Really excellent work, Pretzel! Day 8 is my favorite . . . love the backstory
Thanks! Love sharing some of the "tale" with my shots any time I can...
Pretzel's Snack-A-Day (365 for 2014)
- Thread starter Pretzel
- Start date
Thanks! Love sharing some of the "tale" with my shots any time I can...
James Clark
Senior Member
Your pictures are about as close as an Englishman will get to feeling the passion of owning a gun.
Day 10 - The Night Life
Previously, I tried to shoot downtown Tulsa from the top of a local parking garage, but the hazy day ruined it somewhat, and the view wasn't the greatest. Well... my *DREAM* shot of the downtown area, shot down the river with reflections and all will never happen, as it happens to be from right in the middle of one of the busiest bridges along the highway, and there's no pedestrian portion, and barely half of a shoulder. TONIGHT, though, I found a closer parking garage with a closer view, and it was a crystal clear night! They're not the best I've ever seen, but I like 'em.
The 1st is just a nice longer exposure shot of the downtown area. It's not as lit up as it could be, but with the wind at the top of the garage giving my poor little tripod a shimmy and shake, this was the longest exposure I could take without a little extra blur coming in. I guess I could use LR to boost the definition in the shadows a bit, or simply raise the exposure, but I like the feel...
The 2nd was a shot down one of the streets leading in to the downtown area. The cloud on the left came from steam rolling off of a couple of rather large HVAC condenser units for the hospital that provided the parking garage for my photo escapade. I worked this up in NIK tools until I fell in love with this look... quite a bit more exposure time on this one than the previous one.
What y'all think?
Previously, I tried to shoot downtown Tulsa from the top of a local parking garage, but the hazy day ruined it somewhat, and the view wasn't the greatest. Well... my *DREAM* shot of the downtown area, shot down the river with reflections and all will never happen, as it happens to be from right in the middle of one of the busiest bridges along the highway, and there's no pedestrian portion, and barely half of a shoulder. TONIGHT, though, I found a closer parking garage with a closer view, and it was a crystal clear night! They're not the best I've ever seen, but I like 'em.
The 1st is just a nice longer exposure shot of the downtown area. It's not as lit up as it could be, but with the wind at the top of the garage giving my poor little tripod a shimmy and shake, this was the longest exposure I could take without a little extra blur coming in. I guess I could use LR to boost the definition in the shadows a bit, or simply raise the exposure, but I like the feel...
The 2nd was a shot down one of the streets leading in to the downtown area. The cloud on the left came from steam rolling off of a couple of rather large HVAC condenser units for the hospital that provided the parking garage for my photo escapade.
I worked this up in NIK tools until I fell in love with this look... quite a bit more exposure time on this one than the previous one.What y'all think?
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
Day 10 - The Night Life
...
The 2nd was a shot down one of the streets leading in to the downtown area. The cloud on the left came from steam rolling off of a couple of rather large HVAC condenser units for the hospital that provided the parking garage for my photo escapade.
View attachment 66328
What y'all think?
I like it a lot, but for me there's a little too much noise above the skyline for me on the second, particularly at the far right where there's little cloud evident. It distracts me from really seeing the rest of it - which I really like.
I'm wondering if you could have pulled it back just above the clouds with a couple control points? If not, perhaps use the burn tool in PS the Nik edits. Set it to a big, soft brush at about 10-15% and click along the skyline to pull it back a bit. Then use a small, soft dodge tool to put back anything you pulled back too far, like the light trail coming off the top of the far right building. I played with it a bit on my own and it seems there's plenty of room in there to preserve the look while eliminating excess noise.
Whiskeyman
Senior Member
Me, too. It would go great on the wall next to a "Velvet Elvis." Has to be in a tacky frame, though.
WM
Whiskeyman
Senior Member
Just 20 minutes of editing, as I've never used the burn dodge tool for noise reduction like this before... but is this kind of what you're talking about? I think I took the noise reduction a bit to the extreme, but interested in your thoughts.
