Pasadena, CA – City Hall (HDR)

Pasadena is a famous city in California. It is know for the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl. My favorite spot is Old Town Pasadena.

Here is some info from the web: Old Town Pasadena spans 21 blocks downtown. It boasts upscale retail shops and a wide variety of restaurants, nightclubs, outdoor cafés, pubs, and comedy clubs. “One Colorado” features renovated historic architecture that attracted the new retail stores and restaurants. This development filled vacant buildings and was the impetus of the revitalization of Old Town on Colorado Boulevard. Paseo Colorado is an upscale shopping mall designed to be a modern urban village. An open-air mall that covers three city blocks.

It is a wonderful place to eat, shop and photograph. Here you can also find the City Hall. A beautiful building as you can see above. Look for more pics soon! Enjoy!

Peter Talke Photography Settings:

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 12-24 f/4.0
Setting: Aperture Mode
Focal Length: 17.0 mm
ISO: 200
Exposure: HDR 7 Exposures (+3 to -3)
Aperture: f/11
Gear: Tripod
Post Process: Adobe CS6, HDR Efex Pro, onOne Photo Tool 2.6

San Clemente, CA – Pier (HDR)

While shooting our XMas card in San Clemente at the Pier, we finished early and I took a few HDR’s of the pier at sunset. I’m thinking of making a run of SoCal pier shots over the next year or so and possibly making a photo e-book? I’m a big fan of piers in HDR’s. Might make a cool coffee table book in my studio one day??

This shot above was a different angle and a “Photoshop Action” to give it the tone. I have learned to enjoy actions. If you use NIK or onOne…relatively about the same output…but there are so many more actions out there! Google “Photoshop Actions”…you can buy some cool ones and find some for free!

Peter Talke Photography Settings:
Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 12-24 f/4.0
Setting: Aperture Mode
Focal Length: 22.0 mm
ISO: 200
Exposure: HDR 7 Exposures (+3 to -3)
Aperture: f/22
Gear: Tripod
Post Process: Adobe CS6, HDR Efex Pro, Photoshop Action

Yorba Linda, CA – YLHS Basketball Court (HDR)

Looking for a cool subject to shoot in HDR? Look no further than your local HS Basketball court! I was up one night to HDR the court for backgrounds and took this shot up in the stands using my wide angle.

If any of you shoot in HDR…you know any location in white is always difficult. The tone mapping makes the shot dirty looking. Always work a bit extra to make the whites cleaner looking! I like to keep the HDR look…so my technique is to highlight the white areas using the magic wand (Photoshop) and lower the yellow hue (the hue comes from the gym lights) to make it look whiter and use levels to assist the dirtiness. I want to keep some grit, but just make it nicer.

Go out and support your local high school basketball teams and while there, grab a few HDRs! Go Mustangs!!!

Houston, Texas – Hilton Hotel (HDR)

Not often do you get multiple HDR’s from a hotel stay! I have posted quite a few pics from this visit. If you had read my previous posts. It was an early 4:30 AM wake up to snag these HDR’s. It was me and the cleaners walking around the hotel lobby. Kudos Houston Hilton….not only a nice hotel, but also great for photographers!!

Peter Talke Photography Settings:
Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 12-24 f/4.0
Setting: Aperture Mode
Focal Length: 12.0 mm
ISO: 200
Exposure: HDR 7 Exposures (+3 to -3)
Aperture: f/7.1
Gear: Tripod
Post Process: Adobe CS6, HDR Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, OnOne Software Photo Tools 2.6

San Juan Capistrano, CA – All Aboard! (HDR)

We recently took a nice Saturday morning drive to San Juan Capistrano. It is a small cute little town in SoCal. I was there to scout out future portrait sessions and brought along my camera to take a few shots. It was a typical sunny day in CA, so HDR was not in my mind. We walked along the train tracks and the Amtrak Train pulled up. Here you can catch the train down to San Diego if you would like! One day I will try it…unfortunately, it is not cheap! But I bet great views of the pacific!! After the people got off I set up for an HDR. Kinda an unexpected cool shot! A mid afternoon HDR! Enjoy your weekend!

Peter Talke Photography Settings:

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 12-24 f/4.0
Setting: Aperture Mode
Focal Length: 20.0 mm
ISO: 200
Exposure: HDR 7 Exposures (+3 to -3)
Aperture: f/11
Gear: Tripod
Post Process: Adobe CS6, HDR Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Texture. OnOne Software Photo Tools 2.6

San Antonio, Texas – Mission San Jose (HDR)

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.

Denver, Colorado – Capitol Building (HDR)

From downtown Denver, CO you can find the Capitol Building. I processed this same shot just recently, but just for fun wanted to try a different look. A darker grungier version is above. Which one is better? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!! Here is the other version…

Denver, Colorado – Capitol Building (HDR)

Talke Photography Settings:

Lens: Nikon 12-24 f/4.0
Setting: Aperture Mode
Focal Length: 12.0 mm
ISO: 200
Exposure: HDR 9 Exposures (+4 to -4)
Aperture: f/11
Gear: Tripod
Post Process: Adobe CS5, HDR Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, OnOne Software Photo Tools 2.6

Placentia, CA – In “fore” ed (Infrared)

I am on a run of infrared shots! Here is one more. I recently shot a Golf Event at the Alta Vista Country Club in Placentia. I decided to take my IR camera and give golf a try! Golf courses in IR are great! Let see how actual golf looks! I snapped about 25 shots this day and was not sure what the outcome would be. I picked out one that might be a keeper and processed it. NICE!!!! Caught this guy just right and if you look close enough….the ball is actually in the sky…mid air!!! (not photoshopped!). Sweet!! Great shot buddy!!! I’d say IR Golf is now on the radar!!! Great combo!! Maybe I can coin a new style….Infored…get it…In “fore” ed. Just hoping you got a chuckle out of that one!!

Myrtle Beach, SC – Brookgreen Gardens (Infrared)

From the beautiful Brookgreen Gardens in Myrtle Beach, SC. If you are ever in MB…stop by for a nice walk and enjoy the views!! Some info from the web… Brookgreen Gardens is a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve, located just south of Murrells Inlet, in South Carolina. The 9,100-acre property includes several themed gardens with American figurative sculptures placed in them, the Lowcountry Zoo, and trails through several ecosystems in nature reserves on the property.
Brookgreen Gardens was opened in 1932, and is built on four former rice plantations, taking its name from the former Brookgreen Plantation.

A SoCal Christmas!! (HDR)

Over the weekend we took a drive to the town of Orange. It was set up for a Christmas Spectacular. Luckily we arrived way before it started. Located at the Orange Circle you can find this tree decorated and ready for the holidays! Palm trees + a Christmas tree = a SoCal Christmas!! Hard to believe it is December already!! You all better be good for Santa!!! Still have lots of shopping to do!!