Oh no! Zion again?

Folks, I just can’t get enough of Zion National Park. We had some rain recently and it washed the loose sand off of the rock and brought out some stunning color. Combine that with exceptional angular light from a low sun and the results had a special feel to them. For you technical folks – these were all processed using integrative techniques bouncing back and forth between Lightroom and Photoshop, exploiting the best features of each program. One of these was a HDR capture preprocessed in Photomatix Pro. I’ll let you try and guess which one.

Fall Colors Starting in Southern Zion

This autumn is unusual for me. Being from Ohio, I am used to a sudden change in the trees and then a quick leaf drop. Here in Utah things really slow down. The aspens take there time, seasoning the landscape rather than suffocating it. I was surprised to find some attractive red maples and rust colored oaks; typically eastern species. The cottonwoods and willows haven’t budged and provide a nice green contrast to the pallet.

 

 

 

Autumn Comes To Utah!

Just a few shots I mustered together during a shoot yesterday with my buddy Jerry Emery. More to follow…

 

 

SWU Shoots at Smith Mesa

SWU Shoots just had its very first outing yesterday. For more info on the great new organization go to http://www.swushoots.com

Here’s what I came up with. I hope you can join us next week for some enthusiastic shooting. Let the good times roll!

 

Smith Mesa Scenic #1

Butte at Smith Mesa

Bed & Breakfast (Topaz Spicify Filter)

Smith Mesa Panorama

This is Utah too

I made a few short trips around the area to capture some flowers. Here’s what I found:

 

Cactus Flowers found on a back road in Zion National Park

 

Field of Desert Sunflowers #1

 

Field of Desert Sunflowers #2

Making Lemonade: Red Cliff Recreational Area

This week I took a few friends up to Red Cliffs Recreational Area, a very interesting “park” near Leeds, Utah. This area is administered by the NPS. There wasn’t much happening at the waterfalls since the summer draught has already dried up the water flow. Rather than waste the trip, I separated myself from the others to produce these HDR images.

“4 x 6″ Photo Excursions Announced

No folks, that isn’t a medium format film being referenced, it means 4 days / 6 participants. Read on…

4 x 6 Photo Excursion #1
Northern & Western Zion National Park
and Surrounding Areas
September 21, 22, 23, & 24, 2009

• 4 days — 6 participants
• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday — held during the week to minimize tourist disturbance
• Morning & Evening Shooting; instruction, discussion, relaxation, and replentishment break midday
• Transportation to shoot locations included
• 2 instructors; 2 SUVs
• $395 + personal expenses
• Details to be posted soon – call or email now if interested.
• Subject to availability. Once payment is made, your reservation is considered firm. I accept check, Visa, and MasterCard. Please contact me now to reserve your dates at   (435) 673-3817   or bob@bobkulonphoto.com

 

4 x 6 Photo Excursion #2
Southern & Eastern Zion National Park
and Surrounding Areas
October 19, 20, 21, & 22, 2009

• 4 days — 6 participants
• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday — held during the week to minimize tourist disturbance
• Morning & Evening Shooting; instruction, discussion, relaxation, and replentishment break midday
• Transportation to shoot locations included
• 2 instructors; 2 SUVs
• $395 + personal expenses
• Details to be posted soon – call or email now if interested.
• Subject to availability. Once payment is made, your reservation is considered firm. I accept check, Visa, and MasterCard. Please contact me now to reserve your dates at  (435) 673-3817  or bob@bobkulonphoto.com

Structure – a finishing step worth considering

Disclaimer: I do not mean to imply I “invented” this process. Frankly, I don’t know. It came to me over the last week as a way to create subtly enhanced, yet believable, images. If anyone else is already doing this then I guess the process is so obvious that several of us deduced the same technique simultaneously.

OK, now…

Many times I will take a credible image to its natural conclusion in Photoshop and create a master color file, that is, one that has been fully edited and adjusted, but not sized or sharpened for printing. If I see strong design elements beyond the colors, I will then convert it to black and white to see if it can stand in a monochromatic rendition. Sometimes there isn’t much worth saving, other times it is subjectively better than the color and I save it as a separate black and white master file. Having these two files, color and black & white takes us to my proposed technique: Structure.

