Capture by A photoblog

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Capture: Two Tone

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  • Nora Leggs, in reply to JacksonP,

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    See, I’m learning heaps here.

    Me too, might have to overcome my resistance to photo-tweaking.

    Nice to see David’s Dunedin flowers back again : )

    Here’s a couple untweaked.

    Auckland • Since Dec 2011 • 2700 posts Report Reply

  • Jos,

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    Good thread!
    I've been a darkroom slave for more than 30 years and am very pleased that I don't have to do it anymore. Shooting raw on a full frame (35mm size) digital camera gives you the best negative ever. Conversion in Photoshop is the best. I use a very quick and simple method. I add a gradient map adjustment layer set to black and white, then a curves adjustment layer to tweak it, works very well.


    A moment of calm in a Tauranga mall


    and a 'toned' cineraria

    Whakatane • Since Jan 2012 • 877 posts Report Reply

  • 81stcolumn,

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    My best efforts to date.

    Nawthshaw • Since Nov 2006 • 790 posts Report Reply

  • "chris",

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    I thought the last one might make a nice house for that canine receptacle Nora posted a while back.

    location, location, locat… • Since Dec 2010 • 250 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh, in reply to "chris",

    the last one

    Hmmm... simplified characters (废,电), electric scooters... Somewhere in Mainland China but I've never seen a rubbish bin with such a roof. Where? There's a licence plate on the motorbike, but I can't see the character for the province/municipality/autonomous region it's registered in.

    Middle one has Chinese patterning on the cross beams, and seems to be part of a long corridor.... Long Corridor at the Summer Palace/颐和园? Dunno, been a while since I've been up that way, but I don't remember the columns being so thick. The wooden boards around the bases of the columns suggest maintenance was in progress.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

  • "chris", in reply to Chris Waugh,

    They were taken in (ex-Amsterdam of the East contender) Dali, Yunnan. Last month was my first visit, beautiful area, but very touristy, hence these elaborate bins. The summer palace knock off is a ferry port with wooden benches for the throngs.

    location, location, locat… • Since Dec 2010 • 250 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh,

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    Today dawned…. apocalyptically.

    And believe me, those are both improvements on the washed-out, faded, 90 years sitting in direct sunlight watercolour painting of a Beijing sunrise I saw at 7:15am-ish.....

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh, in reply to "chris",

    (ex-Amsterdam of the East contender)

    So there's been a bit of a crack down, has there?

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

  • "chris", in reply to Chris Waugh,

    apocalyptically

    Yeesh. In that second pic, I’m guessing that’s the National Centre for Performing Arts in the middle ground, but what’s happening up close, at a first glance it was yacht masts, then windcatchers, very mysterious.

    So there’s been a bit of a crack down, has there?

    There was quite a big one in or around 2011, as I understand it, the capture of Justin Solondz in 2009 was the turning point. There are certainly no 老太太 (old ladies) selling hashish in the streets now, something I heard was happening back in 2010. Then again, perhaps I just went in the wrong/ right season...

    location, location, locat… • Since Dec 2010 • 250 posts Report Reply

  • David Hood,

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    Thanks Nora, my camera was part of my daughter’s science fair experiment for three months, which rather limited pictures this year (though if anyone wants to see thousands of pictures of the same lawn, my daughter could help you out there).

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh, in reply to "chris",

    the National Centre for Performing Arts in the middle ground, but what’s happening up close, at a first glance it was yacht masts, then windcatchers, very mysterious.

    Actually, neither. The Egg-looking thing is the Olympic Badminton Gymnasium, which still has its Beijing 2008 banners up, on the southeast corner of my university's campus. The yacht masty-thing is an attempt at a fancy covering of a grandstand beside a rather sad looking track and field venue. Photo taken from Teaching Building 3 while I was waiting for the students who didn't show up for class...

