San Antonio, Texas – Mission San Jose (HDR)

Dec22

From San Antonio, TX, this is beautiful Mission San Jose. The Mission trail in San Antonio offers 5 mission to visit and this is my favorite! Before I left Texas and had hoped to see them all…but only went to a couple. One day I will be back.

Mission San Juan Capistrano, CA (HDR)

Feb11

I had a little fun with this shot. As I dabble more and more with portraits…I have grown to love using “Actions” in Photoshop. You can find them all over the internet. These actions can create that dreamy colorful effect and basically produce anything you desire with the click of a button. My “City in the Sky” from the other day was done using an action called “Pewter”. I was processing this HDR and thought how often do you see an HDR with that colorful effect to it? Almost never. For the shot above I used an action called “Mulberry”..it gives a blueish tone to the shot. Hope it looks cool?? Have a great weekend!!

San Juan Capistrano, CA – Mission San Juan Capistrano (HDR)

Mar24

From the lovely San Mission Capistrano in Southern California…here is one of the walkways around the stunning grounds at the mission. As I have had a few posts from here before…one perfect location for wedding/portrait shots! I can imagine a session right here! What makes a cool location like this…HDR! Grab the texture in a shot here will give the photo life! HDR’s are not just for landscapes these days…why not add it into portraits as well!

In photos like this..it always can become a battle of color vs B&W. This one is even! Here is the same shot converted with a little hue…which one would you choose?

San Juan Capistrano, CA – Mission San Juan Capistrano (infrared)

Nov2

From one of the most beautiful places in the US…Southern California, this photo is of the Mission San Juan Capistrano in Infrared. A normal CA day is perfect for IR…great sun and clear skies are wonderful! A clear sky blue sky turns totally black in a black and white in IR ….a perfect contrast to the building and foliage! I had mentioned that this spot is a portrait photographers paradise…check out the stats from the web site…

Portrait Photography
You must:

Obtain proof of $1,000,000 ($1 million) liability insurance policy before booking date and time.
Schedule through the Visitor Center

Fees:
$50 per hour for reserved non-commercial photography for every five (5) people photographed. Reservations must be made at least 48 hours in advance.
$75 per hour for non-reserved non-commercial photography for every five (5) people photographed.

If you are in SoCal..I think it is worth it for Wedding/Portrait shots. Enjoy!

Talke Photography Settings:

Camera: Nikon D70S (Converted to Infrared)
Infrared Conversion: D70S modified by LifePixel
Lens: Nikon 12-12 f/4
Setting: Aperture Mode
Focal Length: 22.0mm
ISO: 200
Exposure: 1/100 second
Aperture: f/20
Gear: Tripod
Post Process: Adobe CS4, Color Efex Pro, Viveza, Silver Efex Pro

San Juan Capistrano, CA – Mission San Juan Capistrano (Infrared)

Jun11

Here is my first textured Infrared shot. This is from Mission San Juan Capistrano a few weeks ago. A wonderful location in the OC (Orange County), CA. I have had quite a few people ask me how to produce textured shots. It is quite easy! I will try to work on a video tutorial one day soon! Quickly this is all I do…(I know its tough reading it…I learned via video…made it very easy)

1) Adobe Bridge – in bridge I have all my textures in a folder. I add a copy of my photo to be textured into this folder. Click and select the photo and as many textures as you would like to try. I usually add about 10.

2) Tools – from the tools drop down menu (as all the desired textures and photo are selected) click “Photoshop” then click “Load Files into Photoshop Layers”

3) Use Free transform to resize any photo/texture

4) Under the Layers Box (on lower right) you will see a drop down box…it will have “Normal” on it. Highlight your texture and set the drop down to “Overlay”…here you can play with oppacity to your liking.

5) as long as your desired photo and texture are selected…you will see how they look combined on screen

6) Mask if needed to clean up any areas you want texture free or keep as is…or add another texture…se what ya get!

7) You can add as many layers as you want! Trial and Error is the key!

This shot was compiled from 2 textures. As masking was not giving me the desired look I wanted….I used the new CS5 “content aware” to clean up the writing on the palm trees. That new action in CS5 rocks!! Even in the top right hand corner I had a palm tree base in the photo…took it out in one swipe!! Nice and clean!! Gotta love Technology!! You can find textures all over the internet…Flickr has some great spots to get some for free! Or you can go in your yard and make some yourself!! Just be careful…you can easily go texture crazy. They do look cool if done well…so pace your self!!! have fun!

San Antonio, TX – Mission San Jose (HDR)

Mar26

About 1 hour south of Austin is San Antonio. It offers some nice photo opportunities….the Riverwalk, Alamo, Zoo, and the Mission Trail. The Missions consist of San Jose, Alamo, Concepcion, San Juan and Espada. The jewel of the bunch is Mission San Jose. I have only visited San Jose and the Alamo. So a few more to explore! I am hoping to get to the others this spring! The shot above is from Mission San Jose – the interior of the church. Simple but beautiful! If you have time, a nice place to visit! …at least in the spring! The summer will be blazing!

Talke Photography Settings:

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 12-24 f/4.0
Setting: Aperture Mode
Focal Length: 12.0mm
ISO: 200
Exposure: HDR 5 exposures (+2 to -2)
Aperture: f/7.1
Gear: Tripod, Cable release
Post Process: Adobe CS4, Photomatix, Viveza

San Antonio, Texas – Mission San Jose (HDR)

Jan18

In San Antonio there is a Mission Trail filled with great photographic spots. Before we went downtown to San Antonio a few weeks ago, we stopped in at Mission San Jose. It is only about 10 minutes from the city and easy to get to. Mission San Jose is supposed to be the most beautiful of the bunch. The Mission Trail list consists of the following: The Alamo, Mission San Jose, Mission Concepcion, Mission San Juan and Mission Espada. They all are very close to each other. I must say Mission San Jose was wonderful! It was a cloudy day and perfect for HDR! This photo is form the side of the Mission and here you can view its famous arches.

One of my goals in 2010 is to learn more about Photoshop and try new things (plug ins, styles, and actually learn more about using Photoshop!). So I thought this was a perfect time to try using textures. Something I have never done before. It is fairly easy and only takes a few minutes! Add a the texture layer and overlay…maybe a little touch up and that’s it! So above is my first textured photo! I figured with old historic Mission a rustic feel might add to it? The photo is also and HDR. Hope you enjoy! I know with any new style, people can go crazy…so I will make sure to keep my textures in check!

This was the only Mission we visited this day, but I will surely go back! I’d like to return in the spring and photograph all of them! I have a few more photos from this day and I will post them soon. Here is some quick info on Mission san Jose: While the Alamo is the most widely known and visited, travelers shouldn’t make it their sole stop inside San Antonio Missions National Park. The San José, established in 1720, was a model for other missions–and the most prosperous. Located just south of the Alamo, this “Queen of the Missions” represented a social and cultural center. Its 300 residents sustained themselves by raising livestock and tending to vast fields. The mission had its own gristmill and granary, which have been restored. At the church, look for flying buttresses, carvings, quatrefoil patterns, polychromatic plaster and the famed “Rose Window,” a superb example of Spanish Colonial ornamentation. Explore the stairway that leads to the belfry and choir loft; all 25 risers were hand-hewn form a single log and assembled without the use of nails or pegs.

Talke Photography Settings: