Aspen at Work

Just before this past Christmas I was on a trip out in Aspen CO. I took the opportunity to take some snaps with the G9 that I carry around with me all the time. I was shooting the mountains and as usual they just don't come across the lens as well as they do when we are using our Mark 5 Eyeballs. The just always seem bigger, but then it might be the pilot in me that knows what it is going to  take to clear these behemoths.

So I was walking back to the plane (pictured) and the relationship of the aircraft and the hills behind it just looked cool. Again I was not expecting much in the camera but I took the shot anyhow. It was not until I got it home and jazzed it a little in CS3 that I really appreciated the image. A slight color cast and multiply to the sky, and onto the curves. I applied my standard s-curve to the image and it just did nothing for it. So I applied a curves adjustment that I learned form a seminar put on by Ben Willmoore last year and it just made the image pop. I laid a nice vignette around the edges and they you have it.

Take care all,

Doug

Our Scoot

Here is an image of our H-D Ultra Classic Electra-glide. It just so happens to be our main summertime transportation in Michigan. This pic was shot while the bike was on the sidewalk with lush green grass in the background. 

This was one of my early experiments in removing background. Using some of Ben Willmore's techniques I was able to isolate the bike. The windshield was not so easy and I finally relented to create a windshield instead. Using a multi-phased gradient on the windshield selection produced a passable form.

Speaking of Ben Willmore (click here for his blog), if you ever have an opportunity to attend one of his day long workshops you will be utterly dazzled by his curves prowess. If you can not get to one of his seminars, you can sign-up for online classes at Kelby Training. Definitely check it out, you will not be sorry.