Yesterday I hit the wall on babywatch. Couldn’t just sit around and wait for Junior to come for another minute without pulling my hair out. Had to go do something. Weather was gorgeous, so I went outside for a few hours, discovered some backroads that I didn’t know existed, and took my new 1Ds MkIII for a test drive. Thought I’d try out some new techniques, too…
Got another couple of em to do, but I need lunch… I got sucked into Photoshop this morning, and just like that, 4 hours had disappeared.
Couple quick notes about the 1Ds MkIII – first, it’s the best 35mm DSLR I’ve ever used. The viewfinder rocks, the interface is a quantum leap forward from the original 1Ds (which I also owned and shot with for a year or so), and it just plain does what you want it to. The files are also a dream to work with – lots of detail, smooth transitions, and extremely low noise. However, even the best lenses are taxed to the extreme… I shot with the 24-70 yesterday, and even stopped down to f/8, the extreme corners are mush (worse at 24mm, but noticably bad throughout the range). It would disappear in a 16×20 crop, but it’s still an issue… I’m on the hunt for a wide lens that can deliver all the pixels now, I guess…
(quick edit – after looking at the 2nd one again, I think it looks like ass in color, so here’s a quick B&W, which is how I envisioned it anyway, but I thought I’d try the color version anyway… maybe I’ll mess with it later some more)
MsBunn.com
I think I’m the only person not in Vegas for WPPI 2009??? haha! Well, I like all your photos, in both color and B&W. What’s your TRA recipe to achieve this look? :)
Feb 15, 2009 @ 3:05 pm
admin
Nope, we’re here, too! Still workin on the recipe… it was more like 3 shots in raw, and a lot of fine brush work with masks and adjustment layers… did use Technicolor Dream World, Yin / Yang, Warm it Up, Cool as a…, and boring bw. Which is surprising, because usually when I spend that long in Photoshop I don’t use any actions… HDR is hard.
Feb 15, 2009 @ 5:02 pm
admin
And btw – just printed all three, and the tree in B&W looks best by far in print. The others aren’t bad, but the top one just collapses into a heap of over-contrasty fine detail when printed big… as a 4×6 it looks nice, though… preserves some of the overall tonal and color structure in that size… weird.
Feb 15, 2009 @ 5:03 pm
robert norman
I actually like the color version of the tree – does not look like ass at all :)
Feb 15, 2009 @ 10:15 pm
Aric Becker
What printer do you use? I thought the color version looked good.
Feb 16, 2009 @ 12:21 am
Millie
All I have to say is, wow. Seriously, why can’t Arizona have this? These pictures make me think of switching to Canon, haha. I think both versions of number 2 rock in their own way.
Feb 16, 2009 @ 10:28 pm
Dominoe Imus
Wow, those images are gorgeous! And truthfully I like the second image in color better, the colors are amazing and they just pop!
Feb 17, 2009 @ 2:12 pm
admin
And wouldn’t you know it… it appears that, while shooting these photos, I got in a fight with some poison oak. I lost. And it started showing up the day after Max was born, while we were in the hospital going on like an hour of sleep… It was worth it, though!
Feb 18, 2009 @ 6:45 pm
Oleksandr Photography
WoW! Love those color!
Feb 19, 2009 @ 5:11 pm