I am in Minneapolis. Not much time to post or surf. This is the lobby of US Bank Plaza. I loved the lines in the central lobby between the complex’s twin towers.
Lobby of the US Bank Plaza, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nikon D90 with Tokina 12-24 at 12mm. 1/30s at f/11, ISO200. In Lightroom, adjusted light level, increased contrast and clarity, converted to black and white.
From the roof of the Chase Tower in Houston, Texas. I could not have picked a more beautiful day on which to go up.
Houston Skyline
Nikon D90 with Tokina 12-24 at 12mm. 1/320s at f/11, ISO160. In Lightroom, adjusted white balance, straightened photo, increased clarity and vibrance, increased blue saturation in the sky, changed mode to Nikon DX2 mode 2. Sharpened.
When I was a student at St. Louis U., I remember going to sit in their wonderful old Gothic-style chapel and listening to the choir practice. Sitting in this quiet, old church in Chappell Hill, I felt a reverie different from what I felt at St. Louis U.. It was more basic, less formal but still that same feeling that you were in a spiritual place.
Open Doors
Nikon D90 with Tokina 12-24 at 16mm. 1/5s at f/5.6, ISO200. Handheld.
In Lightroom, increased clarity, adjusted light levels, adjusted white balance, converted to Nikon DX2 type 1 mode, desaturated, used split toning to bring sepia into the darks and blue into the light.
I didn’t see a single scarecrow at the Scarecrow Festival. Odd, eh? I did get inside this old church, though. Methodist Church, Chappell Hill, TX.
Methodist Church, Chappell Hill
I am fascinated with churches. I didn’t get inside until around 5 so the light was going fast. The glass is jeweled glass rather than stained glass. The church roots date to the mid-1800s but it was destroyed in the great hurricane of 1900 (the one that killed thousands in Galveston, TX). This structure, made of wood, was completed in 1901.
Nikon D90 with Tokina 12-24 at 12mm. 1/8s at f/4.5, ISO200. In Lightroom, cropped, converted to DX2 profile 1, adjusted white balance and light to bring out the ceiling structure while keeping the light from the window in check. Increased clarity and vibrance. Adjusted individual colors. Sharpened.
The budget process is ended after 3 months. The impact of the economy will be felt more stingingly next year but we will survive.
Dining room table at my cousin’s house.
Nikon D90 with Tokina 12-24 at 12mm. 1/15s at f/5.6, ISO500, Standard mode. In Lightroom, cropped out the left side and reduced the photo by 1/3rd. Adjusted white balance by adding a little more magenta into the darker parts of the photo. Added clarity and contrast, reduced highlights. Used split toning to add a slight sepia tint to the highlights, softening them and bring out the light, pale yellow in the walls.
Budget presentation today. Time for a quick post. I was fascinated by all the lines and textures in this image.
Nikon D90 with Tokina 12-24 at 12mm. 1/10s at f/4, ISO200. Handheld!!
I took a number of photos at Tranquility Park in downtown Houston. The fountain and sculptures are beautiful and I enjoy the surroundings. Tranquility Park is next to City Hall on Smith Street. The park is dedicated to Apollo 11 and the creation of Tranquility Base, man’s first landing on the moon.
I needed a neutral density filter and a tripod with this but I was able to get a slow enough speed to give the water the softness I wanted. I used time delay in order to minimize my movement as much as possible. I have several other angles that I will likely post.
Nikon D90 witn Tokina 12-24 at 24mm. 1/10s at f/20, ISO100, Landscape Mode. No tripod. I worked pretty hard on this image as I have ulterior motives for the photo. In Lightroom, I adjusted my camera settings, tweaking the landscape mode results. I used maximum recovery to mute some of the highlights (not that they were blown but I wanted a darker, saturated look). I increased contrast a lot but clarity a little to black out the Pennzoil building in on the upper left. I increased vibrance and saturation as well as highlights. I darkend shadows a bit. I added a vignette.
I love Christ Church Cathedral on Texas Avenue. Its a beautiful, late 1800s structure with fabulous stained glass. It is a place of peace in downtown Houston. Old churches lend themselves to a kind of eerie feel. Not quite sure why but I didn’t want to make this place seem ominous although it would not be hard.
Nikon D90 with Tokina 12-24 at 12mm. 1/40s at f/11, ISO400, Landscape Mode. In Lightroom, converted to grayscale, adjusted light levels, increased contrast and clarity added sepia to the darker tones and a bit of blue to the lighter ones. Thanks to tips from Jeff, I added a dark vignette.
A view down Texas Avenue in Houston, TX. In order to relieve stress, I have been walking a lot more during the day. So, more architecture photos.
Taken with the D90 and the Tokina 12-24 at 12mm. 1/2000s at f/5.6, ISO200, Landscape Mode. I didn’t mean to shoot at f/5.6, normally I would shoot this at f/11, but I had been shooting an interior and forgotten to change my setting. In Lightroom, I cropped out the left side where another tower distracted from the photo. I converted to grayscale and worked with the lighting. I brightened a lot of the darker areas in the awful Houston Chronicle building (lower right). I used split toning to add a little blue to the highlights and sepias to the shadows.
I am not enamoured with the page color this template chose. I am going to research a new template, I think.
Split-toned grayscale. I worked for a long time on this image. At first, I wanted a sort of 50’s film look to it but the more I worked, the more it took on sort of an abstract, gothic look. Pennzoil is a dark bronze structure that often looks black. The architect’s view for the tower was bronze, though, and until I worked with this photo, I didn’t really understand the difference between bronze and black. Overall, I am happy with this image. In the final product, I will lighten it a little more for the internet but it prints beautifully like this.
Nikon D90 with Tokina 12-24 at 12mm. 1/160s at f/11, ISO200, Landscape Mode converted to Grayscale. In Lightroom, recovered highlights, increased clarity and contrast. Decreased brightness and light tones. Then, increased dark tones. Adjusted aqua, blue, purple and red levels. In split toning, highlights were blue/purple while shadows were sepia. Adjusted balance between high and low lights until I had a falsely colored sky and the shadows had a bronze feel.