THANKS, btw, for the tips/tricks. I eat those up, and love experimenting to add to the small pool of skill that I have!!!
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This is fantastic! well done!
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
Pretty much, yes, though having not been there I wasn't sure how much night sky and steam cloud there was/wasn't. When I did my edit I left a little more...
Nice! I get what you're saying, and I appreciate the advice for how to lessen it. I did a mid-way messin' around bit, too.
Just-Clayton
Senior Member
Excellent shots. Great job.
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
I really like this shot.
Day 11 - Nothin' fancy...
Very busy day. Started spring cleaning early, etc. Did run out for a couple of shots in the back yard, though, as we warmed up to the mid 50's today. Snapped a pic of the ever ready (outside) subject, Lucy... then grabbed a shot of the neighbor's weather vane. I had to do a LOT of messing around with that shot, as it was absolutely full of phone lines, electric lines, cable lines, etc. Not the best edit, but I learned, and that's the point...
Had to crop that weather vane quite a bit, too, as trying to heal the full shot just left way too much evidence. Here's the original for reference:
Very busy day. Started spring cleaning early, etc. Did run out for a couple of shots in the back yard, though, as we warmed up to the mid 50's today. Snapped a pic of the ever ready (outside) subject, Lucy... then grabbed a shot of the neighbor's weather vane. I had to do a LOT of messing around with that shot, as it was absolutely full of phone lines, electric lines, cable lines, etc. Not the best edit, but I learned, and that's the point...
Had to crop that weather vane quite a bit, too, as trying to heal the full shot just left way too much evidence. Here's the original for reference:
Thanks, Don! That mid-noise edit was my fave out of the mix too. (Thanks to BHD for giving the advice that allowed me to learn a new skill and pull it off!)
Day 12 - ADD
At first, I wanted to go out and get some shots of... wait... what was that!? SQUIRREL!!!
Then I thought I might... huh!? SQUIRREL!!!
And then... SQUIRREL!!!
Darn these things! So distracting!
I may, or may not, have taken an EVEN LARGER number of squirrel photos today. One or more visitors to the park may, or may not, have laughed at a large bald man crawling all over on his belly while aforementioned squirrels feasted on sunflower seeds that bald man's wife may, or may not, have spread around the area. Having said that...
Hope you enjoy the...
wait...
I'll be right back...
SQUIRREL!!!
At first, I wanted to go out and get some shots of... wait... what was that!? SQUIRREL!!!
Then I thought I might... huh!? SQUIRREL!!!
And then... SQUIRREL!!!
Darn these things! So distracting!
I may, or may not, have taken an EVEN LARGER number of squirrel photos today. One or more visitors to the park may, or may not, have laughed at a large bald man crawling all over on his belly while aforementioned squirrels feasted on sunflower seeds that bald man's wife may, or may not, have spread around the area. Having said that...
Hope you enjoy the...
wait...
I'll be right back...
SQUIRREL!!!
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Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
Squirrels are fun to shoot. Also they can be tasty when prepared correctly.
Yes, I will admit to having consumed one or two in my younger "roaming the sticks" days. I used to have the time to hunt, fish, explore, etc, but alas, not quite so often these days. Fortunately, these are well protected in a park inside the city limits. So... unless the zombie apocalypse happens, and I'm in dire need of sustenance, the only shooting I do now is with my Nikon!
Laughable, though, as I told my family today that, in need, I could feed myself for months with just a few bags of sunflower seeds.
We own land on Drayton Island in Lake George (1 hour north of Orlando FL). One year we were visiting some of the island folks. When they opened the frig, there were eight squirrels soaking in milk for their supper the next day. I'll never forget those tiny feet sticking up in the air!!
Woodward Park, 21st and Peoria area. Most of the time, you can go rattle a bag of seeds and get quite a few squirrels to approach ya. This particular day, there were a lot of dog walkers out, so we only attracted about 4 total, but in the spring and summer, we've been surround by as many as 19! They'll actually come and eat seeds out of your hand, if you're brave.