    My only drug experiences of Yunnan were seeing a pile of bongs outside a shop in the courtyard of Kunming bus station, watching an old man take a hit from a bong in an outdoor teahouse in mid January (for the uninitiated, that's a traditional way of smoking tobacco down that way, and outdoors in mid January is magic if you've just escaped a Beijing winter) and my bus being stopped twice on the still under construction highway between Simao and Jinghong at a People's Armed Police checkpoint (again: entrance to the Golden Triangle from the Chinese side) and at the second checkpoint yelling out "Passport!" at a befuddled young Englishman who'd somehow managed to fall asleep and couldn't understand the Yunnan pronunciation of 护照 (hùzhào in standard Mandarin; fùzào according to the PAP trooper; means passport). That and some rather disappointing beer.

    (oh, and bracketed notes were not for you, but for any others who may need a little more context)

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

  • Nora Leggs, in reply to "chris",

    I thought the last one might make a nice house for that canine receptacle Nora posted a while back.

    Could be a market for them!

    And what a great selection of pictures popping up here.

    Auckland • Since Dec 2011 • 2700 posts Report Reply

  • Nora Leggs,

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    Tonight’s double yolker full moon

    Golf course from the motorway

    (Both shamelessly and roughly converted from colour)

    Auckland • Since Dec 2011 • 2700 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh,

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    There’s a moon in there… and a CCTV* camera… and an amazingly huge clue as to which corner of Beijing I live in for those who read Chinese.

    And just for the apocalypse of it... red moon.

    *but not China Central Television

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

  • JacksonP,

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    Playing with the desaturation. One in Grayscale, the other still RGB.

    Great stuff, and yeah David, glad you got your camera back. The tree stump is very cool.

    Waiting for my registration to LightZone to be authenticated so I can download it and have a play.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2011 • 2450 posts Report Reply

  • JacksonP,

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    Using the sepia filter in PS. Victoria Building, from colour digital.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2011 • 2450 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Jos,

    a curves adjustment layer to tweak it

    Pulling both ends of the Levels towards
    the middle works wonders also...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Nora Leggs,

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    Giant cray pot

    Auckland • Since Dec 2011 • 2700 posts Report Reply

  • "chris", in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Pulling both ends of the Levels towards the middle

    Thank you Ian. Works a treat.

    Jackson, I seem to lose a lot of detail with uploads, any tips re: file type/ dimensions?

    location, location, locat… • Since Dec 2010 • 250 posts Report Reply

  • JacksonP, in reply to 81stcolumn,

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    Driftwood hut, Whakatane heads. Used the levels trick, cheers.

    My best efforts to date.

    Meant to say, damn fine efforts too.

    any tips re: file type/ dimensions?

    I just save as jpg out of Photoshop, after resizing to about 1000 to 1200 width or height max. This seems to create images about 400 to 500k, which works pretty well here. If I'm exporting from iPhoto, same image size with Quality high, Custom size as above. Hope that helps.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2011 • 2450 posts Report Reply

  • David Hood, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Pulling both ends of the Levels towards the middle works wonders also…

    Pulling the ends in means that the photo will use the full range from light to dark. Moving the mid point (grey) can also be highly effective if you have something in the picture you want the attention on- most cameras try and take the best overall picture which is not necessarily the best setting for the thing in the middle of the picture that is your subject. Nudging the grey point is particularly useful where you have some bright sky or dark background the camera has tried to balance the subject with.

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report Reply

  • David Hood,

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    A couple from around the University of Otago

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh,

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    I thought I’d have a bit more serious play, and it just so happened that the sun rising over the next building seemed to lend itself to a little amateur gothicism….

    Original for reference’s sake.

    I used Picasa to convert to black and white because Picasa is nice and user-friendly…. good for rank amateurs like me, in other words. But somebody around here recommended Irfan View, and while I’m finding it hard to learn, it does seem to have a bit more functionality. Used Irfan View to try some of the ideas suggested in this thread. I’ve got a lot more learning and practicing to do, but it’s a start.

    And one with a bit of a blue tint, purely from Picasa.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

  • David Hood,

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    And a selfie

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh,

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    3 variations on the same photo.

    #1 Only what I got from Picasa.

    #2 Irfan View the first.

    #3 Irfan View the second.

    I'm not sure which one I prefer.... Still trying to figure things out, but I'm being told to hurry up, so will try again later.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

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