This is a simple Photoshop Layer technique. Really simple! The point is that is adds “structure” (meatiness?) to the color image without throwing of the original color rendition.

Just stack the black and white image as a layer over the color image layer and change the blending mode to Luminosity. Adjust the opacity to suit. That’s it! Try it – let me know what you think.

Layer Settings

Here are the results…

 

Background Layer

 

Black and White Layer

 

Luminosity Blend with Structure

YAHDRC: Yet another HDR comparison

Zion National Park, Checkerboard Mesa, 3 renditions, best I could do. Please feel free to comment.

HDR in Photomatix Pro, Optimization in Photoshop CS4

 

100% Straight Photoshop CS4, no HDR

 

Turned the Photoshop version into B&W using Silver Effects Pro

Two crazy days with Jack Graham

My sidekick for Monday and Tuesday was Jack Graham – both of us formerly of NE Ohio. Jack now is located in Portland, Oregon and I am in St. George, Utah.

Anyhow…

Jack flew in to attend the PMA (Photo Marketing Association) Conference in Las Vegas for business and we thought we would take a leisurely day in the natural environs to do some touring, gaping, and shooting.

Monday we spent in Zion, visited three different photographer’s galleries including Michael Fatalli’s, and checked out the petrified dunes in Snow Canyon State Park. Although it was a whirlwind day, it was still relaxing and there were some excellent photo ops. (It is impossible to not find subject matter here.)

Here’s a few I put together from Monday… 

 

Small canyon detail in Zion NP

 

Checkerboard Mesa

 

Tuesday, was completely different. We headed down to Vegas early expecting massive crowds and delays at PMA. Surprise! Even at 10 AM opening we found a parking spot near the door. This was my first PMA, so I didn’t quite know if this was normal. Everyone I met assured me that this year was in the pits due to the economy. Tumbleweed city!

Here are some observations, rumors, and opinions I walked away with…

1. Every professional photographer should make an attempt to occasionally attend this event. You can’t get in unless you are in the biz; it is not open to the general public. It is an invigorating experience.
2. Don’t eat the chicken sandwiches (I’ll take Jack’s word for it).
3. Major DSLR manufactures (Nikon and Canon) had no new DSLR camera introductions.
4. It is rumored that a Nikon D400 is in the works for release in about a month.
5. It is rumored that a Nikon D700x is in the works closely thereafter. (D3x resolution).
6. No Canon DSLR body rumors, but one would assume something will shake loose by fall to keep pace.
7. Canon lenses: nothing new except the already announced Tilt-Shift wide angles.
8. Nikon lenses: I didn’t pay any attention, sorry.
9. Look out for Sony. They are making some serious attempt to rule the DSLR roost. Big threat!
10. The sweetest lens I ever saw in my life was the Sony 300mm f/2.8. Not much bigger than my Canon 300mm f/4 L IS. Painted “Canon Beige”. Hybrid Canon/Nikon metal work. A serious array of Canon-esque controls.
11. Sony also had the requisite 70-200 f/2.8 with the same styling.
12. Carl Zeiss is about to release Nikon and Canon mount lenses, perhaps with full automation. A new 21mm is on the way.
13. Canon has the Explorer’s of Light giving back-to-back presentations and live studio shoots on the Canon Stage. This was great stuff. Much to learn. Live video feeds from wireless remotes. Camera to print (24×36) in about 8 minutes. Amazing!
14. I saw the 5D Mk2 video capabilities. They quality is very high. The human interface needs a lot of work; but this is the start of something big – High Def video in a DSLR. Perfect for event shooters.
15. Canon and Nikon are both promoting their prosumer lines very heavily. This show was all about the Nikon D300 and D700 and the Canon 50D and 5D Mk2. The pro stuff (Nikon 3Dx and Canon 1Ds Mk3) as well as all the entry and consumer DSLRs took a back seat.
16. Vendors all had smiles and they all seemed phony. The bad economy has hit home.
17. This was the first year they charged an admission fee to the show floor.
18. Ilford is about to release a new series of papers in the Gallery line; an update to the Pearl surface. Rolls now; sheets by mid-year.
19. Some of the photography I saw used to demo products was amazingly second rate – I just can’t understand this
20. I’ll probably go back about every other year.
21. Conspicuous by their absense: Epson, Bogen, Manfrotto, Gitzo