Southern Pines Through My Viewfinder

We hopped over to Southern Pines Yesterday, just because it has a quaint little Downtown area. I wanted to get some pictures of the train station and the main street. We had a really good time and some great Cuban Sandwiches at the Bell Tree Pub. After walking around the area checking out the cool shops, like River Jacks, we decided that we are definitely coming back for a weekend, soon. We want to stay in the Jefferson Inn, and then get some night shots of the town. I want some very late shots when there are not as many cars and people. I think the old style lighting will make some great pictures.So here are the images I made no real order to them just a random collection of the town.



I developed some of them in color. This wall lamp at the entrance to the historically restored Jefferson Inn caught my eye. I developed it in color and black and white, for the colors in reflecting the glass.



Sharon pointed these icicles out to me while I was shooting the train station. They were in the shade, but the sun was just getting to them. The icicles had started to melt, and that gave them some interesting shapes. It is so great when Sharon can come with me on a shoot, she has a great eye for great shots. To be truthful, she points out a lot of the shots I take.I am pretty Lucky, think I'll keep her.



We also stopped at the Fresh Market store in Aberdeen on the way out and I made a few pictures there also. I will be so glad when the one in Fayetteville is finished. I love to shop at that store. Their meat, seafood and produce are so fresh and great looking.


These last two I just love the lines, and the light.

Ok, that's it for now, but don't forget to check out my Crated Store. You can buy most of my work there. If you see a picture in my blog and can't find it in the store for sale, shoot me a message and I will get it uploaded for you. The prices are really reasonable for the art. You can get prints, framed prints, canvases and much more. They will print many sizes, and again if they don't list the size you want, send me a message and I will see what I can do, I have access to many other sizes.

Well thanks for stopping by and tell your friends about the blog, I am sure they will like it too.

Sun Rise through The Market House

This event only happens twice a year, On Nov 11 and Jan 29. You can get the shots the day either side of those days. But the optimum days are the 11th and 29th. The famous shot, of the sun rising through the arches of the Market House here in Fayetteville, was taken by Johnny Horne of the Fayetteville Observer. Since that shot appeared people have come in the early hours of the morning to make their own iconic photo. This morning was no different, as the sun began to rise the excitement in the little crowd of photographers rose, and shutters whirled. Yes, I was down there also in the mix, well at least at the fringes. I had decided that while this is a great photo, that I would concentrate more on the people who came to capture it. So here are my images from this morning.



Sharon even got caught up in the excitement.



I also did some in color:



Thought this was a cool shot of Sharon's phone with the Market House in focus.



Johnny Horne was in attendance, perhaps watching a student from his Fundamentals of Digital Photography class.



Well, of course I didn't go all the way down there this morning and not get a shot of the show.



Sharon and I got down there this morning about 0645 or so, and I had time to get a couple of shots of the Market House and this one light pole's shadow that Sharon pointed out to me.



This was a great time and I am glad that I made it downtown for it. I plan to be there again at the Nov. and Jan. next year events.

Playing With Yesterday's Photos

I got to playing around with some of the other photos that I took yesterday. These were the ones that weren't really bad they just didn't make me happy. So I played around with removing all color but one, then over saturating and illuminating that one color. So here is what I ended up. I am still experimenting with it so maybe more to come later.

Reworking Some Older Photos

I have been going back through my stock photos and some that I have posted before and reworking them. I am editing them with PhotoShop to see what I come up with. Still learning PS. so practicing now, bear with me.


This would be the first attempt done in LightRoom.



This is the re-edited in PhotoShop.

Well, I will have to think about these not sure if I am satisfied with the results yet. I do like the second better. But like I said still practicing.

Black and White With Photoshop

I have not been using Photoshop to convert my color photos to black and white, instead I have used Lightroom. Now I am not really that proficient with Lightroom either. I am still learning ...s - l - o -w - l - y but trying. I was happy with the results I was getting with LR for the most part, they just didn't have the pop as did other photographers work. So I decided to try my hand using Photoshop to do the converting and developing.
Well, here is the photo that I have been working with:


This is a shot right out of the camera , the only thing I did with it is to reduce the size for the web and change to JPEG.


This first one is the photo I did in Lightroom. I liked it but thought it could be better.


Here is the results in Photoshop. I think I should bring back more of the detail in the grain of the wood on the wall. But I had a lot more control with Photoshop. You can see this in the Pepsi box. I liked the darkening of the yellow and bringing out the faded writing more.


After a bit of tweaking, I came up with a sepia tone ...sort of?


This is a process called solarizing or the Sabattier effect after French photographer and scientist Armand Sabattier, who described the effect in1862.

I am not going to, or am I qualifided to explain the process that I used in these adjustments. But I will tell you that for most of what I did I used what I read in the book "Creative Black and White" Digital Photography Tips and Techniques by Harold Davis. I don't get anything from Amozon for this link but just wanted you to be able to see where I got the book.

So for now I will keep reading , learning and practiceing.