Where is Ben?

Lepp Institute Student Example

Well, I ran out of Route 66 images to process on this trip, so you'll have to wait until I get back to the bus on Saturday before I can post more.

The photograph above was created by Carolyn Bremer who is a student in my Advanced Photoshop for Photographers class at the LEPP Institute. This image may look a little odd... that's because it's a self portrait where the only light source is a flashlight. The light was painted around the edges of the subject and then multiple exposures were combined. She laid her clothes on a chair, light painted them and then came back and held her head in the proper position and painted that in a separate exposure. She then put the shirt on and hugged the chair so her arms where on the arms of the chair while her body was behind the chair and painted them with light one at a time and then composited all the exposures in Photoshop. This was part of some optional "homework" I assigned for my class. I thought it was a fun and unexpected image since the homework was simply to do some light painting of anything (a chair, your car, etc.) and she decided to do a creative self portrait.

Route 66: Amarillo, TX Revisited

This photograph was processed in Adobe Camera Raw and has never been opened all they way into Photoshop. I ended up adjusting just about every slider that is available to create this look. You can see what the image would look like with default ACR settings below:

I took this shot specifically for a friend who participates in an annual event known as Rib-o-Rama. That's where each year a bunch of guys get together, cook ribs and vote for the best of the bunch (hi Chris).

Route 66: More Shamrock, TX

This photograph is the result of combining a three-shot bracket of exposures into a single HDR file and processing the image two and three times. The 2x version was used as the base image and the 3x version was placed on top of it and masked so that it only appeared in areas that I wanted to emphasize. I also ran a few actions and masked them as well and applied a few hue/saturation and Curves adjustment layers as described in my new on-line HDR class.

Route 66: Amarillo, TX

This photograph was processed using only Adobe Camera Raw. I just liked the graphic quality of the image and decided to do a simple and easy adjustment without taking it all the way into Photoshop.

Route 66: Shamrock, TX Revisited

The photograph above was taken in Shamrock, TX while I was following Route 66.

Processing Notes: I did so much to this image that it will be almost impossible to describe it. I literally spent an entire day working on this image. I just couldn't stop refining areas. I started by combining a three-shot High Dynamic Range shot and processed it a total of three times saving each result before applying another processing to the image. I then opened each of the image through Adobe Camera Raw and stacked them on top of each other in Photoshop. I used the 3x version for most of the image and masked in the 2x version for the driveway since it looked to have too much detail. I used the 1x version for the sky. I retouched out all the telephone poles and cars in the scene and smoothed out the sky. I then applied a few actions (soft contrast and antique color) and masked them so they only applied to isolated areas. I then added at least 10 Hue/Saturation adjustment layers to control the color of particular areas. I also added a few curves adjustment layers to modify the contrast and brightness of areas. I also applied a Black and White adjustment layer with a yellow/orange tint and lowered the opacity of the layer and then painted on the mask to prevent it from affecting the pumps and other areas. I then applied a different Black and White adjustment layer for the sky. Many of these concepts are described in my new on-line Mastering HDR class. I liked the end result enough that I think it might end up being a poster at some point. Below is a single shot processed using default settings in Adobe Camera Raw:

Heading to Los Osos, CA

I flew to Los Osos, CA today and will be teaching my Advanced Photoshop for Photographers course this week. That's where I teach how to approach shooting differently so you can take full advantage of the digital tools that are available. I'll try to continue posting an image a day, but I might get behind since I'll be teaching all day for the next week.

Route 66: McLean Gas Pump

This photograph was taken in McLean, TX earlier this year. Can you see my fancy footwear?

Processing Notes: This is a single raw file that I processed using Adobe Camera Raw. I maxed out the Recovery, Fill Light and Blacks sliders and moved down the Exposure setting to achieve an interesting look. I thought I was going to be satisfied with just using ACR, but then I couldn't help but open the image in Photoshop and apply a few actions that I've been developing.

Route 66: Shamrock, TX

The photograph above was taken in Shamrock, TX while I was following Route 66.

Note: As I post this, it's 4:20am and I'm not really feeling like trying to remember how I processed this image... I'd rather get some sleep. It's not all that much different than the last 20 images I posted.

Route 66: McLean, TX

The photograph above was taken near McLean, TX.

Processing Notes: I processed a three-shot HDR file twice and then applied both the antique color and soft contrast actions to the image and painted on masked to limit where they could affect the image. I also lowered the saturation of some elements, while making the red pole more colorful (I wanted something that would draw you eye to the pole/chair area). I also applied the vignetting action and then manually painted with black around some of the edge areas. All these ideas are covered in my new on-line HDR class.

Here's what a single shot looks like using the default settings in Camera Raw:

Route 66: Undisclosed Texas Location

Above is a photograph of the numbers from an old gas pump taken somewhere in Texas (I don't feel like looking up the location).

Processing Notes: I processed a three-shot HDR file twice to exaggerate detail in the image and then spent time darkening and desaturating background elements so they wouldn't distract from the numbers. Once I was done processing the image, I decided to have some fun and create a few wacky versions. Here's one variation that I rather like: