Here’s a close-up of something I see several times every day when I’m home and standing in front of the toilet–every day when I’m shaving or brushing my teeth. Sharply focused and free of graininess it looks completely mundane, because it is. So I gave the close-up an artsy, filmic feel. Why not?
“I learn by going where I have to go…” –Roethke
Canon G11 learning where to go.
Day off play with the G11 and Photoshop. The image is of the bottom of our unused patio fire pit. I’m also posting the original to show the difference from capture to post. I used a variety of Photoshop layering “tricks” for dramatic effect. First, I converted the image to black and white using the Nik Silver Efex plugin. In Niks I boosted both the contrast and structure to pump up the details. I then added some vignetting (a current addiction) to push the visual focus toward the center of the image. Once I had the Nik layer, I duplicated the original layer, move it above the Nik layer and set it to “overlayed” at 100%. This move radically pumps up the color and contrast. I merged the overlayed layer into the Nik layer and then used the Photoshop “Shadow/Highlight” image adjustment filter to pump up the shadow detail. I did a little extra stuff on each of the moves, but figure those are “to taste.”
Below is the straight from the camera shot. All I did to it was resize to fit the blog format.
BTW, It took a lot longer to make this blog post than it did to create the image.
Canon G11 playing in the yard.
Feeling lazy today, and rather uninspired. Towards the end of the day, I pulled out the G11, set it on “macro” and roamed around my soggy yard looking for a subject. Everything is either still dormant or in transition except for a couple of mustard plants. I took a couple of shots, picked one and went to work tweaking. This is the result.
Canon G11 on a lazy Sunday.
An image of a rainy winter night shot from our driveway. The light source is the corner street light.
Canon G11 getting misty.
It has been a warm January weekend here in the Bay Area (the halcyon days of February are a little early this year), so I got out there and tidied up the yard a bit. While sweeping the side patio our little iron frog on the mossy concrete caught my eye. In keeping with the “close to home” theme, I pulled out the G11 and grabbed a few shots.
Canon G11 close to home.