answer and let the most powerful series be the choice.

Freeway Daisy from a scanned negative

Just a splash of color in a scanned negative.  This time around used CS5 and just painted a layer.  I don't like the effect as well as a marking pen...lacks that neonish glow and depth one gets when you paint on a negative directly.  Experimentation is half the fun of photography.  I used CS5 to create a layer to color then blended with multiply at 75% strength to get this image.