Post Your Top 3 Faves For The Month Of August 2013

Mikey

Veteran
Location
Louisville, KY
Yipee! It's a brand new month which means it's time for our forum members to share their top 3 fave photos from the previous month. (y)

Here's my 3 faves...

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Michael and Cora before their dive in the Devil's Eye/Ear Cave System. Aug-2013





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Calm before the storm. Port of St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. Aug-2013





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View of Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountains from the Appalachian Trail on Blood Mountain (elevation ~ 4500'). Sep-2013


Dave (via X100S)
(Sorry, I cheated, the third image was from last Sunday)
 

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Goat Rodeo Session at the Hollywood Bowl - X100s

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A happy Doodle at Belmont Shores, CA - XP1 w/55-200 @ 200mm

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Palm Tree - XP! w/ 60mm

=G=
 
I've only had my X-E1 for 5 weeks but have been field testing and already have some keepers. Here are my best three so far.

35mm F/1.4 lens
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55-200mm at 200mm
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Outstanding showing y'all!!!

Taz: Nice portraits as usual. I really like the dreamy processing on the jogger picture.
Luke: Magnificent light on those first 2!
Nigel: Nice low angle POV on that first shot.
Eric: I really love that 2nd shot and the vintage feel to it!
Loquat149: Nice timing on the lightning shot!
Lisa: Really digging that cloudscape. IR?
Gary: Beautiful abstract (pertaining to the 3rd picture) -- sign of a truly artistic photographer. And amazing job on the dog action shot as well.
Bob: Jawdropping set! Nice to see that you're putting your X-E1 to good use. May I ask how you processed that 2nd close-up shot?? :)
 
Here, you left one out ;)

Mikey: I love the color, contrast, and crisp lines in the first two - really nice. Cute pup too :)
 
Here, you left one out ;)

Mikey: I love the color, contrast, and crisp lines in the first two - really nice. Cute pup too :)

You're right, I did leave one out...
Jay: Outstanding landscape shots! I really think you can publish a coffee table book from that trip of yours. I especially dig that first one -- those colorful boats in the foreground really pop!

And thanks as well! :))
 
You're right, I did leave one out...
Jay: Outstanding landscape shots! I really think you can publish a coffee table book from that trip of yours. I especially dig that first one -- those colorful boats in the foreground really pop!

And thanks as well! :))

I normally wouldn't go through all this but in this case I'll try. I started with the RAW file and processed it in Adobe Camera Raw. The settings can be read in the photo below: I increase luminosity to 60 and sharpness to 32 in Camera RAW.

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I then pulled the image into CS6 Photoshop and cropped the image to the size you saw in my set of three. That would be a 6"x4" 300 dpi shot.
I opened NIK Software's Vivesa 2 and increased the structure, contrast and brightness in select areas, especially the white chest area and eyes. This helps prepare the shot for sharpening.
Next I opened the image in Topaz Claity using the Nature presets for Feathers and Fur, increasing color and contrast. Again this aids sharpening without leaving halos around edges.
Next I opened the image in OnOne Software's Perfect Effects 3 and used the Unsharp Mask sharpening tool, concentrating on the perfect amount applied to the eyes.
Basically that was the workflow I follow on most shots similar to this original. Enhance detail and sharpen. I hope this helped. I've gotten so fast at this whole process it takes less than 10 minutes.
 
You're right, I did leave one out...
Jay: Outstanding landscape shots! I really think you can publish a coffee table book from that trip of yours. I especially dig that first one -- those colorful boats in the foreground really pop!

And thanks as well! :))

Thanks Mikey, just processed/uploaded that one today. (y)

I am really pleased that I'm able to bring home good photo representations of my memories from our trips like I'd always wanted, and the Fujis seem to have taken it up a notch for me. Judging by your photos here I think the same can be said for your work too!
 
I normally wouldn't go through all this but in this case I'll try. I started with the RAW file and processed it in Adobe Camera Raw. The settings can be read in the photo below: I increase luminosity to 60 and sharpness to 32 in Camera RAW.

Big%20Kitty%20Original-L.jpg


I then pulled the image into CS6 Photoshop and cropped the image to the size you saw in my set of three. That would be a 6"x4" 300 dpi shot.
I opened NIK Software's Vivesa 2 and increased the structure, contrast and brightness in select areas, especially the white chest area and eyes. This helps prepare the shot for sharpening.
Next I opened the image in Topaz Claity using the Nature presets for Feathers and Fur, increasing color and contrast. Again this aids sharpening without leaving halos around edges.
Next I opened the image in OnOne Software's Perfect Effects 3 and used the Unsharp Mask sharpening tool, concentrating on the perfect amount applied to the eyes.
Basically that was the workflow I follow on most shots similar to this original. Enhance detail and sharpen. I hope this helped. I've gotten so fast at this whole process it takes less than 10 minutes.

I definitely appreciate you sharing your trade secret. Sounds quite involved but I'll definitely get working on learning how to do this. Again, your finished products are Nat Geo worthy. I'm pretty much an LR only kinda guy. I have the NIK and OnOne software but haven't had much time to play around with them. I'm very encouraged with what I see here so maybe I should invest more time in learning about it. I've only heard good things about Topaz but know nothing about it. Thanks again!!! :)
 
Thanks Mikey, just processed/uploaded that one today. (y)

I am really pleased that I'm able to bring home good photo representations of my memories from our trips like I'd always wanted, and the Fujis seem to have taken it up a notch for me. Judging by your photos here I think the same can be said for your work too!

Thanks for your kind words, my friend. I'm convinced as well that the Fuji X system has taken my photos up a notch or 2 from when I was shooting MFT with the OM-D (though I don't think Bhup wants to hear us say that). :p
 
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